Will the Miami Heat Ever Get Any Heat for Their Road Woes?

I love the Bulls so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I am about to blog about my dislike for the Miami Heat but I would like it to be known beforehand that I do have a lot of respect for Miami, it is hard not to respect them and admire the astounding amount of talent they have. It is undeniable that they are a good team and are capable of winning an NBA Championship but that’s not what this blog is about.

            Instead I want to blog about my serious disgust at the fact that NBA analysts and sports analysts in general are giving the Miami Heat “passes” on road losses because of the shortened season and the “exhaustion” they suffer by playing a lot of games in fewer days. Yes, I have no doubt that this condensed schedule is tiresome and that it is resulting in fatigue and even injuries that take longer to heal but Miami is not the only team that has to endure such a schedule. Chicago is on the same boat and have only lost 11 games, have already clinched a playoff berth (in fact, they are the only team to do so as of today) and with every win and every Heat loss are one step closer to clinching home court advantage for the post-season.  Yet, in the Chicago, Miami battle, Chicago is still the underdog that can’t beat Miami. I’m sorry I must have dreamt that the Bulls beat the Heat in Chicago without Derrick Rose and John Lucas, their 3^rd string point guard made Wade, Bosh and James look like fools by wiping the floor with them. After that loss which was their 4^th road loss in a row, the Heat got a free pass because they had a long night before in Orlando and so they must have been tired and just couldn’t physically beat them because of it.

            Now that they lost to Oklahoma and Indiana on the road, they get another pass because of the traveling they have to endure and Lebron hurt his finger so he wasn’t 100% healthy so that’s why they deserve to slide yet again for failing to win on the road. Why can’t they just be exposed for what they really are?

            Is it because of the “Big 3”? Is it due to the fact that they have extremely high expectations? Is it because we just don’t want to admit that they have weaknesses? Whatever the case may be, I’m exhausted listening to the excuses that experts are giving for Miami’s lack of road performance and I am going to call it like it is.

            The Miami Heat’s weaknesses have been EXPOSED! They can’t rebound in the paint and they seem intimidated by the energy generated by the fans of whatever team they’re visiting. Miami seems uncomfortable playing away from home and seem even more uncomfortable when teams play them hard and not intimidated by the fact that they are presumably “the most talented team in the NBA”, Lebron even did his baby powder explosion in Chicago for some reason. News flash Lebron, WE DON’T CARE! 

            It would be foolish of me to say that Miami isn’t a good team because they are a great team and have plenty of talent but I do believe that Miami plays off their ego more than their talent and they are far too cocky to be NBA Champions. They can’t win on the road because they don’t have the same support on the road that they do at home and I bet it bothers them because they think they are the best and everybody should love them. But what they have failed to realize is that they have a lot riding on this season, if they don’t win a Championship or worse fail to make it to the Championship Finals, the bandwagon fans are leaving and the criticisms will start rolling in. For Miami, there is no room for error and that starts with not losing on the road because they will have to play on the road during the post season.

            Their road woes have just begun, if they can’t clinch home court and if they make it to the Eastern Conference Finals, they will have to play in Chicago and trust me when I say there is a reason it is nicknamed “The Madhouse on Madison”. Chicago Bulls fans are rabid at post-season time, it is going to be deafeningly loud and it only gets louder with every win. The Bulls themselves are hungry to prove that they can beat Miami. They know they can and they’ve made the necessary adjustments to make sure that it gets done. This post-season match-up is what the Bulls have been waiting for. They are better defensively than Miami is, they rebound off the boards better than Miami does and if the Bulls are 100% healthy by the time the Heat come, they will be better around the perimeter. Miami might have more to prove this post-season but Chicago wants to prove that they are more than what non-Bulls fans think they are.

            Maybe when they lose their chance to go back to the Championship Finals, they won’t get any more free passes. 

Is Corey Crawford the Right Guy?

Over the course of this season, the Blackhawks have made many goalie changes. It started off as Corey Crawford but then a few bad games came his way and so they switched to Ray Emery then back to Corey and so on and so forth. But now with the post-season around the corner, who is the guy that will take the job? It is assumed that Crawford will be that guy, however after everything he’s endured this year, is he a consistent enough player for the job especially in a one and done scenario?


