nitetrain8601

I guess that game was proof why Gordon sucks so much.

QUOTE(Jordan4life_2006 @ Mar 4, 2006 -> 03:52 PM) LeMarcus Aldridge. LaMarcus. A instead of E.

I say he gets injured in games 3 of 4. Apparently I'm not the only one.

QUOTE(Dick Allen @ Mar 4, 2006 -> 08:28 AM) Larry Bird and Magic Johnson weren't particularly known for their defensive prowess. Gordon isn't a very good defensive player, but he has improved. His offensive game is at times, unbelievable. Unless he's going in a trade or as part of a trade for a guy like Garnett, I hope the Bulls keep him. If I was Pax, there is no way I would trade him for Pierce. As for the draft, the Bulls certainly need some big players, and definitely need someone who can score on the block. But, I think it is still imperative they draft the best player on the board when they pick. You can get the other guys in FA or trades, and trades seem to be the way Pax is leaning right now. It is an extreme example and one that most likely does not apply to this draft or most drafts, but Portland probably cost itself several championships drafting a need instead of the best player in 1984. In 2 or 3 seasons when hopefully the Bulls are ready to contend for a championship, the glut at certain positions works itself out. It wasn't too long ago the Bulls had too many PF. I agree and I think Pax thinks the same as well.

QUOTE(LowerCaseRepublican @ Mar 3, 2006 -> 06:06 AM) Unofficial St. Patrick's Day is about as accurate at portraying the Irish as if...say, I put on blackface, ate fried chicken and watermelon and then washed it down with a forty in a brown paper bag while calling it Unofficial Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I have chosen not to partake in Unofficial. This is on account of my being neither a virulent racist nor an imbecile so obsessed with finding excuses for inebriation that I am able to shun the analytical thoughts emanating from either my conscience or neocortex. Sporting events are worthy of strong drink. Celebrating one's birthday is likewise a legitimate excuse, if one so desires it. But of course herein lies the problem that people feel the need for a REASON. It is as if a life-threatening and brain-curdling twelve-hour binge miraculously becomes good for a person if he or she puts on a silly green hat and customized single-use t-shirt and does it with thousands of other undergrad sheep. Allow me to give credit to today's celebrants who also believe that Chief Illiniwek is an honorable symbol of Native American culture. At least they are consistent in their views. I, of course, see the Chief as offensive to some but completely harmless in any real terms. If it goes, too bad. It's kind of cool. If it stays, too bad. Some people will still be offended. I would love to poll the Unofficial drinkers on their Chief position. Do I expect to find unanimity? Heck no. I blindly guarantee that a significant percentage of these people will say that the Chief needs to go because it is racist. These people are hypocrites, and need to be labeled such. This is the charming part of the bourgeois liberalism that lurks in the GOP-gerrymandered Congressional districts that turn nearly every American urban metropolis into a blue bullseye on a map. As long as it doesn't affect me, my expensive clothes, my cheap gasoline for my expensive SUV and my cheaply bottled Coca-Cola Classic that together comprise a trip to an Illini sporting event, then I am up in arms. But as soon as they try to take away justification for Mickey Mantle-level favoritism on the liver transplant list, then they have gone too far. But have I, in declaring Unofficial St. Patrick's Day an ignorant and racist celebration, gone too far? I believe not. Allow me to provide a quick history of the legitimate St. Patrick's Day. St. Patrick's day is the feast day of Patrick, patron saint of Ireland, the excluded, and protector from snakes (for much of the past half millennium, the first category fit nicely into the second). He converted Ireland to Christianity from paganism and became Bishop of Ireland. This move allowed the Irish monasteries to preserve literacy and much of Western history during the era of the Viking invasions of the late Middle Ages. The legends of Patrick claim that he drove snakes from Ireland (understood now as symbolism for paganism) and used the three-pointed shamrock to explain to the most powerful Irish chieftain the Trinity: the tri-part nature of God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Over time, St. Patrick's Day has been transformed from a traditional Catholic feast day into a secular holiday celebrating Irish heritage and culture. Dublin, Ireland, has an annual cultural festival that attracts thousands of people from all over the country and Europe. American cities with large Irish populations, such as New York City, Boston and Chicago have parades. Chicago dyes the Chicago River green (they do so fine a job it stays that way year-round). But this international celebration of Irish