Here we go again

The Chicago Bulls most recent game may not have ended with a win but that might not be their fault. Now I'm almost never the guy to say the referees are to blame for a win or loss, that if you look back, there are other plays to point the finger at, but tonight I sat stunned. When Stacy King and Neil Funk ON THE AIR admitted that there were far to many "head scratching" calls something is wrong. Yes the Bulls did blow an 11 point lead, but its almost impossible to keep the lead when everytime you go up for a layup, you get hacked and body checked and theres no whistle. Then its extremely difficult to keep your confidence going when at the other side of the court, theres no contact at all and you get whistled for a foul. Yes the Bulls could have won tonight but I'm not disappointed by this loss. When game 6 tips off Thurday night at the United Center, expect the Bulls to come out with the most intesity they've had all postseason.

Yeehaw!

Ride that saddledome! This was sweet. Not only because the hawks have just won their first series since 1996. But also because Zevi Friedman was here to watch his season end. (or at least till 10:15) The whole team played well and capitalized on open opportunities. Patrick Kane scored early and the team never looked back. Adam Burrish scored 8 minutes later. Then Brian Campbell scored in the second period. Calgary showed a little life in the 3rd when Todd Bertuzzi scored 55 seconds into the period. After that point the Blackhawks just blanked the Flames. They played great defense and Dustin Byfuglien scored on an empty netter. Big win on the road and they finally looked like the team that got them into the playoffs. Lets enjoy these few days off and gear up for the always difficult Vancouver Canucks.

my two upsets

After coming down from my Blackhawks victory last night, I was almost immediately thrown back into the crazy world of sports. With day 2 of the NFL draft beginning at 9:00 a.m. and the Bulls tipping off at 1:00 p.m. there wasn't much time to celebrate.

Just when you think the Boston Celtics had finally got their groove back, they give you another reason to doubt them. After blowing out the Bulls in game 3 at the United Center, I though forsure this series was over and I could once again not care about the NBA finals. But, somehow, the Bulls found a way to shock the basketball world. The Bulls had a lead with ten seconds to go and for the second game in a row, let Ray Allen hit a huge 3. Boston began pulling away in overtime and just when I thought I could switch back to watching the NFL draft, Ben Gordon hits one of the greatest shots of recent memory and forces a second overtime. Missed free throws nearly killed us but the Bulls pulled off an upset as only Chicago teams know how. Derrick Rose was outstanding as he fell just 1 assist shy of a triple-double. Ben Gordon dropped 22 while playing through a leg injury. With that being said, Kirk Hinrich is the unsung hero of this game 4. Yes he scored 18 points and yes he had 4 assists but thats not the reason we won. Kirk Hinrich was once named to the 2nd team defense and Sunday, he reminded us why he was once given that honor. His defense was fantastic on Ray Allen and stellar on Paul Pierce. He has accepted his role as a backup guard and yet he still plays harder than everyone else. This game had me on the edge of me seat the whole time, and its always sweet to come away with a "W" no matter how many overtimes it takes. Game 5 should be just as intense as we head back to the Garden. If the Bulls want to win this game, they must get Derrick Rose going early and work the ball into the paint. Defensively, keep Ray Allen in check. Rajon Rondo will always be a problem but his inability to knock down the outside jumper puts the Bulls at an advantage. Pierce will hit a shot if he's left open but John Salmons had been doing a decent job when it has been his turn to defend. Stop Ray Allen, score points in the paint, make your free throws and oh yeah, stop turning the ball over. If the Bulls can do that, it might be the most watched game 6 in the history of basketball. (Okay, so i exaggerated a little bit)

Finally! It has been 84 days since anything football has been televised and I just couldn't take it anymore. I sat and watched the future stars of the NFL get selected. With their first pick in this year's draft, the Bears went defensive end, a wise move for a team that last year, couldn't get to the quarterback ever. Then they selected, I think, the best pick of this year's draft in Juaquin Iglesias. (Whaa-keen ig-lay-see-aas) Then after selecting another defensive end, they picked a huge steal in D.J. Moore. Overall, we picked 2 D.E., 3 WR, 1 safety, 1 LB, 1 tight end and 1 CB.

Now here's where I get nasty. I'm going to put a number next to each draft pick I would have changed. We brought in Rod Marinelli to help fix our current defensive line. I like that we took a good D.E. early but why the second one two picks later? Why not wait until later for another D.E.?(1) The three wide receivers that we took may have been too many especially because we took a wideout last year in the last round and we wound up cutting him in preseason (Marcus Monk). Don't expect Derek Kinder to be on the 53 man roster come opening day.(2) I really like Iglesias and Knox is very fast, look for him to contribute immediately on special teams. I loved what I saw of D.J. Moore before he was drafted and now that he's a Bear I like him more. With Tillman aging and Vasher constantly getting hurt look for Moore to get some playing time (even though he'll be competing with McBride, Graham and Bowman). With the departure of Mike Brown the Bears definately needed a safety. They got their man in Al Afalava. I really wanted them to take a safety earlier but not so many went off the board by the time we took Afalava. In the end, I have other things to get annoyed about other than drafting a safety so late.

