The Manchise: 2010

A Sad Day...

It seems like just yesterday I was standing in the mirror at Hawk Quarters (since renamed) trying on a Large Red #52 Dustin Byfuglien jersey. I was in love, I was ahead of the pack, I was about to buy a jersey that no one had yet, I found a player who I adored that I envisioned becoming a superstar in the years to come. Unfortunately my bank account was empty and I was having visions of my Dad’s reaction when I would tell him that I put it on my credit card. I settled for a jersey t-shirt instead. I didn’t need the official sweater… as long as I could turn on the TV and see Big Buff flying around as a Hawk I was satisfied.

The future of the University of Iowa basketball program is now. Well, sort of. The future, or at least future players, are NOW playing in the Prime Time League in North Liberty. Three of the four recruits signed for the 2010 class are playing in the league, with Bryce Cartwirght of Paris Junior College in Texas being the lone exception. Cartwright is in Texas for the summer finishing up some classes before joining his new teammates in Iowa City.

As for those teammates, well they have been pretty busy getting ready to turn things around. All are enrolled in summer courses and have been working out and playing a lot of basketball together. Not to mention living together. My guess is, by the time basketball season rolls around, the three-some of Roy Marble Jr. (Devyn Marble), Zach McCabe and Melsahn Basabe will be ready to see some new faces.

If you have been waiting for a Finals post from us here at The Manchise, I personally apologize for the lack of thoughts. I honestly have not been able to gather myself after the first two roller coaster-like games. But now that the Lakers demolished the Celtics in game three, and the nation had to bear witness to another awful night from two of the Big Four, I'm ready. I'm ready to kick this shit into overdrive.

Since 1985 (when the NBA started using the 2-3-2 format), the team that wins game three after a one to one tie, has won the Larry O'Brien Trophy 100% of the time. 100%! The 2010 Finals looks to be transcending towards that same trend. After letting the series slip 2-1 in favor of the Lakers, the Celtics have one of the biggest mountains to climb. They have given a team that consists of two jolly giants, an assassin, a border line psychopath, a point guard that couldn't beat Billy Hoyle one on one, and a Kardashian's man bitch a healthy handful of confidence; and you don't want to give a Kobe Bryant led team more confidence than they already have.

Well the time has finally come Hawks fans. Tonight our Hawks will have a chance to put their names into hockey immortality. As we all anxiously await the drop of the puck in Game 6 I’d like to leave you with a plethora of reasons why the Hawks will emerge victoriously in tonight’s matchup:

Well for the first time in the 2010 Stanley Cup Finals I am happy to write about #20 in orange. As a matter of fact I’m so elated I’d rather write to him than about him:

Dear Chris,

Post Bar Post Game

What to say, what to say… I don’t even know. Niklas Hjalmarsson, you picked the absolute worst time to have your first ever sub-par game as a Blackhawk. I can’t honestly think of anything you’ve ever done wrong until tonight when you assisted on 2 Flyers goals. As for you Duncan Keith, I never thought I’d see you get absolutely burned at a pivotal point in the game. When Niemi got pulled I was having flashbacks to Vancouver when Zach Parise tied it with 20 or so seconds left to play. Unfortunately for me and the rest of the Hawks bandwagon Jeff Carter didn’t have any plans for going to overtime.

Here are my thoughts from Game 4, take them for what they’re worth:

We’re about 6 hours away from the opening face off of Game 4 and the anticipation is building up like Chicago’s hatred for Chris Pronger. What will we see tonight? Will the Hawks closed door talks with the NHL result in some power plays or will we be forced to start seriously contemplating whether or not the NHL Finals truly are rigged to go more than 5 games? I’m not big on conspiracy but if the officiating carries over from Games 1-3 I will have no choice but to begin wondering. Bill McCreary said Monday night was “A man’s game.” It’s too bad him and his crew weren’t “man” enough to draw the line and raise their arm when it was appropriate to make a call.

