Andy

I don't. That bastard Squeaky ruined my bracket by single-handedly knocking UK out a couple of years ago. UAB won. Wow. I'd think that pretty much kills Memphis's #1 seed.

Without Hughes, you are probably right. But with Hughes, I can see us playing as good as anyone. He makes such a difference. Defensively, offensively, etc. That we can both agree on. We learned this in the 2005 first-round playoff series. :(

Speaking of which, Flames, I was wrong about DePaul being eliminated from Big East tourney contention. They can get in if they beat ND on Saturday (please don't) and Providence loses to Marquette on Saturday (likely).

What I really hope is that MLB.com's Top Plays archive stops shorting out and showing only video frames and not video after about 12 seconds into the highlight, as I noticed was going on today.

has to be over 10, probably closer to 15 games. Absolutely sick how we have blown so many games this year. and btw, I hate the Cavs a lot too..not on the level of the Knicks and Pistons, but they are up there. Mostly because of the bandwagon Cavs "fans" at my school. LeBron gets way too much star treatment too, another thing that definitely turns me off from the NBA. I also don't like how pretty much every one of their games is on network TV just because of LeBron. Hello, we made the playoffs last year and I can count the number of network games that we have had this year on one hand. Something is not right with that. Actually, we've had a fair few national games this year. More than I expected actually considering we still don't really have a "star", and the NBA's TV schedule pretty much revolves around LeBron, T-Mac, Kobe, Carmelo, the Pistons, Shaq/Wade, and AI.

I only hate the Knicks and Cavs. Knicks because they have so many unlikable ex-Bulls on the team, and Cavs because I can't stand how much leeway the refs give LeBron. I can only imagine how irritating it would be to play against Kobe more than twice a year with the calls he gets either.

While I understand your frustration, it is impossible to say that they would have won the game with that shot.Maybe not but points are points and that should've been called. I refuse to blame the refs for these things though: - Un-clutch FT shooting by Gordon and Hinrich - Nocioni becoming brainless at the end of games - Skiles not drawing up a play for Gordon to get the ball right away (not off a stupid two-pass) - Flip Murray inexplicably shooting the best 3-pointer of his life when it comes late in the game down 2 to the Bulls

I could be wrong, but I think they're eliminated already.

The fact that the Bulls are shooting like 20 percent might have something to do with it too.

Didn't Detroit trade for a star in Wallace, well after he was developed, to put them over the top from perennial eastern bridesmaid to championship team? Anyway, I just think the Bulls chances depend on when they are able to find somebody else's superstar, because they don't seem to have one, or the ability to develop one (how many top 10 picks have they had since the dynasty broke up?). 1999: Elton Brand (netted Tyson Chandler) They also picked Artest in the first round that year who was eventually moved along with Brad Miller in the Jalen Rose deal. Oops. 2000: Marcus Fizer, Jamal Crawford, Dalibor Bagaric all first-rounders. Three misses. 2001: Eddy Curry (got us Sweetney, Thomas and a slew of draft picks) 2002: Jay Williams (I'm still pissed off at how this played out) 2003: Kirk Hinrich 2004: Ben Gordon The Bulls have picked well in all these drafts except for 2000. The problem has been what we did with those players, along with a huge stroke of bad luck with Williams, who would be better than Hinrich and possibly even Gordon had he had a chance to improve after his solid rookie season. The fact remains the Bulls have the pieces. They have a good young core with Gordon, Hinrich, Deng, Nocioni and Chandler, and will have a top 5 pick in the 2006 draft along with our own, along with a bunch of cap space, and then are likely to have another top 5 pick in the 2007 draft, along with our own first-rounder and two second-rounders, the top 5 pick assuming the Knicks are awful again. If Pax doesn't screw it up (and all indications from the last couple of drafts are that he won't), this team will be a perennial championship contender over the next 5-7 years.

Good times! Yeah! What was it again, it was a pile of rotten fruit right next to all the bats or something...that was a fun season all the way round.

It depends on the two players. If the Bulls traded Gordon and Deng plus their two first rounders for Garnett, would the resulting team be any better? Or would it be a borderline playoff team with a superstar? Seems more like the latter to me. Ford's suggested trade of Deng and the two first rounders for Garnett appeals, though. Garnett-Chandler-Noch-Gordon-Hinrich -- yep, that would work. skiles would probably play songaila over garnett in 4th quarters, though. Sulley's quest against Skiles is laughable. This team has the pieces and assets to make a run for a title in a few years. i'll believe it when i actually see a skiles-led team make a title run. Do NBA teams actually develop? I was always under the impression that you either win by drafting a great player and hope he develops into an elite within 3 years (doesn't look like any current Bull will come close to that), or you sign/trade for somebody else's superstar. Is there much of a history of sub .500 teams gradually getting better with the same group of players, without at least one of those players turning into a superstar, or trading for a superstar? I can't imagine the Bulls ever going far with Skiles as the coach. He seems to be more interested in sending messages than winning. That's fine, actually it can be great to develop some guys, but usually you have to change the coach to then go to the next level. I would say Ben Gordon's stretch of play over the last month or so would qualify him as a guy that could be an elite player next season. And Luol Deng is only 20 years old and probably won't develop quite as fast as most college draftees (remember how long it took Jermaine O'Neal to become a star?).

