Hang in there Paul George! (Damn the Pacers are screwed! )

I can't watch !

     I originally had a whole other topic planned for this blog post. My first thoughts were centered around my own basketball team.  You see, last night was the Team USA live scrimmage on ESPN.  For most of the world, this is a completely meaningless event. The game doesn't count for anything.  It's just something USA basketball does for its fans before they go overseas. The plan is the players come out,  put on a little show, and everyone leaves happy. But if you are a Bulls fan, yesterday carried far more significance for you.
       See, last night was supposed to be the first time we got to see Derrick Rose return and play in live action.  For those of you who don't know, Derrick had a couple of injuries.  Matter of fact,  I'm vastly under stating the situation.  To say he's had a couple of injuries is like saying that the South Side of Chicago has a couple of gang bangers. The guy has only played in 50 games in three years (out of a possible 246, not counting playoff games). So last night was supposed to mark the beginning of his triumphant return...again. 
     For a little while,  that's exactly what happened.  The guy is racing up and down the court at lightning speed. He's got the jets. He's got the moves. He's got the explosiveness.  At one point he came down the middle of the paint, an unleashed a dunk so athletic, so vicious,  that I immediately started jumping up on the couch, literally started yelling " Awww Skeet Skeet Skeet!" and picturing the Chicago Bulls winning a title next season.  (I know. I know.  I'm way too into sports. )
I'm getting calls and texts from everyone I know.  Everyone is all excited.  Because if you've never seen him play, understand this: Derrick Rose, healthy, is something special to watch. I'm talking once in a generation special.  The fact that he's from Chicago and plays for the Bulls makes his story even more special. So his return carried huge significance and impact, especially on the South Side. But suddenly the focus of the whole night shifted.

Holy Kevin Ware! Was that his leg?!?

     Near the end of the game, James Harden is going for a meaningless fast break layup. Paul George, being one of the better defensive players in the game,  follows instincts,  and races back up the floor to defend the shot. He jumps up and on his way down,  his foot gets caught between the bottom of the basket support and the floor.  As his weight comes down,  his leg snaps like a piece of uncooked spaghetti. 
       Normally,  I would post a link to the video but trust me,  you don't want to see it. If you do,  Google it. I just don't want to see it again.  It was that unnerving.  The reactions of the players said everything.  Guys jumped off the bench and immediately started to wave for the medical staff. Hell, Kevin Durant looked like he wanted to cry. I had two immediate thoughts.  1.) His career is never going to be the same again.  2.) Get Derrick Rose away from him before he somehow catches an injury too. (Completely irrational, I know. ) The game stops for what felt like an eternity while they looked him over. Then moments after they carry him off on a stretcher, Coach K announces that the rest of the game is canceled.  All the players looked visibly shaken.
      To understand why this is tragic,  let me give you a little bit of Paul George's backstory. He was drafted out of a small school and was relatively unknown.  He worked hard and was on the cusp of becoming one of the league's youngest, brightest super stars. Then this happens.  Understand this, Team USA players don't get paid.  They play on the team for the honor of representing their country.  So Paul George basically may have just had a career threatening injury, playing for free, in a game that doesn't count.  The basketball gods are truly cruel.
      I wonder how this will affect USA basketball going forward.  How many multi-millionaires will skip playing in the games in the future.  How will the Indiana Pacers deal with this going forward? They already lost Lance Stephenson and Evan Turner in free agency and we're going to depend on George to carry them next season.  Now i hate the Pacers but I don't wish that kind of luck on anyone.  Besides after dealing with Derrick Rose injuries the last couple of seasons,  I can completely empathize.  No one ever wants to see a young talented dude's career get cut short or altered due to injury.  So, I'm wishing you the best Paul George.  Hang in there! God has a plan!  And hopefully we can see you out there on the court again soon,  doing what you do. Stay strong brother. 

Why the Hell Do We Listen to Chris Broussard?

     I have a confession to make. As I write this I have to acknowledge that I have a personal bias. I hate Chris Broussard. I have hated this man's guts on a level usually reserved for racism and taxes. I have hated Chris Broussard for over four years now. I know some of you are thinking, "Damn, Digital Jeezus, why you gotta hate on dude? I thought you were supposed to be about the love and what not?" And most of the time, I am. Digital Jeezus loves everyone.....for the most part. But I got to admit, I hate Chris Broussard. However, I don't want you to think that I just pick on the dude for no reason. Trust me, I got my reasons. So, before you start thinking that I just hate on people for no reason, allow me to explain why I have complete and utter disdain for Chris

Broussard. 

Who the hell are these so called "sources"?

      To understand my hatred for Chris Broussard, you have to first understand what it is I love: sports. I love sports, almost to a degree that is unhealthy. Especially my local teams. This goes all the way back to childhood. My first passionate moment came when I was little kid and wouldn't stop crying because the Fighting Illini lost in the Final Four. When Michael Jordan retired the first time, I walked around in a deep depression for a year and a half until the day he decided to play basketball again. When the Bulls drafted Derrick Rose, I felt like a proud dad watching his son graduate college. When he blew out his knee (the first time) I felt as though I just tore my ACL. When he injured his other knee, I was shell shocked for the better part of a year. To this day, I'm such a passionate Cubs fan that if you tell me that Andre Dawson wasn't one of the greatest baseball players to ever live, I may just punch you in the face. Suffice to say, my love for Chicago sports runs deep. 