When I look into my crystal ball I see 5 possible scenarios that could play out tonight. After assessing each one I will leave you with my prediction for Game 4:

Turn on ESPN. Turn it on! When you finally get there I guarantee you'll see one of two things: 1. A story about an umpire by the name of Jim Joyce, pulling out his inner Don Dekinger and blowing an astronomical call. 2. Ken Griffey Jr. saying goodbye to the game of baseball.

As much as I want to write about the man that donned the best baseball swing the MLB has ever seen, I can't. He is being overshadowed by an amazingly horrific story about a kid, with a name so incredibly hard to pronounce (especially if you had a few beers in you during country night), who was robbed of one of the most magical feats in sports.

Armondo Galarraga fell victim to an idiotic call, by another sporting official who was incapable of performing his job to the standard fans expect.

Game 3 has come and gone and so has the chance for a Blackhawks sweep in this series. Actually, this is beginning to look more and more like a 7 game series with every passing day. Not because the Flyers are a worthy opponent to the Hawks, but instead because Gary Bettman and his army of idiots in pinstripes have enabled a team to play outside of the rulebook and win hockey games. I want to take this opportunity to vent a little bit on what is grinding my gears about this series, and I mean really grinding my gears.

Hello hockey fans! Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals has given all of us extra motivation to make it through this hump day. The series shifts to Philly tonight where hopefully the Hawks can put a stranglehold on the Flyers. As I’ve said recently I find it rather pointless to try to predict what’s in store for the fans tonight. We will let the players do the talking on the ice. I’m just going to babble for about 300 words or so about what’s on my mind as we await tonight’s action.

I’d like to start off by giving some much undeserved attention to Chris Pronger.

A lot has transpired since I last dropped in so let’s get to it. Absolutely incredible Game 1 on Saturday. Buff-Toews-Kane a combined -9, Pronger posting over 32 minutes of ice time, 11 goals, no Flyer penalties, etc. But no matter how crazy the storyline we are beginning to see one thing remain pretty constant: the Hawks coming out victorious. Brouwer and Kopecky (two guys who were battling for the same spot in the previous 3 series) got the job done along with added contributions from Versteeg, Sharp, and Bolland. The pace of the game was so ridiculous that there wasn’t even time for any of the underlying questions to be answered. Can Pronger stop Buff? I don’t know. Is Toews better than Richards? I don’t know. Is Leighton better than NIemi? I don’t know. Game 1 was such a roller coaster ride that little analysis can be made of what patterns are beginning to set in as we head towards Game 2 tonight.

My advice?

98 days until kickoff at Kinnick, 98 days until kickoff.... We started with the ANF decals at #100 and then brought up the dreaded-by-parents all-nighter at #99. Today, we continue the countdown to Hawkeye football with number 98.

The countdown continues today and we are singing the old tune: 99 days until kickoff at Kinnick, 99 days until kickoff. Ok, so not quite as catchy, but nonetheless, we are stilling counting it down. #100 was the fantastic little ANF decal plastered on every Hawkeye helmet and today we move on to number 99.

Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals is fast approaching. As the week wears on and the anticipation builds we are beginning to see some storylines appear in this series. Can Buff be stopped? Who has the better defensive core? Who has the better Captain? Should Toews have touched the Campbell Trophy? Should Richards have not touched the Prince of Whales Trophy? Personally I believe the Finals should have started tonight. That way the media would have much less time to jam these thoughts into the players’ minds before they step out on the ice. Game 1 on Wednesday night would have laid the tracks for an unbelievable weekend showcase of the leagues two best teams. Friday night in Chicago, Sunday night in Philly, the buzz would have been tremendous if we had been given a game to lead into the weekend. But I’m not Gary Bettman (or affiliated with the NHL at all) so that thought remains solely my opinion.

Since there is nothing but speculation to talk about at this point let’s take a look at some of these lingering questions.

