10 Reasons Why the Chicago Bulls are 3-10

Not only is Scott Skiles speechless about the performance of his team, but so is all of Chicago. In an NBA preseason power ranking, Topupsidepotential.com ranked the Chicago Bulls as the number three team in the East and the number seven team in the NBA. So far, the Bulls are last in the East and are third to last in the NBA. Sad to say, this is not what anyone was expecting. Most people thought that once the Kobe Bryant trade talk ended, the Bulls would be able to focus more on their game. But this was easier said than done. So here is a countdown of the ten reasons why Chicago is playing like "bullshit."

10. Bulls are still lacking a power forward. Tyrus Thomas started the season as Chicago's power forward. After little production, except in Chicago's first win over Detroit, Tyrus was replaced by small forward Andres Nocioni as the starting power forward, even while Luol Deng was injured. Joe Smith has provided a good spark from the bench, but he isn't capable of putting up big numbers or double-doubles. I say just keep on working with Tyrus until he mans up because a smaller line-up is not what the Bulls need.

9. Chicago's rookies aren't adding much depth to bench. Joakim Noah started off the season with an injury, Aaron Gray's surprising preseason performance did not carry on into the regular season, and JamesOn Curry ended up being shipped off to the D-league. Not that we were expecting much, but we want to send one of them to the Rookie Challenge in New Orleans during All-star weekend. All we ask is to do what they did in college...whenever they get the chance to play.

8. Charity stripe is not so generous for the Bulls. The Chicago Bulls are averaging 78% from the free throw line. Chicago shouldn't be surprised by Ben Wallace's 33% free throw percentage, but when Luol Deng is shooting 68% and Andres Nocioni is shooting 66%, who are two of the team's best shooters, then there is a little problem. I sometimes have trouble understanding how someone can shoot a jumper with a hand in your face so easily, but there is only about a 70% chance that you will make an uncontested free throw.

7. Is Big Ben running out of time? John Paxson brought Ben Wallace to Chicago hoping he might fill Chicago's void of a big man. This 4-time Defensive Player of the Year might have reached his peak. At the age of 33, he is only averaging 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 steals, and 1.3 blocks, as well as 4.5 points. So is Chicago back to where they started 2 years ago?

6. Still waiting for Tyrus and Thabo to emerge. The upside of both Tyrus Thomas and Thabo Sefolosha is so immense that it may be years until we get to see some real game come from them. With Tyrus being replaced by Nocioni in the starting line-up and Thabo not getting as much playing time as undrafted rookie Thomas Gardner, there is not much Chicago has seen from these two...except for the usual sick nasty dunks by Tyrus. Together, they average only 11.1 points.

5. They aren't winning the games they should be. Basically, Chicago should have won their first four games but somehow did not. It's sad that their first 4 games of the season (New Jersey Nets, Philadelphia 76ers, Milwaukee Bucks, Los Angeles Clippers), were also some of the easiest of the season. They can't beat them, but they manage to pull off their first win against the then undefeated Detroit Pistons. What's up with that?

4. Umm...they are not playing good basketball?? What more can I say? They just suck at the moment. The past two years, Chicago has gotten off to a slow start, but this time is different. The inconsistency of the Bulls' play is beginning to worry all of Chicago, especially now that they're on their crazy Western conference road tour.

3. Chicago's three-headed bull is being taken by the horns. Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, and Kirk Hinrich are averaging a combined 42 points, which is considerably lower than last year's 56.8 points. These are the guys who must carry the offensive. If they can get their game together, they will receive more help on offense from Nocioni, Duhon, and Thomas.

2. The Bulls can't shoot for shit...at the moment. I'll just give you cold hard statistics. The Bulls have a field goal percentage of 44%, and they are also shooting 37% percent from the 3-point line. They are only averaging 86.5 points per game, while their opponents are averaging 96.5 points per game.

1. Let's face it...Chicago needs Kobe. With trade talks involving Kobe being thrown out the window, so were Chicago's hopes of being one of the greats of the Eastern conference once again. Everyone figured Chicago's emerging talent would be enough, but their record says otherwise. Kobe is currently the NBA's second leading scoring, averaging 27.9 points per game. I'm sure he will continue to be unhappy in Los Angeles, but at least the Lakers have him.

I will continue to cheer for my Chicago Bulls. All I can say is that they have to start getting their shit together.

Wood Is Sticking Around

It's amazing what $4.2 million will get you. If you're a baseball General Manager, that money can help guarantee that a player will decide to stay with your team. In the case of the Cubs, that's exactly what happened.

Kerry Wood agreed to stay with the Cubs for a $4.2 million one-year deal. When free agents started to look into him, the Cubs put more money on the table to keep him around.

