DERRICK ROSE: 2012-13 NBA Summary

Felipe M

I did not want to post an entry on Chicago Bulls' franchise player, Derrick Rose.  I'm so sick of reading about the guy and sharing my comments on the internet that I saw no point in doing so.  Everybody in the world has had their say on the matter.  Adding more content would be like adding fuel to a funeral pyre.  However, as a die-hard Bulls' fan, people are always asking me, around the country, what my opinions are on Derrick Rose and this season.  And a lot of times, there are people, both inside and outside of Chicago, that show how misinformed they are of the situation.  

So, once and for all, I will give my official thoughts on Rose and next time somebody asks me about him, I will just go ahead and share the link to this post.  Like most of you, I hate repeating myself...

At the beginning of the season, I was all for Rose to not come back for this campaign.  After seeing Rose play through a myriad of injuries in the last few seasons, as his style of play and the heavy minutes he gets as the Bulls' point guard AND primary scorer have been the main culprits in preventing Rose from properly recovering from his various ailments, I thought the best thing for his reconstructed knee was for him to take the year off.  From a cynic's standpoint, Rose injuring his knee against the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of the 2012 NBA Playoffs was probably the best thing to happen to his health.  It would at least help him recover from his other physical ailments.  Remember, after the Bulls' playoff run would inevitably finish (whether in the 1st round or in the NBA Finals), Rose was 100% intent on playing in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.  So as a selfish Bulls' fan, we dodged a major bullet by having this knee injury force him to skip the sporting exhibition known as the Olympics.  I was mostly optimistic about how the knee injury would force Rose to play more like a "true" point guard and help him preserve his body and shield him from the unnecessary rigors that are caused from his aggressive style.  Call me Mr. Brightside.  

The zenith of his various injuries and ailments did not come with this knee injury--that was merely a somber conclusion.  The big red flag that all of us should have been paying attention  to was when he had to be hospitalized for stomach ulcers.  Rose blamed it on "spicy food" and promised to cut back and change his diet, however at that point of his career, he was struggling with a nagging back problem (the main physical ailment, theretofore) and many people were thinking that the ulcers were really a result of taking too many NSAIDs; over-the-counter pain relief medication that is notorious for razing one's stomach lining (speaking from experience here).  If you're a pro basketball player and have stomach ulcers due to pain meds to suppress the pain from various injuries, you're either due for a cut in playing time, or are due for a long break.  The one silver lining of getting hurt was that Rose would be getting a much deserved break from NBA action.  

Then came talks that Rose would definitely, without a doubt, return in the spring in time to lead the Bulls' 2013, playoff charge.  At first, I was against the idea, citing that the Bulls, as currently built, are not good enough to go after an NBA title as the Miami Heat were looking like the potential, repeat champions that everybody thought they could be this season.  My thought was, "enjoy the rest, continue to rehab hard, continue to follow doctor's orders, and come back stronger than ever for the start of the 2013-2014 season."  

But then I started looking around and saw other NBA players with similarly serious knee injuries of their own.  We even chronicled the statuses of a few players recovering from these knee injuries: 

• There was Dirk Nowitzki laboring in his return from surgery, but improving his play with every minute on the court.  
• Another budding, NBA poing guard was Ricky Rubio, who was also struggling to come back, but his impact, though limited, was felt immensely by his team and his fans.  
• Let's not forget Iman Shumpert injured his knee the same day as Rose.  

But the most remarkable story of the NBA season was John Wall's recovery from a stress injury in his knee.  Many people thought the knee injury was a lot more serious than the team and player lead on and there were rumors and thoughts from some publications and many fans alike that thought the injury was close to being career-threatening.  However, on January 12, 2013, Wall came back and played and was on the court for 21 minutes, scoring 14 points and helping the Washington Wizards do something that they have struggled to do up to that point--win a game.  Not only did John Wall finish the season strong (after not seeing 30+ minutes until his 5th game and playing less than 30 minutes in 8 of his first 11 games), but the Wizards went 22-18 between the months of January and March and finished 24-25 overall with Wall in the lineup.  The team won 5 total games without Wall.  That's progress!

So I was encouraged to see other players recover, slowly, but surely as each passing game saw these players getting stronger and growing more confident as they tested the limitations of their rehabbed knees.  Of course, the one superstar not doing this was Derrick Rose.  As mentioned, I was fine with him not playing at all this season.  Even after the Bulls had announced that he was cleared to practice and eventually play a real game.  