And so it begins, folks. The countdown to Hawkeye football offically starts today. If you'll take a moment to glance at the upper-right hand corner of the stie, you will notice the countdown to kick-off which has been up roughly since the week after the Orange Bowl. And while we have been anxiously awaiting 11:05 Central Time on Saturday, September 4, we are now in full countdown mode. It is 100 days until the Hawkeyes kick off the 2010 season in Historic Kinnick Stadium. To celebrate, we begin our own countdown of the top 100 things about the Hawkeyes. The list will be a hodge-podge of great players, moments and random tid-bits that make Iowa Football great. Sure, the order may be a little odd and there may be some things you don't think deserve to be here or we may leave something out. But hey, it's OUR list! If you have changes or additions, let's hear them! So, without further adieu we begin with number 100.

If any of you have turned on ESPN at all today, you have probably seen some footage of Ozzie Guillen in umpire Joe West's face over two extremely questionable balk calls. You would have seen them taunt each other, all the while pumping their chests out like raging gorillas (West's chest being a little more lumpy than Guillen's). You would have seen Ozzie Guillen at his finest as a coach. And I mean that in all seriousness.

Look, anyone can call out Ozzie as a coach and he usually deserves that criticism. But nobody on this planet can call out Ozzie for not caring about his players. The soul reason he stepped out on the field today was because he heard West say to Buehrle, "I'm going to kick you out of the game'". Ozzie felt that West was embarrassing his player, so he marched out to make sure West knew his feelings.

Sure, knowing it was Joe West probably made it easier for the Oz man to get out there (West has ejected Ozzie three times out of his total 22 ejections). Those two have more bad blood than Castor Troy and Sean Archer in Face Off. But let it be known that no matter who was umping first, and who was pitching, Ozzie would have acted the same way. He is a coach you want in your corner if you are a player, and people in Chicago need to realize that.

Call the recent success of the White Sox under Guillen a fluke, call it luck, call it whatever you want, I don't care. But Ozzie Guillen cares for his players in a day in age where coaches get fired because of their relationships with players. He may not be the most baseball savvy coach, and he may not be the most intricate coach like Joe Maddon, but he is a fighter. He is passionate and quirky. He has a fire that no one coach in the majors can match, and if I had to pick one guy to have in my corner as a player, it would be Ozzie.

The Sun shines brightest in the west

(Picture from NBA.com)

The defending champion Los Angeles Lakers were simply out dueled, out done, and out played in the desert Tuesday night. After obtaining a quick 2-0 lead over the Phoenix Suns at home, Los Angeles has lost that lead as fast as they got it.

The Suns needed a team effort Tuesday night to even the Western Conference Finals at two games a piece. As most NBA fans know, Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire (as great and electrifying as they are) cannot out play Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol by themselves. So like the old Beatles song, Nash and Stoudemire got "by with a little help from [their] friends" in route to creating a series out of what looked to be a quick blow out.

The Phoenix Suns bench was the only reason the Suns played themselves into a series tie after a 115-106 victory in game four. Even with Kobe Bryant providing his team with a 38-point, 10-assist performance in Arizona, his big game ultimately ended up as a scratch to Channing Frye, Jared Dudley, and Leandro Barbosa's game altering play.

I just read a story about the most disgusting act of drunken behavior I have ever heard of. The report was on ChicagoBreakingSports.com and it described a scene that took place at a Phillies game on April 14th. It was reported that a 21 year old Phillies fan, who just turned 21 in March, pleaded guilty to vomiting on a man and his daughters.

But hey, that stuff happens sometimes, right? If you walk the streets of Iowa City on a Friday night during the school year, I'd bet that you'd see lots of that. In fact, during my sophomore year a buddy of mine fell victim to a drive by vomit-er in a local "scummy" bar. But what makes this such a repulsive act is that the 21 year old, Matthew Clemmens, stuck is fat little fingers down his throat to puke on this man on purpose.

ON PURPOSE.