"Chicago's my home," Wood said during a conference call. "Chicago's been great to me. There's no better place to play, especially if you're winning."

Of course the word "winning" is in Chicago Cubs terms. This doesn't mean a World Series Title, it just means that with the NL Central victory, the team is on the right track to actually getting through the postseason. Heck, I would stick around to if my salary went from $1.7 million to $4.2 million in just a year.

It's most likely that Wood will pitch from the bullpen along with Marmol and Howry. He's had some elbow and shoulder problems in the past but that hasn't stopped him from being an important aspect to the Cubs' pitching. Wood has a 72-57 career record with 3.67 ERA in part of nine seasons with the Cubs.

"Physically, I feel like I can do it," he said. "But I know what it takes to go out and eat up 200-plus innings. I know what kind of toll it takes on your body. With what I've been through, I don't know if it's wise of me to take that chance again right away."

Hopefully this decision to keep Wood around for at least one more year will benefit the Chicago team. I see Wood doing great things next year, boosting fans' confidence in the bullpen and possibly becoming a great closer. The $4.2 million was well spent on Kerry Wood.

What are they thinking?

So another week has past and the White Sox have finally made an off season move! One that I would personally rank as absolutely horrible! They traded Jon Garland, one of the White Sox’s most consistent starting pitcher for a shortstop. The shortstop that they received is Orlando Cabrera from the Anaheim Angels. Yes he is one of the best defensive shortstops in the game, but the guy is 33 years old and the White Sox really need to improve their bullpen. The White Sox did receive cash in the trade, but like I just said, they really need pitching. I honestly don’t know what they were thinking! They said away one of their best in a position that needs some help all around, for a position that they already have. Within the last two weeks of this trade, the White Sox signed their shortstop Juan Uribe to a one year deal. Now my question is, why would they sign a guy for one year and then go out and trade one of our best players (Jon Garland) for a guy who they don’t have a spot for and who is getting a little old. Now granted, Cabrera will start over Uribe or should at least, but what do you do with Uribe? He really isn’t that good, so you wouldn’t get much of a trade out of him. What I think the White Sox should do is trade one of their two shortstops. I would personally keep Cabrera because he is an awesome shortstop and is much better than Uribe. Like I stated before, the only bad thing about trading Uribe is that you won’t get much for him. It would have been smart for the White Sox to just have released Juan Uribe rather than take on his salary and just hope that someone is willing to trade for him. So my next question is, if the White Sox can not trade Uribe what he is he going to do? He is not a player who I would think that you would want to put him in to pinch hit because he is not the best hitter to say the least. I mean they could use him once every so often to give Orlando Cabrera a break, but I honestly think that it would be just a waste of a salary. I hope that Kenny Williams knows what he is doing and is hopefully getting ready to make a blockbuster trade in the up and coming off-season months. Hopefully it can be for a great centerfielder, since the Torii Hunter deal fell through, when Hunter unexpectedly signed with the Anaheim Angels.

Thank Goodness for Thanksgiving

In a couple of days, it will be the wonderful holiday of Thanksgiving. This is when you head home, eat too much food, and watch as the members of your family fall asleep while watching football. It doesn't really get much better than that. Unless of course all you care about is baseball.

The Cubs have recently released their spring schedule which begins with a game in Scottsdale on February 28 against the Giants. Check out the full schedule. So if you are sitting at home not caring about the Detroit game, you can fantasize about the Cubs upcoming season and the success that they are sure to have.

There will be another member of the Cubs family missing next season: team President John McDonough. He has been associated with the Cubs for 24 years and became the President in October 2006. He replaced Andy MacPhail after a 96-loss season.

"The purpose of why I've been asked to do this job is for the Cubs to win the World Series -- not win the Wild Card or win the division or win the pennant," McDonough said when introduced as interim president last year. "It's time to win. It's time to win the World Series."

Under his reign, the Cubs didn't make it to the World Series but by winning the NL League, they greatly improved their performance during regular season. McDonough will now become the President to the NHL Chicago Blackhawks.

So just because football dominates the Thanksgiving holiday, it doesn't mean that there aren't happenings in baseball. Go home, have a great meal and visit with family, and don't forget about baseball.

Now Hiring

Wanted:
Right Fielder who can hit, stop baserunners from gaining extra bases, and costs between $120-$125 million.

If Cubs' general manager, Jim Hendry, took out a want ad for a player his team needs, it might look like the above. Last week, Craig Monroe was traded to Minnesota and now, Hendry is in the market for a new outfielder. He's looking for someone more athletic and who can do the job at the plate and by raising the amount of money he's willing to pay for such a player, there are bound to be some who are interested.

"We certainly have a fair situation no matter what the final number is," Hendry said. "And we feel confident we can add two or three pieces to the puzzle."

