Mariotti's Carefully Watching Joakim Noah's Backside
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I really don't care that Noah was speaking after his NBA regular-season debut. The truth is the truth, even from the mouth of a babe, and Skiles should have embraced it instead of reacting like an offended dictator. Seems a tough-minded coach is starting to chafe from Bulls-related rip jobs coming in every direction, including his own locker room. - Jay Mariotti
It seems that Scott Skiles has finally landed on Jay Mariotti's list of "Chicago Head Coaches that Must be Fired at all Cost". Lovie Smith and Ozzie Guillen undoubtedly will each send a bottle of booze along with a congratulatory note to Skiles for joining their exclusive club.
Only Mariotti would be idiotic enough to actually defend a raw rookie's comments about the play of his professional basketball team. And mind you, Noah was not speaking during the half way point of the season or the playoffs but rather after his first game in the NBA. Apparently, one game in the bigs is adequate enough for this mouth of the south to opine and whine:
I think everybody, like, especially on defense, has to be in unison. We have to be tougher. We didn't do that ... You're gonna have bad shooting nights. You have to find a way to still win ballgames. That's what championship teams do -- they find a way to grind things out. Teams are getting anything they want on us.
Undoubtedly mesmerized by the rookie's sheer brilliance of sounding more like a stoned surfer and less a college graduate with a snazzy attire, Jay obviously feels compelled to align with Noah by contributing an obligatory dig at Skiles:
Last I looked, Noah has celebrated more championships lately than the other Bulls. He won two at Florida, bypassing the 2006 draft and immediate riches to win back-to-back NCAA titles.
Yes you read that correctly. Mariotti is directly comparing college basketball to the NBA. Memo to the back page pundit, despite your assumptions, even Major League Soccer is played at a more competitive higher caliber than your childhood indoor soccer house league. For a so-called sports journalist to inherently lack the ability to discern between professional and collegiate basketball is pathetic. But then again, the dwarf is a self-professed expert on basketball according to his infamous tirade on Around the Horn. After all, he did watch Michael Jordan play. Who are we to argue such logic?
The truth of the matter is that nobody wants to hear from the new guy on the job, let alone on his first day showing up with a shiny new lunch box and pristine overalls. Indeed, there is pecking order in all workplaces from the guys mopping chicken guts off the slaughter house floor to the Bulls locker room . And yes Jay, it does indeed exist as well at the Sun-Times. This is a universal principle pretty much accepted across the globe throughout the history of mankind's misery of working a 9 to 5 shift, Monday through Friday to put food on the family table.
Skiles of course took exception of Noah's ill-timed comments to the press about the play of his teammates. And why shouldn't Skiles be upset? Heady words indeed, especially from a rookie that missed the first three games due to an injury to his ankle. Considering that this is his first year with the Bulls compounded by missing three quarters of this early season, even most veteran players would have kept their mouths shut under such circumstances.
That locker room might get awfully lonely for #13.
Mariotti elects to side with Noah on this absurd stance, simply to take full advantage of the opportunity to label Skiles a dictator. Blah, blah, blah, we read this accusation of tyranny last season over the minor flap of Ben Wallace's club rule breaking headband. Mariotti vented, fumed and bemoaned that it would destroy the Bulls season. Of course, history indicates otherwise, just as this issue with Noah will soon pass over as well.
Practice time with Coach Skiles might not be so fun for young Joakim during these next few weeks. Perhaps a few more suicide drills on the court will exhaust the rookie's mouth. Too bad calisthenics are not also mandated over at the Sun-Times.
Tyrone Briggs has no purpose in life other than to rip Jay Mariotti, irritate MetsJetsDevils and remain loyal to the Chicago Bears despite a terrible 2007 season