(Picture from pendletonpanther.com)

After tonights overtime loss against the Magic (a game that should have been handily won by the Celtics, might I add), I have three thoughts about the future Eastern Conference Champions. The first being that the Magic don't stand a "fighters" chance to make this a compelling series. If they don't lose this next game in Orlando, I'd be surprised. The Celtics played about as bad as they could in the first half and were only down by four. The Rajon Rondo we are all used to seeing in the playoffs, was still in the locker room having a slam dunk contest with Nate Robinson when the ball went up. As was Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, who came out of the gate flatter than Paris Hilton's chest. No wonder Jameer Nelson finally scored more than four points. I guarantee Rondo will watch that film and see how abscent he was for most of the context. You can be he will correct his inability to take control of the paint faster than you can say "Larry Legend".

The second thought is, when was this team of Zombies fed an antidote that allowed them two more months of super human strength? I mean really? Kevin Garnett had half a knee all season, Doc Rivers looked like a lock to quit after the year ended, and Paul Pierce looked like he played one to many purposeless game.

The third is more of a statement to The Big 3. Your wheel chairs are being pushed, and are going to continue to be pushed, by Rajon Rondo. Period. He is a bigger superstar right now than every single one of you. Winning a title this year wont be based on how well Allen's shooting. It wont be based on Garnett's emotional leadership on the court. It will be on the shoulders of the young kid from Kentucky that everyone had a problem with just two years ago. It is all on how well Rajon Rondo can slice, dice, cut, and butcher the Lakers.

The waiting begins… Maybe even as early as tonight we will know who our Hawks will face in the Stanley Cup Finals. Being Monday afternoon it seems rather pointless to do a Game 4 recap. Anyone who is taking some time to read this (which is much appreciated by the way) already knows what happened. The Blackhawks busted out the brooms and swept San Jose to earn the first Cup Finals appearance since 1992. The total team effort was amazing in this series. Toews breaking records, Niemi standing on his head, Duncan Keith giving up 7 of his teeth; the Hawks showed their desire to bring a Championship to Chicago in this series.

With Spring Practice all wrapped up and the basketball news starting to FINALLY slow, I have really started to think about next season and what could be in store. While it's still too early to really make any predictions, it's not too early to take a closer look at what could be in store at the various position groups. Over the next few days, we will be walking through some of the key positions for the Hawkeyes and discussing the possibilities heading into next year.

So let's kick things off with the spot that can really make or break your season (like last year): the quarterback. There's no doubt that Ricky Stanzi will be back as the Hawkeye's #1 (kind of like America). The real questions surround who will be cemented as his back-up and how the Manzi will perform. Last year, many a game hinged on his first quarter pick-six and his fourth quarter heroics. I'd be pretty happy going 11-2 again this season, but I don't know if my heart can take the roller coaster ride Slick Rick put me through last year.

I’d like to begin today with a very sincere apology to a good friend of mine. While in college I had the opportunity to become acquainted with a Dallas Stars fan. We would sit back, pound a couple brews, play NHL 2006 on Playstation 2, and talk hockey. No matter what the topic of conversation was I would always take a minute to point out the fact the Jeremy Roenick was the greatest American born player to ever take the ice. There was nothing I enjoyed more than watching his cheeks redden with anger as he made his case for Mike Modano. He was right and I knew it, I just loved seeing the fire in his eyes when I tried to remove Mike Modano from that little pedestal in his heart. This is my apology Kevin, I hope you are smiling somewhere. I am truly sorry for ever attempting to put “JR” in the same sentence as Mike Modano.

Why my sudden detachment from Roenick you ask?

(Picture courtesy of midwestsportsfans.com)

As the great Matthew Berry says, "I'm in a mood".

After watching yet another White Sox implosion tonight ironically to Berry's favorite team, the Los Angeles Angels, I'm about ready to call this season dead after only 40-games.

But can anyone blame me? The Sox are 7.5 games behind the first place Twins and Tigers already, yet they are playing like they have all the time in the world to catch up. They are letting games slip away faster than the 2007 Boston Celtics. What steams me up the most is the fact that their tanks seem to be on empty with 3/4ths of the season left to play.

I'm about ready to put a fork in this "new look" White Sox team and it's going to happen faster than Hawk Harrelson can say "stretch".

