Larry Brown Sports

It’s no secret that the Chicago Bulls were not very good this year. They finished just at .500 with a record of 41-41.  They made the playoffs because the NBA has broken system. And last but not least, they did get beaten by the Cleveland Cavaliers like everyone said they would (but they did put up a fight in game 5).  So, what do the Bulls need to greatly improve themselves for next season? Well, sign one of the major free agents of course — LeBron James or Dwyane Wade.

So, Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah sat down and wrote to the superstars about how they would like to see one of them on the Bulls roster next year. Well they didn’t really write it — Bill Simmons did. But it highlights the real issues of the team and it’s kind of funny too.

Dear LeBron and Dwyane,

We are wired correctly. We give a crap. We want to win. We are really really good. We are warriors. We could absolutely be the second-best and third-best guys on a team that wins multiple titles. Sadly, this can’t happen without one of you. Please think about Chicago. It’s cold during the winter, but during the spring and summer, there’s no better place. It’s the No. 3 TV market. It’s the city that once had the greatest player ever. We’re firing our coach and GM this summer; if you want, you can pick the next two guys. We want to win titles. Not title … titles. By the way, Joakim wants you to know that he isn’t nearly as annoying if he’s your teammate.

Much respect,
Joakim and Derrick

Although I don’t see Wade leaving Miami or LeBron wanting to play alongside Noah, who couldn’t stop trash talking during the playoffs, the Bulls can still dream, right? They’ll be getting a new head coach this off season and they have the money to go out and get a superstar player. Anything is possible. I say bring back Jordan.

Sources:
Dwyane, LeBron and other humans [Bill Simmons/ESPN]
Rose and Noah’s Letter to LeBron and Wade [Real GM]

When he makes headlines like this, the Steelers must feel pretty good about shipping Santonio Holmes off to the Jets for a measly 5th round pick.  According to investigators, Holmes had to be escorted off of a flight at Pittsburgh International Airport on Thursday night for being a “disruptive passenger”.  No further details about the situation are known — and Santonio wasn’t arrested — but this certainly isn’t the type of publicity the Superbowl 43 MVP needs if he wants to convince fans and the NFL that he’s going to clean up his act.

Holmes is already going to miss the first four games of the upcoming season when he serves a suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.  Depending on what comes of this situation, Roger Goodell might decide to sideline him for a few more games.  The Jets don’t have a lot invested in Holmes after only giving up a fifth rounder, but they could certainly use the help at wide receiver and would probably prefer that he straighten out his act.  Between Cromartie, Holmes, and the loud mouths in the Jets organization (led by their head coach), it could turn out to be an entertaining soap opera of a year in New York.

UPDATE: According to ESPN, the reason Santonio Holmes was escorted from the flight was because he refused to turn off his iPod when the crew asked that all electronic devices be turned off so the plane could take off.  Wow.  Has he ever been on a plane before?  I’m pretty much speechless, so here’s what Rex Ryan had to say:

“I know what has been told to me and it kind of got blown out of proportion it sounds like in some of the media outlets and things. I mean, OK, lets face it, he should turn off his iPod. That’s what he should do. He should do that. I haven’t had a chance to talk to Santonio, but he certainly should do that.”

Sources:
“Disruptive” Santonio Holmes booted from a flight in Pittsburgh [WPXI via Pro Football Talk]
Report: Holmes removed from plane [ESPN]

Many people will be piling on the Dallas Mavericks for yet another early playoffs exit but I don’t want you falling into that same pattern. They’ll point to Dallas winning at least 50 games every season in the decade and having nothing to show for it. I say they came damn close in ’06 and the legacy of Shaq and Dwyane Wade wouldn’t be what it is had Dallas held on. They’ll remind you the Mavs have made first-round playoff exits in three of the past four years. I have a more logical explanation for each situation that doesn’t involve the lazy shortcuts most media members take. Most importantly, they’ll remind you that the Mavericks are the first two seed to lose to a seven seed in the first round since the format was expanded to best of seven. Anyone who recites this fact should keep in mind that the Spurs could have just as easily been the two seed.

Three years ago, the Mavericks had the best record in the NBA, the MVP award winner, and they drew a first-round matchup against an eight seed that had beaten them every game during the regular season. The Warriors beat the Mavs in six games pulling off the upset. Two years ago, the Mavs’ window of opportunity seemed to be closing as they squeaked into the playoffs as a seven seed and got bounced by a superior Hornets team. Guys like Josh Howard were more concerned with partying than playing and the result was Avery Johnson getting fired for “losing his team.” The Mavericks still managed to win 50 games last season but they seemed to have faded to become a borderline playoff team in the West.

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By now, I’m sure you have heard about Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and his little incident with a college co-ed down in Georgia. Well now thanks to the internet and its ability to upload songs in seconds, rapper Eminem has immortalized Big Ben in his latest song — and it’s not in a good way.  This clip of the song is quickly turning viral, and in case you haven’t heard it yet here’s what Eminem has to say:

“I’d rather turn this club into a bar room brawl/ Get as rowdy as Roethlisberger in a bathroom stall.

Was it wrong of me to laugh the first time I heard this? I wasn’t laughing because of what happened to that poor girl, I was laughing because Roethlisberger more than likely paid her off to not pursue the charges thinking that this would all blow over. Not this time pal. Years from now people will be listening to their MP3 player and Eminem’s song will come on to remind us what a scumbag he is. I really hope that the six-game suspension sticks and we don’t see Big Ben back on the field before then.

Eminem isn’t the first rapper to poke fun at an athlete for their “indiscretions.” Ludacris did it just a couple months ago when he poked fun at Tiger Woods in his song called “Sexting.” Roethlisberger deserved this one and I feel like this is just the beginning of the jokes directed at him. I say keep it coming with those jokes to remind people like Roethlisberger that they can’t just write a big check and make their issues go away.

Sources:
Eminem gets lyrical with Ben Roethlisberger [USA Today]

Tiger Woods continues to find ways to look like a model citizen.  The National Enquirer is reporting that Woods’ has admitted to having sex with 121 women while married to Elin Nordegren.  Like we expressed with the recent post about the Dale Jr. situation, the Enquirer has been pretty accurate reporting these things thus far.  We’ll see if any truth comes of it — not that it matters much at this stage in the saga.  Maybe in Tiger’s eyes you cheat once, you might as well cheat 121 times, and that’s how the number grew into such an astronomical figure.  Maybe the report isn’t even true.  It’s not like Tiger can be made to look much worse with regard to his extramarital affairs at this point.

Tiger’s admitted that he cheated on his wife.  He made his public apology (whether you feel it was sincere or not), and is trying to move on.  One thing he could conceivably screw up further, however, is the legitimacy of his accomplishments as a golfer.  Last year, Tiger was confronted with accusations that he has used performance-enhancing drugs when a NY Times article linked him to a Canadian doctor whose name was tied to providing performance-enhancing drugs for athletes.  Tiger denied the report, of course, but it seems a good portion of the golfers on the PGA tour aren’t buying what he’s selling.

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Drew Brees is a Superbowl MVP.  He’s earned the right to have his name mentioned with the likes of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.  But is he on his way to being compared to MLB players like Jorge Posada and Victor Martinez?  Why did I pick those two?  Like Brees, they’re switch-hitters who can belt home runs from both sides of the plate.  Okay, I’m exaggerating a little since Brees did it in a charity softball game, but he won a home run derby hitting right and lefty  He hit three homers right-handed and another three left-handed.  Why he chose to hit from both sides of the plate in a home run derby, I have no clue — swagger points, I guess.  Whatever his reasoning the fans loved it.  Check out the videos of Drew Brees hitting home runs righty and lefty, courtesy of YouTube via The Sporting Blog.

Source:
Drew Brees: Superbowl Winning QB and Switch-Hitting Softball Slugger [The Sporting Blog]

Perhaps it was Bango’s resilience in returning from a knee injury to throw down an incredible dunk that has inspired the Milwaukee Bucks.  Maybe they received a shot in the arm after their star center Andrew Bogut went down with a gruesome elbow injury that has prevented him from seeing any playoff action to this point.  Whatever the case, after taking the first two games of their opening round series with Milwaukee, the Atlanta Hawks now trail the series 3-2 and find themselves on the brink of elimination.

The nail may have been driven into the coffin Wednesday night, when Atlanta blew a nine-point lead with 3:55 left to play in the game.  Yes, I understand that it’s a seven-game series and you play the games for a reason, but if you believe that there is such a thing as momentum in an NBA playoff series, the Hawks could be finished.  Atlanta is now forced to head to Milwaukee — where the noise in the Bradley Center is certain to be deafening — and either win and go home (to play Game 7), or lose and go home (to play golf).

The way this series has played out is kind of ironic, don’t you think?  Two years ago, the Hawks were the underdogs, pushing the powerhouse team to seven games when no one gave them a chance.  The No. 1 seeded Celtics — who later went on to beat the Lakers in the NBA Finals — took care of business at home and lead the series 2-0 before heading to Atlanta.  The Hawks then clawed their way back and found themselves with a chance to knock off the future champs, but lost Game 7 in Boston.  Sometimes it’s not easy being the favorite, and you’ve got to think Atlanta now has a pretty good understanding of that concept.  We’ll see if they can handle the pressure the way the Celtics did two years ago.

Source:
The Hawks unleash one of the epic collapses in Atlanta annals [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]
Photo Credit: Getty Images

I’m no longer a betting man, but if I were I know I would have put money on the Capitals winning Game 7 against the Canadiens in D.C. I couldn’t have been more wrong. With a 2-1 win in Game 7, the Habs became the first 8th seeded team to come back from down 3-1 in a seven game series to beat the top seeded team. Yes, the Caps blew a 3-1 series lead becoming the third Presidents’ Trophy winning team to lose in the first-round of the Stanley Cup playoffs since ’06. Even more befuddling is that they were the best home team in the regular season yet they lost three home games to the Canadiens. Go figure. Without a doubt, all the “Caps choked” and “Alex Ovechkin is not a winner” talk will begin. I definitely disagree with the latter statement.

The reality with this series is that Jaroslav Halak got hot and took over for Montreal. Halak stopped 131 of 134 shots he faced over the last three games. I don’t know which numbers is more ridiculous: the Caps taking 134 shots in three games or Halak stopping all but three of them. Even though the Caps had three chances to close out the series, I put the Game 1 loss partially on coach Bruce Boudreau for starting Jose Theodore in goal instead of Semyon Varlamov who became their man the rest of the series. At the same time, the Habs gave the Caps a break starting Carey Price in net for Game 4.

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