There are two picks I just cannot figure out what the Bears were thinking. The first is why did we select LB Marcus Freeman with our 6th pick? The Bears seem pretty set a LB with -the way over the hill- Brian Urlacher. Lance Briggs is what Urlacher used to be, and since he signed that huge contract last year, he should be around for a few more years. On the other side we have Nick Roach/ Hunter Hillenmeyer. Both are solid players but once Hillenmeyer got hurt last year, Nick Roach stepped in and played better. Here's the thing I don't get. Roach is a middle linebacker so if Urlacher ever goes down, he would slide right over and fill the void. Briggs should be around for a long time and unless we were drafting Freeman to either back up Briggs or back up our back up in Hunter Hillenmeyer, I still can't figure this pick out. (3) Now, this pick is the one that really pisses me off. Why did we draft another tight end? Now, not to take anything away from Lance Louis, but we already have two starting tight ends in Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen. Then to top it all off, WE DRAFTED KELLEN DAVIS LAST YEAR. Davis is used primarilly on special teams and goal line situations. Meaning, he doesn't get playing time. So here I am, completely dumbfounded by this pick. Now you may try to tell me, "Well, he was taken in the 7th round". Fine, but I still disagree. (4)

The Bears had 9 total picks in this year's draft and I have a problem with 4 of them. Now granted, I am not a GM or a head coach, but I started this blog to state my opinions. The Bears added a lot of talent so far this offseason to the offensive line but I thought forsure, they were going to use at least one pick on a offensive lineman. They're line is old and very lacking in terms of back ups. I thought forsure at least 1 pick for a Guard and one more for a Tackle. (1&2) Now that we're in round 5 grab your second D.E. (3) Now we're in the 7th round and instead of wasting my pick on a tight end thats never going to be active for a game, I would draft a LB to help contribute on special teams and be a back up's back up. (4)

Overall, I'm a little confused and while the Bears wasted their 2 last picks on unnecesarry positions there is still that void in the offensive line. Jay Cutler may be good, but you'll never see it if one of your lineman go down in preseason. My grade C+.

1st Blog

So, I recently was talking with my cousin Tamir Sugarman about the upcomming NFL draft. I told him my views on certain players. About a week later there was an article on Yahoo! that seemed to quote everything I said. Tamir joked that I should start a blog. Originally I laughed, but then I figured, what the hell? If it doesn't work out, I'll stop blogging. I intend on writing about whatever sport I recently read up on or watched. I am very open to feedback and will gladly accept criticism. Oh and another thing, I don't intend on being grammtically correct nor do I plan on spelling every word correctly. (Just thought I would make a little disclaimer.)

There are two items I would like to discuss. One is the Bears. The second is the Blackhawks.

The first thing about the Bears I want to talk about is the trade rumors for Anquan Boldin. Boldin is a phenomenal wide receiver who will immediately turn the Bears from a playoff contender to potential Super Bowl contender. Jay Cutler needs a proven wide receiver with real game experience and we all see that Devin Hester is clearly not the #1 they said he could be. I see a lot of upside for Earl Bennett but I don't think making a guy who didn't have a ball thrown to him all last year our #1 is a very good idea. However, the Bears are afraid of guys who may be a problem in the locker room or a problem with the coaches. Also, they no longer have a first or second round pick meaning, Arizona probably isn't interested in what the Bears have to offer. Although Boldin is definately worth almost anything/anyone the Bears have, don't expect this trade to go through. With that being said, I think the Bears made a good decision when they traded the 49th pick overall to Seattle for their 3rd round pick, 68th overall and their 4th round pick 105th overall. The Bears now have nine picks on Sunday, with two in Rounds 3 (68 and 99), 4 (105 and 119), 5 (140 and 154) and one in Round 6 (190) and two again in round 7 (246 and 251). Look for the Bears to draft a defensive back then wide receiver in round 3.

I just finished watching/listening the Blackhawks rout of the Calgary Flames and let me just say...finally!! For the first time this whole series the Blackhawks actually looked like the team that earned the 4th seed. But here is the catch, game 6 is in Calgary at the very loud and very crazy saddledome. If the Blackhawks want to be considered a serious conteder they must and I repeat MUST win game 6. You cannot let the Flames hang around and you definately don't want to be in a sudden death game 7. Lets win game 6, get those extra days of rest and start preparing for round 2.