A lot of hockey media has made it a point to say that the Western Conference Finals matchup between the Hawks and Sharks might as well be the Stanley Cup Finals. Well I’m here today to disagree with that notion. Love ‘em or hate ‘em, Philadelphia is no joke, and to think that the winner of the West is going to breeze to the cup is a serious lapse in judgment.

I just hope that the Flyers and Hawks win their respective series’ so that I will not have wasted my time writing this article.

(Picture from rushthecourt.com)

I opened up my beloved website this afternoon to see a delightful post by our NHL writer, Paul Czerwein, who wrote about different sports leagues drafts. He argued that the NHL has the best evaluators of young talent, especially in the past 10 years. His list, which included the top three picks of the past decade was intriguing, star studded, and extremely hard to beat. With names like John Taveres, Steven Stamkos, Patrick Kane, Erik Johnson, Sidney Crosby, and Alexander Ovechkin, how could he not argue this point?

Being the NBA fan I am, I started running through the past 10 years of my life and the leagues drafts. Just going by his question, "Is there any other sport where so much star power is consolidated in the top 3 draft picks from the past 10 years?", I realized I had an answer. YES!

All the recent talk in the sports world (including here at The Manchise) about John Wall being the upcoming #1 pick in this year’s NBA draft made me do some serious thinking about all of the drafts that I can remember. I have to give the NBA scouts credit because the only #1 pick I can question from my lifetime is Kwame Brown. Baseball is hard to question as well because it takes a considerable amount of time for draft picks to mature into Major League caliber players. But look at the NFL: Tim Couch, David Carr, Alex Smith, and JaMarcus Russell. That’s 5 of the 10 or so drafts I can remember that have resulted in absolute busts.

Then I turn to my so called field of expertise, the NHL.

Anyone that follows Iowa football knows that the biggest weapon standing on the west sidelines in Kinnick Stadium isn't Ricky Stanzi's arm, or the legs of Jewel Hampton. It's not the hands of Marvin McNutt nor the dreads on the Predator (Adrian Clayborn). No, the biggest weapon on the Hawkeye sideline is the right leg of punter Ryan Donahue.

The senior from Evergreen Park, Illinois boomed 61 punts last season for an average of just under 41 yards per attempt. But the real weapon is not just the distance Donahue puts on the ball, but his ability to pin opponents deep in their own territory with high, hanging punts that stick inside the 20. Despite the dissapointment of going 3-and-out, the appearance of Donahue on the field brings about cheers of "WMD!" and "Donahue for Heisman!"

As we begin looking ahead to next season, the Iowa kicking game may just have added another WMD to their arsenal. The name's Mullings, Jonny Mullings. He's a 22 year old freshman, and is what some would call an international man of mystery.

Big win for the Hawks tonight (tying an NHL record for 7 straight postseason road wins) to take a 2-0 series lead over the San Jose Sharks. Captain Serious added to his Conn Smythe resume while the Leviathan did his business ruling the seas. Antti Niemi also turned in another above average performance stopping 20 of 22 shots.

Here we are, nearly two months in to the MLB season and just when you thought things were going according to plan, the Cincinatti Reds come to town and kick you square in the McNutts. I mean, really? The Reds? They're terrible, right?

Well, they're in first freakin' place is what they are. After coasting through the month of April and winning their first five series, my beloved Cardinals have struggled in the month of May, going 7-9. Amid that slide, the Cincinnati Reds have climbed toward the top of the divisional ranks, and following last weekend's series victory against my Cards, are atop the NL Central.

How does this happen? The Reds are NOWHERE near as talented as the Cardinals, Cubs, or even the Brewers, who are hanging out in fifth place with a 15-23 record. What they are doing, however, is matching solid hitting with decent pitching performances - something the Redbirds haven't managed to do. In the month of May, the Cards have been outscored 63-61. So, while they have been able to play teams close, they are not matching their best hitting with their best pitching, resulting in the losing record.

Oh Johnnyyyyy! Oh Johnnyyyyyyy, Johnny, Johnny! Are you thinking you should have stayed at Kentucky for a couple more years yet?

If I were you, I would be. In one quick month, you will be leaving one of the best college coaches and programs, to go to one of the worst NBA teams in the leagues history.

