NBA – Chicago Bulls beat Boston Celtics to clinch the Eastern Conference Title

Ok, let’s be fair to the Boston Celtics and perhaps for the sake of precision lets just say that the Boston Celtics still have a mathematical probability of winning the Conference Title and holding on to the No.1 seed in the East for the NBA Playoffs. But on the other hand we must also say that the Celtics gasping the No.1 seed is as improbable as it is for the Bulls to lose all of its pending games.

For starters, the soon to be named the league’s MVP, the talented and spectacular Derrick Rose outplayed no other then one of the NBA’s finest point guards: Rajon Rondo. As if that was not enough, Rose, with 30 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists almost, single handedly outscored the Boston Celtics Big three: Kevin Garnet, 10 points, 10 rebounds; Paul Pierce, 15 points, 4 rebounds; Ray Allen 7 points and 6 rebounds.

So this better be a wake-up call for the Boston Celtics if they are really hoping to emulate their National Championship in 2008. Sure, they made it to the finals last year, but considering all the rebuilding and insane investments that the teams in the Easter Conference have made, it is certainly going to be a bit more of a challenge to play the Bulls, the Miami Heat, the Orlando Magic and the Knicks for a spot in the NBA Finals.

The guys from Chicago were playing with much more cohesion and style, there is really no doubt about it: the Bulls deserved the win. Boston was not at its best, and the Bulls made sure they showed everyone watching the game the Celtics many flaws. Chicago outscored the Celtics 44-22 in the paint, outrebounded them 44-35 and held Boston to 38.4 percent shooting. And that’s not the Celtics that we expect to see on a daily basis. That’s not the team that held the Miami Heat to a 3-0 record and which on Sunday could very well sweep the season with a 4-0.

Because there is simple one big issue: Derrick Rose has been certainly a prominent force in this new era for the Bulls. Because let’s face it, we haven’t seen the Bulls play like they have since, well, since Scottie Pippen and Micheal Jordan were working their way into becoming NBA Legends.

Rose was a one-man highlight reel against Rajon Rondo, beating him with his crossover and getting to the rim. His performance in the first half was just outstanding. Rose scored 16 points in the first two quarters as the Bulls build a 48-43 lead. Luol Deng scored 23 points, and Carlos Boozer added 14 points and 12 rebounds.

The bottom line: Rose outplayed Rondo and that just was not good news for Boston. Twice, Rose completely lost Rondo with hard crossovers. In the second quarter, Rose duped Rondo by stepping back and left, fainting to shoot, then crossing back to his right and flying pass three Celtics Players for the layup. It was a beautiful play that simply made Rondo and the Celtics look a bit too soft, too weak, and not quite ready yet for the Playoffs.

NBA – The Chicago Bulls crush the Atlanta Hawks

Derrick Rose keeps proving he is MVP material, this time leading the Chicago Bulls to a 94-76 crush of the Atlanta Hawks. Rose had a slow start, and it took a while to get his engine going, but once all the pieces began to fit in, he was unstoppable.  The talented point guard guided the Bulls with 34 points, 6 rebound and 5 assists for Chicago’s tenth consecutive win at home and 12th win in 14 games.

The Bulls are not really fighting to catch up with the Boston Celtics in the Easter Conference; Chicago has bigger expectations for their own team. What happens is that it is starting to seem as if at the end of the regular season, when the veteran-drived Boston Celtics are starting to drop their pace and lose too many games, the Bulls are getting stronger by the hour.

The Bulls didn’t seem to miss Carlos Boozer too much that night, as the talented player sat down for the whole game with a sprained left ankle. The key to the Bulls’ success in this game: the third quarter. By halftime, the Atlanta Hawks had managed to stay strong and where down only by two points. But Rose was just about to put on his one-man show and with 18 points alone in that quarter, drive the Bulls into a 24-10 run and extend the difference to 72-60.

Loul Deng had 18 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, to keep on contributing to the Bulls. Joe Johnson led the Hawks with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 2 assists. Josh Smith added 15 and Jamal Crawford scored 14 for Atlanta, which went cold in the third – its lowest scoring quarter this season – and remained winless since beating Chicago at home last week.

It seems it was payback time for the Bulls.

NBA – Chicago Bulls defeat Miami Heat

Yes, there are alot of fans out there who believe that the NBA games that really matter are those played during the Playoffs. Even though there is quite a strong argument in their favor, one could also sustain that some regular season games are quite significant. One of this significant games without a doubt was the 93-89 win of the Chicago Bulls over the Miami Heat.

