Beat the Sweets

Derrick Rose's well documented love for candy is something I find absolutely fascinating. Between him and Lamar Odom, the Nestle Co. should be set on finances well into the next decade. Now, I don't know if both of these pro athlete's guardians kept the Willy Wonka DVD playing relentlessly on their home televisions throughout their childhood, or they're just die-hard fans of John Candy like everyone else. But, these players have gone to extreme measures to keep their sweet tooth satisfied. Odom has his own "candy man" who shops for the Lakers star and provides Lamar with industrial sized candy boxes by the boatload. And for Rose, well he just had a Skittles vending machine installed in his own house--no big deal. Although Rose swears that he's getting better, and Lamar crosses up and down that Khloe Kardashian is changing his diet (very hard to believe), both players continue to produce at the highest level of professional basketball. In that case, I don't care if you're skipping meals like Allie McBeal or pounding pork rinds with Kristie Alley, it's all kosher.

Derrick quarterbacked the Bulls in a hard fought contest in Oklahoma City last night, battling his counterpart Russell Westbrook in a fast paced game that had my eyes moving from left to right like I was taking a field sobriety test. Even though Rose was nagged by foul trouble in the 1st quarter and then again early in the 4th, he proved his worth when he was on the floor and solidified the captain status that Thibodeau heaped upon him just hours before tip-off. My only grievance with D Rose last night was his quick-trigger in certain instances of the game, but that is common during your first trip to the firing range each year (Actually I don't know, I've never been to the firing range, I'm not a hillbilly). But in the final stretch of the 4th, the Bulls crumbled like stray cheez-its under a couch cushion when push came to shove in the ThunderDome. On consecutive possessions down one point, the Bulls had a shot-clock violation and a turnover off of a Taj Gibson travel. In the NBA, you have to value every possession like it's your childhood blanket on the road against a good team, and the Bulls went from down 92-91 to down 12 and virtually out of reach to close out the game due to ill-advised carelessness on the offensive end.

On a more positive note, I thought Taj Gibson had some bright spots finishing some plays under the basket and looked like he could still be building off of his solid rookie campaign from a year ago. Also, Gibson and Bogans both look like they suffer from alopecia areata and could be featured in a TV ad with new cubs skipper Mike Quade nd former MTV veejay Matt Pinfield before the season is out (I'm imagining them all shaving their head in front of a mirror with machetes like Pedro Cerrano in Major League). And, for most of the game, the Bulls D looked stingy and worked as a cohesive unit and held the Durantula to a 'quiet' 30 points, if there is such thing. My other favorite thing about Wednesday's game was Durant's free-throw shoulder shake, that thing gets me every time (it reminds me of Jack Parkman's shake in Major League.."it makes the women here in Cleveland puke" -Bob Uecker-). Also, I was ecstatic that 'Byron' Mullens was in a suit on the bench. I hope he spends all of his rookie paycheck on tailored suits and then gets cut by Scott Brooks, he really deserves it. After all, it's an 82 game season and I knew we wouldn't win them all. 81-1 it is.

As for Pick of the Day, contrary to most people, I am thoroughly enjoying the paradigm associated in this World Series match-up. As the Skalr Bros. recently tweeted (say what you want about Cheap Seats and their guest appearances on Entourage, but the Sklar Brothers are great on Twitter) "I feel like SF vs. Texas is a battle between blue states and red states, tofu and steak, and Harvey Milk and the guy who killed him". With that being said, being the libertarian that Pulse Man is, he likes the Giants again in game 2 at (-105)

Pick of the Day: Rangers @ Giants- GIANTS, moneyline (-105)

Record: (26-21-0)

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost