Your Future Chicago Bulls?

Everyone is talking about the possibility of Wade, Bosh, and James playing together in Miami. But that begs the real question: Why Miami? The Bulls have $30 million available in cap space. However, Deng's contract is worth $11.5 million. That would leave the Bulls at 41.5 to 42 million dollars available. Putting each player at about 14 million dollars each.

Sure it's one million dollars short of what the heat can offer. But the Heat don't have Rose and Noah. Not to mention you throw in Johnson and Gibson and there is more room. Look, if you are going to pick a team with only two players left why not pick the team that has two all-stars (calling Noah an all-star because he deserved it last year and should be one next year)?

So, all in all, I'm calling it right now. The starting lineup for your Chicago Bulls will be:

PG - Derrick Rose

SG - D'wyane Wade

SF - LeBron James

PF - Chris Bosh

C - Joakim Noah

Only way this team could be better is Dwight Howard. The nice thing about this team is that there are only three people who really feel like they NEED to score. I think it is going to happen, I think it was decided in Miami.

Bulls Free Agency Derby

I thought we'd lead today with some linkage from around the world, and see what's being written about this story you may have heard about - there are a few decent free agents in the NBA this year, apparently?

One of the top three picks from the 2003 draft JUST SIGNED A HUGE DEAL WITH MINNESOTA!!!!!

ESPN's Jon Greenberg: Chicago is ready for new sports King <- This is a well-written and honest look at where the Bulls and the sports fans of Chicago stand. There are bits that LeBron might not love hearing...

"The Bulls don't need a leader. Joakim Noah has donned that mantle. He's earned it. Teammates like him and they have started to look to him to speak to the press on their behalf and as a last line of defense on the court.

I know it sounds crazy to outsiders: The guy who acted the fool after winning NCAA titles and wore the bow tie to the draft is a legit NBA leader?"

... but where Chicago has a serious edge with LeBron is exactly in this respect. We don't need to BS with him like Miami, New York, New Jersey. There's no Kool-Aid to be drank here in order to get the King to sign. Just look at Chicago. Just look at the Bulls. I love it.

Six out of eight ESPN experts think Bron is coming to Chicago.

Chris Bosh loves twitter. A good source for updates straight from the guy himself. I don't like Twitter but I will make an exception here.

Pooooooor Cleveland. Did you know they lead the nation in drifters? From the Trib...

"AKRON, Ohio — There's a consensus among sports fans here that — despite the Jordan shot over Craig Ehlo, John Elway's Drive and Jose Mesa's blown save in the World Series — the worst tragedy in Cleveland sports history occurred when Art Modell packed up the Browns and left for Baltimore for seemingly no good reason.

As the countdown to the start of free agency neared an end, fans in this passionate but championship-deprived sports town were bracing for the sobering possibility that LeBron James may play for another city next season."

So, yeah. The Nets and Knicks are in Akron today to talk with LeBron, the first of the suitors to make their pitches. Let me guess. You're goanna tell him New York is awesome. Hey, we have great deli in Chicago too, man. And it's less crowded and dogs don't crap on the sidewalks as much. And it smells better in Chicago. Anyway. From the NYTimes' great sports section...

“We tried to put him in a New York state of mind,” Knicks Coach Mike D’Antoni said after the meeting with James.

After two years of diligently creating the cap room to pursue James — but without being able to say so publicly, D’Antoni got a little giddy.

“You know what was good? LeBron James being there,” D’Antoni said. “No one can call me for tampering. It’s liberating, really.”

I kinda think the Knicks have given up. That article mentions they've already offered Joe Johnson a max deal, too. Plus, they know they're terrible, no matter what eternal optimist Coach Mikey has to say. Now, the (soon-to-be) Brooklyn Nets, with Russian Mark Cuban and Jay-Z, they interest me a bit more, because LeBron does want to be a global icon. Times?

The Nets’ contingent, led by the new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, President Rod Thorn, Coach Avery Johnson and the music mogul Jay-Z — a Nets shareholder and a close friend of James — arrived at the offices of IMG in a series of black town cars at 10:58 a.m. James, who grew up in nearby Akron, arrived earlier, in a white sports-utility vehicle.