Here is the thing: what really matters here is that the Bulls won over one of the strongest teams in the nation. For the second time this season. And yes, this time around the Miami Heat had all of its stars in the court. LeBron James was there, Dwayne Wade was there and even Chris Bosh was there. Well, sort of. Ok, as a matter of fact, Bosh was having one of his worst nights as a pro, but heck, he was there.

So perhaps that’s why it was such an important win for Derrick Rose and the Bulls. The last play of the game was a sweet definitive moment for Rose. Let’s face it, he is a talented player who does a great job on the field, but who’s numbers are certainly somewhat of a dissapointment. He was 9-for-24 with 5 boards and 6 assists for 26 points. Not bad, but nothing spectacular either.

Unless, you actually take a look at what he does on the field. Check out what he did on the last play: Loul Deng went to the far corner and stood outside the arch. Dwayne Wade was covering him. Rose had the ball and quickly swirved into the paint. Wade turned around and tried to double team Rose as he was been guard by LeBron James. And then it happened. Somehow Rose managed to clear the ball past two of the best active players in the league, and without missing a beat Deng shoot for the tiebreaking three-pointer that gave the Bulls the 4 point lead 18 seconds before the end. 

And it was over. Despite the efforts of Wade who scored 34 points and LeBron James who added 29 for Miami, the game was goint to go to the Bulls. Perhaps the weakest link was Chris Bosh. He missed 17 of 18 shots and had seven points with Joakim Noah doing a fantastic job guarding him most of the night.

NFL – Green Bay Packers defeat the Chicago Bears for a spot on the Super Bowl

by Stephen Lars on Jan.24, 2011, under Football, Sports News

The Green Bay Packers can start packing their bags for Texas to play for the Vince Lombardi Trophy at Super Bowl XLV. With an impressive 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears on the road, the Packers have now linked three consecutive wins on the road to make it into the biggest sports betting event of the season. Only three other teams have managed to win three playoffs road games to make it into the Super Bowl. Two out of those three have returned home with the trophy: the 2007 New York Giants and the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers. The 1985 Patriots won the three road games but lost the Super Bowl.

Aaron Rodgers didn’t have his best game ever. As a matter of fact, a quick look at his numbers would make you think he was somewhat of a disappointment. With a 55.4 passer rating, Rodgers was far away from what he has been showing since mid-December during the last two win-or-go-home games of the regular season. But despite his numbers, he was they key-player behind the Packers win over the Bears. The first-year rookie ran for a score and perhaps made his best play of the game in quite an unusual fashion for a quarterback: he completed a touchdown saving tackle that could quite easily have changed the outcome of the game.

The Bears, on the other hand, had to deal with a whole lot of issues on their offensive end. Jay Cutler, the starting quarterback, had been playing way under par before he had to leave the game during the third quarter because of some sort of knee injury. Let it be stated that no one is sure when or how he got injured. As if that was not enough, the Bears’ coach Lovie Smith reaction to the reporters’ questions concerning the nature and the details of Cutlers injury certainly didn’t help to clear up the situation.

Cutler was replaced by the Chicago Bears primary back-up Todd Collins. He was no good. For a moment it really seemed as if the Packers would be able to put on at least a 3-touchdown advantage over the Bears. Things got so bad on Chicago’s side that they had to play their odds and use a third quarterback on the game. Little-known Caleb Hanie came in and was the man in charge of giving the Bears their only hope.

Hanie had a chance to tie the game after the Bears’ defense finally got their act together. Unfortunately he threw a ball straight into the Packers defensive lineman B.J. Raji who ran for 18 yards and into the end zone to give the Packers a 21-17 lead. But Hanie had a few more tricks under his sleeve.

He then completed a 35-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennet to get the Bears to a 7-point deficit with little under five minutes to play. The Bears recovered the ball, but their last chance to tie the game was frustrated when the rookie quarterback threw his second interception on a fourth down on the Packers 29 yard line.

Aaron Rodgers went 17 of 30 for 244 yards no touchdown passes, two interceptions and a touchdown rush. Not his best numbers, that’s for sure, but heck, the talented quarterback is guiding his team into Super Bowl on February 6.

NFL – Minnesota Vikings fell to the Chicago Bears on Sunday

The Minnesota Vikings fell 27-13 to the Chicago Bears, and now the Vikings which fell to a 3-6 record for the season, could be on its way to missing the playoffs. At the end, whatever it is that you were expecting from the Vikings’ performance on this regular season (lets not forget that they had brought up Randy Moss and had a healthy and veteran superstar quarterback) this is certainly not it. Moss only lasted a month before getting into an argument with head coach Brad Childress, and find himself playing for a different team the following week. And then, once again, Brett Favre began to deal with injuries and many interceptions per game, which ended up in unnecessary defeats.

