Bright Side for Bulls to Butler’s Injury?

March 3, 2015 @ admin → No Comments

Random thoughts (or as close as we come to such things around here) while wondering whether the Chicago Bulls medical staff receives time-and-a-half for overtime:

Video below of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue model Genevieve Morton.

* Bulls guard Jimmy Butler is expected to be out 3-6 weeks because of a sprained left elbow. He sustained the injury in Sunday’s loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. The good (?) news for the Bulls: Butler reportedly will not need surgery. The even better news: He should be well-rested — OK, and possibly, well, rusty — for the postseason. Ah, such optimism.

* Speaking of the Bulls, they are 37-23 entering Tuesday night’s home game against the Washington Wizards. Meaning the Bulls have 22 contests before the regular season ends. Also meaning the worst record they can end up with is 37-45 — and that’s losing every game the rest of the way. If the Bulls go 4-18, they will finish at .500. After beating Golden State on Monday night, Brooklyn is 25-33. Meaning the Nets, who hold the No. 8 seed in the Eastern Conference, would need to go 13-8 to finish .500. If all of that makes any Bulls fans feel better.

* OK, so maybe the Bulls, who are one game behind Toronto for the No. 2 seed in the East, don’t overtake the Raptors. Maybe the Bulls don’t hold onto the No. 3 spot (Cleveland is one-half game behind them). It seems reasonable the Bulls will be part of a No. 4 vs. No. 5 matchup in the first round of the playoffs. And that would be Bulls-Wizards. So you can think of Tuesday’s game a playoff preview. Well, minus key parts of the Bulls. If all of that makes any Bulls fans feel better. Yeah, didn’t think so.

* The 27th annual Comcast SportsNet Sports Awards will include tributes to “Mr. Cub” Ernie Banks and “Mr. White Sox” Minnie Minoso. The event, which benefits the March of Dimes, will be held Wednesday at the Hilton Chicago (720 S. Michigan Ave.) with a reception at 5 p.m. and dinner at 6:30. The awards show, which will be telecast live on CSN, begins at 7:30. Radio personality Eric Ferguson and CSN’s Pat Boyle will be the show’s hosts. This year’s honorees: Paul Konerko (White Sox legend), Bryan Bickell (Blackhawk of the Year), Kyle Long (Bear of the Year), Mike Dunleavy (Bull of the Year), Harry Shipp (Fire of the Year) and Brody Rybal (Inspirational Athlete Award). Tickets ($500 per person) are available by calling Kate Adams at (312) 596-4721 or visiting CSNChicago.com/sportsawards27.

* A cold February has pushed reconstruction at Wrigley Field back more than originally stated at Cubs Convention, team vice president for ballpark operations Carl Rice said Monday. Because, you know, it’s usually really, really warm in February. Then again, rebuilding is not one of the franchise’s strong suits (last World Series was 1945 and last World Series crown in 1908, in case anyone has forgotten).

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