Old Style Sports

ESPN and the Chicago Tribune are reporting that Doug Collins will return to the bench for the Bulls this season. The renaissance continues.

Since Michael Jordan retired, the NBA has been searching for an identity - something to hang on to. I think coaches We saw Pat Riley return to coach with the Heat. We saw Doug Collins last coach for the Wizards. Larry Brown is returning to the NBA to coach the Bobcats. Rick Carlisle will be coaching the Mavericks.

Now I’m not saying that the coach is the face of the franchise, but when I say Lakers, I think about Phil Jackson before I think about Kobe Bryant. Coaches make the difference. It’s often said that players win, and coaches lose. I think it’s the opposite though - just ask Mike D’Antoni.

Here, and I thought the Bulls were holding out on hiring someone for the Celtics’ Tom Thibodeau… Would have been smart considering he’s going to win a ring this year.

So Joakim Noah was arrested Sunday for possession of marijuana & alcohol.

His dad doesn’t think it’s a big deal.

I do.

It’s stuff like this that drives sports fans up the wall. Athletes who think they are above the law, think they can get away with things others can’t because they are celebrities. We’ve heard about Kenton Keith scream that he’s a Colt to avoid being arrested.

We recently read about the Dallas Mavericks’ Josh Howard’s habitual marijuana use. I just can’t get it. Are we going back to the days of Charles Barkley, where athletes don’t think they’re role models?

It’s time to grow up, gentlemen. Act just as professionally off the field of play as you do on it. Maybe then the fans won’t gripe so much about having to pay half of their paycheck to bring their families to come and see you.

The planets are actually starting to align for the Bulls. It’s amazing. With just a 1.7 percent chance of getting the number one overall pick in the draft this year, the Bulls somehow managed to pull it off. Projected to get the ninth overall pick, the Bulls will now have the pleasure of deciding who to take between hometown hero Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley. Blog-a-Bull’s poll shows who the fans want - Derrick Rose currently leads the tally with 70 percent of the vote. Here’s what ESPN College Hoops expert Jay Bilas says:

Hey, even though I am a Celtics fan, it was pretty damn hard not to love Michael Jordan during his reign in Chicago. He’s running the show now in Charlotte, and just hired Larry Brown as his new head coach (that’s my news peg just in case you were curious), but I still can’t help but think of this:

So Jerry Reinsdorf didn’t like Mike D’Antoni signing with the bulls. Well, he should have come on much more aggressively, then! Instead, he is left to cry about D’Antoni heading to the Knicks instead. It’s a business, Jerry. You of all people should definitely know that by now. But from what the experts out there are saying, you’re probably better off.