The Vikings owner, Zygi Wilf, has publicly shown his support for head coach Brad Childress, who despite not handling the issue with Moss gracefully and certainly not putting together a very effective team, is still going to be guiding the Vikings from the sidelines.

What we are not really sure is where is Childress in respect to Brett Favre. Here is the thing: Favre is an outstanding player, but he is also 41 years old, has played every game since the 4th week of the 1992 NFL regular season. And he is now aching a bit. He has been struggling a bit recently. He is suffering from two broken bones in his ankle and tendinitis in his right arm. Yes, he has thrown over 500 touchdowns and has completed over 70,000 yards. And yes, he holds much every record worth holding as a passer in the NFL. And he is still out there every week, trying to prove something that frankly he has already proved a long time ago.

And here is where Childress should step up. He needs to decide if it is worth keeping Favre playing, or if it is time to be the coach who ended Favre’s 294th consecutive start. Because on thing is certain, the Vikings are not winning. The Vikings are not working their way into the Playoffs, and Brett Favre is in pain and not playing at hist best.

Favre’s elbow flared up in week 5, when the team fell the New York Jets 29-20. When the Vikings then lost to the Green Bay Packers in Lambeau Field, he revealed that there was a big chance that his two fractures in his ankle might sideline him for week 8’s game. Favre started against the New England Patriots and the Vikings lost 28-18. They completed a decent comeback with a 27-24 win in overtime to the Arizona Cardinals, which came as a breath of fresh air to the franchise. But, even then, many specialists had claimed that the Vikings were among the weakest 3-5 teams in the nation.

They were right. Their conference rival, the Chicago Bears had a great game and intercepted Favre 3 times during the game. He is suffering from pain, and as if he didn’t had to worry about his health and his performance on the field, he is also under investigation for allegedly sending improper messages and pictures to a New York Jets’ female worker. It’s probably time to retire. Perhaps this year he will finally but end to what has been a formidable career.

NFL – Chicago Bears defeat Dallas Cowboys

by Stephen Lars on Sep.23, 2010, under Football, Sports News

The Dallas Cowboy are having some serious issues. Cowboys head coach Wade Phillips and the offensive coordinator Jason Garret were blaming each other for the very unsuccessful offensive play that cost them the win last week against the Washington Redskins. Don’t mind Tony Romo’s 282 passing yards. At the end, in the last play and only 6 points under, the Cowboys had a chance to win it. Romo completed a pass to Roy Williams who was open in the end zone. But there was a yellow flag. There was a holding on Alex Barron. Washington could finally celebrate.

This time around, neither Garret nor Wade Phillips had too many to blame. The team is not working, the game plans are week, and let’s face it, the Chicago Bears were able to brake pass the Cowboys defense like if it was a knife into butter. Wade’s defense had nothing to against the Bears, and that cost him the 27-10 loss against the Chicago Bears.

Let’s put this into perspective. The Cowboys defense had not allowed a single touchdown in three-consecutive regular season games. Jay Cutler, the Bears touchdown, had some issues at the beginning of the game. He certainly was found running for dear life when, early in the game, Cowboys’ linebackers DaMarcus Ware and Anthony Spencer had a chance to rough him up a little. As if that was not enough troubles for the Bear’s offensive, the left tackle, Chris Williams was injured in the first quarter.

Now, here is the thing that is a bit upsetting for the Cowboys fans. The 45th annual edition of the NFL championship game, the Super Bowl XLV will be held in the Dallas Cowboys’ stadium in Arlington Texas. But, those local fans are probably not going to be cheering for the home team, as the Cowboys are not playing as they are expected to. At least not if they are really hoping to make it to the post-season, and then keep on with some rhythm into the conference finals and the Super Bowl.

Now, the Cowboys were a 3.5 favorite against the Washington Redskins. And hoping that the team would make use of their hometown advantage and play much harder against the Chicago Cubs, they once again were the favorite against the Bears. The sporstbook industry had set the handicap at -7 points in the spread. Now, this time around, it seems inevitable that they have to go out there and bring a victory. Now, considering their below par performance, thing have changed around for next week when it comes to betting in the NFL.

As of press time, on their next match against the Houston Texans, the Dallas Cowboys are