Last year, it was Deb Placey. Now, it’s Kathryn Tappen who joined the NHL Network at the beginning of the season. She came from NESN in Boston where she hosted Bruins pre/post game shows. Now, she hosts NHL On The Fly as well as NHL Tonight on the network. I have to say as with Deb who is still my #1, I am impressed. Long blonde hair, awesome smile and an excellent rack. The best part about all of this? The woman knows her hockey and that’s the most beautiful thing.

Kudos to the NHL Network for not just hiring two babes, but two babes who know what they are talking about.

For the recap of Smackdown, click here.

For everyone else, fire away. Have a good week folks.

Tonight will be a very meaningful night for yours truly. It is Smackdown! live on SyFy tonight at the Metro Centre in Rockford. This means a lot because it was ten years and two days to the date, that I attended my first ever wrestling event which was ironically, WWF Smackdown! at the Metro Centre.

I will have a recap over at Falls Count Anywhere as well as some pictures in the next day or two. So for you wrestling fans, you can check it out. I will have two signs for tonight. Look for “Larry Horse wants ice cream” or the infamous “Put Some Pants On” and you will know who it is. Until then, enjoy this video that someone posted of me many years ago.

too many sheeple

…and Springtime will follow; as it has every year since 1908, the last time the Cubs won a World Series. Do any of us dare to BELIEVE that the Cubs could win it all soon…or at least before we’re all dead and gone? (baaaah baaaaahh baaaaaaaahh)

I’ve been following the Cubs for 44 years or so, but my patience is wearing thin. While not claiming to be a sports expert or the next Bukowski, I have no trouble spotting mediocrity a mile away and am happy to comment on it. I’d rather comment on excellence, of course…perhaps Theo can be a catalyst for positive change. Wait a minute, he already is…he unloaded Lil’ Z!

Thank You, Fro for starting and keeping this site going after “bobbyd” disappeared and the original firedustybaker.com vanished (overnight), several years ago. And thanks for inviting me to contribute…work is really picking up so my posts could be few and far between, at least for awhile. But I’ll do my best as possible to spark some conversation, debates, rants, and the like…and to not be PATHETIC.

9

It’s not often I tune in to Chicago Tribune Live. Usually, I am at work during this time so the TV stays on some news channel or ESPN. On Friday however, I was pushed over the edge from watching this show and I now, feel dumber.

Why you may ask? Because long time Chicago sports talk show “host” David Kaplan hosts this show and has convinced me he nor his colleagues know nothing about sports.

I am going to take a guess and say that K(r)aplan decides who appears on this show. When I tuned in the past, I saw idiots (majority of them from the Tribune) such as David Haugh whom I wrote this article about a little over a year ago about how much of an idiot he is. Other morons who appear on that show to talk about subjects they have little or no knowledge of are Paul Sullivan, Phil Rogers and Teddy Greenstein. On Friday, the wonderful round-table included a guy named “Frankie-O” who happens to be a bartender at Harry Carry’s Restaurant. Supposedly, this guy is on at least once a week to “discuss” sports. Forget the rest of the issues but isn’t this show suppose to have columnists and talk show hosts who actually know what they are talking about? Instead, they bring a bartender in.

David K(r)aplan: Congratulations. You have reached a level stupidity next to every sports “writer” in the Chicago Tribune. Bravo to Comcast SportsNet as well for allowing  some viewers to make their ears bleed. I should just go back to listening to The Score at work like I use to do many years ago.

I was doing my best to try it take it easy this year on my teams but to be honest, I FEEL like I have reached a tipping point.

1. I figured on Sunday, I was going to sit and watch the Bulls run over another team. Too bad the Boston Celtics are not the Charlotte Bobcats. If you check the wins and losses of this year, you will see that the Bulls are merely a .500 team when they actually play teams that are competitive. The Bulls lost by four but it wasn’t even that close. Just like the game against the Heat two weeks ago, it was a Sunday afternoon and National Television and the Bulls never saw the lead. The Bulls couldn’t even tie the game after it was 4-4 early on. If people think that this team is any good at all needs their head checked. They once again, lost this game because of stupid turnovers and missed free throws (seven to be exact). Other teams can miss a bunch and find a way to win like the Celtics did. The Bulls also couldn’t make a shot to save their life. They were down 14 in the final minutes and somehow came back to get within three. What happens next? C.J. Fucking Watson throws up a wild three-point shot with plenty of time left on the clock and misses horribly. That guy is fucking horrible and I don’t care what anybody else says. He throws up dumb shots and has a low basketball I.Q. I wish someone would hit him square in the face with a basketball. He has no business being in the NBA.

