Holiday Stuffing of Crap

Some random thoughts on the very depressing world of Chicago sports....

1) 2-8? What year is this? Who the hell is coaching the Bulls, Tim Floyd? Is that Fred Hoiberg running the point and Kornel David playing center? (By the way, am I the only one who wonders how the 98-99 Bulls even won 13 games? Look at this roster. It's horrible) I hate to repeat myself for about the 127th time, but signing Ben Wallace was such a stupid move. He has showed this year that he has reached a wall and he isn't close to being the player who four Defensive Player of the Year Awards between 2002 and 2006. Coach Scott Skiles won't put him in during the fourth quarter of games, because he knows Wallace won't offer any contribution after playing 25 minutes in the first three quarters. As for the other 11 guys on the roster, it is becoming increasingly obvious that this team has no shot at winning games versus teams that have a legitimate scorer. The strength of this Bulls squad was supposed to be defense, but even the best defensive teams can't win if there is nobody to put points on the board. Yesterday versus the Nuggets, the Bulls had no answer for Carmello Anthony (26 points), Allen Iverson (22 points) or Marcus Camby (12 points, 20 rebounds). But even if they had stopped that trio, they wouldn't have won, because there supposed best scorer- shooting guard Ben Gordon- shot 2/14 and had only six points. I was against it at first, but after seeing the first three weeks of the season, I see no other option: Trade for Kobe.

2) Well, Rex is back in at quarterback for the Bears, and the results are the exact same: Loss. But unlike earlier this season, quarterback play wasn't the fault of the loss. It was othe defense. Briggs, Urlacher, and Co. couldn't stop Matt Hasselbeck and the Seattle passing attack, and that's the reason the Bears fell to 4-6. Now the Broncos come to Soldier Field in what can only be explained as a must-win game for the Bears. Because the NFC is so bad, there's still hope for a Wild Card spot for the defending NFC Champs if they win at least four of the final six games (Preferably five or six of six, but hey, beggars can't be choosers). I have no faith that the Bears can get that spot, but hey, I gotta keep hope alive. Beating Denver won't be easy, but they did play on Monday night, meaning a short week. Add to that the holiday distractions and travel, and it should be a game the Bears win. Of course Rex could go back to being the old Rex, and the Broncos could win 38-10. Who the hell knows.

3) Some strange moves from the Cubs recently. Last week, they traded Jacque Jones to Detroit for utility player Omar Infante. Then yesterday, team President John McDonough stepped down in order to fill the same roll with the Chicago Blackhawks (A local team that plays a game called hockey, which is kind of like basketball on ice, except nobody knows any of the players or rules). And today, there are rumors that Kerry Wood, who re-energized his career last season, might sign with the Boston Red Sox. I’m not sure what to make of any of these stories, but I do know that without Jones- or Cliff Floyd, who the team chose not to re-sign- the Cubs don’t have a complete outfield. Alfonso Soriano is in left, but I do not feel comfortable with Felix Pie in center and Angel Pagan/Matt Murton in right. I’d like if the team signed a nice, left-handed hitting outfielder who could drive in runs (Kind of like Floyd, but five years younger) Supposedly the team wants to sign former Colorado second-baseman Kaz Matsui and move Mark DeRosa to right field, but I think that would be a mistake. Matsui sucked in pressure-filled New York when he was on the Mets, and playing in the Chi is no easier. Plus he strikes out a lot, and we already have enough of those types of players.



Here are my week 12 NFL picks, hoping to follow on last week’s great record.

My picks, as always, in bold

Green Bay at Detroit

New York Jets at Dallas

Indianapolis at Atlanta

Buffalo at Jacksonville

Houston at Cleveland

Oakland at Kansas City

Seattle at St. Louis

Minnesota at New York Giants

Washington at Tampa Bay

New Orleans at Carolina

Tennessee at Cincinnati

San Francisco at Arizona

Baltimore at San Diego

Denver at Chicago

Philadelphia at New England

Miami at Pittsburgh


Last Week: 11-5
Season To Date: 95-65


Happy turkey day everybody