Apparently some people were upset that we didn’t cover the Super Bowl that much around here. To honor the squeaky annoying wheels out there who insist on emailing me about their perceived deficiencies on NQTC, here is the best coverage I could find. This is a video sent to me from my pops. Apparently, NFL players can mostly be caught off-guard by strange CNBC reporters asking questions about the economy.

And just for the record, NFL players are not as dumb as they seem.  Bernanke most definitely IS a crook out to take everything you own.

So this Illini team is for real.  I mean don’t get me wrong, they are about as inconsistent as they come, but they can legitimately beat good teams.  All “buts” aside (I know Kalin Lucas was out and the win came at home, but MSU is still is a top 5 team in the country, or was…), the win over Michigan State put the Illini on the map.  It was one of those games that can be the turning point in a season, and the Illini rose to the challenge.  With Wisconsin, OSU, and Purdue coming up back-to-back-to-back on the schedule, a loss here may have started a slide that would drop the Illini to 7-7 in the Big Ten and the schedule isn’t exactly a cakewalk after that either.  Instead, they sit at 8-3 with a signature win against a top team in the country.

Now that is all great, but what will it really mean come tournament time?  Can the Illini make noise?  The inconsistencies have been a problem all season, and they are a result of the team’s soft and inconsistent front court as well as a green backcourt.  So how could a team with two skinny forward/centers and diaper dandies on the perimeter go deep into the tourney?  Demetri McCamey is how.  Until this season, he has been a player who took terrible shots, had a bad assist/turnover ratio, and seemed more focused on his one-on-one moves than on helping the team win.  While he still takes awful shots (and I mean awful), somehow the shots are going in.  His ability is unquestionable, but can he lead?  Can he make his teammates believe in him?

McCamey is frustrating to watch at times, and Bruce Weber knows it better than anyone.  As Weber revealed in an interview early this season:

“If you study him over the course of time, he has very good games and a tendency not to be real consistent, this goes back way to high school and AAU and that’s where he’s got to mature. He has the big one and then average, average. He needs to be more consistent if we’re going to be a very good team because he can do things that other people can’t do.”

McCamey seems to have turned that corner though, eliminating the terrible games and minimizing his own mistakes.  Will it be enough to carry a team with 3 freshman getting big minutes and a starting frontcourt that can’t seem to get a rebound for long stretches?  It’s tough to tell at this point, but you can be damn sure that if he isn’t clicking, this team will be losing in the first round, no matter how high a seed they get.

The news broke on Friday afternoon that Tyrus Thomas had been suspended for Friday night’s game and fined an unspecified amount for conduct detrimental to the team.  The initial reports from the Tribune and other sports sites did not elaborate on the conduct but one could guess that it had to do with his lack of recent playing time.  Maybe he was pouting in front of the team, refusing to practice or pay attention, or maybe he made his displeasure known to others in the organization, but there’s no way that he would have cursed out a coach. We all know that Adrian Griffin and Ben Wallace eliminated such behavior from the Bulls back in 2008 when they took the tough love approach with Joakim Noah.

The Honorable Lindsey Hunter now presiding. Next up: Vinny Del Negro v. Tyrus Thomas.

Now as more details come out about Thomas’ outburst, it appears he went off on Vinny Del Negro (the head coach, not an assistant like two years ago) and used language that would make even Joakim blush.

Time will only tell if the Right Honorable Lindsey Hunter convenes the Bulls’ Senior Panel on Player Discipline and extends Ty’s sentence to Tuesday’s game against the Pacers. One would think that this staff wouldn’t allow such a spectacle, since the rookies, Taj Gibson and James Johnson, seem to be pretty damn mature and won’t be swayed by Thomas’ immaturity.  Although, you can’t blame VDN for taking action since James Johnson just had to sit the entire game while NBDL call-up Chris Richard earned 20 minutes of playing time in Friday night’s win.

Watch the very end of this clip to see a clearly drunk Freddy cursing the Cubs.  Good times.

On another note, this clip comes from a new website over at the Chicago Now network.  The blog, titled Chicago Sports Mob, has a noble goal.  Written by Matt of Zoner Sports fame, the purpose of the site is to bring other Chicago Blogs to the eyes and fingertips of a larger audience.  Maybe NQTC will be featured there if we are lucky, but either way you should stop by the new site and check it out.

There’s no time to waste, let’s get to the top five stories you should have been paying attention to this week.