“Meeting went well,” Johnson shouted while walking out.

I don't think LeBron wants to play for The Little General, though. He might be more interested in Byron Scott, the Cavs' new coach. Cleveland sure thinks so, anyway.

God, I could go on for days with this stuff. Here's my prediction as of now:

Bosh/Wade to the Heat. Though I'm still not giving up on D-Wade coming to Chicago if the chips fall a certain way. Mostly, I think he's just trying to avoid living in the same town as his ex wife.

Johnson/Amare in New York, reunited with D'Antoni. God, I could get ten assists a game playing point guard for that team. Steve Nash won the MVP with those guys in 2004-05, by the way. Chris Paul, anybody? Joe Johnson actually may well be staying put in Atlanta and taking the money, according to ESPN.

LeBron/David Lee for the Bulls. Which gives us probably the best top seven in the league, especially if we add a SG like Korver or (sigh) Redick. Yes, that hurt.

Dirk stays in Dallas.

More to come. God, the 24 hour news cycle is rough!

Top Chef Power Rankings (06/30/10)

Welcome to this week’s Top Chef Power Rankings

Before I dive into the rankings, I have to comment on one thing about all these chefs. Why is everyone so terrified of desserts? They had two friggin hours to make a pie. I could make a pie better than most of them could. Even without a recipe book. This show is called Top Chef. A chef should be able to cook any and everything. Yes everyone has their specialties, but really, come on. Some of the best Chefs in the shows history have not been afraid of desserts. The first one who comes to mind is Stefan who embraced desserts on top of all his other spectacular cooking. A true top chef for me should be able to make everything from salad to dessert with everything in between.

On to the rankings


Top Shelf


1. Angelo Sosa



Angelo is still leading our group of chefs. He finished high for the first time without winning this week. His asian style food has been a hit with the judges so far. After last week’s bottom finish, he said he was surprised how quickly people were thrown under the bus, and because of this he is going to shy away from other people. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.


2. Kenny Gilbert



Kenny finally won something this past week after finish 2nd in the first three challenges. He won the quickfire with what looked to be a tasty pie. He didn’t impress the judges with his picnic meal. Even though he had immunity, I don’t think he would have ended up on the bottom. He should get an assist for the win from Arnold whom he showed how to start a grill.


Best of the Rest


3. Kelly Liken



I was tempted to have elimination challenge winner Arnold jump past Kelly third, but I don’t think he deserves the slot yet. One week after coming off the elimination challenge win, Kelly finished in the top of the quick fire with her simple chocolate pie. Her elimination challenge was a good but not great that got her going on to the next round.


4. Arnold Myint



Is one of our biggest mover this week jumping to 4th. Arnold was on the winning team last week and won the challenge this week. His lamb meatballs looked and sounded delicious. I actually am tempted to go make some myself this holiday weekend. I am starting to feel like Arnold can go far in this competition.


Middle of the Pack


5. Kevin Sbraga



Kevin ended up on the bottom for the first time this competition. His Puerto Rican inspired picinic was not a hit with the judges. He said everyone he knows would have loved it, but the judges wanted more. I never felt like Kevin was in any danger of being sent home; Kevin should be able to take this criticism and bounce back, but we will see.


6. Alex Reznik



Alex had a rough start to the episode. He felt like he had a good pie, but the judges called it more of a quiche. He was in the bottom for the quickfire, but bounced back and had a solid elimination challenge.


7. Ed Cotton



Ed had a less then stellar quick fire with a pie that was all over the place. He put to much thought into his dish and had too much going on. He followed up this poor performance by cooking one of the top elimination challenge dishes. I actually thought the judges were going to pick him to win, which would have been big for my sleeper pick’s chances.


8. Amanda Baumgarten



I don’t want to move Amanda too high from her top 4 finish. I know she cooked a good meal, but she doesn’t have the focus, organization to win this competition. She has spent too much time of the show scrambling and rushing around. This is eventually going to lead to a catastrophic mistake that will send her packing.


