A Bunch of Bull: Why Derrick Rose Owes You Nothing

Remember the last time Derrick played in garbage time? Yeahhhh

Did you lend him $50 for a pair of shoes years back? Did you cover his lunch at Wild Wings and he promised to get you back?

No and no? Ok then. Derrick Rose doesn't owe you a thing.

Not a goddamn thing.


You say he owes you to play out the end of the regular season. You pay his salary after all, or so you say - actually Jerry Reinsdorf does. If anything, he would owe it to his team and organization, and I'd argue that even that is false. When a man's health is in question, he owes nothing to anyone.

You say he should play because he is practicing just fine, that he's running around, taking shots and looking decent. Do you really know how he is? Practice versus game is a different beast. Plus, if it happens to be a mental issue and he just doesn't think he's ready, do you really trust him to be his elite self right now?

Sure, you say you don't expect him to dominate right away, but why demand that he plays at all this year, especially if he is not going to be dominant?

You say that other athletes recently have recovered from ACL injuries in a faster time period (Adrian Peterson has officially ruined the reasonable recovery time for these injuries - beware RGIII). It's not reasonable to expect Rose's ACL to heal as fast as a guy like AP's (or for anyone who has had quick recoveries from the type of injury Rose has had). Everyone's body is built differently and they all heal differently, so you can't expect one case to be like another.

Are you questioning his heart if he is not playing? Just because we see guys like Michael Jordan playing through a flu and we see Brett Favre tough out injuries for years to start over 300 straight games, we expect our stars to "gut it out and play". Like I said before, whether it's still his injury that is affecting him or if he just doesn't believe that he is ready to come back mentally, it does him no good to be out there.

Rose will be 25 years old when the 2013-14 season begins. He has an entire future of basketball to worry about. It might not be as long of a career as Steve Nash has had, especially if Rose continues with his aggressive style of driving to the hoop against the taller trees of the NBA. Nevertheless, it's still a decade of potential greatness that he has no reason to risk on some meaningless regular season games. Besides, this is not a Bulls team that can be considered an NBA Finals team, especially with how dominant the Heat have been. Don't be deceived by the Bulls' regular season victories this year against the Heat - they mean nothing come playoff time. The Heat will run through the East.

With this being Spring/baseball season, now's as good of a time to say this to a Chicago fan...Wait till Next Year

If you ask me (and I know you did, since you're still reading), I think he should sit this season out, get everything fully healed, and get ready for the 2013 season. He has too bright of a future to risk for this year.

You think he owes it to you, the fan who sits on his ass at the United Center with popcorn butter and ketchup covering his #1 jersey, to play this season? He owes you nothing.

If anything, you owe him a little patience. Wouldn't you rather have a healthy Rose next year than a hobbled one (whether it be physically or mentally hobbled) playing?

Talents like Rose don't come around often, so be patient and wait for the return of #1 next year. Believe me, it will be worth the wait.

Fit Happens Chapter 5 - Participant Profile 1 (Chris)

The third month of Fit Happens is about to wind down. For all four of us, it has been the most challenging month as far as weight loss goes. The toughest part of the contest by far - where motivation amid lower weight loss than previous months enters into the equation. It looks like it will come down to me versus Hippo for the monthly winner - a mere 0.03% difference in our total weight loss for March entering the last 5 days. I will provide an official blog at the beginning of April for March's results as well as the overall standings.

As the contest has entered its halfway point, I wanted to profile each of the contestants aside from myself. The only one to respond so far is Chris, who was kind enough to answer some questions about the inspiration for the contest as well as some goals and challenges he has faced as the contest has developed.

Chris cooking up some results in the weight loss category.

1.       What made you decide to do Fit Happens? I needed to lose some weight.  On a binge eating experience with Hippo and Magic Bus, Hippo started talking about a weight loss program he was trying.  That got the ball rolling.  Before too long we were creating a contest.  The motivation to lose weight as already there, the contest just made it more serious and urgent

2.       What were your goals to come out of this? To lose weight and look skinnier.  I had a goal weight in mind, but I think my number one goal is just to look and feel better.