I hope you enjoy Washington and all of the "glory" their franchise has in it's past. I hope you enjoy playing for a team whose last relevant year was 2004-2005, when they posted their best record (45-37) in 26 years. Just as a reference, the top six seeded playoff teams in the Eastern Conference had a better record than this, as well as all eight seeded playoff teams in the Western Conference. Pretty exciting team to be drafted too.

Oh and don't forget that this team was dismantled this past year because of a little gun issue. Do you remember hearing about that? Yeah, I thought so.

Hawks Pregame!

Game 2 tonight at the Shark Tank. Let’s take a look at my keys to another Hawks victory:

1. The defense must limit San Jose’s scoring chances. The Hawks cannot rely on Antti Niemi to repeat his Game 1 performance. I believe he will be good again tonight, but I’d still rather not see him face 45 shots. The imbalance of power plays played a big role in the shot totals for San Jose, but the Hawks still need to block some shots and tighten up their D.

(Picture Courtesy of suntimes.com)

If I would have told you during the off season that last years Rookie of the Year, Gordon Beckham, would be sitting in favor of Omar Vizquel's corpse (a corpse with a .143 batting average in 35 at bats), you would have laughed at me. If I would have told you that Beckham would have a .188 batting average for the season, and a .106 batting average in May, I think you would have been stunned. If I would have told you that the 23 year old would only have one home run, six RBI's, and a team high 30-strike outs in 128-at bats, I don't think you would have taken the ROY trophy and beat me over the head with it.

But these facts are a reality for Chicago White Sox fans right now.

The young, high spirited, country boy is now getting his second and third day off of the season to "clear his head" against the Detroit Tigers. You know, games that are extremely important in the White Sox hopes to get to the post season.

You know the old addage, better late than never? Well, that's about all I can say for myself. I've fallen off the face of the earth and have gotten so far behind on my posting that I am now reporting on events that took place weeks ago. But, it's better late than never, right? And with a topic like this, I don't know that it really matter how late - I mean, I will likely have the next 2-4 years to talk about LT's little incident.

Of course, I am refering to the original LT, Lawrence Taylor (aka Shark Lavay). The Hall of Fame linebacker was charged with 3rd degree rape (unlawful sexual conduct with a femal who is under the age of consent - a felony), as well as patronizing a prostitute back on Thursday, May 6th. If Shark is found guilty, he will be facing a maximum of four years in New York state prison (not quite a federal, pound me in the ass prison, but damn close).

First of all, I would like to apologize to all of our readers for never putting out a Hawks vs. Sharks preview as promised. I was busy this past week becoming unemployed; also known to some as graduating college. When I look back, I wish I would have taken a moment to type up that preview because a lot of what I wanted to say would have been apparent in the Hawks big Game 1 victory this afternoon.

This series is going to be a blast. 40 shots apiece in a regulation game? You can’t ask for better TV.

(Picture courtesy of nydailynews.com)

I can't sleep. I've been running through the possibilities of what is going to happen this off season for hours now. I can't stop. The speculation and suspense is killing me. I can't run away from it. Every T.V., every headline, every sports radio station are all focusing on LeBron James and what these next four months will bring. I've watched the replay all ready and have thoughts as usual (which I will get too), but what do NBA fans take away from one of the biggest "choke artist" moments in the leagues history (and yes even with a triple-double, LeBron choked. I'll get into that later)? What do fans of the Knicks, Clippers, Bulls, and Cavs take away from this performance? Was LeBron's body language enough evidence to show that he's leaving, or is he hurt beyond anyone's knowledge? Are the conspiracy theories right about LeBron in the sense that his pain medication was making him depressed/tired/lackadaisical/slow/careless? Just more questions I know, but let's break them down.

Starting with the first question: What do NBA fans take away from one of the biggest "choke artist" moments in the leagues history? Based on LeBron's unwillingness to take over that game and inability to demand that the offense goes through him, he's got to be leaving, right? How can you come back to that team? The best team in the regular season, once again ousted early in the playoffs. LeBron and his team choked flat out, end of sentence.