And then I read this article from Dan Bernstein, where he states that playing in live action NBA games is actually part of Rose's rehab program.  At least according to Dr. Brian Cole; the same doctor that performed the knee surgery on Rose:

"You have to play to play.  All these muscle patterns have to kick in.  You can do that off the court informally, but there's a lot of benefit to playing."

Guess who didn't wear his
green jersey on St. Patrick's Day?
(photo courtesy of Felipe M)

And then the rumors coming in March as the city of Chicago impatiently waited for his "The Return" to finally come to fruition.  "He will come back sometime during the Bulls' recent west coast trip" one report advised, while other rumors suggested he would come back in time for March 18 against the Denver Nuggets--a "welcome home" event of sorts.  Then we were told it would be against Portland, but then rationale dictated that he would have to play against divisional foe, Indiana.  However, he would not show up to any of these games.  In the meantime, Rose would neither affirm or deny the claims that he would come back on certain dates.  Instead, we were getting vague answers and excuses.  Due to the vagueness of Rose's responses, I will only quickly list the type of rhetoric he used when addressing the issue of his return:

• I'll come back soon, after I'm finally cleared to play (gets clearance from medical staff)
• I'll come back as soon as I'm close to 100% (reports indicate he's "looked good in practice)
• I'll come back when I can start dominating like I know I can (reports and quotes from teammates indicate that he's "been dominating practices")
• I'll come back when I can start dunking off my injured knee (watch this video)
• I'm not sure if I'm coming back at all, but I wouldn't rule out anything (regular season comes to an end)
• I never said I was going to shut it down, but I might still play (Bulls don't have enough healthy players on roster)
• I might play in the next game, but it will depend on how I feel (Bulls defeat the Brooklyn Nets in 7 games)
• I might play sometime against the Heat (Bulls eventually get eliminated by the defending champs in 5 games)

Rose never saw an official NBA minute.  As mentioned before, I didn't mind Rose missing the rest of the year to recover and start fresh for the 2013-14 season.  But all of this loafing and waffling from Rose was a major turn off and really put in question his leadership and character qualities that have endeared him to NBA fans all over the world.  To me, if you're going to play, then play; if you're not going to play, then just say so and get it over with!  But stop with the teasing!  What did it accomplish?  Absolutely nothing!  How difficult was it to just say the following statement?

"Due to my knee not being 100%, rather than risk further injury in an attempt to hasten my return to live basketball action, I will not come back to play for the rest of the 2013 NBA season and will, therefore, regroup with a fresh start in time for the next training camp"

Still waiting...
(photo courtesy of Ricardo Ponce)

And what the hell is he doing trying to come back for the playoffs?  The appropriate time to come back and ease yourself back into playing shape was in the REGULAR SEASON!  I've been saying this throughout Rose's injury and I will repeat myself one last time: the NBA Playoffs are not the place to be rehabbing from knee surgery.

And that's where the major disappointment in Rose comes from in my point of view: his unwillingness to continue his rehab program by playing on the court during the regular season and his Brett Favre-like, "I may not play, but don't rule me out just yet" antics that he pulled off throughout the season.  Whatever the motive for him to keep tantalizing fans of his "The Return" is beyond me.  However, one thing's for certain; he has tarnished his reputation and his likability among NBA fans.  He has become a joke.  His toughness, both physically and mentally, is now questionable at best (Brad Beal certainly questions it).  

Again, I won't forget how Rose would play with reckless abandon prior to the knee injury.  I won't forget how he personified Chicago with his style and toughness.  I won't forget how his stomach lining was ruptured due to pain meds in order for him not to miss a game.  I won't forget how the Bulls have treated their players' health in recent years and I wouldn't blame Rose if he doesn't trust the Bulls' medical staff at all.  

But I won't forget how players like Joakim Noah, Luol Deng, Kirk Hinrich, Taj Gibson and Nate Robinson were playing heavy minutes under heavy duress and various ailments in these playoffs when it would have been understandable for these players to sit out for a prolonged period of time (and in the case of Deng and Hinrich, they did and I don't blame them).  

Most importantly, I won't forget how Rose blatantly decided to jerk the team and the fans around  for the latter months of the season and playoffs.  I won't forget his indecisiveness.  I won't forget the double-talk.  And I won't forget how he went from being one of the biggest superstars in the league to becoming a punchline.

Will definitely use the rest of the summer to make me forget this episode.  Just like Rose, I too will seek a fresh start in time for training camp.  

More NBA content is available here. 

