A SCOUT'S PERSPECTIVE - OBSERVATIONS & RUMINATIONS

"The Last Dance," a 10-part documentary series by Executive Producer, Mike Tollin and Director, Jason Hehir chronicles the rise and sustained excellence of the great Chicago Bulls team of the 1990's that were led by Michael Jordan. The exploits of the 1997-98 Bulls as they march towards their 6th National Basketball Association (NBA) Championship are highlighted in each episode due to  " 500 hours of footage on some 3,200 reels of 16-millimeter film"  being shot by  an imbedded NBA Entertainment crew during the 1997-98 season in anticipation that this would be Jordan's last season in the NBA.   'The Last Dance' ESPN Trailer Who am I & why are my reflections about "The Last Dance" worth reading and hearing? I was a scout and front office executive with the Chicago Bulls from 1989 - 2000 working directly with Jerry Krause.  Oftentimes when I've listened to a podcast or read commentary on "The Last Dance," I remark to myse...

                                                     Chris & Heather Herren & their 3 kids. Sat down on Tuesday night, November 1, 2011 to watch ESPN's feature on Chris Herren, entitled "Unguarded." About 30 minutes into it my 11 year old son walked into the house and started watching it with me. He had a lot of homework, but I thought this documentary was more important for him to watch than doing his homework. Why? Most young kids only see the glamorous side of sports when they watch a top flight college or pro athlete in person or on television. I wanted him to see the darker side of life and the sports world. I wanted him to see what can happen to an individual when he is unable to say "no" to temptation, drugs, alcohol, negati...

Morice Fredrick Winter. If you stumbled upon this blog, you might be saying to yourself, 'who the hell is that?' But, if I say "Tex" Winter and you're a basketball aficionado, or a fan of the Chicago Bulls or Los Angeles Lakers, the name is instantly recognizable. Tex was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday, August 12, 2011 as a coach. Tex was not able to speak for himself on the night he was inducted into the Hall of Fame because of a debilitating stroke he had suffered in 2009. After listening to Tex's son, Chris Winter's rambling speech, I decided to start tweeting about Tex. Nothing I've ever tweeted has resonated more with those who follow me on twitter than the comments I made about Tex and Dennis Rodman . Here are my real time comments (slightly cleaned up) about Tex after he had been inducted into the HOF: I haven't commented on the BB HOF speeches; sad that Phil Jackson didn't give tha...

BYU's Brandon Davies got suspended for an honor code violation.   Washington State's Klay Thompson suspended for 1 game because of marijuana possession charge.  Sports Illustrated is doing an expose on "College Football and Crime."   I could go on and on about the decisions that high school, college, and pro teams have to make throughout a given season with issues involving character. One thing for certain, coaches and administrators need to formulate a philosophy for how they're going to deal with transgressions of character. DeMarcus Cousins, Sacramento King's burly center/forward is a player who has known character issues. The only reason he slipped to the Kings was because teams had concerns about his character. On 3/16/10 I responded to a comment @RealSkipBayless made on twitter: "GMs tell me Cousins best big man to come along in several years - size, strength, skill. But afraid of roller-coaster emotions, attitude." My response: ...

I wrote this note to a 9th grade basketball player in 1998. Attended one of his practices and then gave it to him.  I've shared it with a few other people and have read parts of the letter at a few basketball clinics. I hope you're enriched by reading this note and will pass it on to a young baller if you think they can gain insight from it. NOTE TO A YOUNG BASKETBALL PLAYER I enjoyed watching your gym class (a.k.a. BB Practice) on Friday. Your coach appears to have a sound understanding of the game and the teaching ability to impart his philosophy of the game to his players. I know he is high on you. You have the great moniker called potential attached to your name. My favorite definition for potential is excellence unrealized, and it can stay unrealized if the individual does not have the passion, intelligence, persistence, and determination to exceed the expectations/goals that one sets for his/herself. My sister gave me a poster with the following quote on it when I wa...