Chicago Bulls to Coach Skiles; Merry Christmas, You're Fired

The holidays can be tough on some people. It can be a very stressful time with all the running around, chaotic shopping crowds, and inclement weather. Thankfully for the struggling Chicago Bulls head coach Scott Skiles, he'll have plenty of off time to recoup. Off to a dismal 9-16 start the Bulls have fired Skiles, with no replacement in the wings.

Skiles took the head coaching position in Chicago 5 years ago and lead the Bulls to their first post-Jordan playoff appearance in his first full season. Last season the Bulls overcame a disappointing start to advance to the Western Conference semi-finals before losing to the Detroit Pistons in 6 games.

However with the raised expectations, and another poor early season performance, Skiles was shown the garland adorned door. Well, so much for the holiday spirit.

Tuesday Morning Headlines: 12/04/07

- Yankees self imposed deadline on Johan Santana deal passes. Something tells me Hank Steinbrenner is a pain to play fantasy sports with.

- It came down to the wire, but the Patriots remain perfect, defeating the Ravens on a last minute touchdown drive.

- Baseball Hall of Fame announced this years inductees from the executives/pioneers category. Barney Dreyfuss Pittsburgh Pirates owner from 1900-1932 and creator of the World Series finally got in.

- You have to respect the good people of Brooklyn that can hold a grudge for over 50 years.

- Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Phoenix Coyotes 3-1

- 76ers are firing GM Billy King and pillaging NJ Nets GM Ed Stefanski.

- Riley Cote becomes the 5th Philadelphia Flyers player suspended this season. Gary Bettman sits them down and explains that they can't act like this, Santa is watching after all.

- The Dolphins lost again. Sure it's yesterday's news, but the Sun Sentinel has the greatest headline of the day "Dolphins Start to Question Team's Effort". And in the World News section "Pakistanis Begin To Suspect Perez Musharraf Is Not Really All That Nice".

Morning Headlines: 12/3/07

- The lowly New York Jets thrashed the Miami Dolphins 40-13, putting the Dolphins perfect season (0-16) only 4 games out of reach. Somewhere out there the '76 Bucs are getting nervous.

- The BCS Bowl game match-ups were released and Ohio State will face LSU in the championship game. Let's all get really excited and pretend that the BCS Rankings mean anything more than a Teen Choice Award.

- MLB winter meetings kick-off this morning, and if like me you are a subscriber to MLB.tv then you'll be able to follow the whole thing in streaming video. I'm making some popcorn.

- Having completely won over the American markets the NHL will be expanding television coverage to China. Also the new schedule will fix everything that's wrong with hockey. I mean, everything that Sidney Crosby hasn't already fixed.

- Just when it appeared as if nothing else could possibly go wrong for the New York Knicks and Stephon Marbury, Don, Stephon's father, suffers a fatal heart attack while in attendance at MSG.

If It's Good Enough For Alec Baldwin

I really didn't like the whole Halloween costume thing when I was growing up. Dressing up was just what you had to do in order to pocket a load of Reese Cups and fun size Snicker bars. Usually it meant I threw on a little league jersey and grabbed my glove. Then I learned if I was a hockey player, I could hit more houses wearing roller blades. The objective was clear, collect the most candy possible. Or at least get more than my brothers.

Now, I can just head to a drug store and pick up a couple bags of Dots and some candy corn, and I have every intention to on the first day of November when they are on sale. So more and more it's about coming up with a great costume while everyone else is dressed as a pirate. Yes, the pirate costume is the new spiderman costume, just don't do it. But as is the case with a lot of humor, it's a battle between being clever and not being too obscure. That was what I was afraid of as I considered being Tim Donaghy, as known as that basketball referee who fixed those games.

But it looks like my idea may get a bump from the breaking report that the NBA has disciplined 6 other officials after the complete investigation that followed the Donaghy scandal. It looks like the league is just trying to lay down the law, and most of these refs were guilty of minor infractions, like going to a Casino. But now my costume is a little more current of an event.

And then there is this past Thursday's "30 Rock". It's no secret I watch television. I like television, and I don't understand people who don't. It's entertainment. I read books, I play video games, and I watch TV. But anyways, on the latest episode of "30 Rock" Jack Donaghy (played by the genius that is Alec Baldwin) the former "Vice President of East Coast Television and Microwave Oven Programming", hires a private investigator to vet his past and turn up anything his bosses might find as they consider him for a promotion.

When asked if his family has any skeletons, he mentions a brother Eddie who sells faulty sprinklers to elementary schools, a mother who is an Olympic level racist, and, oh yeah, a cousin Tim who fixes NBA games.

Well hell, if the jokes good enough for Alec Baldwin, it should suffice plenty for my Halloween costume. Now I just need to track down a striped shirt, maybe one of those poker visors, and some stuff some cash in every pocket.