Even though this text message is probably fake, I had to post it just because it’s hilarious:
smoked weed with Joakim Noah last night….if he was half as fast to the basket as he is to grab a joint from me we’d have another championship on our hands
Boom, roasted.  Get it?  Roasted?  He can smoke all [...]

The NBA came out with its new salary cap numbers yesterday.  Basically the cap is set at $57.7 million (down a bit from last year) and the luxury tax number is $69.92 million.  That means for every dollar a team goes over the luxury tax number, they must pay a dollar for dollar penalty.  As [...]

AL CENTRAL – Looks like it will be a three team race. Haven’t I already seen this before?

Detroit (45-38) beat KC 8-5 at home. Sure, Verlander struck out 11, but he threw 114 pitches in 6 innings giving up 5 runs (admittedly only 3 earned). Only thing that impressed me was Placido Polanco. The best [...]

With the departure of Ben Gordon, the Bulls are trying to appease frustrated fans who feel that the Bulls let Gordon walk for nothing without any backup plan in place.  Even fans who hate Gordon (and there’s a lot of you), Gordon leaving obviously hurts the team without anyone to really replace him.  In general, [...]

Somebody had a bad case of the Mondays … pssstt … it was the Reds.
AL CENTRAL – All those people who jumped on the Tigers’ bandwagon slowed them down.
Detroit (44-38) blew it at home in the ninth, losing 3-4 to KC. SI ranks ‘em 4th, Sports Guy and Keith Law basically give them the division. [...]

There you have it, after all the speculation about the deal being delayed or falling through, it looks like Ricketts came through on the purchase of the Cubs. [Reuters]
Will Taj Gibson ever be a starter?  Or just an “energy” sub? [Pippen Ain't Easy]
Chris Jackson aka Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf aka Chaim Shalowitz?  Just kidding, he’s not converting [...]

Here’s Gavin’s Midwest Standings and Recap:
Here’s your summary of what happened over the holiday weekend in our respective Divisions:
AL CENTRAL – Not a lot of movement within the division, but bats beginning to heat up.
Detroit (44-37) won first game 11-9 in Minny before dropping the next two games 3-4 and 2-6. Bat .224 on their [...]

Remembering Air McNair from his college days.  [Paneech]
Did anyone read that Phil Rogers piece the other day about how Zambrano should be waived?  Yeah he’s an idiot, and here are the stats to prove big Z is one of the best pitchers in baseball over the past few years. [Wrigleyville23]
Apparently the Bulls are looking into [...]

The debate here at NQTC over Ben Gordon has raged on for a while now and his departure has only served to stir it up even more. Clearly I have been a Ben Gordon supporter from day 1, although I will be the first to admit that his game has some severe flaws. [...]

I have no idea where or why this video was made, but Jordan gives Jackson a lesson in basketball and then Jackson teaches Jordan to dance. The whole thing is very odd and strangely funny. Enjoy:

h/t: Chicagoist

So thus ends the tale of Ben Gordon and the Chicago Bulls.  In general he was underappreciated by the fans, media and the organization as a whole.  He was exactly what he purported to be, which was a pure shooter and an explosive offensive threat.  His defensive skillset was not as bad as most people [...]

From the desk of Gavin:
Here’s your summary of what happened yesterday in our respective Divisions:
AL CENTRAL – Poor Detroit, we picked up a game, Hossa and Kopecky, you got Ben Gordon.
Detroit (43-35) lost 5-1 to the feast or famine A’s. Cust and Giambi both strike out twice and deliver 2-run HR’s.
Minnesota (41-39) won 5-1 [...]

Sorry about the lateness of this, I’ll try to get Gavin’s daily recaps up sooner.  Enjoy!
Here’s your summary of what happened yesterday in our respective Divisions:
AL CENTRAL – Chalk Night in the Division, everyone who was supposed to win did.
Detroit (43-34) won 5-3 in Oakland. Jason Giambi currently batting .197.
Minnesota (40-39) won 2-1 in [...]