Chicago’s game against New Jersey was one of those games that Corey needed in order to regain some confidence after being pulled from the net against Nashville at the United Center in a 6-1 loss. Granted Crow made some great saves against the Devils and it was up to his team to make sure that they could pull off the win but once the game became a shootout, it was up to him to win the game. Now it’s usually two losses in that analysts start to think about Emery because he has been far more consistent in his play-making abilities, unfortunately it doesn’t seem as if this time around it will be the same because if Corey is going to be the goalie in the post-season, he has to take the losses, shake them off and start fresh the next game. Yet, the question remains, can he do it?


Yes, when Corey is on he a fantastic goalie but when he doesn’t have his head in the game, it is difficult to watch and it is those games that worry the fans because it takes one bad game from our goaltender to punch our ticket home to watch the playoffs from our couches. The western conference is going to be a difficult group to beat with Detroit, Nashville, Vancouver and St. Louis all playing at the top of their game not to mention the possibility that Jonathan Toews could miss the post-season if he is not relieved of his concussion symptoms soon. Without our Captain, the Hawks have done a great job during the regular season but without his leadership in the playoffs, it could be a tough pill to swallow.


The game against New Jersey needed to be a confidence booster for Corey and since they lost, it wasn’t. You could see the emotion he had when he saved shots during the shootout but you could also see the disappointment when he let those two pucks in. Whether or not he will be able to shake it off will only be determined when they play St. Louis at the Madhouse tonight. The Blues do not give up many goals and will not ease up offensively adding a lot of pressure for Crawford to be perfect or dangerously close to it.  Playing at the United Center is an adrenaline rush for the Hawks though. The amount of energy that the fans feed them is comparable to if not greater than any other elite team in the league right now and the team loves it. The Blackhawks and Corey Crawford especially will need all of the help they can get tonight because without Toews and Keith, two large pieces to the Blackhawks puzzle, they will be vulnerable to big hits and multiple shots on goal.


As hard as tonight’s game will be, I’m confident that we can beat St. Louis if we stay physical, keep the puck out of our zone and protect Corey. It will be up to Crawford to make some big saves tonight because of how hard it will be for his offense to score but that doesn’t mean that the pressure only lies on his shoulders. Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Andrew Shaw, all of Chicago’s top scorers have to play well and shoot the puck. Tonight is not a night for them to be fancy and show off the skills they have. Tonight is a night to ground and pound; the only way for the Hawks to score is for them to keep shooting the puck especially on second and third attempts. Everyone will need to bring their best game not just Corey Crawford but it will be his game that determines whether or not the Hawks come away with 2 points.

            If Crawford doesn’t win tonight it will be his third straight loss and will definitely be cause for concern not just among the fans but the coaches as well. In the playoffs, Chicago can’t afford to lose three in a row, no team can however; in the playoffs there should only be one goalie. Joe Quenneville has made it a point to say that whatever goalie he had in net that night was his goalie “for now” but it can’t be like that in the post-season. IF he picks Crawford, it has to be Crawford the whole way but I can sense that even Quenneville is unsure about whether or not Crow has had a good enough season to take on the post-season challenge where the room for error is significantly smaller than in the regular season. Last year, Crawford was more consistent and earned his spot in the net during the playoffs but this year we saw a different side to number 50and a worrisome one at that. I don’t doubt that Crawford could be a successful goalie in this league but in order for him to be successful he needs to be more reliable as a player and more mentally durable.

He's Tebowing on a Jet plane!

Wow as if the free agent frenzy wasn't chaotic enough, now Tim Tebow is heading to the Big Apple and will be a New York Jet. Denver was open to trading Tebow after they landed the big fish that is Peyton Manning but nobody really knew if teams would be seriously interested in the unconventional Quarterback considering the changes that Denver made to better suit Tebow’s strengths. Of course there was interest, especially with teams who have QB problems already but right when teams started surfacing they quickly retracted their interest as if they were embarrassed to admit it publicly.

But the Jets?! As if that team doesn’t have enough drama off the field with Mark Sanchez complaining about teammates, teammates complaining about Mark Sanchez, Rex Ryan crying Superbowl every year and always missing the big dance adding Tim Tebow will only make Mark’s whining worse. Now luckily, Tim is a peaceful, team player and will not cause any drama in the locker room, he might even be able to bring it down some but besides playing peacemaker, what is he going to do there and what does this mean for the Jets current QB?

