The End of an Error...I Mean Era

Well, the Bulls season came to a close last night and it appears the Chicago coaching career of Vinny del Negro is all but over. They gave it a fight, but in the end, Lebron, Shaq, and Antawn Jamison proved to be too much. King James was one assist shy of recording his second consecutive triple double, even with a sore elbow. Delonte West came off the bench to add 16 points on 6 for 11 shooting as well. Derrick Rose scored 31 and Deng added 26 of his own. This means the free agent search can begin along with a search for a new head coach. My guess is a free agent may be harder to acquire without a head coach in place, so that means a coach should be priority number one. Chris Bosh and whoever else the Bulls choose to pursue will be number two. I am going to assume Lebron and D-Wade stay put, but everyone else is up in the air. I would be shocked if Bosh, Stoudemire, and Joe Johnson stay put. Those are big market names who can and will put rear ends in seats. These are all just guesses in a free agent period that hasn't even begun though. All this is doing is keeping basketball talk in Chicago alive and relevant. Whatever happens though, Last Call Sports will keep you informed every Thursday night from 7 to 9 only on sportstownchicago.com.

Let's Finish it Off!

The Nashville Predators have made the series against the Blackhawks way too interesting, but a win is a win. Patrick Kane saved the game with a goal in the 3rd in the last thirteen seconds to send the game into overtime. Nashville started off the overtime period with three minutes left in the power play and were clearly the aggressor, which is rather odd since they are a defense first team. With Marian Hossa out on a five minute boarding penalty, the Hawks were down a weapon going into a sudden death overtime period. Nashville came out firing, but Niemi was ready to stop whatever came his way. As Bolland fought the puck out of their zone, Sopel took it from him and exhibited an extreme amount of patience while wrapping around the net. It makes you wonder if an inner alarm clock went off as a shot was fired with the aforementioned Marian Hossa skating out of the box and positioning himself perfectly in front of the net for the game winning goal. We will see what the Hawks have left in the tank for game 6 Monday in Nashville. Hopefully we will be previewing a second round matchup Thursday on Last Call Sports from 7 to 9 only on sportstownchicago.com.

MADhouse on Madison

The men of the Madhouse on Madison aren't faring too well with their playoff matchups. It can't come as a surprise to Bulls fans that they're down 2-0 heading to Chicago, but the Blackhawks have got to be scratching their heads. The goaltending of Pekka Rinne has been nothing short of spectacular, although Niemi has been holding his own as well. Game 1 was the Preds' first road playoff win in franchise history, but the Blackhawks rebounded nicely for a 2-0 shutout winner giving Niemi his first career playoff no-no. Game 3 last night proved to be a tough task as there were 16,000 strong welcoming the Predators back home. Rinne's early save on a Versteeg breakaway set the tone as the Preds skated to a 4-1 victory. Goals by Shea Weber and David Legwand broke the 1-1 tie and that was all Nashville would need. In addition to his tiebreaking goal, Shea Weber added five hits, two blocks and a plus two on the night. This game 3 loss doesn't have the Hawks down and out, but it may have them reassessing some of their strategies.



The other team that plays on Madison are coming home finding themselves backed into a corner down 2-0 to the Cleveland Cavaliers. After a glimmer of hope for a Bulls win in game two, Lebron went lights out and put up 40 big points including 16 for 23 shooting, eight rebounds and eight assists. Jamario Moon added four three pointers as well. Joakim Noah's play backed up his mouth with the center putting up 25 points and snaring 13 rebounds. If anything positive can be taken away from this, it has to be the Bulls bench play. The bench put up fifty-six points against a Cleveland team that only allowed thirty-six a game in the regular season. The game was tied at 77 at the end of the third, but the Cavs went on an 8-3 run to start the fourth. The Cavs shot 56% from the field compared to the Bulls 44. Vinny del Negro put it best in his post-game interview. "We played well enought to steal a game. But they earned it by making plays. And that's what it comes down to-making plays." We'll see what Thursday brings as the Blackhawks and Bulls try to salvage both of their respective series. Hopefully we will have some good news to report during Last Call Sports from 7 to 9 on sportstownchicago.com.

Uh Oh...

Well, game 1 at the United Center didn't go exactly as planned. Pekka Rinne was absolutely filthy and had plenty of answers for the Hawks offense Friday night. Rinne finished with 25 saves in his NHL postseason debut including a HUGE poke save on a Patrick Sharp breakaway. Both teams appeared to have some postseason nerves to start but soon eased into the game. Seabrook and Hossa delivered a couple nice hits, but ultimately it was former Blackhawk J.P. Dumont and his two goals that would be the deciding factor. Martin Erat and Smithson added empty-netters to seal the deal in a four goal third period for the Predators. We'll see how the Hawks rebound and if the Predators can carry their momentum into game 2 when the puck drops at 730. Hopefully we'll hear Chelsea Daggers more than once today and won't have to worry about going down 2-0 before heading to Nashville.

Playoffs?!? Playoffs?!? Are you kidding me?