I don't know if you've been paying any attention, but Gordon's been starting since around the second or third week of the season.

Because, as we all know, the Cubs have made no effort to win over the last few years. That's why they gave Prior a huge contract straight out of college. That's why they traded for DLee and immediately signed him for 3 years. That's why they gave Aramis Ramirez a nice extension right before Opening Day last year. That's why they've picked up (at least at the time) very good relievers every off-season for the last three or four years. That's why they signed Sammy to a gargantuan contract back in the early 2000s. That's why they gave Wood a rich extension. That's why they were prepared to pay Furcal $10 million a year before the Dodgers trumped their offer. I could go on, but I think you get the point, which is that this ownership group has actively tried to win. Wrigley's not holding us back, injuries, bad managing and suboptimal performance are.

The attendance figures tell a different story. Apparently, most folks don't go to the ballpark to sniff the pavement, ogle vendors and hang out amongst the chamberpots. More likely, most Cub fans just have no clue what they're missing with a modern ballpark. Even more likely, most Cub fans have seen what they're missing and realize that Wrigley is better.

Notre Dame 72, Providence 65. ND is now in a tie for the pivotal 12th place in the conference. Now armed with the sweep tiebreaker against the Friars, ND controls their own destiny. If they beat DePaul at the Joyce Center on Saturday, they will be in the conference tournament, since the team they're tied with, St. John's, plays a team that ND would have the tiebreaker on if the Red Storm won - Rutgers, whom the Irish beat earlier this season. In layman's terms, ND should be headed to New York. There'd be no excuse for losing to the Blue Demons, especially since they already have this season.

In a fitting conclusion to one of the strangest and most depressing seasons in recent memory, Ball State sees 3 triples at the end of the game rim in and out, plus an NIU free throw rim in, and that's more than enough in a 78-73 loss. The loss clinches a road game (and therefore a loss) in the first round of the MAC Tourney for BSU. It also clinches, hopefully, the firing of head coach Tim Buckley, who took a MAC titan into the tank in six years.

DR vs Italy, because home runs are fun.

Me too...those two played off each other better than any broadcast team in the business, bar none.

Good News: Bulls win 111-100. Hinrich nearly picks up triple-double No. 2 of his career, putting up 30 points, 13 boards and 9 assists. Bad News: Malik Allen and Chris Duhon are both injured inadvertently by teammates while trying to take charges. Allen's injury is especially unsettling as he was just developing into a semiconsistent 4 that the Bulls desperately need.

Last year at the Brewers series, my friends and I spent 3 different days betting a Brewers reliever named Crawford that he was going to get in the game, and he said he wouldn't. My friend jokingly tried to drop 10 bucks into the outfield in game 2 to pay up when he didn't get in Game 1 and Crawford waved it off. Also, we asked Carlos Lee where his steroids were and he jokingly told us to shush, then pretended to inject himself. Good times all around. When did you go? I went June 29th. The fans spent the entire time yelling at Geoff Jenkins. "Jenn-kins" chant went. They gave him a very hard time. And Julio Santana was in the outfield... He wouldnt give the ball to the fans after he caught it. And, he ended up getting the loss. I was there for that whole series, June 28-30. But you were apparently in the RF bleachers...I was in left.

If Zogby can be entered as grounds in the debate, then so can the American Family Association.

[Hendry]Now HERE'S a guy who can catch the ball with the best of them![/Hendry]

It's not based on "career" in my opinion. It's based on who you'd want as your first baseman RIGHT NOW. Given the choice of picking Lee or Pujols, I think everybody outside of Chicago would take Pujols. Heck, even if you base it on last season, you'd probably want Pujols (based on Win Shares). No, if you base it on last season, I'd want Lee who was better offensively and defensively. Pujols actually had slightly higher Win Shares, which takes defense into account. You can use other measures that favor Lee, but there was no clear-cut favorite, in my opinion. Such as H, 2B, HR, BA, SLG, OPS for hitting and F%, assists and Zone Rating for fielding...

That is an extremely poor way of judging a prospect and his chances. Not to pronounce their careers over, but it worked pretty well for Hee Seop Choi, Bobby Hill, and Jason Dubois, none of whom did anything worth writing home about in their big league auditions and all of whom are now gone and not having much impact on their new teams.