By George Ofman
Numbers don’t lie. Ben Gordon is averaging 24 points in five games for the Pistons and he’s shooting 51 percent from the field. John Salmons is averaging 11 points in five games for the Bulls and is shooting 29 percent. That’s 29 percent! Where do I get my refund?
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Wow is Lovie Smith getting torched by the media. Some are calling him boring, others a liar. Fans think he has no passion. Is this the same boring and passionless Lovie that got the Bears to the Super Bowl? I’m just asking.
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The Sox traded or were close to sending Chris Getz and Josh fields to the Royals for Mark Teahen. Fields was done here. Getz stole 25 bases in 27 attempts last season. If Teahen is here to play right field that would mean Scott Podsednik will be looking for a new home. That would also mean the Sox would have lost 57 stolen bases. If Teahen plays third, then Gordon Beckham is going to second.
Here’s the word I got on Teahen; very inconsistent, not very good with men in scoring position and doesn’t take advantage of hitters’ counts. This was a guy who, in 2006, hit .290 with 18 homers and 69 RBI in just 393 at-bats. Since then he’s had more than 520 at-bats in each season and hasn’t come close to those totals. Last year he hit only .271 and mustered only 12 homers and 50 RBI. Let’s call this a minor deal and move on, shall we.
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The Cubs held organizational meetings in Mesa where they’re sure to get a deal of a lifetime to stay as spring training tenants. Now, about dumping Milton Bradley . . .
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The Bulls gave a much better effort and deserved to win at Cleveland last night. But oddly enough, it appeared as if Vinny Del Negro wanted John Salmons to be the go-to guy when it counted after Derrick Rose made a key 7-footer with 1:44 left. Salmons bricked a 25-footer, and then was the man with the ball on the next trip. Where was Rose? Well, he was on the wing when he should have had the ball. If you want Rose to continue his development, it has to be in crunch time.
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The Yankees win another title. That’s 27. The White Sox have three, the Cubs two. Now those are numbers that really don’t lie!
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Ron Turner has backed off his desire to pare down the offense. What the Bears really need to do is pare down Orlando Pace. Either show him the bench or show him the door otherwise, Jay Cutler will be shown X-rays of body parts!
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Think the Blackhawks don’t miss Jonathan Toews, Ben Eager, Adam Burish and Marian Hossa? Going into last night’s game at Phoenix they ranked 14th in goals per game at 2.92. They did rank sixth in goals against and part of the reason is they’ve given up the fewest shots in the league, and by a significant margin.
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Everyone’s jumping on this bandwagon: Iowa isn’t that good even though the Hawkeyes have a 9-0 record and are fourth in the BCS standing. This says two things; the Big Ten Stinks and Iowa simply is the best the conference has to offer.
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Air Jordan’s win, Central Florida’s loss. Adidas cancelled the final year of a five-year contract with the school after Marcus Jordan refused to wear its shoes, opting instead for his pappy’s famous footwear. Talk about being swooshed! Maybe Marcus’s dad should donate Air Jordan sneakers to all the players while Nike jumps and replenishes the coffers Adidas left dry. And while he’s at it, Michael should get Hanes and Gatorade to fork up.
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George Ofman, an original member of The Score and a veteran of NPR, has covered more than 3,500 sporting events over the course of his career. Comments welcome.
Posted on November 6, 2009