D-ROSE Chicago's MVP

Check out this article by Rick Riley.  Sharing with the world why Chicago Loves Derrick Rose

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An American beauty Rose

By Rick Reilly
ESPN.com

Derrick Rose isn't so much a name as a sentence. As in: Derrick Rose in the NBA three years ago and hasn't stopped since.
He's my MVP so far, not just for the way he's carried the limping Chicago Bulls the way Penn's carried Teller. And not just for the way he jumps like a frog bred with a kangaroo. And not just for the way he scores, defends and passes like every game is a one-day tryout. He's my MVP for moments like this:
Three young fans are walking alone after leaving the United Center. They're the last to go, so they're all alone. A white SUV pulls up next to them. This part of Chicago could use a shave and a clean shirt, so somebody rolling up on you isn't usually happy news. The young men try not to look. The window comes down and who is behind it but Derrick Rose himself, The Heir to Air.

Their mouths fall unhinged.

"Hey, man, just want to thank you guys for taking time to come out," Rose says. "Really appreciate it."

Their voice boxes go mute.

"And thanks for wearin' my jersey, too!" Rose says to one of them.

Their eyes fail to blink.

Finally, one of them, Martin Campoverde, 23, gulps, "What's it feel like playing in your hometown?"

Rose pauses and smiles. "Greatest thing ever happened to me," he says. "This is the greatest city in the world."
Window goes up. SUV drives off. Year is made.

---

Derrick Rose, but the pass still hadn't come. Now his elbow was at about rim height -- which is insane for a man who is only 6-3. He had done his part -- the alley -- but the oop still hadn't arrived from teammate Ron Brewer, so there was nothing to do but hang around and wait. He looked like some David Copperfield trick up there, immune to gravity.

"I really thought [the ball] would be there earlier," Rose explained later, after the Bulls had rallied to whip Detroit, "but Ronnie took an extra dribble so I kind of had to catch and dunk on the way down."
Who can't relate to this? You're loitering at the top of the backboard square, just hanging around, and finally have to dunk it on the way back down. It's inconvenient, yes, but this is life.
Rose tomahawked it through with one hand so hard he nearly left a dent in the floor.

It put air under 44,000 shoes. The 11 o'clock sports guys played it about 10 times each.
"Have you seen a replay?" I asked him.
"No," he said with a grin.
"Will you go home tonight and watch it on 'SportsCenter'?"
"No, no, no. I'll watch something tonight but it won't be that."
"Don't you want to see it?"
"No, sir. I don't want to get caught up in all that."
Who builds athletes like this nowadays? Rose calls people ma'am and sir. He doesn't have a Twitter page. After ad shoots, he personally goes around and thanks everybody in the room, even the lens-cap-holder guy. And he has the peculiar habit of referring to himself in the first person.

Rose could put up numbers that would fry your calculator. He is easily talented enough to lead the league in scoring. His drive to the iron is unstoppable. His 3-pointers made are up 800 percent this season. The kid has made 69 treys already. Michael Jordan didn't make that many until his sixth season. But Rose would sooner tongue-bathe goats than go for the scoring crown. "I can't do that! I'm the point guard!"
This is how out of touch Rose is with superstardom: One of his goals this year is to stop swearing. "My mom yells at me," he says. "She says, 'People can read lips!'"

---

Derrick Rose where the blood flows in the gutters and fear rides on the wind on the South Side. In 1991, when Rose was 3, his Englewood neighborhood had 81 murders -- in the first four months. In 2008, the singer Jennifer Hudson's family was gunned down on West 79th, four blocks from Murray Park, where Rose learned to ball. So far, in the first three weeks of 2011, there have already been two murders.
"I used to have this sense," says Rose, 22. "I just knew when there was trouble. You can feel it in your bones. 'Oh, dang. It's time to go.' And I'd just run home as fast as I could."
Rose moved his mom and brothers out of here long ago, but he refuses to turn his back on his home. He stops by Murray Park all the time to watch the kids pretend to be him.
"You got to go back," says Rose. "You don't ever want to show up there and have the kids say, 'Man, what are YOU doing here? You don't belong here no more.'"
One time he was driving through, by himself, and heard gunshots close by. Even that hasn't stopped him, though now he brings his two security guards -- both old friends from those very streets. They go out with Rose every time he goes out, wherever he goes out. "Just in case. I don't want something to happen. Something bad. I don't want any incidents."
Do his guards carry guns?
"Sometimes," he says.
On his right hand, you see his latest tattoo: Sweet Home Chicago.

