Posted on 16 January 2008
When the Chicago Bulls drafted Joakim Noah, I thought it was a good pick. He wasn’t gonna solve their low post scoring problems, but he’s a winner. I thought he would add energy and excitement to the team, and he has, just not the kind I was expecting.
Falling to 14-22 and hardly competitive, several Bulls players on the bench late seemed relatively indifferent to the result. It was perhaps a worse message than the events of the evening, which were discouraging as well.
Apparently it led to a dispute in the locker room as rookie Joakim Noah complained about the attitude on the bench and argued with veteran Ben Wallace. One witness said Luol Deng had to step between them to ease the tension.
What the hell is going on in Chicago? Just the other day the team voted to sit Noah down, now he’s the only guy that cares about winning. That’s probably the overall problem. Joakim Noah is a winner born and bred. A tennis champion father, model mother, multiple national titles don’t allow Noah to be complacent. He might be going about things the wrong way, but butting heads with Ben Wallace doesn’t make Joakim a bad guy. I’m not going as far as saying Ben Wallace should be benched for the season, but his attitude and contract are bigger problems for the Chicago Bulls than Joakim Noah will ever be.
Struggles-and apparently strife-continue for Bulls. Courtesy of The Chicago Tribune
Tags: Joakim Noah, Ben Wallace, Chicago Bulls, NBA
Posted on 27 November 2007
 When you’re a regular kid, the thought of having a superstar athlete for a parent is dream. You have anything your heart desires, and an unearned sense of accomplishment. The “oh yeah, well my dad’s Michael Jordan” is a pretty powerful card on the playground too.. And it doesn’t even have to be MJ.. The kid of any athlete, minus Michael Vick or Eli Manning, gets the respect and privilege that the children of less athletically inclined parents can only imagine.. When I was in 3rd grade there was a girl that got all kinds of luv cuz she was the niece of Bears fb Matt Suhey (pronounced Matsui).. So what child in their right mind would resent that lifestyle? Chicago Bull Joakim Noah.
“Everyone was trying to compare me to my father. I just didn’t want to deal with it. I remember going to tournaments with my father and wanting him to lose because I just wanted to go home and spend some time with my father.”
I can understand a son wanting to spend more time with his father, but wanting pops to lose so the two of them could go play with their hair is ridiculous. There’s no way that Roger Clemens’ sons would be hoping The Rocket got shelled and whatever team he was ripping off got knocked out of the playoffs.. I hope Yannick Noah was rooting against Florida in the NCAA tournament to keep things balanced.
NBA education comes tougher than college for rookie Noah. Courtesy of AFP
Tags: Joakim Noah, Yannick Noah, NBA, Chicago Bulls
Posted on 29 June 2007
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvJGghOuFlQ]
The crew over at Deadspin dropped this classic video. I’m pretty sure the hand puppet will be getting it’s own show on the “Ocho”, or he might hang back and see how things shake out at Cold Pizza First Take. If you’ve got 6 minutes to spare, do yourself a favor and watch this video. And don’t forget what these guys did last year.
The Stephen A. Smith Hecklers Return. Courtesy of Deadspin
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