White Sox Stumbling

I won't cover the White Sox too much, but this is worth writing about. The Sox just can't get the hitting going. When things get ugly, Ozzie Guillen makes things about 20 times worse with all of this sarcastic argument business and uncanny ways of getting the team out of hitting slumps. When the Sox win, Ozzie is having a party. There is the problem. That is why I think that if the Sox aren't close to .500 by mid-June, Ozzie should be fired as Sox manager. After a 3 game set with the Twins, interleague play lurks ahead starting with the Pirates at home. This homestand needs to be strong to make a statement about the direction this team wants to go this year. If the team starts losing, I have no doubt Ken Williams will pull the plug on Jermaine Dye and trade him. Williams is one of the best GMs in Major League Baseball, but he'll need to rebuild again like in 2007 unless the Sox can get something going here. If the Sox can pull off a good road trip after that homestand, going to play the Angels and then the Royals, they should be fantasy favorites heading into June playing 4 against Oakland, 3 against Cleveland, and 4 against Detroit all at home.
Hey, Sox fans, keep an eye on:
-Jayson Nix, the young hitter could get good at hitting in the big leagues soon.
-Scott Podsednik, because I think once he is finished getting the feel for things he will be very productive again, although he has lost some speed.
-Paul Konerko, because he might be back as a great run production man again.

Cubs On Fire

"The way I see it, we've just only begun," Adam Sandler from Happy Gilmore. That's how the Cubs have taken this season so far. After a frustrating bullpen nightmare worse than Chernobyl on Thursday, April 30, the Cubs have the majors' best record in May. In that game, a 2-2 tie was opened to make it 8-2 at the end of the top of the 10th. They fell to 10-11 after that game, the first and only time this season that they have fallen below .500. Since then, they've enjoyed much success against those Marlins, the Giants, the Astros, and the Padres. I still don't like this Cub team right now in that we're without Carlos Zambrano and Aramis Ramirez. Once they return, who knows where we're going? The offense has really come around nicely, too. The Cubs have scored 2 or more runs every game this month.

Bulls Eliminated From Playoffs

It's been forever since I last made a post, and I couldn't have chosen a worse time. The Bulls just played the best NBA playoff series in history, but the Bulls were eliminated in Game 7.
-I talked about Game 1, but Game 2 was all about Ben Gordon and Ray Allen. Gordon wouldn't stop scoring, and there he gained his clutch reputation in this series. Amazingly, this game didn't go into OT. Ray Allen was left unguarded for the 1st of a million times the Bulls failed that play. His big 3-pointer won the game 118-115.
-Game 3 was the worst effort in the series by the Bulls, because they seemed dead. Although it was 107-86 the final, that was only because of a late rally. Having seized home court advantage by splitting the first two games, I was very dissapointed they couldn't defend their home court.
-Game 4 went into 2OT but the Bulls prevailed at home thanks to the biggest Bulls shot since decade. Ben Gordon sent the game to 2OT with a crazy 3 pointer from no man's land to send the United Center into a frenzy.
-Game 5 saw just single OT but the Celtics took it because of a Paul Pierce turnaround fadeaway jumper to give Boston the lead at 106-104. That was the final, and the Celtics took the lead 3-2.
-Game 6 was the best game of the series. Fighting elimination, the Bulls forced the game into 3OT this time. Rajon Rondo, who all of Chicago hates by now, was given a flagrant foul for slamming Kirk Hinrich into the scorer's table. Hinrich pushed back, resulting in a technical, but it was so exciting as the United Center crowd rose to their seats in anticipation. I think they put the wrong floor out there, because this is turning into a hockey ice rink fighting thing. Anyway, a late rally in the 4th Quarter included a Brad Miller 3-pointer, the last guy you'd expect to do that. He made the same layup to tie the game right after that as the one that he missed in Game 5, partly costing the Bulls the game. Ray Allen was ridiculous again, scoring over 50. Paul Pierce and Ben Gordon could have won the game there but both missed their shots. Pierce missed another one at the end of OT, so time for 2OT tied at 109. Brad Miller lost the ball and so we went to 3OT tied at 119. Joakim Noah had an amazing breakaway dunk with the and1. Then, the hated Rondo was trying to tie the game. He was blocked by Rose, and although Rose missed his free throws, he still put them in for the win. 128-127 the final.
-Game 7 was frustrating. The Bulls started so well and fell short on a ridiculous 20-2 run for the Celtics to end the first half. The Celtics won 109-99 and the Bulls came close but they couldn't finish the deal. Down six, a Gordon three that was missed would have put them right back in the game with about a minute left.

Overall, this series was amazing. That's the best basketball I have ever seen. It was so competitive, I couldn't focus on anything but the game all night when it was on. Also, it got so much faith in the Bulls around here. Everywhere people had Bulls jerseys, shirts, hats, whatever, and everyone wouldn't stop talking about them. It was really awesome. In the future, we could have a string of big seasons coming up with Rose, Gordon, Tyrus Thomas, Noah, and more. GO BULLS!