Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

I have a lot to say and I am sure I will forget some stuff, but seeing the San Antonio Spurs win their fifth championship in 15 years puts a smile on my face. At the same time, I am a very jealous person. Maybe that’s how fans of other team’s felt about us in the 90’s with the Bulls winning. Last year, the Spurs had made one bad decision or two in Game 6 that ultimately, led to defeat of both, that game and the next. The Heat took advantage of it. Fair enough.

Any other team that fucked up like they did (the Bulls, specifically) would have never recovered.

This year, they didn’t let it get to them. They continued to do what they do best and faced the Heat again; this time, wiping the floor with them. Every victory was by at least, 15 points. And guess what? They didn’t blow any of those leads. They played defense, they didn’t give many second chance points and, surprise surprise, they made their free throws. But what makes me jealous the most about the Spurs in the last 15 years?

They have a head coach who actually knows how to coach and one who cares about the health of his players.

Any other coach with these guys and their window for a championship closes five years ago. You can look at the ages (Duncan – 38, Parker – 32, Ginobli – 36) and you would think, “No way. They’re too old”. Fuck, even I thought that a while back, especially since they hadn’t won since 2007. Even last year, I thought they were done and that they wouldn’t bounce back.

Gregg Popovich is one of the top five coaches of all time. Because of him actually knowing how to manage minutes for his players (giving nights off, limiting players’ minutes throughout the regular season, using his entire bench, etc.), they have been able to win five titles in 15 years. They should have had one more but I digress.

Popovich has always done this and more frequently, in the last five or six years, which has propelled the Spurs to two chances to win a championship.

But see? We, as fans of the Bulls can only dream of a coach who is half as decent as Popovich. Instead, we are stuck with a moronic, PATHETIC individual who disguises himself as a head coach. This man, disguised as a head coach, only plays six or seven guys and plays them so much, that they rack up high minutes and injuries which they don’t recover from. When his team is up or down 30, he takes the starters out and let’s the bench play the remaining part of the game.

The Spurs have a real head coach and that pisses me off.  The Spurs have a real head coach who takes players that no one has ever heard of and turns them into an NBA Finals MVP. He takes players, who should have been finished years ago and continues to get them to play their best basketball when it matters the most. He knows the entire point of an NBA season (a marathon, not a sprint). The players don’t ask for breaks and they don’t want them, but Popovich reminds them not verbally, but mentally, that they may lose a battle (a regular season game in January) but the objective is to win the war (NBA championship).

I wish the Bulls were half of what the Spurs are.

ANGRY!

Just like last year, the Blackhawks find themselves on the brink of elimination against the Kings. A lot of internet folks and “experts” said that the Blackhawks were going to win this series. They win the first game. In the second, they dominated until late in the second period. Then, the wheels fell off. They lost that one. And the one after that. And the one after that also.

Just like last year at this time, I wish they would play the games on paper.

I’ll be the first to admit, that personally, I’ve been spoiled. Growing up with this team and watching them get tortured in the 90’s by teams like the Red Wings and Avalanche frustrated me. It was me loving players like Jeremy Roenick, Chris Chelios (asshole), Ed Belfour and later, Tony Amonte and Eric Daze. They didn’t win anything. I wasn’t happy but still, too young to be pissed off. Then, came the dreadful early to mid-2000’s. It was torture once again with bags of dicks such as Alexander Karpotsev, Jocelyn Thibault and Martin LaPointe.

The 2007-2008 season arrives and so does the demise of the old man himself, Bill Wirtz. Rocky takes over. Dale Tallon gives a eulogy speech at the home opener and gets booed by the crowd. Fast forward to 2010, here’s a Cup. Last year, have another. All of a sudden, people are saying that the Blackhawks are going to run the town like the Bulls did in the 90’s. That’s fine by me.

So here are the Blackhawks down 3-1 for the second year in a row. With the playoffs this year, comebacks aren’t rare. I said this in the previous series and I will say it again. If any team can make this type of comeback, it’s the Blackhawks. They’ve done it before. If they don’t want to face criticism about how high expectations were by losing all of these games because they couldn’t stay out of the penalty box, then they will win three in a row and advance to the Stanley Cup Final.

For the love of God, please win three in a row.

The floor is yours.

Just when most thought that the Blackhawks would roll through the Wild like they did last year, now, some may be worrying. I am not panicking yet concerned would be the right word. The wheels have come off in these last two games. The Blackhawks and Wild were scoreless going into the third period of Game Three, only to fall apart. Game Four arrives and they were completely outplayed from the start. The Wild score and the Blackhawks responded back two different times to tie it. Then, the Wild pull away right after.

The Blackhawks have been in this position two different times under Joel Quenneville and they came back to win the series both times. The first time coming in 2009 in the first round against the Flames. The Blackhawks won the first two, lost the next two on the road and then came back to win the last two. The second time was in 2010 in the Final against the Flyers. Won the first two home, lose the next two on the road and proceed to win the next two, ultimately leading to the Cup.

If any team can do it again, it’s the Blackhawks.

The Draft is upon us. This Thursday will be the beginning of a weekend of putting the final pieces together in what seems to be a very promising season for our boys at Halas Hall.

We’ve stressed here long enough on what the Bears need to do. We already know the offensive line is stacked with the draft picks from last year and the signing of Brian De La Puente from the Saints last month. He will be Roberto Garza’s backup just in case. This gives the team assurance that the line is ready to go again without having to spend any more draft picks.

So here are the Bears with seven picks to go. Do they trade down to get more or do they stay where they are at?

This won’t be about who you want them to take necessarily, but what positions? I’ve said for quite a while, that with seven picks, the first four should consist of (in order), a defensive tackle, cornerback, linebacker and running back. What positions should they take with the remaining three?

Discuss.

CS, Glenn Jacobs seems to be alright. I think he’s been in that position before. What happened last night at the pay-per-view last night reminded me when I was at Wrestlemania 22 when Edge speared Mick Foley with both going through the burning table. A “Match of The Year” candidate with The Shield vs. Evolution also took place. It was much better than when The Shield vs. The Wyatt Family match at Elimination Chamber in February.

So can someone tell me how the Wizards had at least five offensive rebounds in the last two minutes of this game? How about morons like Jimmy Butler and Mr. Defensive Player of the year missing point-blank layups? Oh, what’s that? They’re tired? What you mean, they’re tired? Don’t they ever get a break?

I didn’t think so.

The countdown to the firing of Tom Thibodeau begins. Please God, let it be soon. Like this week.