Another Day, Another Possibility (Gasol) for Bulls

July 3, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

In the ongoing saga that is NBA free agency, the Chicago Bulls reportedly have their sights on Pau Gasol. There is the possibility he could re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers or sign with the New York Knicks (where the team’s president is Phil Jackson, who coached the 7-footer when both were in L.A.). There also are reports the Oklahoma City Thunder is going after Gasol and will have star players Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook lobby with Gasol on the team’s behalf. No truth whatsoever that the Bulls plan to use Benny the Bull to entice Gasol. OK, possibly a little truth (hey, you never know).

Abby Huot before being featured on ElliottHarris.com …

* With a three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, the Cubs have improved to 37-46 for the season. If the statistical-analysis department at ElliottHarris.com is to be believed, that means the Cubs are a mere nine more consecutive victories away from being .500. To have a .500 season seemingly would validate the efforts of the Theo Epstein regime. Well, that and it seemingly would validate the reality that you really don’t have to do a whole lot to satisfy some Cubs fans.

* Speaking of numbers, it’s difficult to figure out what was the most astounding part of the Cubs’ 16-9 victory Wednesday. There are plenty of candidates. Among them would be Cubs starter Travis Wood’s failure to last five innings when the Cubs were scoring six runs for him before he exited after 3 2/3 innings. Then there was second baseman Darwin Barney going 4-for-5 to boost his batting average to .214 and third baseman Mike Olt going 2-for-5 with his 11th homer to raise his batting average to a nifty .150. More Barney and Olt: Between them in 10 at-bats, there was only one strikeout (by Olt).

… and Abby Huot after being featured. Or maybe merely two random photos.

* Speaking of pitcher numbers, White Sox left-hander John Danks tied a career high with 10 strikeouts. He exited after 7 1/3 innings and yielding a game-tying homer in what became a 3-2 Sox triumph over the Los Angeles Anels when Leury Garcia singled to score the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. It was his third run batted in of the season in 78 at-bats.

* Still speaking of numbers, there were about 28,000 people who gathered Tuesday in Soldier Field to view the U.S. team in the World Cup on the stadium’s video board. Fairly impressive. Of course, it would be interesting to have a parallel universe where the same gathering was being held — but without beer being sold. Betcha the U.S. soccer match could have drawn more folks at Wrigley Field — and that’s without even showing the game anywhere in the ballpark.

* As occurs every four years (or as often as the World Cup is held), soccer once again is on the verge of blossoming in the United States. Let the record show I have nothing against soccer or its fans, but the sport was going to be the sport of the ’70s. Didn’t happen back then. Hasn’t happened since. Please let me know when the Chicago Fire — or any other team in Major League Soccer — sell out their games. Until then, soccer in America will remain a niche sport. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. Soccer fans should enjoy what they enjoy.

* One of the joys of running your own web site is having editorial control. Which means you can run what you want. Just because. No reason need be given. In this case, someone sent a message via Twitter about devoting some space to Abby Huot. She is a Minnesota-based bikini/figure competitor and freelance writer. You can follow her on Twitter at @AbbyHuotAthlete. She also has a page on Facebook that you can access by clicking here. And the quest for the online version of the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service (or a reasonable — hey, we’ll settle for unreasonable — facsimile thereof) continues.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the enchanted efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com):