First of all, I think bringing in Tebow will make matters worse before they get better for the Jets. Mark Sanchez isn’t one to take adding another QB lightly, especially one that brings so much attention to himself and his team. Whatever role Tebow plays, whether it be the wildcat QB or even the starter as Skip Bayless so emphatically declared he will be at the middle of the season, this puts the majority of the pressure on Sanchez to perform. Even though Sanchez has driven the Jets to two AFC Championship games, last season proved that he has weaknesses as a quarterback and as an individual that could prove detrimental to his starting job. He knows what “Tebowmania” caused in Denver and understands that the same will ring true if he fails to play at the highest level in the Meadowlands.

Secondly, Tim Tebow comes from a good place. Moving from Denver to New York was ultimately not his call and to be bashed for the trade is unfair and unprofessional on behalf of the Jets. He avoids controversy and honestly tries to answer the better side of a controversial question.

I’m unsure about what will happen to that locker room come the beginning of the season. I see Tim Tebow being the new kid in school that gets bullied by the big kids until it exhausts them because he isn’t going to breakdown. Now, I do not think Tebow is a starting quarterback in the NFL but I think Tebow is better under pressure than Sanchez is and could win the close football games that I guarantee Mark Sanchez would lose. 

If March wasn't already Mad enough

Today proved that March is President of the Asylum. With all of the insanity that has occurred in the 21 days that this month has been around, March 2012 will be in the record books as the Maddest March ever. Peyton Manning found a new home, TWO #2 seeds lost to #15 seeds in the same day in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, football players were getting record setting paychecks and now to add to the pot, Tim Tebow is a New York Jet and Sean Peyton has been suspended for the entire 2012-2013 season in light of the recent bounty scandal that has plagued the New Orleans Saints offseason. 

Let's start with the Saints. Sean Peyton’s suspension isn't the only penalty New Orleans is receiving for the bounty drama that has been filling the airwaves for the past few months. The laundry list is long and it stings. Mickey Loomis, the GM has been suspended for 8 games and is being fined $500,000. The New Orleans Saints as a franchise is being fined $500,000. Joe Vitt, the Saints Assistant Head Coach (and the person who was supposed to be the Interim Head Coach for the Saints this year) has been suspended for 6 games without pay and the franchise has lost their second round picks in the 2012 and 2013 Drafts. It's like Hurricane Katrina all over again but this time New Orleans can’t blame Mother Nature for the damage caused. 

Nope, the people of New Orleans have to blame the Saints for this one. Their team, their hero in the face of disaster, their Superbowl Champions, this one goes to them. What will get Saints fans the most upset is the severity of the punishment. Rodger Goodell has made a huge statement by coming down this hard. We all knew that New Orleans was going to be made an example out of for this but the end result changes the entire NFL in more ways than one.

First of all, the Saints are going to have a hard time maintaining their elite status in the league because of the losses they’ve sustained. Remember when Coach Peyton tore his ACL and MCL after that sideline hit and spent 3 games up in the booth. New Orleans looked lost and disjointed without their leader on the sideline and without him for a whole year it will be difficult to overcome the empty space he occupies. Sure Drew Brees can relieve some of the void because, after all he is the Captain but even Drew looks up to Sean for guidance and being unable to do so for the year will make the road to success very rough. I would be surprised if the Saints made it to the post-season this year.

Secondly, this makes it very hard for whoever takes over for Peyton. The Saints were one of the best teams in the NFL the past few years and have game plans for everything. They are a talented team both on the offensive and the defensive side of the ball. The bond between the players, the fans, management and the coaching staff is unlike any other and solidifies the fraternal bond the team has. He will have high expectations placed on him for maintaining the high caliber team that he will be entrusted with.    

Finally, no locker room will ever be the same now. Players in the NFL have said that they’ve always had bounties in their head on players and have huddled and talked about running players into the ground as motivation but now any conversation about big hits will be looked at as a bounty and will result in investigations and possible fines. Now I am not supporting what the Saints did by any means, in fact I deplore it but I do think the severity of the punishment will make the game soft and will take away the athletic ability of the players. Players have been injured on non-bounty hits since professional football was born yet I fear that any hit that looks suspicious will now be overanalyzed and the way the game is played will forever be different.