SUPER BOWL PARTY SCENARIOS

Super Bowl Party!
(photo courtesy of Ed Mancia)

Donny R

Felipe M

Dan Bernstein’s wrote an advice column on watching the Super Bowl, where he essentially warns you to not attend any party whatsoever as people tend to ruin the experience of the NFL Championship Game.  Donny Rodriguez and Felipe M, on the other hand, warns readers to know beforehand what exactly to expect at these Super Bowl parties and what you can do to make best of the following situations.  

Scenario #1:  You know someone at the party you will be attending, usually a girl, will make a point to say, “I only watch the Super Bowl for the commercials.”  Your friend’s fiancée will reply, “I know!  Me too!”  And they will go on and on swapping stories about the commercials from past years and how they went online and already had a sneak peek at some of the more, marquee advertisements.  And as they discover that they both have so much in common in terms of their knowledge of Super Bowl commercials, their chatter volume will grow louder and higher to almost unbearable shrieking levels and constant responses of “Oh my God, right?  Like, me too!” 

Best Possible Move: You and your buddy will both despondently glance at each other and take a swig of your brew of choice.  If you’re hoping that more people who want to talk football come and rescue you, you will be disappointed as women usually dominate these parties.  If anything, more women who have not watched a single game all season long will join in the Super Bowl commercial conversation, which ultimately leads to Halftime Show performances where about 5 minutes will be devoted to Beyonce and the rest of the night, they will be singing the praises of Brittney Spears and Madonna’s legendary performances at this event.  Hope this party has plenty of your favorite beer.  I feel sorry if you’re stuck drinking Light beers.

Let me guess?  They have nothing, but Lite Beer
at this party, huh?
(photo courtesy of Gabe Ponce)

Scenario #2: Guess what?  The group of people who have talked up a storm about the commercials and Halftime Shows are also waiting on the Puppy Bowl. If you arrived early because you did not want to miss the pregame narratives on how Ray Lewis benefitted from ‘deer antler' spray pills (oxymoron?) to grow into a beautiful mammal, you’re out of luck because these people want to watch a different kind of animal—puppies!  So guess what you’ll be watching instead of #52’s great fight from morphing into a woodland creature? 

Best Possible Move: Just watch the Puppy Bowl and continue to drink your light beer.  16 of those will get you drunk enough to loosen you up and somewhat enjoy the casual fans’ dominating presence.  Just don’t get too drunk that you actually forget to tell someone to flip it to the damn game.  Besides, can you really endure 1-2 hours of “deer antler” references?

Scenario #3: As you start watching some of these new commercials, in your drunken stupor, no less, you are probably mildly exacerbated and indignant.  You’re feeling that you are marching towards a belligerent state.  You can’t get there quick enough because, again, you’re drinking nothing, but light beers.  You’ll probably start thinking to yourself:

“these advertisers lack so much creativity.  They’re literally just parrots, echoing what we all say and think is funny or cool.  ‘Oh wow, here’s a commercial with someone getting tackled;  oooohhhh, here’s one where an animal is talking; here’s one where a former celebrity attempts to resuscitate his/her career; Nuh-huh, this one stars a black guy you’ve never seen in real life outside of Wicker Park.  Sort of like this guy’”:

Best Possible Move: Just remind yourself that if you wanted to help in producing these commercials, you would have majored in Business/Marketing/Advertising instead of earning your phony, Liberal Arts degree from Gudger College.  Just remind yourself to breathe and keep drinking your light beer.  After 1 hour of pregame ceremonies and a 6 minute rendition of the National Anthem, they will eventually begin the coin toss.  Look at the bright side: you’re only an hour away from a 50/50 chance of winning a prop bet. 

Hello, Donny?  Some of us are still living
that fantasy football season.
(photo courtesy of Felipe M.)

Scenario #4: You finally made it to your 12^th lite beer (a whole case?  Congratulations!) and you finally got a good buzz going.  Unfortunately, the game is a snooze-fest as both teams are playing ridiculously conservative and both quarterbacks are proving to be more inaccurate than an unclean AK-47.  Heck, even that girl who was irritating you with all her talk of commercials is starting to look kind of cute.  And she even seems sort of cool too.  So what if she doesn't care about the Super Bowl?  Your fantasy football season has been over for six weeks and you could care less which slot receiver caught the ball (Was it Anquan Crabtree or Jacoby Ginn Jr.?).  You have no rooting interest and you have no shot at winning any squares.  Maybe, just maybe, you too don’t care about the game, just like the girl whose only interest is the glitzy commercials.  