Shhhhhh, the commercials are on!  Well, it’s Super Bowl weekend and the hype has been surprisingly tempered leading up to this great match-up.  I don’t know if it’s because I’m blessed with the NFL Network now and am thereby spared of Berman, % Co., but it has been pure bliss.  As for the game, it certainly has the chance to continue the recent trend of spectacular Super Bowls.  I heard Mike Greenberg say on the radio that Manning lives to win this game and you don’t often see quarterbacks like him lose in this game.  I really don’t know what he’s talking about, but it sounded cool enough for me to pick the Saints.  I look forward to seeing Peyton vs. the blitz again this week and seeing how many times Gregg Williams can draw something up to put Manning on his back.  I also think Brees, who has not been his defense-sculpting self lately, will bounce back and take MVP honors. Book it! No, don’t….but enjoy the game. 

March Sadness?  The rumors were flying this week that the NCAA was seriously considering–maybe even decided already–to expand the NCAA basketball tournament to 96 teams.  As Drew Magary of KSK/Deadspin said, “You know what this tourney needs? Every NIT team!”  Could you imagine this? After the play-in game, there are a total of zero games I am disinterested in watching, but if it went to 96 I just couldn’t get real riled up about Air Force and Oregon State playing for the right to go against Georgetown.  Madness!  Does anyone outside of the mediocre Big East teams like this?  I mean, even if you’re a mid-major you’d prefer some actual respect in the current system than this.  Please fix football’s postseason before you try your level best to ruin basketball’s. 

Who scored 52 points?!!  I looked at the TV last weekend and saw the following on ESPN’s bottom line: “POR Miller: 52 pts.”  Then I did one of those double takes where you go back to what you’re doing only to realize seconds later that something is horribly wrong.  “Does someone named Miller other than Andre Miller play for the Blazers?”  Was it Mike Miller? Reggie? Oliver?!! All seemed like better options despite knowing the truth.  Andre had scored 52 in his previous five games combined and even that included a 28 point outting that was 15 points over his season average.  Honestly, it’s one of the most impressive games I’ve heard of in a while.  Only one three, only seven free throws.  The guy made 21 two point shots.  Tip of the cap to you, sir. 

Hockey talk.  Trades are going down in the NHL prior to the Olympic break.  Some big names that most of you have never heard of changed teams this past week.  Most of the dealing involved the Eastern Conference though, so no worries for the Blackhawks.  The only meaningful impact on the Western Conference was that Calgary lost two of its best players in Olli Jokinen and Dion Phaneuf.  Sweet names.  Jokinen headed to the Rangers and Phaneuf to the Maple Leafs.  The Leafs also picked up goaltender Jean-Sebastian Giguere from Anaheim; not a bad week.  Finally, the big one: Ilya Kovalchuk was sent to New Jersey in exchange for a package of young players–including Patrice Cormier–and a first round pick next year.  Kovalchuk is the gem of the trading market and one of the best players in the league and if the Devils weren’t already among the favorites (currently 2nd in the Eastern Conference) they certainly are now.  If you learned or cared about nothing else in this paragraph, know that hockey players generally have awesome names.

OCNN Covers the Super Bowl.  Chad OchoCinco has been all over the place since his Bengals exited the playoffs.  Most recently he has launched his news team, OCNN, which has been covering the events in Miami from the Pro Bowl to Super Bowl Media Day.  This came after Ocho took a bus full of fans on a trip down to Miami that made stops along the way to do some charity work. Here’s some work from Chad and his “news team” below:

Seemingly held up for weeks by bureaucratic paperwork, USC Head Coach Lane Kiffin was successful in officially relocating the douchebaggery capitol of the United States to Los Angeles on Thursday.  While the capitol had previously taken residence in the relatively modest enclave of Knoxville, Tennesse, the nation’s capitol will now be under the bright lights of Hollywood. Kiffin and his lead recruiting assistant, Ed Orgeron, diligently worked the phones over the last month or so trying to negotiate a cross-country move for the title that less than a year ago seemed to have found a permanent home in Rocky Top Country.

The final straw that convinced the country to allow the title to relocate to Southern California was the news that on Thursday Kiffin reeled in yet another football recruit.

No, this recruit will not be included in USC’s Recruiting Class of 2010, but rather the Recruiting Class of 2015. That’s right, Lane Kiffin offered a scholarship to David Sills, a 13-year-old quarterback from Delaware, and the young lad accepted.  Now, it’s ridiculous that the offer was even extended, as it is in no way binding on the kid, but it’s just weird in general. The LA Times article on the offer, allows 13-year-olds to read the comments on their website, but not to post any comments of their own.  If a kid can’t comment on a newspaper website, should they really be able to accept scholarship offers to college?  This is like saying the kid to the right just aced his times tables and the Booth School of Business has a spot in their Executive MBA program waiting for him in 2031.