3.       What changes have you made to your daily habits during the contest? The biggest thing I have attempted is to eat less and eat slower.  I have not modified my diet all that much in terms of what I eat.  I just try to eat less and by eating slower, I recognize when I am no longer hungry and am able to stop.  Before I would regularly shovel food as fast as possible and would stuff myself way too often.  I'd feel sick afterward.  Honestly, there have only been 1-2 times during fit happens when I felt that way.  Major progress from my few times per week before the context.

4.       Have you ran into any difficulties during this contest? If so, how have you overcome them or trying to overcome them? The only difficulty I have had is the recent plateau.  We all shed a bunch of weight in the first few weeks/month.  After that it is much more of a slow burn.  There is less motivation when you lose half a pound in a week than when you are seeing multiple pounds per day come off.  I am just trying to keep up with the diet and the exercise intensity so that it continues to come off, even if it is only a small amount at a time.

5.       When the contest is over, do you think it will be hard to keep up this level of intense workout and/or diet? I should easily be able to maintain the diet.  I just need to remember to take it easy at meals and eat slowly.  My exercise regimen has been pretty intense.  I work out a minimum of 6 days/week right now.  That will be difficult to maintain, but I should be able to keep up at least a 4X/week program without much issue.

6.       Entering the second half of the contest, what are your goals for the next three months? Have you had to adjust them as time has passed? My goal is exactly the same - lose as much weight as possible.

7.       What do you expect your final weigh-in to be? Aspiration - 210; realistic - 215 (both much lower than I anticipated)

8.       In your honest opinion, who do you think is going to win the contest? B-Bo is on a tear, but Hippo is right on his tail.  I'd say that Magic Bus and I are comfortably out of the money.  I will leave it at that.

How's Your Bracket & Other March Madness Musings

How does your bracket look?

Honestly, I stopped looking at mine with the string of upsets on Thursday, particularly New Mexico (one of my Final Four). But with that loss, I decided that this March (and future Marches) would not be considered a success or failure based on my brackets. Instead, my focus will be strictly on my gambling account.

Does this look like a successful bracket to you?

I don't think this bracket is going to win me anything. Too many red lines too early in the tourney.

But you know what? As long as the bets I make are coming in, I don't care if this whole sheet is full of red lines.

I have had some bad bets (Montana was my worst bet of the year, possibly a top-5 all-time worst bet) - note that I don't always bet with my bracket (but usually do). For instance, one of my best bets ever came on Friday, betting on Florida Gulf Coast against Georgetown (the first half line of +7.5, game line of +13.5 & the best part, the money line of +800 - the biggest money line I've ever hit for a single game).

Are We the Champions?

The big bets still alive exist in the East bracket, where I have two teams still alive for my prop bet to win the tourney. Illinois did what they could to blow their huge lead, but ultimately held on to win. They face Miami on Sunday. I'm not really sure what to expect from them, but I'm hoping that they or California (preferably both) can pull off upsets in their Round of 32 matchups - Cali has Syracuse Saturday night.

A California title would net me $3750 on a $15 bet, while an Illinois championship would pay $4125. The odds of either team winning it are still remote, but it's still nice to see them stay alive. I hope one of them teases me with another win and a promotion to the Sweet 16.

Speaking of Illinois...

I've heard there's a lot of Illinois fans consumed with hatred of Bruce Weber, so much so that they seem to be enjoying the Kansas State loss more than their school's win. If you have any issues with Weber, you have issues yourself. I'm not sure what he did to get people to hate him so much. So what if he wasn't the best basketball coach? It's not like the guy murdered anyone - no reason to root so hard against a guy that led your school to its only title appearance in 2005.

If you're an Illini fan reading this and you're angry with Weber about his stint with Illinois....get over it. It's over and done with. Embrace the current and future Illinois teams. Enjoy watching these teams coached by a fantastic young coach (John Groce was a great hire) who has proven himself as a solid recruiter. Don't waste your energy on a part of our school's past that frankly wasn't all that bad.

Speaking of bad...

