Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

As I am sure most of you WRASSLIN’ fans are aware of, WWE Network is free without any strings for this week. I would have to say that this is a good move on Vince McMahon’s part because all you need is an email address and to see what the Network is all about.

In the first two days of this free stream, I haven’t done much at work.

This thing is pretty cool. I fear though, like the person who quoted it as more addictive than meth, that if I were to subscribe for the six months, I would literally get nothing done at work. My lawn would never get mowed. My dishes would never be washed. I would turn on my laptop or Playstation 4 and just watch it all day. That’s how it is. It’s not just the free pay-per-views or the throwback shows that they have during the afternoon. The original programming is pretty good as well with the Countdown and WrestleMania Rewinds. There are real-life documentaries and stories that the wrestlers tell (It’s steal real to me damnit!).

And for you old folks out there, WWE Network has started adding the special events at Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum in the 1980’s. In addition, quite a few epsidoes from Saturday Night’s Main Event in the 1980’s are on here too. And don’t forget probably one of the best matches from that decade with Savage vs. Steamboat at Wrestlemania. The last event that I really enjoyed was Summerslam 1994 which was the first event held at the United Center. Walter Payton and his son were in Scott Hall’s corner as he won the Intercontinental Championship against Diesel.

It’s absolutely worth the $10 a month. With the streaming sites that I currently use, the pay-per-views aren’t in the best quality when streaming and only the original shows are on-demand. Yes, it’s still free for that but the Network has, of course, way more content. I think it’s really neat to see myself at 15 years old cheering on Hulk Hogan as he made his return with the nWo in Rockford on an old episode of Smackdown! compared to the streaming site where I can barely see myself because of the quality.

So if you get it, consider yourself warned. You will be hooked.

Happy Fourth of July everybody.

I know. I am sounding like a broken record. Every year, I make this argument of what the point being, in the Bulls drafting players. When it’s all said and done, it doesn’t matter. Why? Because there is an idiot, who impersonates a head coach, that is at the helm of this team.

In any sport, when a team drafts players (especially ones that are high in the rounds), they usually picked to contribute right away. If not, then there is really no point in doing it. With the NFL, teams get players that are ready to go. When it comes to the NBA, first round picks are suppose to be ready to go and if not, they are usually the ones that play overseas and they wait for cap purposes. Fine with me.

When it comes to the Bulls, neither of those options apply. It’s either stay overseas and do nothing with the pick (Nikola Mirotic) or, draft players and have them sit on the bench until they are traded or released (Marquis Teague, Erik Murphy).

Let’s take a look at all of the draft picks since ThomASS came into the fold, shall we?

2010: Kevin Seraphin (Traded), Jerome Jordan (Traded)

2011: Norris Cole (Traded to the Heat), Jimmy Butler, Malcom Lee (Who?), Nikola Mirotic (Still playing in Spain)

2012: Marquis Teague (Never played – Traded)

2013: Tony Snell (Barely plays), Erik Murphy (Never played – Released)

Now, here we are with 2014. The three geniuses known as Gar Forman, John Paxson and Tom Thibodeau, decided to trade their two draft picks to the Nuggets in exchange for Doug McDermott, current player Anthony Randolph and a future second-round pick. Before I get to McDermott, let me preface by saying that Randolph will cost the Bulls $1.8 million and there is a rule with this type of trade that says the Bulls can’t trade him for 60 days.

With McDermott, I like him as a player. I think he’s a solid shooter and one who could have played in a bigger conference. That doesn’t matter anymore. And not because he’s in the NBA now. But because ThomASS is still here and he will only get on the court during warmups. You can count on the only draft pick above that has actually played to get all of the time in the court. Jimmy Butler will, once again, be on the court for 45 minutes a game. The “experts” will continue to talk about how he needs to play better despite these “experts” not having any clue that the reason he isn’t as good as he should be is because he never gets time to rest. As always with the Bulls, when the playoffs roll around, their legs will be Jello.

So, go ahead. Agree or disagree. I’ve been right all of these years. With Rose’s two bad knees, Noah’s two bad feet and Butler’s Jello legs, the window for this team (whether Carmelo arrives or not), is closing very quickly. So what’s the solution to keep the window open for another year or two?

Fire Tom Thibodeau and replace him with someone who has half of a consciousness.

Have at it, folks.

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.