I was driving around yesterday afternoon here at Ice Station Zebra and had the score on at 2pm.  Dan Bernstein and Matt Abatacola were railing on Bulls fans to quit giving GM John Paxon and Coach Scott Skiles a break on accountability.  They pointed out that fans want Lovie Smith's head on a spit and Ozzie Guillen's head on a platter, so why do the Bulls get a free pass?  Why?  I'll tell you why.  No one cares.

Back in the day when I was growing up, the number three team in Chicago was the Chicago Blackhawks.  Sure, the Bulls had a nice assortment of players including Chet Walker, Norm VanLier, Jerry Sloan, Bobby Weiss, Bob Love and Tom Borewinkle, but you couldn't begin to compare those guys to Bobby Hull, Jimmy Pappin, Cliff Korall, Tony Esposito, Stan Mikita and the rest of the Blackhawks.  The Hawks were in the cup finals a couple of times and made the playoffs every year.  The Bulls got as far as the second round one year.

When we played sports in the driveway, we played street hockey, not basketball.  Basketball, the NBA or even college wasn't even on our radar screens back in that day.

Yes, Michael Jordan came to town and won six rings, but as soon as that team was broken up, most people moved along about their business, substituting baseball trade rumors for a winter sport. 

So, don't cry about the Bulls.  They're just a big tree in a forest with no one really wanting to hear.

Lightning Round

• As we mentioned earlier this week, NBC drops the Bears for Tom Brady.  A fine move by the peacock network.
• Rumors on the inter net are that the Yankees are not interested in Joe Crede, which is good for White Sox fans as we didn't want Johnny Damon anyway.  It's like trading a Dodge without a tranny for a Ford without an engine.  Neither one of them still runs, so what's the point?  More on the Sox tomorrow.
• Curt Schilling after raising interest from twelve teams, bluffs his way into a deal with the Red Sox.
• Peter Forsberg injured?  I can't believe it.
• This kid Crosby is going to be good.
• Hoosiers are so polite and God fearing they can't even whoop it up at a big football game.  Good thing there's liquid noise.
• Is he?  Or isn't he?  And, some humor about it from EDSBS.  Meanwhile, in another part of the Big 12 Galaxy, Bill Callahan tiptoes through the land mines.  BTW, the latest Nebraska rumor I've heard is Barry Alvarez.
  
• After the Patriots and Colts in the AFC come the Steelers.  But that's a big drop off from 2 to 3.
• Andy Reid, who no doubt is a loyal guy, will continue to trot out Donovan McNabb.
• Jack Del Rio just isn't pussyfooting around, Batman.
  
• New victim manager John Russell says the Pirates are not that far from being a contending team.  And that he's been beamed up to a UFO.  And that Santa Claus truly exists.
• Got a wife and kid in Calgary Jack, I went out for a ride and I never came back
• Some outstanding SEC humor from our friends at "Loser with Socks."
• Giada has something more than baked ziti in the oven.
• Anyone for left over Meat Loaf?
• Say it ain't so, Chris Wallace aces Tim Russert?  That's one of the sure signs of the apocalypse, isn't it?
• Dog the Bounty Hunter is off the hook on charges against him in Mexico.  Too bad the "N-word" incident is not only still hanging over his head, but is a lot fresher in everyone's memory, including the people that run A&E.
• Why is it celebrities aren't entitled to say no to idiots with cameras?