By Ryan Laverty
Hey Shaq, if you want your opponents to stop fouling you, learn how to shoot a free throw. The whole league knows you can’t score from outside a three foot radius and that you don’t miss inside it so putting you on the charity stripe is their way of disrespecting your skill. You can’t go around throwing murderous punches every time you feel you’re being disrespected or hard-fouled.
Was it your pride or your body that was hurt by Brad Miller’s foul? Don’t you think your opponents leave the floor grimacing in pain after banging bodies with you all night? Should they start punching you when they catch one of your errant elbows in the chest? Do you not think they leave the court hunched over with the shame of being beaten both on the scoreboard and in their psyche? Should they start choking you or your teammates following a loss? Would that be alright? Probably not.
Respect is not a commodity you can purchase-especially not for $15,000.
When will the clock strike midnight? It’s been a long time coming for football fans in the Windy City but Da Bears are playoff bound once again. A 13–3 record in the regular season was easily the story of the year in the NFL but how it will end is yet to be determined. While this Bears squad doesn’t have the names of McMahon, Payton, or Singletary that gave the opposition nightmares through much of the ’80s, Jim Miller, Anthony Thomas and Brian Urlacher have been dominant enough this year to cause some teams to lose sleep going into the playoffs. The only question is, now that they’ve made it to the ball, can they get home before the chariot changes back into the weak, Chicago pumpkin we’ve all come to know and joke about? I think not, but wow, what a run.