While this alone should make you shake your head as to what has become of college sports recruiting, the following quote from the young quarterback should maybe alert authorities or the NCAA to grill Lane Kiffin on the recruiting techniques he used on this 13-year-old.

“I’m very excited, but I was very, very nervous. It was very cool, but my heart was beating so fast and I was scared. But after it was over, I was so excited and pumped.”

Either Sills was allowed to stay up all night and eat whatever he wanted, saw his first R-rated movie without his parents, did his first beer bong on his campus visit, got to second base with a USC Song Girl (hands on the outside of her sweater), or maybe it’s just the puberty talking. I smell an NCAA investigation in eight to nine years from now.

The Super Bowl and sports betting online really goes hand in hand.  Who doesn’t bet on this game?  Whether it’s picking a team to win or cover, the hundreds of prop bets or cross-sports parlays (I once bet Tiger Woods birdies in his Sunday round against Hines Ward receptions), Super Bowl Sunday is made for you to get your online sportsbook account some action. 

SUNDAY, 2/7 at 5:25 pm CST: Colts vs. Saints (Super Bowl XLIV; CBS)

• Stormin Norman (9-5) Colts over Saints: Come on, seriously? I know the Saints are “America’s Team”, but they are going to have a bit of trouble with Peyton. The Saints defense is entirely predicated on turnovers and..gulp..Manning doesn’t usually make those. I know Brees is good, but not good enough to overcome a vastly superior Colts team.
• South Side Sheik (9-5) Colts over Saints – The difference maker in this game….Pat McAfee, punter for the Colts. This is going to be a sixty minute battle for field position. I’m going to one-up the other guys and predict a final score of 12-6, all field goals.
• StevieY19 (9-5) Saints over Colts: That’s right, upset special. God is ready to make it up to New Orleans after that whole Katrina thing. The Saints will get flagged for hitting Manning too much, but they’ll also slow him down enough to win in a shootout-type affair.
• Javier Sandooski (6-8) Saints over Colts: I really think the Saints just have too many weapons, Sean Payton may actually be the better coach, Saints defense is not bad at all and people are forgetting that Brees is pretty much just as good as Manning.  I am totally pumped for this game, I hope it doesn’t let us down.

SATURDAY, 2/6 at 11:00 am CST: #2 Villanova @ #8 Georgetown (CBB; ESPN)

• Stormin Norman (9-5) Villanova over Georgetown: StevieY19 told me that he has already written off this college basketball season as “not having a single great team”. I disagree, and Villanova is one of the reasons why. Scottie Reynolds is my boy and can score from anywhere on the court. I know this game is on the road, but I’m picking Nova to upset the Hoyas.
• South Side Sheik (9-5) Georgetown over Villanova – I hate Scottie Reynolds more than anyone else in college basketball after having to watch him during the NCAA opening round game at the United Center a few years back. Although, anything from Washington D.C. is a complete disaster recently, so this game’s really a toss-up. Now if we were talking about the DePaul Blue Demons on the other hand…
• StevieY19 (9-5) Georgetown over Villanova: I’ll actually be very interested to watch this game Saturday, since Villanova is one of a small group of teams I could see winning it all. Typically when I classify a team as such, they end up blowing it embarrassingly and reminding me that I will lose my office pool to someone who knows nothing. Here’s to an 0-2 week!
• Javier Sandooski (6-8) Georgetown over Villanova: Wow I don’t know anything about these teams.  When in doubt, take the home team in college basketball.  And this is why i have the worst record out of all of us.

The picture of this amazing t-shirt is making its way through the blogosphere (featured on Deadspin, Ball Don’t Lie, and Mouthpiece Sports to name a few), and the consensus seems to be “What a hilarious and random t-shirt”.  Wrong.  I mean yes its hilarious, but it isn’t random in the context of the 1990s.

Think way back to the second Bulls Threepeat.  Michael and Scottie were obviously the premiere players on the team (and in the league).  The biggest weakness was when a team with a scoring big man came to town.  The question always arose whether the Bulls would be able to contain them.  Shaq, Olajuwon, Ewing, etc. all supposedly were going to have their way with the Bulls weak frontcourt.  Although Perdue was a part of the first three-peat, and was gone by the second, he was replaced with James Edwards and other spare parts.  Regardless the point remains the same.  Unfortunately they underestimated the three-headed monster of Longley/Wennington/Other, who were able to use their 18 fouls very effectively considering how limited those three were when it came to skillset.