---

Derrick Rose the last few weeks in the All-Star voting to become a starter on the ridiculously loaded NBA East. He pretended he'd be happy to be "a towel boy" but he admitted to friends that he was aching to be voted onto the starting team by the fans.
In fact, he'd like to be more than that.
"Who gets your vote for MVP so far?" I ask.
"Can I vote for myself?"
"Sure."
"Myself."
"Why?"
"Well, 'cause I've worked so hard and I'd like people to know it. And 'cause it would be for my team. And mostly 'cause I want to represent my city the best I possibly can. This is the greatest city in the world."
We're entering a shimmering era in the NBA. I can't remember seeing this many thrilling young players all at once. Dwight Howard. Kevin Durant. Russell Westbrook. Blake Griffin. Chris Paul. Rajon Rondo. And Rose. All 25 or under and all could end up in the Hall of Fame.
Your MVP vote might be Dwyane Wade or LeBron James in Miami, but you'd be wrong. They have each other. It might be for the wizard Rondo in Boston, but he's only a disher, not a scorer. It might be for Amare Stoudemire of the New York Knicks, but if he's so valuable, why do they lose as often as they win? Rose has the Bulls in the hunt for the No. 1 seed in the East even though they lost their two trees -- Joakim Noah (17 games) and Carlos Boozer (16) -- for much of the first half.
The pick is Rose for all the right reasons.

And when someone asks you, "How'd the Bulls get so good?" you answer in a complete sentence: Derrick Rose.

Turns out Aaron Rodgers doesn't hate elderly women with cancer.

I still think he's a tool. Just like how all the Pack fans hate Cutler. It's the same thing, except in Chicago, we laugh it off and in Green Bay, people get all defensive and cry.

-ey-

Packers Fan with Cancer Shocked by Criticism of Aaron Rodgers
By Marcie Kobriger

Last Friday, an Action 2 News report featured a breast cancer survivor seeking Aaron Rodgers's autograph as the Packers were departing for Atlanta. Video of the Packers quarterback walking past the woman as she held out a hat for him to sign went viral -- and Rodgers came under fire.

The woman at the center of the controversy says she's shocked and upset by comments critical of Rodgers's actions at Austin Straubel airport.

Jan Cavanaugh and her husband are die hard Packers fans. The pair is often at the airport to see the team off for away games and on the edge of their seats when the Packers play.

When she talks about the team, Jan includes herself on the roster, referring to the Packers as "we."

"We sat yesterday and watched the whole game, and we're so excited that we're going to play the Bears," she said.

But her excitement over an NFC Championship match-up has been tempered.

Aaron Rodgers and other players didn't autograph her cap as she saw them off to Atlanta -- but it's not the hat she's upset about, it's the Internet and radio chatter created by the video of Rodgers passing her by.

"I was terribly upset this morning because I did not realize what was online, and opened up my email," she said, "and I was just shocked."

The video has drawn criticism but the only people Jan is critical of today are those creating the chatter.

"I am very unhappy with people making so much out of this, because this really isn't that big of a deal. It's up to the players to decide who they want to give an autograph to, and that's their prerogative."

Just a week earlier, Rodgers autographed Jan's pink jersey bearing the number 12 as the team departed for Philadelphia. A few years ago the now-star quarterback signed a number of things for her, too.

Jan says they've kept everything players have signed for them except for a few items they gave to family members.

While she is distressed over the controversy, Cavanaugh won't let it dampen her excitement for the packers.

"We're really big football fans and the Packers are our team, and we just think that this is the team to root for, so Go Pack Go!"

Hey Wisconsin, Try Defending Aaron Rodgers On This One.

Aaron Rodgers is a DOUCHEBAG.
Bigger Douchebags, WBAY-TV out of Green Bay.