9. Tiffany Derry



I actually wanted to group these next three chefs together because they all have similar track records, have made good, but not outstanding dishes. They have all showed a little bit of humor and some decent commentary, but haven’t really distinguished themselves. Tiffany gets the nod over the next two based on the fact she was on the winning team in week 2’s episode


10. Andrea Curto



Andrea falls in next because she was on the 2nd place team in week 2’s episode.


11. Tamesha Warren



Tamesha falls in third because she was on one of the bottom two teams in week 2’s episode.


12. Lynne Gigiotti



I don’t see Lynne lasting long in the competition. She has almost no personality, and her dishes haven’t been super creative, which is a requirement of the show. Also, I feel like the only thing she ever says is, “I’m the old one, but I can still cook.”


13. Timothy Dean



Timmy Timmy Timmy. I actually think he is one of the better chef’s this season, but he is not producing food the judges like. This makes him our biggest drop of the week. His pork two ways seemed like a good idea, but couldn’t pull the dish together. This was his 2nd bottom place in the first three weeks, which is not a good way to start. Like Kevin, I never felt like he was in any danger of being sent home, but another bottom finish, and the judges might not be as kind


Chopping Block


Only one member this week, but it seems clear to me who will be the next to go home


14. Stephen Hopcraft



Stephen thought he nailed his dish this week, saying the fish and bacon was cooked perfectly. The judges couldn’t disagree more. Tom actually hated other things on his plate worse than his fish. I think that is the biggest concern for Stephen right now, if he likes his dishes, but the judges hate them, how is he going to move on? There is some hope, Stephen did finish in the top of the quickfire challenge, so maybe all hope is not lost.

Bosh and Wade Together... In Chicago

My sources have informed me that Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade are in Chicago hearing presentations. My sources being ESPN and Twitter of course. Seriously though, Bosh and Wade have heard the Bulls' presentation. According to ESPN, Miami has the leg up on all the teams for both Bosh and Wade. But my question is: Why are they both in a hotel in Chicago then? Why wouldn't Wade be at his home in Miami? If Bosh wanted to join him during the Free Agency process, Wade could show him around Miami. Instead, Bosh is getting to see Chicago and all that this city has to offer. It makes no sense to me.

But then again, maybe their all looking for a home in Chicago. While LeBron is the dream, Wade isn't the worst consolation prize ever. Perhaps Wade sees the writing on the wall: You need room to sign three max free agents to three max deals. The Heat don't have that. Instead, the Bulls have a far better surrounding cast, and a third superstar on the rise. So, if Wade wants to be a part of a championship team for a while, he should probably try to join the Bulls.

On top of all of this Wade actually fits in perfectly with the Bulls' roster. We need a Shooting guard and a power forward. You get both of them from that signing. With that said, I'd still much rather land Bosh and James. Which I still remain confident we will. After that, we will dominate for years to come!

Walter Payton Runs the Wildcat

I wouldn't recommend watching the entire 10 minutes of the video, but it appears the Bears were 25 years ahead of their time by running the wildcat with Walter Payton. Wait, maybe they were behind the times since this formation has been around since basically the begining of football.

Anyways, please enjoy.

Wilbon, Kornheiser, Simmons and Le Batard Discuss NBA Free Agency

ACSS World Cup Elimination Stage

After Japan's shootout loss to Paraguay today and Spain elimintating Portugal, ACSS World Cup Challange only has 5 players left. Here is a list of which players have what teams heading into the round of 8.

Dave Weir
Brazil
Paraguay

Mark Fodor
Spain
Uruguay

Ryan Parrent
Netherlands
Ghana

Colin O'Shea/Newman
Argentina

Steve Noffke
Germany


Eliminated
Dan
Derek
Tim

Wait... I have the Internet?

Hello everyone. I finally got internet today, as I've been without it since May 29th. So, now I can post again. I'd like to address today's big news: Lebron, Wade, and Bosh meeting in Miami.

The good news is Lebron has been very non-committal. In fact, Chad Ford puts the Bulls chance of landing him at 40%. Which is by far the highest. If he comes here, I think it's a done deal with Bosh. I figure a huge selling point should be the fact that while Wade is very good he will be 29 this next season. While LeBron and Bosh are 26. The Bulls should emphasize that in a few years Wade's abilities will taper off. So, once Bosh and LeBron's career reaches its twilight there will be no one to pick up the slack. However, the Bulls have D-Rose who will be in his prime at the time Bosh and LeBron's ability tapers off, and thus he could lead them to extra titles.