Noone in the media seem to be giving the Bulls a shot against the mighty Cleveland Cavaliers. Can you blame them though? The team has the best record in the NBA and arguably the best player in the game along with Mo Williams, Antwan Jamison, Anderson Varejao, and Zydrunas Ilgauskas. Oh yeah, and some guy named Shaq. Ultimately, this series will be considered a learning experience for D-Rose, Taj, Joakim, and the Chicago Bulls. The crew sees the Bulls losing in 5, maybe (a big maybe) 6 games. On to next year with a new coach and hopefully some big new talent.

April Just Got Busier

Congrats to VDN and the Chicago Bulls. The team pushed their way into the playoffs with two huge wins over the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Bobcats. The Bobcats win may have been bittersweet with Michael Jordan, Charles Oakley, and Tyrus Thomas in attendance. The team played with a purpose and D-Rose has convinced me he is ready to lead a team. Who knows what will happen with VDN following their first round match-up with King James and the Cavs? Either way, this team has shown once again they can play like an above average basketball team when healthy and may be one or two pieces away from being a contender. Hopefully all the grimacing I saw on the sidelines from Taj, Rose, Miller, and Noah won't carry over to the playoffs. This team needs to be 100% on top of their game come Game 1. Looks like we have two playoff previews to set-up tomorrow night and two nice wins for our baseball teams from 7 to 9 on sportstownchicago.com

Does it get any better???

The Bulls, as bad as they have looked at times this year, are in a playoff race that will literally go down to the final day of the season. With a win against the Bosh-less Raptors, they took sole possession of the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference with two games left. The Raptors beat Detroit to cut the lead to 1/2 a game. Now the Bulls have two very tough match-ups against Boston and Charlotte left while Toronto plays the hapless New York Knicks. It's time for D-Rose and the boys to put up or shut up. The winner, if you want to call it that, faces King James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round of the playoffs. Most are predicting either eight seed to get swept in the first round. That may be the case, but it will give the youth on this Bulls team more experience and will build their resume for prospective free agents in the offseason. This Bulls fan is hoping they get in. It's just about time for tipoff, so hopefully we will be previewing the Bulls first round match-up this Thursday from 7 to 9 on Last Call Sports only on sportstownchicago.com

Call the Wahmbulance

Chicago Cubs fans are up in arms and Sox fans are mad Peavy didn't throw a perfect game. Guess what? The first week of the season hasn't even finished. Peavy's command was poor, but he isn't a cold weather pitcher. The Cubs bullpen, as expected, was very shaky yesterday against Atlanta with John Grabow getting the loss. Give it at least a month for the teams to get in full swing and let them go a couple times through the rotation and then we can have a serious talk about who stinks and who doesn't.

This has been your Last Call blog for the evening. Thanks for reading and keep listening every Thursday night from 7 to 9 only on sportstownchicago.com. We're groundbreaking.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Baseball is here! The Southsiders played well, though, it was against the sad sad Cleveland Indians. Buerhle may have to try out for the Hawks backup goalie position after that kick save and a beauty yesterday. An early two-run homer by Konerko on a fist pitch fastball set the pace and the Sox put it on cruise control from there. Buehrle pitched 7 scoreless innings and retired the last ten he faced. Rios hit an eighth inning homer to cap off an impressive opening day at 35th and Shields. On the other side of town....

The day started off well in Atlanta with Marlon Byrd hitting a 3-run homer in his first regular season at-bat as a Cub. Other than that, the highlights were lacking if you are a Cubs fan. Zambrano barely got out of the first after surrendering a three-run homer to Jason Heyward. It was 8 to 3 after two with the final being 16 to 5 in favor of "America's team." Both teams have the day off and will return to action Wednesday. Jake Peavy makes his season debut for the Sox and Dempster will take the bump for the Cubbies. We'll discuss the first couple days of the season and the rest of the Bulls and Hawks seasons on Thursday night from 7 to 9 only on sportstownchicago.com

DA BULLS!

It makes you wonder what would have happened during the Bulls ten game slide if they were all healthy and playing. The team still has their flaws, but I would envision something as high as a five seed for them had they stayed healthy. The energy on the court with Rose, Noah, Gibson, Deng, and Hinrich is great. Derrick Rose is really coming into his own and with one or two solid additions in the offseason, we will be discussing a high playoff seed this time next year without a doubt. They may have to do it with a new coach, though, as VDN's sand in the hourglass seems to be running out. The last handful of games will be so important for the Bulls especially the matchup against Toronto next week. If the Bulls can pull out a couple wins, that game will most likely be the factor whether or not they play Cleveland in the first round of the playoffs. For anyone who says they don't want their favorite team to make the playoffs due to the embarrassment of them getting bounced in the first round is ludicrous. Experience will only help. Also, in this key offseason of free agency, seeing young guys like Gibson, Rose, and Noah take a team to the playoffs will only fuel the fire for guys like Chris Bosh and Joe Johnson to come here. Tune in this week where we will have plenty to discuss. Joe Stiglich will join us to talk Oakland A's and AL West baseball. Last Call Sports 7 to 9 on sportstownchicago.com