culture has been expanded beyond this secular celebration. Granted, the wearing of the green has been accompanied by the drinking of the ale, but the sense of community fostered by this celebration has been demeaned by the perpetrators of this cultural travesty called Unofficial into obnoxiously oafish drunkenness with no socially or culturally redeeming value. Phrases like "Kiss me; I'm Irish" are found everywhere on T-shirts. Non-Irish-Americans and Irish-Americans alike buy into the idea that Everybody's Irish on St. Patrick's Day. While this view could easily take the form of solidarity with downtrodden and oppressed people the world over - donations of money and used possessions to charities or donations of time at soup kitchens or homeless shelters - people (both Irish and not) attach the Irish culture to a simple 4-letter word: beer. Everyone is Irish, so everyone is an obnoxious drunk. They envision Ireland as a nation of alcoholic leprechauns and nothing more. They do this not on St. Patrick's day proper (although I'm sure many do that day, as well), but on an arbitrary, convenient day. Can I blame people for consuming alcohol? No. But thousands of people are carrying out negative stereotypes of the Irish with absolutely no regard for what they are doing. It honestly hurts to see my heritage spat on by thousands of people for the sole purpose of consuming green beer. Irish history is rich and complex, transforming from tribal chiefdoms into thirty-two counties separated into a nation of twenty-six and a captive country of six by British delusions about remaining an empire. People here know basically nothing about Irish history. It's all about the shamrocks, crosses and alcohol. These people wouldn't even be worthy enough to carry Bobby Sands' H-Blocks-issue blanket if they even knew who he was and what he did. Culture to these racists is "f**goty" dancing, not beautiful rebel songs that simultaneously warm the heart and stir the soul. Check out the Wolfe Tones performing "A Nation Once Again," "Joe McDonnell," "The Wearing of the Green" and "Come Out Ye Black and Tans" if you don't believe me. My concern here is St. Patrick's Day as an Irish heritage day, much as Columbus Day and Pulaski Day, respectively, represent Italian and Polish pride days. What Unofficial and its thousands of participants convey as being "Irish" or "Irish-American" is tantamount to celebrating an Unofficial Martin Luther King Day on which thousands of students would smear their faces with black grease paint and proceed to wash down their fried chicken and watermelon with a forty-ounce bottle of malt liquor concealed in a brown paper bag. This is not representative of African-American culture. What it is, however, is an abysmal manifestation of our inward unhealth as a society: this crowd of mutant locusts prefers to reinforce stereotypes that demean a minority population at the cost of reifying falsehoods and ignoring countless contributions. Of course Unofficial MLK Day couldn't fly, even if done with the utmost sincerity. Irish is white, so Irish doesn't count. A leprauchan mascot causes much less division than an Aztec warrior or Plains Chief. It's the way it is. I'm not asking for Unofficial to be forcibly shut down. People should be free to do as they please. I'm not being physically harmed by these drunkards (excluding the potential of drunk driving accidents). It's a mental strain, but that's my issue. That's why I'm ranting here as opposed to in the middle of Green Street, yelling, "Come out ye black-and-tans / come out and fight me like a man / show your wife how you won medals down in Flanders / Tell her how the IRA made you run like hell away / From the green and lovely lanes of Killeshandra." If you're Irish, or at least have a bit of an understanding of what the history is all about, then you know what I'm talking about. I know that it might be asking a bit much, but stop being so self-serving and ignorant. Green beer is a fine part of St. Patrick's Day. It goes along with the corned beef, boiled cabbage and homemade soda bread you should be eating with your family after the parade. When you're going to partake in a racist, essentializing day of selfish hedonism (This is America, after all. For most people, it is a when question, not an if.), at least perform a little favor for the people whose ancestors' graves you are publically pissing on. Learn something. Anything. Find out about Patrick, Bishop of Ireland. Research the history of the Republican movement. Congratulations, by the way, to Sinn Fein, as it is this year turning one hundred years old. Learn about the hunger strikes. The British oppression. The proposed razing of the Irish table in favor of restarting it with "civilized" British blood. The experience of Irish immigrants to America and what they faced here upon arrival. Something. Anything. Give my ancestors some respect before you go out and piss and puke all over their memory. That was possibly the greatest post I've ever witnessed on these boards.