So is this shirt that random?  Not for those of us that remember what things were like.  Is it hilarious?  Obviously.  If someone wants to buy it for me, it’s listed on Ebay.  Thanks.

I have no idea what the plan is here.  They are playing it off as a service to the community, but obviously this bank in Oswego, Illinois is evil, as all banks are.  Whatever their secret evil motive is, I’m buying it.  I mean who wouldn’t want to make a deposit and then have a quick pick-up game all in the same place?  And don’t even get me started about that executive who can shoot free throws from his office window.  That guy is living the dream.

h/t: BDL

This is the guy? The guy who put up 21 and 11 on the Bulls last night? Jesus.

• The Bulls will need to add some cheap rookie salaries next year to pair with Lebron and Chris Bosh. These guys suggest you start reading up on this Lithuanian lad. (Draft Express)
• Care for some Mike Martz kool-aid? (Midwest Sports Fans)
• Well you won’t find any high hopes for the Cubs’ Kevin Millar signing here. (Wrigleyville 23)
• Harry Lughes is making some noise again. (SLAM Online)
• Wow, DaMarcus Beasley (former Chicago Fire and US Soccer Team staple) should talk to Milton Bradley about bad fans. Three words: Blown Up Car. (Trib)

The greatest show on grass?  I highly doubt it.  But apparently that’s what the Bears think Mike Martz can bring to the table.  And when I say that the Bears think he brings that to the table, what I really mean is that the other 17 crappy candidates they interviewed turned them down.  What is really going on is that Lovie is bringing in his old crew (first Marinelli, now Martz) and Angelo has no choice but to capitulate since not a single other candidate was even remotely interested in this job.

Which brings us back to where we were in the first place: having to make do with the crap we’ve got.  So what did Martz have to say in response to critics that claim his style is ill-suited for the Bears personnel?

“You know, (I’m) very pragmatic in the approach. And I think that you have to analyze your personnel, the circumstances and situation like Soldier Field, and look at what you have with the conditions and then proceed from there.

“Really, it’s about winning games and just doing whatever it takes to take advantage of your strengths.”

Okay fair enough.  If he even shows any flexibility in his stretch the field type of offense, that will be way more flexibility than Lovie has shown in his devotion to the Cover 2 in the last 5 years.  He has to understand that he doesn’t exactly have the same tools to work with as he did in St. Louis though, right?

[On Bears Wide Receivers] “Well, they’ve got some speed. And that really is kind of a diamond to me. When you look at that group, it could be a real strength of this football team. With (Devin) Aromashodu — I hope I pronounced it right. (Johnny) Knox is really a diamond to me. And Hester, with what he can do whether he’s outside or in the slot. The matchups on these guys are extreme.

“When I went to St. Louis from Washington, Isaac Bruce was too skinny. They weren’t too happy with him. He was always hurt. Had this little guy, Az Hakim, and they didn’t know what they were going to do with him. Rick Proehl, slow white guy. This is three-quarters of the Greatest Show on Turf.

“And really, what we’ll do with these guys, I think there’s plenty of talent there. I’m really excited about their speed and the potential. And what we’ll do is give them every opportunity to explore that and not make a definition on what any one of those guys can do, but let them prove to us and put no limits on them.”

[On Matt Forte] “There’s so many thing you can do with him. He has the same kind of multi-abilities as (former Rams star) Marshall (Faulk). Soft hands. Change of direction. Good route runner. He’s a very unselfish pass-blocker, so he’s willing to stick his nose in there. He’s the complete package. And the formation to get him matched up inside on linebackers and, on occasion, safeties will be a good part of what we do.”

Oh boy.  I’m having trouble suppressing my instincts here that tell me this is going to be a disaster, but let’s try.  If you think about what he said, and how his system works, he does have some speedy wide receivers.  The one thing he forgot to mention about that St. Louis team was a young guy named Tori Holt.  No one on the Bears is remotely close to that skill level.  Forte does have some Faulk-type qualities and could thrive in the offense, but what about Olsen?  Will he be wasted, as it’s common knowledge that Martz is not fond of giving tight ends touches?

This one is going to be interesting, but it might not turn out all bad.  Cutler could be a good fit if everyone on the offense can get on the same page this season.  Still don’t see anyone doing anything about that offensive line…

h/t: Chicago Breaking Sports

Steve Nash is one of my favorite players on the court, but what makes him so great his his sense of humor combined with his artistic inclinations.  Take a look at this strange video he made starring Barbosa as a Na’vi:

Very strange, but very entertaining.  Keep the crazy videos coming Nash.

