Bernie Bickerstaff interviewed for a position on Vinny Del Negro's Staff

Bernie Bickerstaff interviewed for a position on Vinny Del Negro's first coaching staff Monday. Recently ousted from the Bobcats' organization, Bickerstaff owns a career head-coaching mark of 414-512 in stints with the Sonics, Nuggets, Washington Bullets/Wizards and Bobcats.

Bickerstaff followed interviews with former head coaches Bob Hill, Paul Westphal and Del Harris that took place last week. But with draft preparation dominating this week, it's unlikely the Bulls will announce anything official on assistant coaches this week.

Del Negro has talked to holdovers Pete Myers and Ron Adams, both of whom will remain in the organization if not on the bench. It's likely Paxson will find front-office roles for both.

I am very happy to see the Bulls interview former head coaches as assistants under Del Negro! Any of the four names mentioned would ad stability, and experience.

Beasley's workout off of the charts

Link to the video





Interesting interview with K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Tribune.

Bulls Interview Westphal, Hill, Considering run at Thibodeau

Paul Westphal, who coached the Phoenix Suns against the Bulls in the 1993 NBA Finals, interviewed Wednesday for an assistant's job on Vinny Del Negro's first staff, sources said.

Westphal went 267-159 in stints with the Suns and SuperSonics over five full seasons and parts of two others. He worked on Avery Johnson's staff last season in Dallas.

At his introductory news conference, Del Negro said he would seek the most qualified staff but stressed previous head coaching experience wasn't mandatory.

Nevertheless, Westphal's interview follows one for Bob Hill, who went 310-293 in head coaching stints with the Knicks, Pacers, Spurs and Sonics. Hill last coached in 2006-07, going 31-51 in Seattle.

Both Hill and Westphal are considered creative offensive minds who could serve as the lead assistant for that area. As for defense, the Bulls are considering making a run at Tom Thibodeau, whose one-year contract with the Celtics is expiring.

Thibodeau received the lion's share of credit for orchestrating the Celtics' league-leading defense this season. Given that his efforts helped Boston secure an NBA championship, prying him loose could be difficult—and pricey.

Yet Thibodeau is someone who intrigued the Bulls enough that he landed on the original list of candidates for the head coaching job that went to Del Negro.

Veteran head coaches Del Harris and Bernie Bickerstaff also could be interviewed for positions on Del Negro's staff.

Bickerstaff, currently the Bobcats' general manager, went 414-512 in stints with the Sonics, Nuggets, Washington Bullets/Wizards and Bobcats. Harris, who made noises about retiring after last serving as an assistant in Dallas, owns a career record of 556-457 in stints with the Rockets, Bucks and Lakers.

General manager John Paxson has said organizational jobs will exist for holdovers Pete Myers and Ron Adams if Del Negro chooses not to have them on his bench.

Mike Wilhelm will return to his role as the Bulls' advance scout.

Del Negro needs to add as much experience as he can to the coaching staff. Any of the three players mentioned in the subject title would be a solid addition to the staff.

On Bum Knee, Woods win US Open

The bear hug was more survival than celebration, a spent embrace between Tiger Woods and his caddy 91 holes deep into this forever U.S. Open. Rocco Mediate’s final putt had failed to fall on the playoff round’s first extra playoff hole and finally this 14th major was Tiger’s to embrace with a grip perhaps tighter and more appreciative than any other.

It wasn’t just outlasting Rocco here with the midday California sun beating down, it wasn’t even Woods’ second consecutive 18th hole-overtime-forcing birdie, it wasn’t even winning a mental and physical test of wills – 358 strokes to 359.

If it was just that, then maybe Woods wouldn’t have been calling this his greatest major championship.

“I think this is the best,” he said. “This week had a lot of doubt to it, to be honest with you.”

This was about Woods simply not allowing himself to lose, perhaps because of how much he knows this one might wind up meaning. It wasn’t just how difficult it was, it was the fear that this is how difficult it may be from here on out.

La Russa’s card tricks keep St. Louis afloat

It was the middle finger, of course, as though the baseball gods were pulling some kind of a joke at the expense of the St. Louis Cardinals.

Here you go, boys. Let’s see you handle this one.

Oh, that was only the beginning, the pop on starter Adam Wainwright’s right bird that sent him to the disabled list. Next to come up lame was Albert Pujols, only the National League’s best hitter, with a strained left calf that put him on the DL for at least three weeks. Then pitcher Todd Wellemeyer getting battered around after missing a start with elbow pain, the two perhaps intertwined. Followed by former Cy Young Award winner Chris Carpenter complaining of pain in his own elbow on the way back from Tommy John surgery.

