👋 Good morning!
Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same.
The New England Patriots are headed back to the Super Bowl.
No Tom Brady. No Bill Belichick.
Instead, led by Mike Vrabel, a.k.a. the guy apparently not good enough to run things for the …*checks notes*… Tennessee Titans.
And now the Patriots are all that stand between Velus Jones Jr. and a Super Bowl ring.
Good lord.
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Into The Rafters
The Bulls honored Derrick Rose on Saturday night, retiring his No. 1 jersey into the rafters at the United Center after their buzzer-beating win over the Boston Celtics.
The Tributes: As the court was prepared with couches and microphones for the ceremony, the United Center videoboards showed a 15-minute highlight reel with players and coaches from Rose’s past offering congratulatory messages.
Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and Tom Thibodeau spoke before handing the microphone to Rose. Rose also spoke to the media before Saturday night’s game.
Michael Jordan via video: “Derrick, congratulations on your retirement of your jersey. Very happy for you. You had an unbelievable career. You really represent the city of Chicago, the Chicago Bulls, your family and yourself very, very well. So I’m very proud of you and very happy for your special night.
“Looking forward to coming to the United Center and seeing your jersey hanging up there with my jersey. Congratulations and enjoy your night.”
Deng on Rose: “This thing is forever, man. When people talk about all the minutes, all the injuries, everything that we went through, that's our trophy. That's our trophy, man.”
Thibs on Rose: “Congratulations to Derrick and his entire family for this well-deserved honor. The next stop, in my opinion, is the Hall of Fame, and there is no doubt about that.”
Rose said Saturday: “This journey was never about me. It was about creating the synergy that somehow people from the city can pull from. And somehow I was that beacon or that vessel for that, from hooping.”
Bulls 114, Celtics 111: Lost in the shuffle of Rose’s big night was the Bulls getting back above the .500 mark for the first time since November 28th.
Eight Bulls reached double digits in points but Coby White was the only one to reach 20-plus, finishing with 22 points on 5-for-9 shooting from three-point range.
Josh Giddey scored only four points in 24 minutes in his second game back from a hamstring injury that sidelined him for 11 games. Giddey was on a team-imposed minutes restriction.
But no shot was bigger than Kevin Huerter’s corner three to put the Bulls ahead with 0.2 seconds left on the clock in the fourth quarter, making for a very happy United Center crowd ahead of Rose’s jersey retirement.
We can save the discussion of whether or not Rose deserved to have his number retired by the Bulls for another day.
I think the more pressing gripe with Saturday’s festivities is how it was handled over the last year-plus by the organization.
Ownership double-dipping into the fanbase’s appreciation for Rose with a night honoring him last January before retiring his number this go-around should feel like a slap in the face.
In a cyclical stretch of mediocrity, there are only so many ways to drive ticket and merchandise sales. And when your franchise’s greatest star has a tenuous relationship with ownership, reliving the past becomes nearly impossible.
The Bulls can hold their ring of honor celebrations and welcome back former players, but the value is diminished when Michael Jordan hasn’t returned to the United Center in nearly 14 years. And by the way, that was for a Blackhawks playoff game.
I’m glad people enjoyed the ceremony. It was nice to see that group together with their coach again. I hope it also reminded fans that nearly 15 years ago was the closest the Bulls have come to a championship without No. 23.
Caleb Williams, Colston Loveland lead impressive ‘core group’ Ben Johnson, Bears can build on
Panthers 5, Blackhawks 1: Not great. Pretty ugly in fact.
It’s probably one Spencer Knight would like to forget. The Blackhawks’ goaltender let through a couple of softies, saving just 20 of the 24 shots he faced.
Tyler Bertuzzi evened things up near the end of the second period with his 25th goal of what’s been an excellent season for him. But it was all downhill from there.
The Blackhawks finished 0-for-3 on the power play and are now without a goal on their last 17 power play opportunities. Still, the Blackhawks rank 16th on the power play in the NHL and have successfully killed a league-best 85.5 percent of their penalties.
Just another off night without much offensive production. Since Connor Bedard’s return from his month-long absence eight games ago, he’s tallied just one goal and three assists and hasn’t appeared on the scoresheet in three games.
🐻 Hoge & Jahns
12:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bears
1:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Cubs
2:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Blackhawks
3:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO White Sox
5:00 on YouTube
📺 CHGO Bulls
Pregame at 6:30 on YouTube
🏀 Bulls vs. Lakers
7:00 on CHSN
📺 CHGO Bulls
Postgame on YouTube
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Talk to you tomorrow!
– P.N.