The Bulls roster would be incredible next year with both of them, as we know. Can you say dynasty?

Rose - PG

Deng - SG

James - SF

Bosh - PF

Noah - C

Let's get this done Bulls!

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest. July 4th!

Is everyone excited? I know I am, I will be watching again this year. Will Joey "Jaw" Chestnut win his third straight title and retain the mustard yellow belt? Or will 6-time champion Takeru "The Tsunami" Kobayashi be able to reclaim his title?

To get everyone pumped up watch this clip of the exciting 2007 contest and catch some of the classic lines read below.




I dont know if you have ever had your wisdom teeth removed, but it's a pain like a Peyton Manning cell phone commercial."

"You google hero tomorrow . . . American hero, you're gonna get Abe Lincoln, possibly Neil Armstrong, Taylor Hicks, and then this man, of course, Joey Chestnut."

"Well Curt Schilling be damned. Kobayashi is bringing it, he's just two hot dogs behind Chestnut right now. We have nearly four minutes remaining in this competition. The table enders now not even in focus because the entire world . . . the entire free world is focused on these two men."

"This would be the greatest moment in the history of American sports if Chestnut can bring the belt home to Coney Island."

"He [Chestnut] may have indeed changed the course of this nation . . . Chestnut is a true American hero."


UPDATE

ESPN is reporting that due to contract negotiations with MLE (Major League Eating) Kobayashi may not be competing in the July 4th contest.

England's Non Goal vs Germany

Whenever I see a controversial play like the England non-goal goal against Germany, I can’t help but think of one play in particular.


I immediately think of the AJ Pierzynski dropped third strike in the 2005 ALCS against the Angels. I think, these plays are surprisingly similar. In both situations the player had no idea what happened, but since they didn’t hear a whistle or feel the catcher tag them out, they realized that the play was still alive. The German goalie, Manuel Neuer, claims he did see the ball go well over the goal line. He did the logical thing and picked up the ball and sent it down field. The NY Times reported Neuer’s post game comments,

“I tried not to react to the referee and just concentrate on what was happening,” Neuer said on Sunday in remarks quoted in the British press. “I realized it was over the line and I think the way I carried on so quickly fooled the referee into thinking it was not over.
“Then I saw it on the television in the doping control office and saw what actually happened,” Neuer said of the goal that would have tied the Germany-England game at 2-2 in the first half. “And, yes, it was over. It should have been a goal for England. Probably about two meters.”

Now, I know what most of you out there are thinking. That was a dirty play, he should have stopped play and allowed the goal to score. While this is the case, his decision was also a smart one. He put the ref in the spot to make the call. If the ref saw it correctly and awarded England the goal, the result would have been the same as it would have been if he stopped playing. However, because of his actions the ref had to make a call, and incorrectly called in favor of the Germans.


AJ’s 2005 play was also very heads up play. AJ did not see where the ball was caught or if it was in fact dropped, but he knew it was low, and he didn’t get tagged, so he ran to first. He put the ump in the position to make the call, and the ump called in favor of AJ. Here are AJ’s comments on the play “I didn't hear him call me out, so I thought, I thought for sure the ball hit the ground. I watched the replay 50 different times and I still don't know. The third strike is in the dirt, you run. Josh didn't tag me, I think he thought he called it, and I just ran, and luckily it worked out.”

I know the haters will be out from England fans, just like the haters came out from the Angels fans five years ago. All I ask is, before you get down to hard on AJ or Neuer if they were playing for your team?

Lebron and Bosh to the Bulls? Vegas Thinks so

I'm not saying this is meaningful, but Vegas/Bookies always seem to know more then anyone else when it comes to setting lines. That is why I found this comment from Bill Simmons, on his sports guy page at ESPN.com, so intresting. Simmons says "48 hrs ago: sportsbook.com had LeBron at +125 to sign w/ Bulls. Bosh was +300. Now? They're both -500. Hmmmmmm."