Did any of you attempt to watch most/all of the March Madness action? If so, I apologize. My eyes and brain hurt greatly from the poor quality of games so far this tourney. Forgive me if you disagree, but the quality of play from most teams was evident. I'm sure you can cite a plethora of reasons for this: (1) playing outside of normal game conditions, (2) lack of overall talent due to underclassmen going to the NBA, (3) pacing of games is choppy with all the TV timeouts, coaching timeouts and fouls, etc.

For me, especially this year, it's been almost impossible for me to watch games without having a reason to watch it (i.e. gambling). And for many of you, you'd probably not be watching these games if you didn't have bets on it or a bracket to follow. Gambling and brackets drive the March Madness, not the quality of play. We get so blinded by how great college basketball supposedly is by the 63 items to fill on those brackets that we don't even realize how poorly played these games are. Sloppy fouls, horrible turnovers, ridiculous shots that require viewers to consume shots. If you can enjoy these games without a bracket and without bets, then all the more power to you - I can't.

Good luck with your bets/brackets the rest of the tourney. I hope the games are higher quality than we've seen so far.

Brian's Bracket - 2013 Version

Nothing else needs to be said, aside from my two tourney bets that aren't reflected on my bracket:

169809293-1

3/21/13 12:54am

$15.00

$4,125.00

Pending

3/21/13 12:15pm Basketball NCAA Men's Basketball +27500 National Champion 2012/13 - Illinois

166242856-1

3/2/13 2:54am

$15.00

$3,750.00

Pending

3/2/13 12:00pm Basketball NCAA Men's Basketball +25000 National Champion 2012/13 - California

Good luck with your brackets. Here is my bracket of integrity (in an offshoot, I have New Mexico winning it over Indiana)

Sleeper Cell in Champaign: Making A Case for The Fighting Illini

It would be fitting for me to write a blog about a sleeper team as most people are snuggled away in their beds, having March Madness nightmares. Flying brackets are coming at them at high speeds, with large seeds being planted deep in their membranes. Should I pick that upset? Should I keep this team in my Sweet 16?

Yes, you should pick that upset - that's what March Madness is for. And yes, keep them there - you're always better off going with your gut instinct with these things.

One team you shouldn't sleep on is one that practically fell asleep mid-season, but was fairly awake for the beginning part of the year along with wet dream games against Ohio State and Indiana. In fact, they lay claim as the only team in the tourney that can say they beat three of the top eight seeds in the tourney.

Yes - Illinois fits the role of the Cinderella. Will the shoe fit?

Beating the Big Boys

It fit when they traveled to Spokane in the early part of the year when they shot lights out against Gonzaga in a hostile environment. A month later, they never trailed in a blowout of Ohio State at home. Another month after that, a spirited second half comeback helped the Illini upset then No.1 Indiana.

Sure, they've had their clunkers (see: plenty of the Big Ten schedule, especially games against Northwestern at home and at Wisconsin). Not too often an 8-10 Big Ten team is worthy of a 7 seed in the tourney, but the Illini's strength of victory has to be considered when the bracket is put together.

This blog might be useless come Friday afternoon if they lay a dud against Colorado (possible). But the way Illinois has played this season, they feel like they are just as likely to advance to the Elite Eight as they are to lose in their first game.

Yes, I believe they can beat Colorado, Miami and their third opponent (whoever it may be). Hell, if Indiana is still standing at that point, I believe Illinois could beat them as well - they already proved earlier this year that they can play with them.

Track Record

Besides, let's not forget what their new coach John Groce did with mid-major Ohio last year, leading them into the Sweet 16 and taking top-seeded North Carolina to overtime before just missing a chance at an Elite 8 appearance.

When Illinois is playing at its peak, it has proven it can beat the top teams in the country. Here's to hoping, especially as an alumnus of the Fighting Illini, that they can find some of their early season magic, which led to a 12-0 start and win a string of games that can take them into the second weekend of the tourney and beyond.

I have Illinois losing to Indiana in the Elite Eight, for what it's worth. I might take a shot before the tourney starts at Illinois' 275/1 odds to win the tourney.

When they lose in the first round against Colorado, don't say I didn't warn you (and don't say I covered my ass by including this disclaimer - talking out of both sides of our ass is what writers/prognosticators do).