I get LBJ had a triple double and that's fantastic, big ups to LBJ on that, but I guarantee if you watched that game with the volume off, you had no idea he had accomplished that feat. It was the quietest triple double I've ever seen. The other night when Rajon Rondo had his triple double, everyone knew when they were watching. He took over that game, facilitated the offense, and controlled the tempo. He touched the ball for what it seemed, like every time down the court. LBJ did none of that last night. Sure he had 10-assists, but he also had 9-turnovers. He didn't have a dominating performance like so many superstars have done in crucial playoff games. He was absent for minutes at a time during that game, especially in the fourth quarter.

Attention all Big Ten basketball programs, this is not a test! This is an upset alert, a Hawk Watch has been issued in your area. That's right everyone, I am making the call right here and now, the Iowa Hawkeyes are on their way back. Now, before you get your little panties in a bunch, I want to clarify that I am not predicting some breakout season in 2010-2011. However, I must say that a corner has been turned and it's long before Fran McCaffery has even coached his first game for the Hawkeyes.

(Picture courtesy of nydailynews.com)

How do I begin a post about LeBron James a day after one of the biggest stinkers in playoff history? How do I write about a guy who is rumored to have "interest" in the Chicago Bulls a day after his team went down 3-2 at home? How do I write about a guy that went 3-14 from the field for 15-points in the embarrassing 32-point loss of an important playoff series? How do I respect an MVP that flopped down on the bench, raised his hands in disgust, took himself out of the game by standing at the three point line, and played awful defense by letting Paul Pierce and Ray Allen waltz around the Q Center's floor like Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke. How does any NBA fan comprehend the giant "poop" (keeping this PG) he took on his coaches, his teammates, his fans, and the league itself?

I guess by asking questions like that and hoping that some of our readers can answer some of them for me.

With every logical question I could think of out of the way, I do want to begin on why LBJ played like a middle aged, fat business man who joined his offices basketball league only to cherry pick and turn the ball over. Are the whispers of the off season getting to loud for him? Is the weight of being Cleveland's god send, to much pressure? Is his elbow much, much worse than he is letting on? Does he finally realize that his team is not good enough, and that nobody on that team can carry him if he has a game or two like this? Is it his coach, who couldn't make the right sub-in move if Phil Jackson handed it to him himself? Is it a mixture of all of this (I guess I had more questions).

That red Ferrari (see last article) popped the clutch last night and never looked back. Exactly 365 days after eliminating Vancouver from last year’s playoffs, this year’s Hawks didn’t disappoint. Controlling the tempo from the get go, Brouwer and the boys cruised fairly easily to a 5-1 victory and their second consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance.

Back to the West Coast tonight. Hopefully when this one is over the Hawks will be heading south to San Jose for a date with the Sharks. The game starts at 8:30 Chicago time, don’t be late. The big thing to look for in this one is a fast start from our boys. The Hawks have made it fairly obvious over the duration of the year that no team in the NHL can go shot for shot with them on a regular basis and come out victorious. With that being said, the Hawks need to put themselves in a position to dictate the pace tonight. I don’t care if it’s a deflection from center ice off of Kane’s skate or a triple deke from Patrick Sharp on the breakaway; the Hawks need to score first if they want to be victorious.

(Picture courtesy of http://www.trueball.com/)

We here at The Manchise have not yet commented on the Big "Bathroom" Ben fiasco and his destructive ego. For that we apologize. Now that the topic is a little over shadowed by LT's un-Hall of Fameness (that might not be a word, but for the sake of this post, it is now), I'm not going to dabble in the he said, she said stuff. Instead I'm bringing back one of my favorite posts, the Top Ten.

So without further adieu, I give to you, The Top Ten things Bathroom Ben will be doing with all of his off time:

10. Big Ben is seen taking cruises around the Pittsburgh high ways without a helmet going 80-mph. After photos become released by TMZ, Big Ben gets interviewed by the local media where he explains that he was in fact wearing a helmet. He then points to his greased back, super gelled hairdo and swears it can withstand a 15-mph crash. I believe it.

