Welcome to The Now

Man, the Celtics-Bulls remind me of those Knicks-Heat matchups in the 1990's. Difference being, there's a tad more drama with these guys . Minutes-wise, they've almost play the equivalent of six and a half games; which is just crazy.

The problem with being a post-partisan politician is that everyone thinks they can sway you (as if "open-minded" meant "malleable"). And it seems that even at sporting events, guys are trying to win Obama over. Take the Wizards for example : Obama is from Hawaii and became a Bulls fan while living in Chicago, but none of the Wizards said they had a problem with that. When asked whether he planned on talking a little trash to Obama for his Bulls allegiance, forward Antawn Jamison vigorously shook his head to indicate no. "Nah, I'm not going to trash talk the president," Jamison said. "He can do whatever he wants. Maybe we can gradually win him over to our side." And Antawn isn't the only one ... "Just seeing him out there interacting with everybody was great," Butler said. "We know that he is legitimately a die-hard Bulls fan but hopefully we can convert him a little bit." Course unlike the Bulls, who got a presidentia...

I'm one of those Wizards fans who was a little sad to see Larry Hughes leave the team, but was really curious as to why Management didn't put up more than a fight (they had to know that he was going to head to a rival team). Well, when word leaked that Chicago was willing to ship him out, I thought this may be an opportunity to get a solid player and maybe dump some guys who probably wouldn't be here next season anyway. But after seeing this, maybe the Wizards (and their 12 wins) are better off not trying to get him back: Think about it; how badly did the Bulls and Knicks want to delouse themselves of their respective canker sores? So badly that Larry Hughes 'contract ($12.8 million, $13.6M next season) almost certainly would have been bought out by managing partner Jerry Reinsdorf had GM John Paxson been unable to deport him. So Hughes was swapped for Jerome James , inarguably the worst mid-level free-agent signing in NBA history, Tim Thomas, whom Chicago exiled him t...

I go to ESPN for some NBA stories. On there NBA section, I see a story about Larry Hughes not being happy with his role. With the Wizards' current woes, and with Hughes being an ex-player on the team, my interest rises. Lo and behold, it's an Insider Story . In other words: no sign-up, no access. Ignoring this out-dated obstacle, I go to Goggle and type in " Larry Hughes Chicago Bulls ." Bingo ! Screw you, NBA Insider! P.S.: For the interested Wizards fans, Hughes had this to say about his situation: "I don't want to play like this," Hughes said. "I'm not comfortable with 15-20 minutes. Something has to change." Note to Ernie Grunfeld: make a move .

While I thought he had awesome chemistry with Gilbert Arenas on the Wizards, Larry Hughes had two concerns: his "meh" persona and his penchant for getting injured. Only one of those concerns has really hampered his game .

Crap . You'd think this would be no big deal, but then you'd recall that these two have been head coaches before. Meaning: if Del Negro is ever out for any reason, there'll be at least two guys who can keep the boat afloat. In other words: the Chicago Bulls are slowly becoming a team that you can't afford to sleep on.

According to the WashPost's Michael Lee, Doug Collins may return to Chicago . Doug Collins. Ailing franchise. #1 pick available. Sounds vaguely familiar. If history repeats itself, the Wizards may have at least one punching bag next season. I can't wait for Collins to try and make Larry Hughes a PG again.