I’m not sure how Zoner found this, but it made me laugh a few times.  For some reason this weird white dude thinks that Carlos Zambrano has a cheesy racist asian accent, but that doesn’t take too much away from the humor (and possibly adds to it).  the key here is that the “artist” combined all the elements that make Zambrano great: Rage, insanity, glass and human eating.  Enjoy:

Why did he have to kill Captain Crunch?

h/t: Zoner Sports

The legend of Michael Jordan starts way back on his dirt driveway.  Back then he was getting spanked by his older, bigger, brother almost everyday on their dirt court.  His brother, Larry, is as much a part of the legend of MJ as anything else.  It’s hard to picture Michael getting beaten consistently (or at all) by anyone, but sometimes the big brother factor can weigh more heavily than skill.  Ask my little brothers, each of which I continued to punish on the court years after they had surpassed me in ability (that’s all old news, the older one can beat me consistently now and the youngest one beat me for the first time this past summer).

Anyways, Larry Jordan obviously did not make it like his little brother Mikey.  Turns out, Larry never really grew past 5′8″.  This clip shows Larry, even at such a short height, throwing down a sweet dunk.  Enjoy:

Ironically enough, the hat tip on this video goes to my youngest brother.

Excuse me if I don’t cover much of the first three quarters of this game, but  I was spending time with my grandmother who is extremely ill. Thus, most of my impressions from the first three quarters were based on what the radio team was telling me on the drive back into the city.

Without further ado:

• Chris Paul is fearless in playing the passing lanes and looking to pick the ballhandler’s pocket.
• Kirk Hinrich is no slouch and seemed to fluster Chris Paul on a number of occasions, using a combination of quick feet and a bigger body than folks give him credit for. Also the elbow to CP3’s temple and the ensuing step back 3-pointer was vicious.
• Aaron Gray looked like a pretty big jack ass grinning on the Hornets’ bench after they tied it up late in the game and went ahead. Now I know how the rest of the NBA’s fans felt all these years. (Javier Sandooski and I are organizing a Favre-like burning of all Aaron Gray jerseys the next time Gray returns to Chicago).
• Luol Deng really seems to be finding his rhythm in the Bulls’ offense and looks more confident than he’s been in the last year and a half.
• The City of New Orleans is awesome right now. Most of the crowd was on their feet for the last 5 minutes of the game. Consistently cheering, living and dying with every play. This is obviously spill over from the Saints making the Super Bowl but the entire city is just jacked.  Hell, do you realize that Mardi Gras is in full force from the February 7 until February 16th? If the Saints win on the 7th, the city would be a non-stop celebration for the next two weeks.  Chamber of Commerce meetings would include beads and beer bongs.  The local Jaycees would devolve into an organization dedicated to the flipping of cars.  The National Guard will be called in to combat public urination and treat those traumatized by incessant “Who Dat” cheers.
• What a great play at the end of the game by Hinrich to track down Chris Paul, corral the loose ball, and push it up court quickly.  And what a great controlled follow up finish by Luol. Really took the energy out of the crowd.
• On second thought for most of OT, the crowd sat on their asses and barely cheered. If the Saints lose the Super Bowl and in heartbreaking fashion, they might have to ban beads from Mardi Gras as a preventative measure for emotionally distraught fans.
• Brad Miller redefines the  “crafty veteran” role. Only he would have the guile to pretend he’s injured for a month, lull opponents into thinking he’s even slower than he already was, believing his only move is the flat footed jumper from the top of the key, only to appear in January and become an offensive threat with his patented head fake and burying hanging driving jumpers in the key.
• Hinrich and Deng sealed the game with the great stop at the end forcing Collison’s turnover.  The Bulls defense is good and getting even better.
• It also appears the offense is gelling, with guys getting comfortable with their roles. We had six players in double digits, and Taj Gibson and John Salmons each threw in eight.
• Joakim Noah continues to impress, thoroughly outplaying Emeka Okafor, and continuing to shoot well from the charity stripe. Did you know he was an 88% free throw shooter in the month of January (52-for-59)?
• All in all, this was a great win for the Bulls. Who would have thought they’d win five straight over five legit Western Conference teams, closing out a 10-5 January?
• Heading into February, the Bulls play 14 games, only 3 of which where they will be the underdog (@ Atlanta, and home against Orlando and Portland).  While this road trip proves that the Bulls may let down to lesser opponents (or we can just blame it on the flu) they could be heading into a tough March around nine games above .500. Not too shabby for a team we left for dead in December.