QUOTE(fathom @ Mar 3, 2006 -> 02:30 PM) Yes, I watch every game, and the team you listed earlier with Hinrich, Deng, Chandler, Noc, etc. would be a great team if scoring wasn't important. Gordon might have a lot of weaknesses on the court. However, one of his greatest strengths has been his clutch performances at the end of games. I'm sick and f***ing tired of seeing Hinrich not come through at the end of games. He's the pro version of Chris Quinn. Great for 95 pct of the game, but downright pathetic for the final 5 pct of the game. Thank you. Defense keeps you in games, offense is needed to win them. Or has there been a team in basketball history that I don't know about that has won by the score of 0-0?

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 3, 2006 -> 09:41 AM) If Duhon was so much better at running the offense, why isn't he the starting PG. I'm not going to say anything else though. Obviously we differ on opinon way too much. You dislike Kirk and dont' think he's any good. I don't. I don't think he sucks and I think he's a quality player, but he gets overrated alot for "trying." And Duhon isn't starting right now because the Bulls want as many scorers on the floor to start the game. Gordon takes pressure off of KH believe it or not. Duhon could be a starter for at least half the teams in the league though.

Felix Hernandez or Delmon Young

QUOTE(Chisoxfn @ Mar 3, 2006 -> 12:20 AM) I would agree with that. I don't like that play going to Noc, but it looked as if the play was drawn up for Gordon to curl around and Noc to give him the ball, but for some reason Gordon started coming to Noc and than curled the other way, leaving Noc on his own. He was kind of stunned. I still think Hinrich is far more clutch than anyone gives him credit for. People look at a last second shot, but he's often the guy who all of a sudden starts whooping ass in the 3rd and 4th quarter while bringing the Bulls back into the game. What ticked me off was there was a stretch of a few minutes in the 4th where Kirk was just handing it to the Cavs, whether it was driving in and stopping and popping a jumper or driving and kicking it to Songalia or someone else. But than Skiles brings in Duhon and that f*** holds the ball. I just don't like the way Duhon runs the offense when compared to Kirk. Duh does a solid job running offenses, but Kirk is one of the best pg's in the biz when it comes to that standpoint and when he's just been whooping ass they should be milking it and going with it. Duhon can't work pick and rolls cause he can't shoot for s*** so why when the pick and roll is working so well do you take the ball out of Hinrich's hand and put it in Duh's while moving Hinrich to the oft guard spot. That I'll never know. I love Skiles, but I just dont' like how he takes the ball out of Kirk's hands. Like fathom said, Kirk is great in helping bring the team back, but he completely chokes in the clutch. He misses FT's, layups, or does something that screams choke. I also think Duhon runs the offense much better than Kirk. That's the only reason he gets PT. Kirk is good at getting his own shots, but he still can't make a post entry feed(hasn't been good at that since high school) and the offense is a stalemate for the most part when he's on the floor moreso than it is for Duhon.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 08:50 PM) My point is that comparing Chris Paul to Mayo is very odd. Paul has always been a pure point guard. Paul is a slight 6' pure PG that gambles on defense, but comes up with steals. Mayo is a 6'4 and growing combo guard that plays PG on his high school team because he also happens to be the best ballhandler and passer on his squad. Mayo has ridiculous athletecism and finishes plays above the rim unlike Paul. Mayo loves to take his game outside, while Paul drives most plays. Mayo will not play PG at the pro level, he's way too special of a scorer to have that taken away by having him distribute the ball to others. He's the kind of special talent that will come into the league as a rookie at the 2G spot and average 20+ppg. He's similar to Chris Paul in that he has played PG for his team, and he can put the ball in the hole, otherwise their games are completely different. I bet you any amount of cash that he plays PG in the league.

QUOTE(Felix @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 07:01 PM) I'm talking about Iverson, not Bowen. In that case, I could see a case for him making the team and not making the team. I mean he doesn't play defense anymore but on the otherhand, he really wants to play for Team USA and is a very talented player.

