1. Crawford is absolutely on fire right now, that game could have easily been a much higher scoring affair had Corey not been shutting the door left and right.
2. It's nice to see the 3rd and 4th lines contributing close to what they were last year. We still don't have the depth on offense like last year, but I like that when we're firing on all cylinders like today we can compete with anyone in the NHL. More effort like that, please, so we can move up into the top 4 in the Western Conference.
The Hawks are 2nd in the conference behind Vancouver in goal differential, which implies they've been a little unlucky so far this year, and the law of averages should work in our favor soon. (Hockey, like baseball and basketball, has shown that goal differential is a better indicator of future success than current W-L record.)
Bulls: I don't always agree with Bill Simmons, but I wanted to highlight this portion of his chat column from yesterday because I'm with him 100% on this one:
Bowgren (Chicago)
Why won't Denver just make a deal with Chicago? Melo would sign there, they could get Gibson, Korver, and that Charlotte futures pick. Is that not a good deal at this point?
Bill Simmons (2:17 PM)
This is heresy... but I don't know if that's a great deal for Chicago. The Rose/Melo alpha dog dynamic worries me and Deng has been quietly having a huge year for them (he's playing like 40 MPG), he doesn't need the ball and he's one of their best defenders. I also wouldn't give up Gibson. And that Charlotte pick could be a really good one. I like the Bulls' nucleus, I think there are easier ways for them to add a big chess piece without blowing it up for Carmelo.
Bill Simmons (2:18 PM)
If I'm Chicago, I am not thinking about any move right now that betrays their identity: Which is that it's Derrick Rose's team. Every move they make should be to make his supporting cast better. They don't need Carmelo, as weird as that sounds.
Agree completely, and also why I don't want a JR Smith/OJ Mayo trade this season. I think all the Bulls really need to go from one of the best teams in the East to the same level as the Heat and Celtics is health and time playing together. We'll get there. The Bulls might need to lose to one of those teams in the playoffs this year (hopefully in the Eastern Conference Finals at least), but if I was a neutral fan and could have any NBA roster with the chance to win for the next 5 years, I'd pick either the Bulls or the Thunder. Be patient and let it come together. That said, I still reserve the right to nitpick TT's rotations for the rest of the season.
Cubs: I would love to know what the idea behind what the Cubs are doing right now. Are they rebuilding and looking toward the future, or playing to win now? It seems like they want it both ways, giving up prospects for Matt Garza then turning around and trading Gorzellany. Either stock up on prospects and aim for 2014-15, when the Phillies don't look quite so invincible, or go into the season with a halfway decent rotation and see if you can make a playoff run and hope to get lucky (a la the Giants), but I guess the Cubs would rather come in 3rd in the NL Central for the next 3 years...
Fire: I couldn't help but notice, looking at the draft results, that 5 of the first 8 picks in the draft were from the University of Akron. Now there's a lot I don't know about soccer, but this seems really fishy to me. It could be that someone's playing a big practical joke, since half the top 10 picks look like made up names to me, anyway. Perry Kitchen? Zac MacMath? CJ Sapong? Come on now. The Fire drafted someone named Jalil Anibaba from University of North Carolina. Um...Good.
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