The Other Fifteen

There are some phrases in the English language that are automatically lies; the only occasions one which you could truthfully utter them are occasions when nobody would bother to say otherwise. They include:

• There's absolutely nothing to worry about.
• I didn't say anything.
• My little Johnny would never do that!
• No, really, it's not important.
• Everything is under control.

I'll confess to not following the Bulls much, but as soon as I saw the headline "Bulls coach Boylan: 'I'm in control'", I knew that Jim Boylan had lost the team. Let's look at the full quote:

"It doesn't really matter what other people say," Boylan said. "I just know that what I do in the locker room and with this team, I'm in control. I run this team. We have guys with strong character. We've had a couple of situations where people used poor judgment. I don't think it reflects entirely on the team.

"We have some guys who are very serious about their craft. Some of the other guys need to emulate what they do. If we do that, we'll be fine. If not, there will be other consequences."

Loose translation:

They're coming through, repeat, they're coming through. This is Earth Alliance Station Babylon 5. They're all over the place! They're killing us. Can anyone hear me? They're killing us!

So, yeah, the situation is desperate. John Paxon has sent Jim Boylan off to die, and to die alone. It's basically like Gunga Din without the uplifting bits. Only the continuing saga of the Knicks keeps the Bulls from being the laughingstock of all basketball. Very sad.

Labels: Basketball, Chicago Bulls