BOOZE GOT THE BETTER OF ME

Take a look at the blog, Thank You Isiah, to get a good sense of the ridiculous bets I am willing to make when I am drunk. This is a website devoted to all news pertaining to the Chicago Bulls, so you might be wondering how I ever got involved in a drunken bet with one of their writers? Well apparently they had to explain it to their readers as well. Here is an excerpt from a posting from my friend Brian Cook, who apparently writes for TYI:

"How is any of this Bulls-related, you ask? Good question, and I have an even better answer. Although I'm sure he hopes I've forgotten, this past December, Tim made me a drunken $20 wager that Luol Deng would never average 20 points a game over a full season. (I initially said that he would one day average 25, but Tim was audacious, perhaps magnanimous enough to lower that to 20.) I'm expecting that to happen by the end of the '07-'08 season, so three or four of my drinks at my high school's annual reunion in December 2008 are going to be courtesy of Tim. I'm looking forward to them."

Well Brian after watching Deng dismantle the Heat in the playoffs, I have a feeling I am going to be mailing you $20, yet my manhood will not let me beg for a take back. Many things can happen to deter Deng from getting that 20 a game, like him getting traded to LA for Kobe or someone else on his team being traded for Kobe. No chance Deng ever gets 20ppg with a guy like Kobe on the team. Till Deng gets 20 a game, I will think of myself as the winner of this bet. Cook, looks like you owe me a lot of drinks this Christmas.

Pippen Still Not A STAR

According to Darren Rovel at CNBC, former NBA star Scottie Pippen is finding creative ways to make money because he can't seem to hold on to it. "Pippen made about $110 million throughout his NBA career, but let us remind you why he needs this. He lost $27 million in bad investments and, as of February, he owed $5 million to a bank for a dispute with a private jet company. And he just sold a 2.28-acre property with 18,700-square foot mansion sitting on it for $2.95 million. He and his wife paid $4 million for it in 2000."

Pippen is now collecting government money for land he controls in Arkansas. I guess he is looking for anyway these days to make a buck, since that comeback attempt last year fell on deaf ears. I have mixed feelings about Pippen's playing career, cause on one hand he single handily took down Charles Barkley's last chance at a title while playing together in Houston, but on the other hand he really truly was one of the best players of his generation.

Pippen' career will always get compared to Jordan, cause of all the years they played together at the top of the NBA. However, we can put all those comparisons to rest, cause Pippen was never the player that Jordan was, but Jordan would also have never one those titles without him. They were a perfect match for each other on the court. Off the court, there were always rumors swirling that they did not get along, mainly because Pippen had a hard time playing second fiddle there as well.

Since I could not find any footage of Pippen's farming highlights, I thought I would include a highlight film of his NBA days.