I don't do much NBA here, so when we do, pay attention.  If it's compelling enough for me to write about, it must be worth reading.

This whole Scott Skiles mess with the Chicago Bulls is not only indicative of life in the NBA, but in corporate America as well.  First, there is no doubt that Skiles is an experienced and dedicated coach.  Second, he's smart, knows his stuff and wants to win.  On paper, that sounds like the kind of guy you want running your team.

However, in the world of the NBA, and in corporate America, the people that run the zoo tend to listen to the employees rather than the supervisor.  When employees start complaining about this and that, some employers take them seriously rather than do what they did back in the day, which is trade or terminate them instead of the boss.  When performance or profits are down or slow to develop, it's almost always on the head of the supervisor, even if his employees aren't performing or there is petty and chronic complaining. 

Winning teams, winning organizations are built with chemistry.  Sometimes, a coach or manager is dealt a tough hand.  And no matter how much work he puts into it, he's doomed to failure because those under him, who are pulling on the rope either refuse to pull harder or complain about having to pull at all.  Being a coach in the NBA is tough work, because often you have players with twelve different agendas.  The NBA is the worst league on the planet when it comes to egos, player-coach conflicts and the lack of support for coaches.  That's one of the many reasons I usually don't invest time in watching or writing about it.

For Scott Skiles, the end came at a time when his team was seven games under five hundred.  His problem was that the bar was set a lot higher this season, with the Bulls expecting to make a deep playoff run.  The problem was, his players believed that they could just show up and win.  Skiles knew better and pushed them to get them back to where they were expected to be.  That drew criticism and whining from the players.  As a result, because of the salary cap and some of the contracts, Bulls GM John Paxson couldn't clean out the cancer, so he opted to off his coach.  Never mind that at some point, Pax needs to be held accountable for some of his draft day gymnastics.

The sad truth is when you can no longer sell the vision, your shelf life becomes nil.  It doesn't matter how smart you are or how good you are, failure to sell the vision is fatal.  And when the vision skews even that of the people you are working for, well, you might as well fill out the unemployment forms right then and there.

Skiles, for his part has handled the dismissal with class.  He said that being dismissed on Christmas eve didn't bother him as he had plenty of money.  He thanked the players and the team for the opportunity.  He said all the right things, largely because that's how Scott Skiles conducts himself, uptown all the way.

Some of the questions that come from this are if Paxson knew he was going to make a change, why wasn't there a replacement ready to be named?  If he thinks Pete Meyers is going to get the team to playoffs, he's nuts.  Second, is John Paxson about to back up the truck and get rid of some of the mouthier, more vocal players.  Of course, when these things happen there is always the pat management statement "The players need to be accountable."  If they were, maybe Scott Skiles would still have a job.

One more note on this.  Bulls and White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf has always been patient with his coaches and managers.  The firing of Skiles, at least from an organization standpoint, seems like a knee jerk.  The question is if the White Sox come out sluggish in 2008, will The Chairman do the same thing with Sox manager Ozzie Guillen?

• If you would have told me that the Bears would beat Green bay by 28 points prior to Sunday afternoon at 3pm, I would have asked you to pee into a cup.  But, there it was.  And, sadly, the real Bears showed up, way too late for anything other than bragging rights over the Elderly Hillbilly.
• Bears DE Mark Anderson is out for the season with an injury.  I don't think the Bears missed him much on Sunday.  Truth be told, Alex Brown was more effective Sunday than Anderson was all season.
• Good news for former Bears QB Bobby Douglass.  He seems to be winning his battle against cancer.  That's great news, especially for a guy who didn't do much winning in the NFL.  When I was a summer camp counselor in the late 70's, Douglass and former Bears center Mike Pyle came to camp and threw passes to all of the counselors.  Douglass' pass to me was at least ten feet beyond me at a full sprint.  It either explains why Douglass had an unsuccessful NFL career or why I can't outrun septuagenarians.
  
• Don't bet the house on Michigan State in the Champs Sports Bowl.
• Another coach on a very hot seat is Miami Dolphin Head Coach Cam Cameron.  Not only hasn't he spoken to new VP/Operations Bill Parcells, he won't even say his name.  You've got to think Tuna is going to want his own guy running the show, so odds are Cam's NFL head coaching career is over moments after the Fish play the Bengals.
• Memo to Green Bay linebacker Nick Barnett: If you would just STFU and play football, r referees wouldn't have to pull you out of piles.  If you don't think Barnett is a little volatile, study his police record.
  
• Today's "Be careful what you wish for" story courtesy of the University of Kentucky.
  
• Is Tony Kornheiser done on Monday Night Football?  Let's hope so?  He adds little to the broadcast.  I would prefer a two man booth with Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski.  Of course, since when does ESPN care what I want?
• Senator John Kerry becomes the latest politician to garner feel good votes by threatening big cable and the NFL.  It's all empty promises designed to make Kerry look good.  When you marry the heiress to the Heinz Ketchup fortune, chances are you have a satellite dish somewhere in one of your houses.
  
• The problem with liberals is that when they think something is bad for you, they tax it.  Then they misspend the money.
• I love how when someone is subdued by police, they immediately sue.  Would this guy prefer getting a bullet rather than an electric shock?
  
• Today's list: The ten best sports stories of 2007.  Yup, it's that time of year.