And still, here they are, the Cardinals, the little team that could, sporting the NL’s second-best record halfway through June with a makeshift lineup and thrown-together rotation. No longer can it be passed off as an illusion. The Cardinals – when healthy – are legitimately a good team, enjoyable to watch, easy to root for, the antithesis of what pundits, yours truly included, figured they’d be.

Source and entire report

I am a devout Cardinal fan and I must say I agree with the article! With the injuries the Cardinals have, I am amazed in the fact that they are playing good ball.

High Speed Treadmill Disaster

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Skateboarder Has Terribly Painful Landing

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Chicago Bulls looking at these players

From June 4-15.

• Stefhon Hannah 6-1 pg
  
• Mike Green 6-1 pg
  
• Rodrigue Beaubois 6-2 pg (from France)
  
• Jaycee Carroll 6-2 sg
  
• Darnell Jackson 6-8 pf
  
• Brandon Rush 6-6 sg/sf
  
• Courtney Lee 6-5 sg
  
• Chris Douglas-Roberts 6-7 sg/sf
  
• Bill Walker 6-6 sf
  
• Gary Forbes 6-7 sg/sf
  
• JR Giddens 6-5 sg
  
• Trent Plaisted 6-11 c
  
• Stefhon Hannah 6-1 pg
  

Some names stand out more than others. Roberts and Rush are predicted to be mid-first-round draftees. Does that mean the Gordon may be gone in a trade?

A lot of point guards on the list as well. Does that mean that Duhon is gone? I think so.

Bulls have new coach

The Bulls have hired Vinny Del Negro as their new head coach, according to league sources.

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Red Rays - Devil Sox Brawl

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Ex-Steel Curtain DE Dwight White dead at 58

Dwight White, the Steel Curtain defensive end known as "Mad Dog" who helped lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 58.

The Steelers said White died at a Pittsburgh hospital. The cause was not disclosed. The team said White was released from the hospital after having back surgery, but then was readmitted with complications.

White is the second member of the original four-man Steel Curtain to die this year. Defensive tackle Ernie Holmes died Jan. 17 in a car accident in Texas.

White, a two-time Pro Bowl player, was chosen as one of the 33 members of the Steelers' 75th anniversary all-time team last season.

White was best known for climbing out of a hospital bed to play in the Steelers' first Super Bowl victory, 16-6 over the Minnesota Vikings in 1975. White lost 18 pounds after being diagnosed with pneumonia and a lung infection, yet played nearly the entire game.

White made three tackles for no yards as the Vikings ran seven of their first eight running plays his way and went on to finish with only 17 yards rushing on 21 attempts. White also accounted for the only points of the first half when he sacked Fran Tarkenton in the end zone for a safety.

UFC 85: Bedlam Results

Matt Hughes vs Thiago Alves result
Alves won via TKO due to strikes. Round 2

Michael Bisping vs Jason Day result

Bisping won via TKO Round 1

Marcus Davis vs Mike Swick

Mike Swick won via UD

Nate Marquardt Vs. Thales Leites

Leites won via Split decision

Brandon Vera vs Fabricio Werdum result

Werdum won via TKO. Round 1

Bulls' latest: Coaching pick imminent

Chuck Person, Dwane Casey and Vinny Del Negro have been told a decision on the Bulls' coaching job is imminent, according to sources close to all three candidates.

Those three interviewed last week—Person and Casey for the second time—as general manager John Paxson prepared for what he likely sensed was inevitable: the mutual decision of Doug Collins and Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to end Collins' candidacy.

Sources said the Bulls talked with Del Negro on Saturday, and there were some indications the Suns' assistant general manager had emerged as the front-runner despite owning no previous coaching experience.

I am divided in my opinion as to how well the Bulls coaching search has gone thus far. On the one hand, I don't want them to sign just anybody! I want them to be thorough in their search and sign the guy they really want! On the other hand, it has now been over sever weeks in their search, and nobody is signed!

It was recently rumored that Doug Collins was going to be brought back and have John Hornacek be groomed as the new future coach in waiting, but for some reason he was never signed!

Recently Flip Saunders was let go as coach of the Pistons. The Bulls are expressing little interest in him as well.

Avery Johnson? Lukewarm at best.

I hope the article by beat writer K.C. Johnson is right when he mentions that a new head coach could be announced soon. I also hope the coach will move the team in the right direction.

Groundbreaking sportscaster Jim McKay dies at 86

Jim McKay elegantly covered competitions from badminton to barrel jumping. Yet he may best be remembered for that grim day at the Munich Olympics when he broke the news with three simple words: “They’re all gone.”

The groundbreaking sportscaster died Saturday of natural causes at his farm in Monkton, Md. He was 86.

McKay was the one who spanned the globe to bring television viewers the constant variety of sports on ABC’s influential “Wide World of Sports,” where he told of “the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.”

I grew up, watching and listening to Jim McCay. R.I.P.