Best Possible Move: Hello?  There’s only one move to pull here.  During—err, scratch that—before halftime, you might want to start calling her out about her “unnatural obsession” with these ads.  While you’re at it, give her the business about the Puppy Bowl and the upcoming Beyonce, lip-synching extravaganza that should start in about—hmmm, let’s see, they’re in the 2 minute warning—1 hour or so.  Why pick on her like an elementary schoolchild?  Nonsense!  This is the 21^st century, guy!  If there’s a better way to flirt with someone of the opposite sex, I would love to hear all about it…

Scenario #5: I guess at this point, we should probably mention something about the game.  You’re probably nearing your 20^th lite beer of the evening, but with all the food available to you, the beer is having no effect on you.  It’s like your drinking water at this point.  That means you should be coherent enough to pay attention to the game.  You’ll see the following events occur in this game:

• Ray Rice has just as many receiving yards as rushing yards.
• Randy Moss proves he’s the “best Wide Receiver in the game” by making two catches on three targets for 24 yards.
• The 4^th quarter comes down to the final drive, but you are apathetic at this juncture of the game.

Why?  Well, the Super Bowl, unless your hometown team is participating, is just a time to get together with those you hold dear and watch football for the last time until September.  It’s like Christmas or Thanksgiving, but without the awkwardness that only certain family members bring: because you can actually be more selective in terms of whom you want to see at the Super Bowl party.  You’re not forced to tolerate anyone at these festivities.  Ok, you do have to tolerate the game and the players who constantly point to the sky as if divine intervention stepped in and helped them win the football game.  Just one more drive is holding you back from putting this God-forsaken season in the books and getting out of this party so you can drive home and go to sleep because you have to get ready for work on Monday.

Best Possible Move: Again, remember to breathe, and as the game dwindles down, start game-planning how you’re going to plan your goodbyes.  Try to time your exit to sync up with that one girl who likes the commercials.  You probably have a good shot at getting her phone number.  Who knows, you might go to a sports bar next Friday where both of you are sipping your drinks rather bunglingly for an hour as both of you stare at the establishment’s flat screen.  And in between conversations, both of you will watch the commercials and you will think to yourself, “I’m really glad I went to that Super Bowl party.”

Check out Donny Rodriguez's Chicago Bulls Mid-Season Review.

More NFL content is always available, here. 

THE CURIOUS CASE OF: Joe Paterno

Felipe M

BACKGROUND: Joe Paterno, in terms of wins, is the most successful college football head coaches in NCAA history.  He coached at Penn State University for generations, putting the sleepy town of State College, PA on the cultural map.  If you're a college football fan, you don't need me to tell you the accomplishments and accolades he brought to the university.

A CLASS OF ITS OWN: All these accomplishments brought Joe Paterno immense power.  And what better guy to possess all this clout?  He stood for moral righteousness.  He encouraged his athletes to "do the right thing."  The NCAA thought the same thing as it is very hard to find any NCAA violations--which we all know, everything in the NCAA is a violation: you can't buy your players pizza or ice cream after a game could also be deemed a violation.  If one were to think of all the big time violations and scandals in college athletics in the last 30 years, one has to marvel how this particular school was able to have such a relatively clean record.

A GENERATION OF SCANDAL: Name another collegiate institution with a successful football or basketball program (the top revenue machines at the big universities) and in all likelihood they have been marred with NCAA violations and legal scandal.  Schools like Nebraska who have had multiple players in domestic abuse and sexual assault scandals, Florida State with players stealing from a sporting goods store, Iowa with harboring a known rapist in basketball player Pierre Pierce, Baylor covering up a murder involving basketball teammates, and most infamously Southern Methodist University getting the "death penalty" for paying their football players to play at the school.

Through it all, Joe Paterno has been able to keep his football program away from such scandal and people can say with confidence "that at least they're doing it the right way at Penn State."  It turns out, however, that they were just as sleazy as any other institution of higher learning, if not more so. 

THE TRAGIC TRUTH: And then it turns out that Joe Paterno had a pedophile on his coaching staff in Jerry Sandusky.  It is hard to pinpoint when and if Paterno knew that his friend and top assistant had any notion that he had a sexual predator on his staff, but these are the facts:

