....And Now a Rant

By Brady Stiff

Derrick Rose will lead the Bulls against
Kirk Hinrich and the Hawks in the
second round of the NBA Playoffs

This time of year is very exciting in the world of sports, especially in Chicago.  Both baseball teams are...well...hanging around, the Bulls have a real shot to win the title, the Blackhawks finally did make the playoffs, and the Bears will add some new faces over the next few days.

Now that hockey season is over here in the Windy City, the focus turns to Derrick Rose and the Chicago Bulls.  This playoff run is going to be a lot of fun, mainly because of Rose.  He'll be the MVP, and he may be the best point guard in the league.

That being said, here's five reasons why I can't stand the NBA...

1.  Illegal Defense
Look, defense is already nearly non-existent in the NBA.  Shouldn't the NBA encourage defense by making any form of defense legal?  Besides, can anyone tell me what the hell makes defense illegal?

2.  Music During Game Action
You know your on-court product is bad if you have to play music while the ball is in play.  Shouldn't the "best basketball players in the world" be enough entertainment?

3.  Flat-Out Bad Basketball
Cleveland won just 19 games.  Minnesota won just 17 games.  I know, I know.  There are bad teams in every sport, no matter where you go.  But, bad basketball is no fun to watch.

4.  Old Men
I really have no desire to watch anyone over the age of 30 play basketball.  Kurt Thomas and Shaquille O'Neal are great novelties, but when their combined age is 77, that becomes an issue.

5.  Officiating
Yes, I ref high school basketball here in Illinois.  Part of this is up to the players.  But at the same time, it's the league's issue.  I can't believe that the number of technical fouls a player can get before he gets suspended is 16 (or whatever it is).  Over an 82 game season, I would set it at five.  After five T's, the player is suspended for one game without pay.  After another technical foul, it's two games without pay.  And so on.  Take away guys' money, and they'll straighten up.

I also can't stand when defenders just wrap a guy up who has just beaten them to prevent an easy layup.  At every other level it's an intentional foul, which would give the ball back to the offense after free throws.  But now, in the NBA, players can afford to play lazy defense because they can just wrap the guy up.