From The Loop

Trapped in the Loop, the views of one Chicagoan manage to escape.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Chicago Bulls v Miami Heat

The Bulls head into Miami for Saturday's game 1 of a 7 game series of the first round of the NBA Playoffs. Each team is led by young players in Dwayne Wade and Ben Gordon. The Heat are one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference posting another 50+ win season to finish second in the conference.

The Bulls are a very young team heading into their second consecutive playoff appearance after failing to post a winning record since 1997-98, the final year of the Michael, Scottie, Phil years. The Bulls' roster is filled with young players and new players to the franchise. First year players include Malik Allen(PF), Michael Sweetney(PF), and Luke Schenscher(C). The veteran Bulls player is Tyson Chandler in his fifth season. The rest of the roster is filled out with 2nd and 3rd year players such as Kirk Hinrich(PG), Ben Gordon(SG), Jannero Pargo(SG), Chris Duhon(PG), Eric Piatkowski(SF), Luol Deng(SF), Andres Nocioni(SF), and Othella Harrington(PF).

The Bulls finished their season winning 12 out of 14 games to reach .500, an amazing run considering they traded two starters from last year's 3rd best record in the Eastern Conference.

The Heat are a tough team for anyone in the league with Shaq roaming in the paint. However, the Bulls have matched up well with the Heat this season despite finishing 1-2 in 3 games. The last meeting the Bulls blew the Heat out in Miami. In the previous two meetings the games were decided by a total of 5 points. Dwayne Wade was held to well below his average statistical output by a Bulls team that led the league in FG% defense for the second consecutive season.

The series should be competitive. It will be decided by which team is able to draw the other into foul trouble and by which team is able to sink the big shots.

LA Times Columnist's Blog Suspended

Today it was revealed that an LA Times columnist was using his own pseudonyms to defend his own writing. It's another low point for people that work for the mainstream media, yet act like children to defend their work.

The columnist is Michael Hiltzik. His pseudonym is Mikekoshi.

Patrick "Paterrico" Frey wrote about his accusation and conclusion early this morning where he laid out the evidene that Michael Hilztik is Mikekoshi.

Michael Hiltzik wrote about the accusation at the LA Times blog "Golden State".

Patrick Frey responded to Hiltzik later in the day.

Later, the LA Times suspended the "Golden State" blog for Hiltzik's LA Times' ethics violations.

The entire story is required reading. It is long and drawn out, but it presents very important details about using resouces on the Internet in order to create hype yourself. Michael Hiltzik repeatedly uses his own pseudonyms to pump his own arguments. It's like the Little Rascals only Hiltzik is every single rascal.

I look forward to announcements from the LA Times concerning the ethical violations of Michael Hiltzik.

Update: The blogswarm is likely to have begun. Captain Ed is up and running with his own commentary on the affair.

There's lots of quality comments at Captain's Quarters, Patterico's Pontifications and the Golden State blog.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Sy Hersh: Blair Believes in Rapture

Democracy Now! | Seymour Hersh: Bush Administration Planning Possible Major Air Attack on Iran

In talking with Amy Goodman about his New Yorker piece, Sy Hersh opines that Tony Blair believes in the Rapture.
Blair's the wild card in this. He and Bush both have this sense, this messianic sense, I believe, about what they've done and what's needed to be done in the Middle East. I think Bush is every bit as committed into this world of rapture, as is the president.

Again we learn that Sy Hersh is a die short in the craps table of foreign policy. Previously, Sy Hersh was heard making comments at Riverside Church in New York that an 8 man cabal has taken control of all the levers of government. Today it's Rapture.

Sy Hersh writes what he can source. His personal opinions are delusional.