If the shoe fits....we shall see.

Dos and Don'ts of March Madness Bracketing

Wanna be charged with a case of bracketeering?

Don't get on my bad side when it comes to filling out March Madness brackets. I'll point out the few types of folks that bother me the most.

(P.S. If you want to join my Yahoo bracket league, click on the following link and join: http://y.ahoo.it/Z7vBSl5l or just look up Group 12771 on Yahoo's Fantasy Sports Tournament Pick'Em page)

Don't Be The...

1. Guy Who Fills Out 10 Brackets...and then is bragging when one of them has an upset that occurred. If you want to fill out several brackets, that's cool. But one of your brackets has to be the master copy - the one which has what you think will actually happen, not every single upset possible just to brag when one of the 30 comes in.

2. Guy Who Picks a Square Bracket - Will each bracket feature a #1 vs. #2. in the regional final? Probably not. Will the top 4 seeds in each bracket make it to the Sweet 16? I'm going out on a limb and saying no. Please, please, please....don't be that guy who picks nothing but the highest seeds to advance in every round. Even if you're in a money pool, there's a handful of people already doing that, so you will need some variety to your picks.

If your bracket looks like this, don't join my pool. Or any pool for that matter. Your brackets need a little variety and spice.

3. Guy Who Picks Notre Dame over Montana in the NCAA Final: According to a friend of mine, he knows someone who has this match-up as the championship game of the tourney. If anyone does this in the groups I entered, I will say - thank you for your donation. At this point, you've probably picked so many upsets that winning the pool is completely unrealistic.

I'd be willing to donate a testicle to science if this is the NCAA final game.


On the other hand, you should be the....

1. Guy who has a handful of double digit seeds winning in the first full round. What fun is it to pick all the top seeds (1-8)?

And while we're at it, you should sprinkle in a few of these teams into the Sweet 16. Not all of them, but some of them.

2. Guy who has 1 or 2 #1 seeds in the Final Four. The likelihood of all 4 #1 seeds making the Final Four pays off at a 50/1 clip on 5dimes. On the other end, the likelihood of no #1 seeds making the Final Four is a 4/1 proposition - 12.5 times more likely to happen than all #1s. The best odds lie in 1 or 2 top-seeds to make the Final Four. My bracket fits this bill.

For what it's worth, the sportsbooks have the over/under of the total sum of all seeds in the Final Four to be at 12.5 - which my picks are slightly under that. I'll post some more of the fun props below.

3. Guy who has a top 3 seed winning the tourney.  Realistically, the top 3 seeds are the best bet when determining who will be the champion. In the 30 previous Final Fours of my lifetime (including 1983), there have been only four teams who have been seeded 4th or higher that won the title, and none since Arizona as a 4 seed in 1997.

Many of you are entering pools when doing these brackets, so why not think over some of these tips when entering your brackets? I wish everyone the best of luck with their brackets. I will post my bracket on Thursday.

In the meantime, ponder some of these props that are on 5dimes:

Thu 3/21		15743 All #1-#4 seeds in Final 4		+173
1:40PM		15744 Any #5-#16 seed in Final 4		-205

Thu 3/21		15731 Exactly three #1-#3 seeds in Final 4		+135
1:40PM		15732 Not exactly three #1-#3 seeds in Final 4		-155

I already have a bet from late last month on California to win the tournament at 225/1 odds - 15 to win 3750. I am considering some other long shots (Kansas State at 100/1 & Illinois at 275/1 are crossing my mind).

Hawaii 5-0: 50 Awesome Things About the Aloha State

Rather than write an actual blog, I'm going to list 50 things about Hawaii that I like/reasons to visit Hawaii. It took me several days to write this blog. In no particular order, here we go:

Probably the best view from my hotel room. How can you not want to go to Hawaii?

1. 85 and sunny

2. Fresh pineapple

3. Running views like this:

4. Catamaran trips

5. Hearing waves crash in the night sky

6. Delicious local brew

7. Fruity drinks - not just for women and effeminate men. At least not in Hawaii. Shhhhh....

8. Last in the Union, but certainly not the least

Delicious Kona beer

9. Isolation - all by itself in the Pacific

10. Natives treat you like family

11. Pro sports start at 1pm local time - not sure I'd like NFL starting at 7am though.

Not even 10 mins off the plane and I got leied. 