It’s unfortunate that the Saints are the team that has to endure the punishment of a bounty program that I bet has been in other locker rooms in years past and even maybe last year. They are a good team, had a decent chance of going to the Superbowl last season and have been a source of positivity and inspiration to a city that has needed it for so long. I’m neutral about the severity of the punishment, if I had more details I would probably swing one way or another but I do want to say, if Gregg Williams gets off easier than Sean Peyton does for the scandal, Rodger Goodell will have done nothing to set an example. I feel bad for the Saints because they are losing a whole lot now and it will seriously affect them this season. 

         If you want to hear my opinion about Tim Tebow see my next blog “He’s Tebowing on a Jet plane!”.

The Bulls are better than the Heat because...

Last night, Chicago beat Miami 106-102 WITHOUT Derrick Rose. Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless will lead you to believe that the Heat deserve a pass because they played an OT game in Orlando and then had to fly to Chicago and they were "tired and they didn't take Jon Lucas III seriously". Oh please let me grab my tissues because that was just a sad story and I feel so bad for Miami, they had it rough.

NOT, I'm calling bull on all the analysts that are hating on Chicago and their potential to beat Miami and win a Championship this year. Every team in the NBA whether it be Chicago, Miami, New Jersey or Charlotte have had to play back to back games in different cities this year with the condensed schedule but those teams didn't get passes when they lost. Okay New Jersey and Charlotte are terrible teams so they don't deserve consideration for the "free pass" title however, if it was Chicago that suffered back to back losses, nobody would have given them a break, they would have chalked up the losses to their lack of talent or some random excuse that goes back to the fact that the Bulls are not better than Miami.

So let's get to the bottom of this. The Bulls proved not only that they CAN beat Miami but they can do it as a team, something the Heat know nothing about. Chicago moved the ball around, played hardcore defense and showed how hungry they were to prove themselves. Skip and Stephen A say that the Heat didn't take Jon Lucas III seriously but if that were true, why move Lebron over to defend him? Miami intentionally put the biggest superstar in basketball against a 3rd string point guard for what purpose then? If anything Lebron defending Lucas gave JLIII more confidence because it shows how threatened the Heat were by him. James was ordered to defend Lucas to try and stop him from scoring (which James failed to do) so the Heat could have an easier time to try and come back to win the game. Deng and Korver had some great 3-pointers during the game to keep Miami at bay, Noah held his own in the middle and the guards made the plays that needed to be made to seal in the victory. More so, the Bulls proved last night that they don't need Derrick Rose for Chicago to beat Miami.

Going back to the concept of a team, Lebron and Dwayne Wade make up the majority of the points the Heat score in any game. Without them, they don't have a player they can rely on to make the big plays and score the big points. Sure scoring 30+ points a game is amazing but what is going to happen to Miami when they don't have those two scorers, we saw it last night, Chicago's bench out played Miami's bench by a drastic margin, no amount of travel excuses a bench player from being tired. I don't deny how talented the Miami Heat are but I do believe that their talent lies solely in two players whereas Chicago has talent across the board. Of course Chicago's talent isn't as visible as Miami's big two but Miami's 4 straight road losses proves that big talent isn't everything.

Bottom line, the Bulls have the depth in their bench, the talent in their starters and the hunger in their eyes to beat Miami. Don't let these "analysts" let you think otherwise. If Chicago can beat Miami without Derrick Rose, there is no excuse for it. Miami is supposed to be the most talented team, the team who is destined to win it all so we should just roll over and forgive them when they lose but when other teams lose 4 straight on the road, we have to tear them up to pieces and say they don't stand a chance.

What Acquiring Brandon Marshall Means

Wow! Brandon Marshall is now a Bear and Chicago couldn't be more thrilled. Reuniting with Jay Cutler has been a thought in many minds not just Marshall and Cutler and now that it is official, let's talk about what it means for the Chicago Bears in the foreseeable future.

With the questionable return of Johnny Knox, it adds a threat that has been missing in the Windy City for quite some time. Sure, Johnny might be 100% healthy by the start of the pre-season, but the back injury must be on his mind and his health might change the type of athlete he will be moving forward.  Assuming that Marshall adds another 1,000+ yard season to his resume next year, it will be the first 1,000+ yard receiver the Bears have had on their roster since Marty Booker in 2002! Brandon Marshall is also that offensive threat teams have to be aware of when they play Chicago. Doubling up on Marshall leaves one receiver free, namely Cutler's other BFF, Earl Bennett who proved last season that he can be just as much of a threat as the big name receivers such as his new peer.

