After a summer of drought in Bulls’ headlines (post Derrick Rose’s arrival), the Bulls have done something small worth mentioning and brought in some new blood to their operations staff. Although it is not the most exciting news, it is change. And change is just what this team might need to redeem themselves after an ‘07 - ‘08 33-49. On September 22, 2008 the Bulls hired 4 new staff including Dave Severns as Assistant Coach for Player Development, Jeff Tanaka as Assistant Athletic Trainer, Justin Zormelo as Assistant Video Coordinator and Joshua Bonhotal as Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach (www.bulls.com).

He may be anti-clutch when it comes to buzzer beaters but at least his defense is sub-par. And even though he may be vertically challenged he makes up for it with unreliable ball handling skills and multiple turnovers.  Okay, okay… but he did lead the Bulls in scoring last year with an astonishing 18.8 ppg.

Thank you Bulls for not signing him to a big money multiple year contract because maybe, just maybe he will have a high scoring year thanks to Derrick Rose.  And if he does have high scoring year, Gordon’s trade value will increase and of course Paxton  will probably want to keep him instead of trading him and that would be a mistake. Gordon belongs to a veteran championship caliber team who needs a high scoring sixth or seventh man. He would flourish on a team like that but not in Chicago.  Ben Gordon is a crutch for the Bulls and feeds into their inconsistency in scoring and defense. If you take ball out of Gordon’s hands it will force players like Deng, Sefolosha, Thomas, and Rose to step up in scoring and minutes.

Keep the crutch of anti-clutch one more season and hope he plays well enough to trade him for something worth while.

What do you think?

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I’m at a loss of words for what would inspire former Denver Broncos running back Travis Henry to sell drugs.  The contract he signed with the Broncos in 2007 guaranteed $12 million.  Not $1.2 million, which you could easily go through making it rain in Vegas strip clubs (a la Pacman Jones).  $12 million dollars.

Latrell Sprewell held out for more money because he had to feed his family — and this is probably the most plausible reason that Henry was selling drugs.  He does, after all, have 9 different children from 9 different mothers.  Henry had to borrow money from the Titans to pay his child support and was threatened with jail time.  Keep in mind, this is BEFORE he signed the $22.5 million dollar deal with the Broncos.

Let’s just say that he did need the money to feed his 9 children.  We’ll use the guaranteed $12 million as an example.  McDonald’s is trying hard to make you believe in the value of a dollar these days, so we’ll use double cheeseburgers as an example.  With $12 million dollars, you could have one double cheeseburger a day for 32,876 years.  So, in theory, he should have enough money to feed his family.

This is just another example of a pro athlete doing something incredibly stupid.  It’s not even the first time that a pro football player has been charged with selling cocaine - remember Jamal Lewis back in 2000?

The sad thing is, selling drugs is one of the less frequented dumb things that athletes do.  Pot possession, or alcohol related charges, or any of things the Cincinnati Bengals roster has done are far more common.

The average length of an NFL career is 3.5 years.  Let’s assume a player has a good career, let’s say they play for 10 years.  That’s ten years of gamechecks and endorsements.  That’s 10 years to not smoke pot, sell drugs, run around with an unregistered handgun, or drive around town after drinking a fifth of Grey Goose.  Is that really so much for the NFL to ask players?  Get a cab when you’re drunk.  Don’t ride in a vehicle that has weed in it, that way the cops won’t mistaken your “friends” weed for yours when you get pulled over.

Even Ricky Williams is realizing how much he has to lose.  Maybe the NFL should require meditation classes so when their players have the urge to smoke pot when they have 3 days off, they’ll be able to resist that urge.  Something to consider.

Other News from the World of Sports

• Lee Evans signed a $37.25 million dollar extension with the Bills
• The Cubs are getting ready for another 100 years
• Ocho Cinco wants to kiss the Dallas star.  Chad, that would require scoring a touchdown.

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