QUOTE(Rowand44 @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 07:50 PM) That's great, we'll see what happens then but don't say he's not a good shooter when he clearly is. As of now he's a perfect fit for team, you can't just assume he's going to slow down in 2 years when he clearly hasn't yet. That's what happens with almost all perimeter players though. They just suddenly one year hit a wall where they struggle. Gary Payton was the same way. He was still a good player when with Milwaukee/Seattle and the next year with LA, he just started to stink.

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 07:17 PM) That is ridiculous analysis. Lets see here. Daniel Horton scored as many points as Chris Paul in high school, and is 3 inches taller, therefore he must be a better version of OJ Mayo, I'll inform the scouts. By the way, Paul scored 61 in a game, not 63, it was for his grandfather who was slain at 61 years old. How is it ridiculous? I even gave evidence to back it up. They're the same player. I don't know why you want to acknowledge that fact. And I'm sorry, 61 points. All I know is it was for his grandfather and he had a chance for 62, but missed a FT to commerate his grandfather. I also don't get your Daniel Horton comment at all. Daniel Horton doesn't have the ball-handling or passing skills of a Chris Paul or OJ Mayo. He could score possibly better than both though. And he was never as touted as Mayo and Paul for a reason. Maybe I'm missing something here.

QUOTE(SSH2005 @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 06:33 PM) Does Diaw make a few shots, not rebound, and play zero defense? If so, yes. Diaw actually does it all. He was originally a SG and they have him starting at C IIRC. He's a real nice player. Anyway Thomas will fit in right with the Suns. I rather have kept him though and let him rot. He still gets his cash from the Bulls as long as he goest west, plus the cash he's going to get from the Suns and is going to be playing in the playoffs this year.

QUOTE(Steff @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 06:46 PM) Frank was not invited. Yet, former players have been. If it was KW's idea and you know anyone who speaks to him, tell him I love him but to go screw himself. You don't invite everyone back, but not the team's greatest player ever. I don't care how much of a jackass he acts like.

QUOTE(Felix @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 05:49 PM) Has he shown any hint of slowing down? He will. I'm with sleepy on this one.

Also here's scout.com's profile of OJ to backup my claims:

QUOTE(Palehosefan @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 04:53 PM) lol come on, thats like saying, "The sky is blue, but I guess my finger is never going to heal". Chris Paul and OJ Mayo are completely different players, different styles, different sizes, and different games. Paul has been a true PG all his life, and he's barely 6'. OJ Mayo has played alot of SG in his career, but plays some point for his high school team because he's their best ballhandler and passer as well as scorer. If Mayo had a true PG on his team, he would move to the 2G slot with Walker flanking him at the SF role. But they don't. Uh the analogy doesn't fit at all. Both are scoring PG's. Or did you not know about Chris Paul's 63 point game in high school? They're both the same player, but OJ is supposed to be better. Paul has been a scoring PG with great passing skills his whole life, just like OJ. I guess you really haven't followed Paul or Mayo throughout their careers though.

How about a recap on the game.

QUOTE(iWiN4PreP @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 04:15 PM) I LOVED triple play baseball, for ps1. The extreme homerun challenge in that game was incredible Triple Play was MVP before the name was changed to MVP. Of course they did some big stuff to the engine.

QUOTE(Be Good @ Feb 28, 2006 -> 11:19 PM) Long term this would be terrible for teams like Indy. The rich owners would benefit more if there was no cap: Cowboys, Redskins, Seahawks, Giants, Dolphins and of course many more

Jon Garland's throwing motion isn't right and he has high socks in that game from what I saw on the video.

QUOTE(greasywheels121 @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 01:06 PM) I really don't want to see another thread go sour because of people harping on the Frank situation; but the A's have a game the day of the ring ceremony. That makes it less realistic for him to even be invited. Didn't a couple of players who showed up in Boston have games that day?

Happy Birthday Man. I hope it goes well.

QUOTE(whitesoxfan101 @ Mar 1, 2006 -> 12:31 PM) If the Bulls draft Adam Morrison, I might cry. If they take Morrison over Aldridge, I'll consider finding a new team. You wouldn't be the only one.