When Cutler and Marshall played together in Denver, Marshall scored 23 touchdowns and totaled close to 4,000 yards in two years. Marshall averaged 6.7 catches per game and 80 yards per game with 2 Pro-Bowl appearances with Cutler as his Quarterback and Jeremy Bates as Cutler's coach.

Now Marshall has had his off the field problems but I firmly believe that if there was any person to keep them in check, it is Jay Cutler. The two have a bond like no other in the league and that is extremely important both for their professional relationship and Marshall's personal life.

All in all this move is one that has been long anticipated in Chicago, a receiver we can finally depend on and a quarterback that has the athletic ability to use that receiver. I wouldn't be surprised if the Bears went to New Orleans in 2013 and came home Champions.

Peyton Manning, enough said.

Like many football fans, I wasn't terribly surprised that Peyton was released by the Colts Wednesday. $28 million is a lot of money to gamble with no matter who the player is and no matter how much good he has done for your franchise. But there is a lot to be said about Peyton's future and the Colts business future now that the two have cut ties.

Let's start first with the business side of this situation. I'm glad that the Colts didn't give Manning his $28 million signing bonus. It was way too much money for a player who admitted that he is not 100% healthy yet. However, the Colts are taking an even bigger risk by completely rejecting the possibility of picking up Manning at a less expensive price and relying on Andrew Luck to be the rebuilding block of a team that has proven that #18 was the reason the Colts were so successful the past 14 seasons. From a business perspective, you are losing revenue by removing the iconic #18 jersey from your stores, you are taking a risk ordering jerseys that might not even sell if your draft pick blows his chance in the NFL and if your team does worse than the team that picks up Manning, you are losing a fan base that hoped YOU made the right decision. 

Now, Peyton's health is a concern for many on the business side of the sport. Yes the guy is 35 and has had 4 neck procedures, but if you're a team that had been successful without Peyton, then the only risk you're taking is a financial one because you can keep last season's QB as a backup, allowing him to learn from one of the best quarterbacks in the league and then have him step in if something does happen with Manning. Teams like the Cardinals,  Seahawks, Dolphins and Jets are a few of those teams that have somewhat reliable quarterbacks whom could benefit learning from Peyton Manning and then have the ability to step up to the plate in case of emergencies. I don't doubt those QB's would be a bit bitter about being demoted, however being able to watch and learn from an Elite quarterback, a Superbowl winning one at that would be a benefit that would, at least in my opinion, outweigh the downfall in the long term. 

Other teams such as the Rams, Bills and Browns don't have the luxury of picking up Manning because his health risk is too high. Since these teams do not have a reliable quarterback to start with, if Manning did end up injuring himself, they would not have anybody to fall back on.

I do want to add the level of professionalism Peyton has had throughout this difficult time in his career and the unprofessionalism Jim Irsay has had. The press conference was beyond despicable on Irsay's part, not showing appreciation to the one guy that has made your franchise what it is for so long. Peyton made two honest attempts to hug Irsay and Irsay blew him off holding water bottles and just giving him a pat on the back. Irsay not preparing a speech is also a sign that he doesn't really care about Peyton. There is simply no excuse for it. Manning prepared a speech and was visibly upset at the conference, showing his dedication to the team that he has held in high regard for 14 seasons.

Peyton's future as a NFL Quarterback isn't over. As risky as the procedures were, as "old" as he is, if we took out the neck issues there would be no reason for this blog and the only discussion ESPN would have is how smart it was for the Colts to give Manning his $28 million bonus on March 5th. He is an elite athlete for a reason. It will take time for everything to be back to normal, the same goes to any injury and any person. Before the neck, Peyton Manning was a superstar whose consistency led the Colts to post-seasons, Superbowl appearances and winning seasons. The same will be true once he is 100% healthy. His career life will not be as long but at least he will have a chance to boost a team that is on the brink of success to the next level.

I must say I do feel bad that Peyton isn't going to end his career as a Colt. He is that iconic player fans associate one team to. It will be weird to see him in a different jersey (if he gets a job), but as many neck procedures he's had at his age, Manning's career isn't over and he needs to go back out there and prove it. I doubt he will pull a Brett Favre horror movie and just keep coming back, when Peyton Manning is done, he'll know it and will be professional when he exits.