December 21st Update

Wednesday Spotlight: Derrick Rose

• Chicago Bulls Point Guard Derrick Rose was signed to a contract extension on Tuesday. The 5-year deal, worth $94.8 million, will make Rose one of the 10 highest paid players in the league this year. The Chicago native was happy to sign with his hometown team as he hopes to build a legacy in Illinois.
• Rose was the Number 1 overall pick of the 2008 draft out of Memphis. Rose’s time at Memphis was tumultuous. The Tigers made the championship game losing to the University of Kansas in one of the most exciting championship games in NCAA history. Soon after that loss it was discovered that Rose was not eligible to play at Memphis as some of his test scores were invalid after somebody else took the SAT for him.
• In the NBA, where there is no prerequisite for SAT or scruples, and Rose has excelled. After 2 excellent seasons, he was named the MVP of the 2010-11 season after leading the Bulls to a 62-20 record and a number 1 seed in the playoffs. Unfortunately they ran into a buzzsaw from Miami and lost in the Conference Championship series to the Heat. Rose’s MVP season allowed for him to get the sizable contract he could (part of the new collective bargaining agreement). This superstar should be the head of a young Bulls team for years to come

NBA Preview: Eastern Conference

• Now that the NBA season is finally about to get underway (the first games are on Christmas) we can begin to talk about the season without mentioning the lockout that dominated so much of the NBA chatter for the past few months. While a lot of noise has been made this offseason about the L.A. Clippers, L.A. Lakers and Houston Rockets, the East has quietly remained a force to be reckoned with.
• The Miami Heat's Big 3 of Lebron James, Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh look to improve upon last season's oft-tumultuous season that nonetheless saw them make it to the NBA Finals. While the Heat are considered the favorites by most, there are a number of contenders in their way including the Chicago Bulls and defending MVP Derrick Rose (mentioned above), the Dwight Howard-led Orlando Magic, the original big 3 of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett in Boston and possibly the most dynamic pair of forward teammates in NBA history with Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony in the bright lights of New York.
  Only time will tell if these will be the only contenders or if teams like Andrew Bogut's Bucks, the well-balanced Indiana Pacers or Deron Williams and Brook Lopez's New Jersey Nets will contend as well but it will be fun to watch.

Japanese Star on the Clock with the Rangers

• In each of the past two years the Texas Rangers have lost their best pitcher from the previous year. This year they are trying to hit back at the open market with a star Japanese pitcher. 25 year old Yu Darvish is trying to make a move from Japan to the US. A complex process (explained below) awarded the Texas Rangers the exclusive opportunity to negotiate with Darvish.
• Darvish has pitched in the Japanese major leagues for 7 years and has seven effective pitches (most major leaguers are happy to have four). Darvish was the star of the champion Japanese 2009 World Baseball Classic team.
• The process starts with major league teams making a closed bid, or “posting fee”, to Darvish’s Japanese team. During this process, teams will give the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters a number. The team will then evaluate and basically sell the rights to negotiate with Darvish to the highest bidder. If the Major League team is able to come to an agreement over the next 30 days they get that bid. The Rangers set a record with a $51.7 million dollar posting bid (the previous record was $51.1 million posted by the Red Sox in 2006). The Rangers now have a month to sign Darvish (or he returns to Japan and the Ham Fighters have to do this again next year).