• Pedophiles are known to have an average of 100+ victims in their lifetime.  The current allegations involve incidents that go back to 1994. Nevertheless, it's safe to assume that Sandusky has been molesting and raping children well before this time period.
• Public Record shows that Paterno should have known about Sandusky as early as 1998 (I strongly believe that Paterno knew about Sandusky well before 1998).  Instead of ousting this monster, the university forced him to retire and gave him "unlimited access to all football facilities, including the locker room."  How much was Paterno involved in keeping his friend and former top assistant out of the football program, but still remain at the university as a full time employee?
• It was believed that Sandusky would not only be the heir apparent to the Penn State head coaching job, but was also a hot commodity to be the next head coach at any other top-notch university.  Nevertheless, it was rumored that during interviews for other head coaching vacancies, Sandusky looked to have no desire to really coach at another university and always brought up the topic of his Second Mile foundation, ad nauseam.  
• Why was Sandusky forced into retirement at the age of 55 years-old in 1999?  Was it for the safety and well-being of Paterno's football program?  Furthermore, why did the University insist on keeping this predator around campus where he used school resources to hold events and activities for his Second Mile organization? 
• Paterno was known to have clashes with school professors and administrators and despite symbolizing the true spirit of amateur/academic sports and putting "student" first in "student-athletes," many of his players still, ironically, received a lot of special treatment at the school. 
• Rabid fans around 2002-2003 protest the potential investigation into the matter.  Among fear of an ensuing chaos and rioting, local police dismiss investigation.
• 2004, Penn State officials ask Paterno to step down as head coach of the football program.  Paterno refused to do so and continued coaching until he was fired in 2011 after the child rape scandal was uncovered.
• Paterno was the moral authority and had more power and clout at Penn State than any other school administrator, dean, president, and any other higher-up imaginable.  As a school employee, he also had the duty to report such incidents to the proper government authorities, NOT THE PENN STATE CHAIN-OF-COMMAND, that there was a sexual predator on campus that preyed on young children.
• Penn State gave Paterno a massive funeral ceremony fit for a King or a dictator.  Not bad for, as many of his fans would defend, someone at the bottom of the Penn State Chain-of-Command totem pole.  

A LEGACY OF HYPOCRISY: Despite the accomplishments and the many high school athletes he turned into men after participating in his football program, his legacy is forever tarnished and will always be remembered as the guy who was too busy with his precious football program to save any young boys from a known child rapist.  Many of his defenders will say that 99.99999% of Joe Paterno's time at Penn State was positive and that the rest of the small percentage was negative and just a "mistake."  But when the "mistake" involves the known endangerment of children into the hands of a child rapist, it is unforgivable and cannot be justified with his past achievements.  To paraphrase THE SCORE's Dan Bernstein, a Chicago radio sportscaster, "400 wins does not justify little boys getting raped."    

Just like Paterno told Penn State, countless number of times by the way, that he was Joe Paterno and he refused to leave the head coach position, he could have easily gone up to this issue and scream out, "I'm Joe Paterno and I am about doing what is right and at this point, I don't think it's right for a known child rapist to be running around my campus chasing little children around under my watch!  I WANT HIM OUT AND WANT AN INVESTIGATION TO BEGIN TO PUT THIS CRIMINAL IN PRISON WHERE HE CAN BE WITH OTHER CHILD RAPISTS!" The fact that he did not do this, is what will forever define his role at Penn State.  

IN CONCLUSION: It turns out that Joe Paterno was a hypocrite, just like the many right-wing, moral conservative Republicans he supported throughout his life.  The people who scream the most about moral righteousness are the ones who usually have the most to learn about the subject matter.  Joe Paterno and Penn State was just like every big time, college football program in America: money and athletics are priority #1, everything else is optionally unnecessary.  Paterno's program was as corrupt as the Catholic Priests at Notre Dame and as criminally ridden as the Miami Hurricane convicts he defeated for a meaningless football title.  Joe Paterno will forever be known as the man who enabled and harbored a child rapist to run loose at his program.  Why?  Because those are the standards that he supposedly instilled at his precious football program.  The images of him being a mentor, educator, and father-figure who happened to be a football coach are just myths.  Let us never forget this so we don't get suckered into believing such deceitful lies, deify these morally conflicted football coaches/players, and really hold these universities to a higher moral standard where they're not harboring, enabling, and protecting murderers, drug dealers, rapists, money whores, and pedophiles.

Pathological Hate would like to thank the Boers and Bernstein radio show (THE SCORE, 670AM) for being the voice of reason amid the Penn State child rape scandal.  We urge you to listen to their podcast.  

We also highly suggest to listen to the Boers and Bernstein "Who Ya Crappin?" segment from January 26, 2012.  The segment has become a Chicago, sports staple and had a lot of listeners calling the program to show their disgust at Penn State and their handling of the child rape scandal and Joe Paterno's funeral. 

ESPN has provided a timeline for the Penn State child rape scandal as well.  

To read the child rape scandal Grand Jury testimony, click here.