The 1993 NBA Finals were no cakewalk.  In fact, the Suns had a better regular season record than the Bulls that year, Barkley had won the MVP, and many experts were picking the Suns to win.  We all know what happened next, as the Bulls won in 6.  But before the series started nothing was certain.  Rumors of gambling debts swirled as well. What better way to summarize that than a classic NBA on NBC intro by Bob Costas?

• First Peavy, now Oswalt.  Looks like no one wants to play on the South Side.  Big surprise, it is kind of a dump down there. [WV23]
• Top Ten Michael Jordan lowlights.  Kwame Brown was definitely the worst. [TTCS]
• Time for a new Gatorade machine in the Cubs dugout. [Tribune]
• Del Harris is retiring as assistant coach of the Bulls.  Seems like a good guy and a great coach, but it’s hard to figure out exactly what he brought to the table for the Bulls this past season. [Chicagoist]
• Charles Barkley says pussy and numbnuts on the air.  Does he just have a free pass to say whatever he wants? (answer: yes). [Deadspin]
• Are the Bulls playing mind games on the kids they are working out for the draft?  Sounds like these psychological tests are pretty intense. [By The Horns]
• That whole thing about Milton Bradley’s strike zone being bigger than everyone else’s?  A statistical analysis proves otherwise. [Shysterball]
• Derrick Rose is a cheater.  I don’t care as long as he keeps balling. [Sun-Times]

• The Cubs Spring Training opener is today at 2:05 pm!  Samardzija is getting the start. [ChicagoCubs.com]
• The Bulls murdered the Magic last night 120-102.  The new guys look great. [Tribune]
• Is there some subterfuge up at Halas Hall?  It looks like Angelo is hanging Lovie out to dry. [Windy City Gridiron]
• Zambrano is now signed up for the World Baseball Classic.  No one (except Venezuela and the Brewers) can be too happy about that. [Bleacher Nation]
• Charles Barkley is going to jail.  Does this mean he now has “street cred”? [TMZ]
• The Brewers cannot be serious about having a DVD to commemorate their amazing second place finish. [Wrigleyville23]
• Apparently Paul Konerko would be open to being traded.  How about he hits better and stays healthy instead? [Chicagoist]
• Indiana basketball has another recruiting violation?  One IU fan is pissed.  I agree with him and I am so sick of IU apologists (that’s you Judd).  All I heard about from IU fans last year was “it was just a text message”, or “it was just a phone call”.  At some point someone needs to start taking responsibility for breaking the rules. [Midwest Sports]
• Pole Dancing in the Olympics?  I could get on board with that. [HHR]
• Assuming Milton Bradley will snap this season may be a self-fulfilling prophecy. [Another Cubs Blog]