12. Leis - how can you not feel welcomed after being greeted with one?


13. Exotic animals

14. Whale watching

15. Swimming year-round

16. No snow - ever (this isn't a selling point for me, but it should be for others)

17. Pearl Harbor

And this isn't even the best view

18. Hotel views like this:

19. Polynesian Cultural Center

20. Luaus

21. Hawaiian shirts - usually only associated with festive folks. I once embraced these shirts after becoming great friends with Jeremy Spencer. Now, only one Hawaiian shirt remains in my collection.

22. Being named Chief Bolek thanks to interaction with New Zealanders at #19

Before being named Chief - a dance that us Tango2ers were all in sync for

23. Paddleboarding - didn't do this activity, but I imagine it would be worth living in Hawaii for.

24. Being called "cousin" or "uncle" by people you don't even know. Goes back to #10

25. Running into random celebrities, like Donovan McNabb.

26. Poolside TVs

27. Leaving window open and hearing the waves as I fall asleep

28. Skydiving, 29. Sushi. 30. Snorkeling - I didn't try or have time to consume all of these activities, but all of the co-workers who did seemed to enjoy themselves when they did. I'll have to recommend on their behalf.

31. Leaving the work laptop from arm's length for the most part of the trip - it's so hard to remove myself from all of the technology that I use on a daily basis, especially as it is related to work. I recommend leaving all electronics in your room if you stay in Hawaii if at all possible

32. Making people jealous with continuous photos posted on social networks.

33. What good is a trip to Hawaii without awesome people to hang out with? Again, couldn't have enjoyed Hawaii without the great company of Tango2 folks.

34. No need to wear pants. I mean, still need to wear shorts...so don't get any ideas of turning Hawaii into a European beach.

35. Getting a ride from the cab service to the airport, having him apologize for the weather for the week, when only the initial arrival (a rare rain storm) was remotely bad. If that's as bad as you got, I'd like you to meet Ms. Chicago. Ms. Chicago, meet Honolulu....discuss.

36. Nothing but sandals. Everyone gets to see my unpedicured feet, with ten toes that have way too short of toenails. Too much information...I digress.

37. Time change where you can call your g/f before you go to bed, but after she wakes up from sleep for work. This happened once on the trip.

38. Participating in a volunteering event. We volunteered at a shelter, repainting the building's doors, sanding down tables and powerwashing the outside. The best thing about Tango2 - how we give back to the community.

39. Golf course - again, one of those things I didn't do. When driving by the course, it looked amazing. Perhaps it's my lack of golf playing in the past couple years.

40. Have you made it this far down the list? Gonna have to start making things up. I'll go with "Aloha". It's such a versatile word - "Hello", "Goodbye", "Love" are just some of its many upbeat meanings.

41. Greeted with a smile everywhere. Being on a resort area sure helps, but even off the resort area, people seemed happy. Hard not to be, as described by everything above.

42. The Naked Pirate. It's a drink, not what I'm dressing up for Halloween as (at least not in the plans). If you've never had the drink, it contains gin, rum and pineapple juice. I thought it'd be stronger than it was.

43. Plenty of reading time...in airplanes. There's no short path to Hawaii, so you'll have time to catch up on some book/magazine reading. I was able to start/finish a couple of books.

44. Seeing the oil still bubbling from the USS Arizona at Pearl Harbor. Over 70 years later. Mind-blowing.

Mitsuo Fuchida

45. This book is worth your money if you visit Pearl Harbor gift shop (or if you want to buy it on Amazon):


46. A nice year-round tan, if that's your thing. Just make sure you carry sunscreen.

47. Tropical, casual clothes to work meetings.

48. Did I mention pineapple already? I did? It's worth mentioning twice.

49. And pineapple.....and....yeah.

and finally 50...something to look forward to when I come back to the mainland: a rose, a pineapple, and a pretty g/f.