Falling Short

The Bulls season ended last evening in heartbreaking fashion. A lead which seemed safe evaporated in the blink of an eye. A three here, a foolish foul there and a string of empty possessions left the United Center silent until the next season begins. The broadcasters, those that are paid by the team, urged the fans to be thankful and proud of the season the Bulls had. It’s hard to be thankful when your team blows a 12 point lead with 3 minutes left. The reality, of course, is that unless your team is staging trophy presentations and ticker tape parades through the city, all seasons end in some form of disappointment.

Entering the playoffs, the conventional wisdom was that the Bulls needed their supporting cast to distinguish themselves. Luol Deng needed to be aggressive, Kyle Korver needed to find his shooting touch and Carlos Boozer needed to show explosiveness. Some of those things happened on occasion during the postseason, but not frequently enough. As has been the case for much of the season, the burden fell to MVP Derrick Rose to pick up the slack. Unfortunately, the young star wasn’t up to the challenge.

There will be brighter days for the Bulls. They will find ways to improve, they will find players who better fit the playing style of Rose and they will be back. Sadly, the Heat will too. The Bulls, like many teams, spent last summer looking for a game-changing type player to pair with Derrick. They fell short in those endeavors and may not be able to acquire that impact star any time soon.

Derrick Rose will spend the summer honing his game. There will be long sweltering days in the gym hoisting up countless jump shots and replaying the miscues in his mind. He will remember the missed free throws, the turnovers, the empty possessions and failures in late game situations. The great ones don’t forget about the heartbreak. Instead they heal and use it as motivation for the opportunities that arise in the future.

Slip Slidin' Away

The baseball season has hit the quarter pole and teams are beginning to show their true identities. Some are contenders, some pretenders and others clinging to a distant hope that are being kept alive by weak divisions. Which category the Cubs fit into may still be in question, although many fans may be losing the optimism that the start of baseball season always brings.


During spring training, many media experts praised the enthusiasm that seemingly enveloped the camp in Mesa. Before the Cubs played a game that counted in the standings, Mike Quade was receiving kudos for bringing a new energy to the team that Lou Piniella may have lacked prior to his retirement last season. The drills were being executed with vigor and the team was going to reemphasize fundamentals that were lacking in previous seasons.

Not surprisingly, the results during the regular season have been spotty at best. Thus far, the Cubs have committed 29 errors, the sixth most in the National League. The culprits have been varied with offensive sensation Starlin Castro committing seven of his own. Noted defensive liability Alfonso Soriano has contributed three errors thus far, although that doesn’t reflect how poorly he performs in the field. The Cubs offense has shown sporadic signs of life recently, but they are beating themselves far too frequently. While many hoped that a new manager would bring about a change in defensive execution and fundamentally sound play, the personnel may just simply not be good enough.

Mixed Results

Like any General Manager, Jim Hendry has had hits and misses. The Derrek Lee for Hee-Seop Choi trade and the acquisitions of Aramis Ramirez and Kenny Lofton for the stretch run of 2003 are probably his two biggest successes. Of course, Hendry has also made signings and trades that Cubs fans would like to forget. The signing of Alfonso Soriano has financially hamstrung the Cubs for years to come and the Ricky Nolasco for Juan Pierre trade robbed the Cubs of a promising young arm. This past offseason, Hendry traded a boatload of prospects for Matt Garza. Thus far, the results have been mixed.

Garza, a 27 year old hyperactive right hander, notched his first win at Wrigley Field last evening against the Cardinals. While Garza boasts a pedestrian 44-48 career record, his 3.98 career ERA in the American League is pretty solid. Fans were hoping that Garza would make a seamless transition into the National League and feast on the weaker lineups.

Garza has been inconsistent in the early going, but has shown the propensity to rack up strikeouts at an impressive rate. His 64 strikeouts are the third highest in baseball while pitching fewer innings than league leaders Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum. Opposing hitters are having a difficult time catching up to his fastball and Garza can put them away with a disappearing changeup.

In order to acquire Matt Garza, Jim Hendry dealt highly touted prospects including Chris Archer and Hak-Ju-Lee while also surrendering big league ready talent in Sam Fuld and Brandon Guyer. Whether this trade is closer to the Derrek Lee heist or the Juan Pierre fiasco remains to be seen.