I know this post will start a whole string of "Bears Still Suck" chants from all my Wisconsin friends. I'm OK with that. I'm also gonna hear people say that Cutler is the bigger douche. Let's make 3 things clear here before you see the videos below and read Mike Florio's article.

A) Jay Cutler has always been a jerk. He knows it. That's who he is. He doesn't care to embrace that role. He's about football. Some athletes embrace it.  Not Jay.  Jordan was king when it came to embracing that role.  MJ still has Chicago eating out of his hand. Cutler wants nothing to do with that. He just wants to play football.

B) Aaron Rodgers wants to be the face of the Packers. He embraces the spotlight. Heck, he looks for it. He makes himself seem like the lovable QB.  Just like Favre did during his tenure in Green Bay.

C) See for yourself. Aaron Rodgers acts as if he is totally unaware of the situation below. Yet moments later, Clay Matthews does what any respectable athlete would do.  He even acknowledges that he was aware of Jan Cavanaugh's presence.

Both Rodgers and Matthews came off the same plane. That means Packers PR told Matthew about Cavanaugh's story. No way they would tell Matthews and not Rodgers.

Bottom line, Rodgers is an idiot that will be defended by more idiots.



Check out the article below by Mike Florio of [Pro Football Talk]. I even found the videos that prove their douchiness.


Aaron Rodgers has a lot to learn about where his money comes from
Posted by Mike Florio on January 16, 2011, 3:35 PM EST

We realize that only two days ago we defended largely unlikable Bears quarterback Jay Cutler from a mailed-in attack by ESPN’s Rick Reilly. But since Reilly has yet to attack Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, we feel no need to defend him. (Yet.)

In fact, we’re going to attack him a little. (Maybe Reilly will come to his defense.)

Rodgers makes a lot of money because people are willing to pay to watch him do what he does, and because they’re willing to sit and watch him do it on television, while being bombarded with advertisements and networks promos.

Without fans, football would be lacrosse. Or indoor soccer. Or postseason baseball.

So football players need to be willing to pause and sign an autograph or two from time to time. Especially when the person seeking the autograph is female, is wearing copious amounts of NFL-licensed pink apparel, and has very short gray hair.

There’s a pretty good chance that any person fitting that description is a cancer patient. And if the NFL is going to allow the official uniform to be infiltrated by pink patches and gloves and cleats and stripes every October, high-profile NFL players need to be willing to stop and sign an autograph for someone who fits the profile of a person who is in the fight of her life.

WBAY-TV has the video evidence. Watch Rodgers breeze by Jan Cavanaugh, refusing even to acknowledge her existence. (The good news is that linebacker Clay Matthews treated her with warmth and respect.)







Hey, it’s a free country. Rodgers has an inalienable right to choose to behave like an ass. And the rest of us have an inalienable right to tell anyone who’ll listen that he’s behaving like an ass.

Rodgers needs to realize that without people like Jan Cavanaugh, whose passion for pro football prompted her to go to the airport after a radiation treatment in the hopes of getting Rodgers to sign the pink hat with the Packers logo that she always wears, make his entire lifestyle possible. Otherwise, he’d be no different than a guy who’s really good at throwing darts or horseshoes or cornhole bags. He’d derive personal satisfaction from the use of his God-given skills, but not much if any money.

We hope this strikes a chord with all pro athletes. The fans are the reason you get paid the big bucks. And it would be wise to show some gratitude, especially when it’s obvious that one of those fans isn’t blessed with good health.

We also hope that Rodgers and/or the Packers track down Jan Cavanaugh and make it up to her. The fact that Rodgers would crap on a rare moment of happiness for someone whose entire life in consumed by fighting the disease and contending with the physical, mental, and emotional effects of it should make the stomach churn of anyone who has cancer, or who has seen a loved one stricken by it.

In other words, everyone.

UPDATE: The folks at WBAY, who probably should have realized that the station’s relationship with the only team in town may have been undermined with the publication of the video of Rodgers treating a cancer patient like a panhandler with leprosy, apparently have taken down the clip. The key moment has been uploaded to YouTube.