Vinny Del Negro – Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls – must go! And he must go now. The Bulls hit an all-time low on Monday night at the United Center – blowing a 35-point lead (79-44) to the Sacramento Kings on their own home court with just under 9 minutes left to play in the 3rd quarter. The Bulls went on to lose in 102-98 in regulation. How does that even happen?
According to Del Negro: “This one stings. We stooped being aggressive, got a little complacent there and they jumped on it. We’re not good enough to take a minute off, never mind a half.” Guess what Vinny – you’re going to have a LOT of time off very, very soon.
It was the biggest comeback for a win in the NBA since the Utah Jazz overcame a 36-point deficit on November 27, 1996 to rally to beat the Denver Nuggets.
Throw in these other Bulls’ losses in the month of December alone, and you can see why Vinny’s days are numbered: a 32-point loss to the Toronto Raptors at home; a 2 point loss to the 1-win New Jersey Nets at home; a 35-point road loss to the Atlanta Hawks; a 26-point home loss to the Boston Celtics. Ouch.
If the Bulls lose to the Knicks in New York tonight, the Bulls could – and SHOULD – have a new coach before Saturday’s game against the New Orleans Hornets at the United Center.
One team stayed alive; the other suffered their 1st loss. The Colts are 14-0, while the Saints are now 13-1.
The Colts defeated the Jaguars 35-31 on Thursday night football to keep their perfect season alive at 14-0. Peyton Manning hit Reggie Wayne with a 65-yard touchdown pass with just over 5 minutes left in the 4th quarter to give the Colts the win. Manning completed 23 of 30 passes for 308 yards and 4 touchdown passes. He had 1 interception for a 134.4 passer rating. The Colts have clinched home field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.
The Saints, on the other hand, suffered their 1st defeat of the season at the hands of the Dallas Cowboys at home. Drew Brees completed 29 of 45 passes for 298 yards, but he only threw 1 touchdown pass – his lowest total all season long. Throw in an interception and 2 lost fumbles and it was not a good day for the Saints. The Saints are still 13-1 and if they can defeat either Tampa Bay or Carolina in the final 2 games of the season, they will clinch home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs.
The Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Boston Bruins in a shootout on Friday night at the United Center. That makes it 14 wins in 18 games for the Central Division leader of the Western Conference. The Blackhawks are 15-3-1 on home ice and have an overall record of 22-8-3. Their 47 points are tied for most in the Western Conference with the San Jose Sharks and the Los Angeles Kings.
Kris Versteeg, Patrick Sharp, Jonathan Toews and Andrew Ladd scored the Blackhawk goals in regulation. Toews and Patrick Kane scored the 2 shootout goals, while goalie Antti Niemi stopped both shots in the shootout to record the win. The Blackhawks outshot the Bruins 44-29 and continued their dominance in the zone.
It has been a remarkable year so far for the Blackhawks. They take on bitter division rival Detroit Red Wings on Sunday and then the Sharks on Tuesday night. Should be fun.
Tragedy struck the Cincinnati Bengals family again as Chris Henry died on Thursday at the age of 26. While details are still being sorted out, Henry died from injuries sustained when he fell out of the rear of a pick up truck in a accident on Wednesday afternoon. Henry left behind 3 children and his fiancee – Loleini Tonga – with whom he was having a dispute right before the accident.
Henry had been one of the biggest surprises both on and off the field in the NFL this season. After multiple arrests during his career and being penalized for violating the NFL’s personal conduct policy,Henry rebounded in 2009 with 12 catches for 236 yards and 2 TD’s. He was placed on injured reserve in November with a broken left forearm.
The Bengals overcame earlier tragedy this season when Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer’s wife Vikki suddenly past away in October.
Ticket chest has just found out that Kid Cudi has been officially dropped from the Lady Gaga tour. This comes after a brutal fan punching incident Kid Cudi was involved in that blew up online after YouTube videos showing Cudi punching fans in the front row of the Vancouver show. There has been no comment from Lady Gaga’s people yet on this. Check out the video below of this genius at work.
The Chicago White Sox have acquired outfielder Juan Pierre and cash considerations from the Los Angeles Dodgers in exchange for two players to be named later.
Pierre, 32, hit .308 (117-380) with 30 stolen bases, 57 runs scored and a .365 on-base percentage in 145 games with the Dodgers in 2009. He ranked fifth in the National League in steals despite starting just 76 games (63 in left field and 13 in center). Pierre also ranked sixth in the major leagues with a .326 (14-43) average as a pinch-hitter. MORE FROM WHITESOX.COM »
