So What Have I Missed? Bulls to Hire Collins and Cubs Streaking at Home
The other day, in the middle of nowhere, Georgia, I decided to take a second and check out espn.com on my cell. After all, "nowhere" gets 3G. My goal was to find out what time the Cubs game was starting, though instead I was greeted with the front page headline, "Bulls to hire Doug Collins as Head Coach". My first reaction? Are you f#$%-ing kidding me? That has got to be a joke. To say I was furious would be an understatement. Doug Collins? The Doug Collins that had two chances to win a title with Michael Jordan and couldn't do it? The guy who couldn't win with a pre-injury Grant Hill? Horrible, horrible move. I thought they were just going to go cheap with a no-name assistant. Instead, they go scrap-heap retro with Doug Collins, white-man afro and all.
I'm not going to go into much detail on why I dislike this move. The paid professionals at the world-wide leader did a great job here, here, and here. But suffice it to say, about the best thing I can say about Doug Collins is that he's good at taking a team from point A to point B. He can make an undisciplined team competitive. He hasn't been able to get the team to point C, though, which is a Championship. Phil Jackson had to do that for the Bulls. Larry Brown had to do that for the Pistons. Even Eddie Jordan got his team further than Collins did in Washington. What a horrible way to waste the upcoming number one pick.
In far, far, happier news, the Cubs just completed a 7-0 homestand, sweeping the Dodgers and Rockies. I was able to watch parts of all three Dodger games, thanks to WGN and ESPN. You can sum up that series with the phrase "right hits at the right time." Judging by the recaps for the Rockies games, it was more of the same. Well, except for that awesome comeback on Friday. Holy Guacamole, I had a Dwight Smith flashback with that one. The Cubs now own the best record in baseball, the first time they've held that distinction on June 1st in 100 years. Can't say much than that. More on the Cubs later this week.
Till next time...