Getting rid of Monroe was a good decision the way I see it. He hit .204 with one home run and four RBIs after being acquired from Detroit in August. He was even left off the postseason roster. The Cubs need another outfielder like Alfonso Soriano. He's not perfect by any means, but he's fast as a defensive player and can usually squeeze out a hit or even home run when it's needed.

Hopefully Hendry can find someone to fulfill the open position soon. I would think that the main priority would be to find someone who can hit. Of course, they need to be a good defensive player as well, but we all know that the Cubs could use another power hitter. Or even someone who can squeeze out some hits in the clutch. For $125 million, I'm sure the GM will find someone suitable.

America v. A-Rod

Why Does America Hate A-Rod?

This is the name of the survey-type quiz on ESPN.com that I just took. The people from the sports website are trying to understand why fans just don't want Alex Rodriguez. On Tuesday, ESPN.com asked, "Would you want your favorite team to sign Alex Rodriguez?" and the results were that a 2-to-1 margin said "No." So why are people hatin'?

Here's the quiz with my answers in bold and the percentage of people who chose which answer. 91,999 people have taken the quiz so far.

1) If you don't want Alex Rodriguez on your team, what is your primary reason?

34.9% Costs too much money
26.5% I'd want him on my team
15.6% He's just not a winner
12.4% Clubhouse cancer
10.5% Just don't care for his personality

2) What has most shaped your opinion of A-Rod?

43.1% He just seems greedy
23.9% His recent poor play in the postseason
21.6% Who cares? He's a great player
11.4% The media portrays him in a negative light

3) Who do you dislike more?

66.9% Barry Bonds
20.5% Rodriguez
12.6% I like them both

4) At what price would you be willing to have A-Rod on your team?

36.7% $20 million per season
24.8% $15 million per season
15.8% $10 million per season
13.2% Wouldn't want him if he played for free
9.4% Whatever it takes

5) Who would you rather have your team spend $25 million on?

38.4% Do I have to answer this question?
34.9% Alex Rodriguez
26.7% Torii Hunter and Kyle Lohse

6) How does signing A-Rod affect a team's budget?

71.4% He eats up too much payroll to field a winning team
28.6% He's talented enough to justify the big salary

7) Would you want A-Rod and Bonds your team for 2008?

75.3% No
24.7% Yes

8) Which player would you most want on your team?

23.2% Johan Santana
15.7% David Ortiz
14.2% Alex Rodriguez
14.1% Albert Pujols
7.5% Ichiro Suzuki
5.2% Matt Holliday
4.5% David Wright
3.5% Grady Sizemore
3.4% Miguel Cabrera
3.1% Ryan Howard
3.1% Hanley Ramirez
2.7% Jimmy Rollins

9) Which player would you rather have?

69.3% Alex Rodriguez
30.7% David Eckstein

Where do you fall on the scale between tolerating, loving, and despising A-Rod? I can't explain why I chose not to care for A-Rod. It's not that I hate him but he's no where near to being one of my favorite players or even players I follow. Maybe the distaste is pure jealously or maybe it's because he's a Yankee. Like the experts at ESPN.com says, "...this is arguably the best player in baseball, a guy who has averaged 45 home runs and 128 RBIs the past 10 seasons. He plays hard, he plays every day and he puts up those huge numbers." So again, what's the problem with Rodriguez?

If you want to help them make sense of this situation, head to ESPN and take the quiz. Who knows, maybe my opinion of him will change if by some freak accident, the Cubs snatch him. And then again...

Making room for Mr. Hunter

The White Sox still have not gotten center fielder Torii Hunter to officially commit to them; however their efforts will increase dramatically from now on. This is due to the fact that yesterday was the first day that teams were allowed to make financial offers to the free agents. The White Sox are probably going to spend a good amount of their budget on Torii Hunter and try to convince him to play for the White Sox. Well how much you might be wondering? According to ChicagoSports.com, the White Sox may need to offer Hunter $15 million or more a year in order for him to sign with them, and the contract will probably have to be for at least five years. But we never know. Hunter has recently turned down a $45 million, 3 year offer from the Minnesota Twins. Hunter has also stated that the contract he will sign this year could possibly be his last because Hunter is currently 32 years old.

Ken Williams has stated numerous times that he has large enough finances to sign an all-star player, but now there are some doubts. There has been talk that the White Sox may need to trade starting pitcher Jon Garland and either Joe Crede or Josh Fields, in order to sign Torii Hunter or any good player at that. They need to make room for Hunter financially, and this is how they can do that. It is a possibility that they are going to trade Joe Crede because he will be eligible for the free agency after the 2008 season anyways. But again, there is always the possibility that Josh Fields can go also. I really don’t think it would be a good idea to trade Garland because the White Sox really depend on him as their starting pitcher.