Why Brandon “Mungo” Sanders is a Hater

It’s hard to go through High school with your favorite sports teams never winning anything. The called third strike in ’06 and the two collapses were the closes the Mets have been to being a world champion. The Jets haven’t won since the Joe Namath days. The Knicks are… The Suns can’t seem to pass the Spurs. And it’s a good thing nobody cares about hockey so the Rangers get a break. Ok yeah, my teams have sucked it up for a while but what gives Brandon the right to make fun of my teams?

Let’s start with a sport I know best, Baseball. It’s a good thing Brandon became a White Sox’s fan. Becoming a Cubs fan has been a bad investment for the past 100 years, but with the exception of 2005, so have the White Sox. Yes they did have an unbelievable run winning 99 games under second year manager Ozzie Guillen and Pitcher Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez became a magician in game 3 vs. the Red Sox. Then the World Series came and they beat the Houston Astros. But did they really win it? The answer is (hypothetically) no. A man who wasn’t even in the World Series beat the Astros, Albert Pujols. Game 5 of the NLCS that year might have changed then Astros closer Brad Lidge forever. He came into the 9th inning with a 4-2 lead and took the Cardinals to there last strike until he completely collapsed. First it was a two strike, two out base hit by David Eckstein. Jim Edmonds then walked and it left Albert Pujols to deliver the heart melting Three Run homerun (it hit the Roof of Minute Maid Park) that gave the Cards the win. The Astros did win the pennant the next game, but their All-Star closer could not return to form. In game two, the Astros were supposed to win that game. They brought in Lidge who gave up the walk-off home run to Scott Podsednik. SCOTT PODSEDNIK!!! Guess how many homeruns this guy had during the 2005 season? 0. Then in game 4, they bring Lidge back in to keep a 0-0 tie, but gives up the game winning hit that gave the White Sox their first world championship in 87 years. Brad Lidge was the losing pitching twice during the 2005 World Series, lost his closer role with the Astros two years later and was traded to the Phillies. The White Sox since then has been to the playoffs once, losing to the Rays in the 2008 ALDS. To recap, in 90 years, they won 1 World Series.

I saved the best for last, Brandon’s favorite team the Chicago Bulls. Now, this team does have a lot of it’s up’s and down’s. They did make the playoffs and had the best record for an expansion team in NBA history. They did win 6 rings when MJ lead the show. Now the down’s:
They did not pull the trigger on a trade that would have brought 11 time NBA All-Star Kobe Bryant.
They did sign Ben Wallace to a 4 year, $60 million contract that forced the trade of Tyson Chandler.
They did say Heads, missing the coin toss that would have landed Magic Johnson.
But what really bugs me about the Bulls fan is that they are convinced that they are great, but was it only because of Michael Jordan?

Jordan was drafted in the 1984 draft. It took 6 years, but the Bulls did win 3 championships from 1990-1993. Then MJ made a move that still confuses me too this day. He announced his retirement from basketball to presume a baseball career. It’s only last one year, but during the season of 1994-1995, the Bulls won no championship (thanks to the NEW YORK KNICKS!!!) After MJ failed at baseball, he came back to basketball and won 3 more championships from 1996-1998.

So… The Bulls didn’t win a championship before MJ came. They haven’t won one since. In fact, they have done some really bad trades (and non-trades) that were made to make a winning franchise. They traded star Elton Brand for the draft rights of Tyson Chandler and drafted Eddy Curry. Eddy Curry now is fighting to get play time for the Knicks and Tyson Chandler was traded when they acquired Ben Wallace. The before mentioned Kobe Bryant trade never happened. And after a season when rookie sensation Derrick Rose led the Bulls to the playoffs, they lose main swingman Ben Gordon to the Detroit Pistons. It seems to me that this franchise will always try to find the next MJ, but with poor management, it seems like they won’t be close to returning to the glory days anytime soon.

So there it is. Brandon, if you are reading this, put down the haterade and realize that my teams are not the only ones that goes through the dark days.