Then there’s Carlos Boozer. The Bulls are better off on defense with just four guys rather than Boozer joining them. He plays zero defense. He stands three feet away from whoever he is guarding then when someone is actually close to him, he doesn’t even bother to stick one of his hands up in attempt to play defense. Next up is Kyle Korver. This fucking idiot can have one outstanding game where he hits everything in site. Then for the next five games, he’ll make one out of every ten shots.

For the second year in a row, I will say this: The Bulls aren’t going to contend for an NBA Championship. They have too many flaws and they are now hurt in the process. Unless a miracle is out there where they all of a sudden learn how to make free throws and not be so shitty overall, they will continue to be the Orlando Magic. That’s it for me.

By the way, the 2012 Chicago Blackhawks are starting to remind me of the 2006 Chicago Blackhawks. Not good.

For the zero wrestling fans here, I would like to thank Sarah from Falls Count Anywhere for letting me on board to talk wrestling on her site. I will have articles on there from time to time. I have taken this site and made it the darkest corner on the internet. I promise not to disappoint over there.

Feel free to add whatever else is on your mind.

1. The Chicago Bears hired Jeremy Bates to be their quarterbacks coach. Fire Jerry Angelo reader Joe has been lobbying for Bates to be hired in these last few months and he has received his wish. I think we all should be happy that this happened. It’s letting us know that Jay Cutler is the one calling the shots and that’s the way it should be. The combination of Jeremy Bates and Mike Tice taking care of this offense is fine by me. Now, it’s about new Bears general manager Phil Emery listening to Cutler and the coaches about who they should bring in as far as talent is concerned. Not to beat a dead horse, but for whatever year in a row, the Bears need help on offensive line as well as the wide receivers. Then defense is whole other story with them needing a linebacker, cornerback and safety. These problems have been piling over the years and may not all get resolved in one offseason. It’s all up to Emery now come the draft in April. Whatever is left over for needs after the draft can be taken care of with proper free-agent signings or trades.

2. I was doing my best to let this next topic go but I couldn’t help it. Keith Bogans Bogus has pissed me off again. When I heard he was signed by the Nets last week, I simply thought “good for him.” Now, this sorry excuse for a professional basketball player decided to piss and moan about the Bulls releasing him before the start of the season. The sorry excuse for a professional basketball player said that getting released by the Bulls was a “slap in the face”.

You know what’s a slap in the face Keith? When you are a starting shooting guard for the Chicago Bulls for all 82 games, yet you only scored like three points a game. Maybe if you actually scored more points, the Bulls wouldn’t have released you. Besides, Richard Hamilton hurt is better than you healthy. Dickhead.

Your thoughts in the comments section.

What a game. I was rooting for the Patriots because I really wanted Tom Brady to get his fourth ring and it is fun watching him. Wes Welker really fucked things up by not catching that wide open pass before the Giants took over for the eventual game-winning drive. But no one can doubt Eli Manning anymore. The guy gets it done and now, has more rings than his brother. The game was deja-vu from the first Super Bowl match up in 2008. The Giants like in 2008, barely reach the playoffs and flat out dominated in the playoffs on their way to another Super Bowl title.

I once again can point to why this makes the Chicago Bears franchise even more embarrassing. For the Giants, Tom Coughlin was on the hot seat and was probably going to get fired in 2008. The same can be said for this year. I believe he was in his last year of his contract in both seasons and yet, takes his team to the Super Bowl both times and wins them. Lovie Smith on the other hand, continues to fail miserably and still gets to keep his job. I am only praying that new Bears general manager Phil Emery cans Lovie if he does not win the Super Bowl next season. If Lovie Smith was in Tom Coughlin’s position and failed in 2008, he would have been searching for another job right after.

Here’s to changes at Halas Hall. Feel free to add your thoughts on the game and anything Bears.