Just when you thought you could get away, the rumor mill goes and sucks you right back in. After months of speculation, the Big Ten expansion talks had quieted for several weeks. Until today, when WHB 810 AM in Kansas City reported that the Big Ten had extended offers to no less than four candidate schools to join the conference. Oh boy, here we go again...

(Picture courtesy of http://www.nimg.sulekha.com/)

In grade school and part of middle school my friends and I used to play a little game. When one of us did something so inexplicably stupid, we would call them a "jank". It soon took on other forms such as Jank Bank and Jank-tastic.

If you go to urbandictionary.com and type in the word "jank" you will get a few definitions such as:

"A thing that is worthless or useless; shit"

"Negative. Crappy, shitty, stupid, etc"

"the universal term for everything. it can be placed into anything, as long as it is funny, or whenever you feel it is appropriate. Also, can be used [as a replacement name] for someone by the name of Justin" (I might go in and change this to include Bobby Jenks at a later date).

After looking up the true definition (and yes urban dictionary is going to be used as a creditable source), I realized how the word "jank" resembles a particular closer in the city of Chicago. A guy that has 151 career saves. A guy that has a World Series ring (just wanted to make sure everyone realized who we were talking about". A guy whose last name could easily be pronounced "Janks".

Of course I'm talking about Bobby "Jank" Jenks.

I’d like to begin today in the world of baseball. Big shout out to A’s pitcher Dallas Braden for making Alex Rodriguez eat some crow. Braden pitched the nineteenth perfect game in MLB history this afternoon against the Rays. A few weeks back Braden was infuriated by A-Rod when he cut across the pitcher’s mound on his way back to the dugout. The ensuing war of words led A-Rod to tell one reporter, “Can we stop talking about this, it’s time for this guy’s 15 minutes of fame to be over.” Well guess what A-Rod, that ‘guy’ just did something more impressive than anything you’ve done in your career to date. You’re still one of the greatest to ever lace ‘em up but today is Braden’s day to shine.

With that digression out of my mind, let’s get back to why I’m really here, the Blackhawks.

I wonder how many of the Vancouver Canucks can walk and chew bubble gum at the same time. On a night when a combination of physical yet smart play was the key to victory, the Canucks proved that multi-tasking isn’t their best attribute. 8 penalties resulting in 4 power play goals was all it took for the Hawks to grab a 3-1 advantage heading back to Chicago.

(Picture courtesy of http://www.sportsillustrated.com/)

I have yet to comment on the Chicago Bears draft a few weeks ago and honestly I'm not going too. There is no need for me to go on record with what I think about guys that I don't really care about. Maybe once July roles around, I'll give my opinion, but figuring out who is going to be a star out of all the Bears late round draft picks is like figuring out which one of Tiger's 100-misstresses will come out with either a sex tape or a reality show on VH1. Would I like the unformentioned rookies to become quality playmakers down the road, undoubhtably, but I'm not getting caught counting my chickens before they hatch again.

With that said, I do want to draw upon one player who has gotten quite a bit of attention ever since he was drafted out of Central Michigan: Jonah's PS3 online dynasty signal caller, Dan LeFevour.

“Chicago is not a better team than us. They’re not playing better than us. They are just doing a better job in front of the net on both sides.” Hmm….They’re not playing better than us, they’re just doing better in every aspect of the game. Kind of contradicting yourself there aren’t you Mr. Luongo???

But anyway, I’ve got better things to talk about (I think) than big words from a man who is proving to be very small in his own crease. Game 4 is tonight at 8:30 PM Chicago time, buckle up your seat belts. From all that I’ve read, the ‘Nucks have one goal tonight, come hard at Antti Niemi. I’m expecting mayhem. I will admit that the Hawks have been in constant contact with Luongo, but I can’t honestly say that I’ve seen anything with ill intentions. Nonetheless, Vancouver is taking offense, and they are making it known that life will not be easy for Antti tonight.

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