      Now if you have any idea about the history of Chicago sports, you understand that to be a sports fan in this city can be a heartbreaking experience. As a city we have had our dreams dashed so much, it always has our fan base searching the horizon for any small freaking glimmer of hope that we can get. And that's where Chris Broussard comes in at. For those of you who have no idea who he is, Chris Broussard is a reporter/analyst/columnist for ESPN. I use all those terms loosely. See all this goes back to LeBron. When LeBron James was first hitting free agency four years ago, it was a lot of speculation. The whole world wondered "Is he leaving Cleveland?","What team would he go to?", "Why would he want to leave Cleveland?", and " Is Delonte West really sleeping with his momma?", I watched all the speculation with an air of indifference. If sports news doesn't directly affect my team, I only marginally care. Then came a fateful ESPN interview. And the host of the show asks Chris Broussard, where he thinks LeBron will play next year. Broussard says something to the effect of, "Based on what my sources tell me, I would say LeBron is going to Chicago." 

      All of a sudden every thing has changed. Possibilities I never dared to consider had come to light. Should I really dare to dream big? Over the following weeks, Broussard continued to push the story that LeBron was leaning toward coming to Chicago. You can see on the link.

 http://youtu.be/3I-Ji_JQ9W4

   Needless to say, LeBron didn't come. That's what made me notice: Whenever there is a big signing or trade to announce Chris Broussard is one of the first people to jump out there and say "My sources tell me..." Only, there's one problem with that. Chris Broussard's sources are ALWAYS WRONG. I MEAN ALWAYS. Don't believe me? Go to youtube and look it up. Dude is consistently wrong. Which begs the question, why do we listen to Chris Broussard? And if not him, then who?

Who should we listen to?
     Listen to Digital Jeezus. Because when I dont know something, I tell you I dont know something. I just dont make up b.s. with all the accuracy of a local weatherman. Now if you gotta rock with ESPN, here's the rule of thumb. Unless one of the following three people reports it, its not true: David Aldridge, Andy Katz, and sometimes Stephen A. Smith. EVERYBODY ELSE IS JUST GUESSING! However, if you want to get some quality sports news and Digital Jeezus isnt around to give it to you, there's a couple of more sites you can check out. For all my local Chicago Bulls news I tell people to go to BullsConfidential.com. My man Doug Thonus, runs a pretty accurate, well researched site. The site has several good podcasts you want to check out too, including The Bulls Show, Bawl! on Bulls. I also recommend AccordingtoSources.com. Although its a fairly new site, they run a pretty tight ship. Their information tends to be accurate a very high percentage of the time and I noticed during this past NBA free agency, they were breaking accurate stories very early in the news cycle. A very slept on Internet gem. Now if you got way too much free time, I can recommend Bleacher Report. They have the best service as far as sending up to the minute updates to your phone or mobile device. You can get customized alerts to get news stories involving your favorite college or pro teams and even add individual players to your news feed.   However, as they pull from a lot of other sites as well the flow of information is high, and you can end up having to filter out some Broussard like ish. If I find any other sites I will bring them to your attention. If you have any other sites you feel I should check out, feel free to leave them in the comment section. Until we talk again, one final thought......F*#% Chris Broussard.

CHUUCH 

The Birth of Digital Jeezus.

       Over 2,000 years ago, a man once lived. He walked around from town to town, passing along teachings and knowledge. While to some his teaching seemed odd and strange, to others, he held the answers they had been searching for their whole lives. He met with people, he touched peoples lives, all while sharing his views that many considered rebellious, offensive, and outright blasphemy. People said he was a troublemaker. People said he was a rebel and should be outcast. But never, in the face of scorn, persecution, and sometimes hatred, did this crazy lil dude back down. So great was this man's love for people that even in the face of being labeled an outcast he didn't quit. At the cost of being arrested by the government, he didn't quit. When faced with even the prospect of death he stood for his beliefs. And that man's name....you guessed it...Jesus Christ!
       And 2,000 years later, here we are. Now to all you sensitive people out there, let me get this straight. I IN NO WAY THINK I AM THE ONLY BEGOTTEN SON OF GOD.  There...are you happy now? However, in this modern digital age that we live in, there exists this whole other cyber world. Every time you hop on the internet and start clicking links, there is no guarantee of where you will end up. In searching this information super highway of ours, you can be bombarded with information. A lot of this information will be wrong, inaccurate and some of it will just be links to porn sites. So how do you decide what's what? And that's what I'm here for. Digital Jeezus is here to bring you nothing but the truth and the light. Over time Digital Jeezus will touch on a variety of topics, dealing with everything from sports, entertainment, social issues and life itself. (Due to the constraints of a school project the majority of the next couple of weeks is going to deal with sports media, as I'm also using this blog for course credit in one of my classes, but in the weeks to come we will expand a little bit more.) I am here to not only bring you the truth, but to tell you where to go to find it for yourself. However, I must warn you. Digital Jeezus is going to be bold, outlandish, and sometimes downright offensive. But before you and your protest groups get mad and ask to get me fired from the internet, simply because I offended you, ask yourself this: What's so bad about a person being a little bit offensive? After all, so was Jesus.




Let the Church say Amen