Bulls make it official, finally fire Del Negro

Del Negro's tenure in Chicago was doomed from the start. (Pic via SportsMaven.Wordpress.com)

The writing has been on the wall regarding the future of Vinny Del Negro for months now.

Monday, the Chicago Bulls put the embattled coach out of his misery, making it official that Del Negro will not return next season despite having a year remaining on his contract.

Del Negro compiled a 82-82 record during his two seasons on the Bulls’ bench, directing the club two playoff appearances in each season.

The former NBA guard needed much more than mediocrity under his reign to retain his job. The third choice after Mike D’Antoni and Doug Collins declined offers to coach the Bulls, Del Negro was a fall-back option with no prior coaching experience on any level.

It was clear from the start he would have to do great things to stick around long.

It was also clear he wasn’t going to get much help from the Bulls’ front office.

The Bulls’ brass has spent the last two seasons doing everything to gear up for the Free Agent frenzy that will take place this summer. Even the additions of Brad Miller and John Salmons, players who clearly helped the Bulls’ during last year’s late-season surge, were made primarily to get rid of Andres Nocioni’s absurd contract.

The Bulls crumbled this season after Salmons was dealt, leaving the team extremely short-handed.

Then of course there was the Joakim Noah fiasco, which sparked the well-publicized dust up with Bulls’ vice president of basketball operations/former GM John Paxson.

Only a handful of NBA coaches really make a difference, in a good way or in a bad way. Although Derrick Rose and Noah improved under Del Negro, it wasn’t because of anything he did. It’s safe to say that their progression as players would have occurred regardless of who was on the bench.

Ultimately, Del Negro didn’t help or hinder the Bulls.

The next few months will go a long way in determining the future of the Bulls organization. Step one: Hire a proven, capable NBA coach–a coach who makes a difference.

Hofstra coach Welsh resigns following DUI arrest

Tim Welsh's career--as a coach and analyst--is on hold following his DUI arrest. (Pic via New Jersey Star-Ledger)

What is it with former ESPN employees getting their noses into trouble?

Former College Basketball analyst Tim Welsh became the latest former employee of the Boo-Ya Network to encounter legal problems after being arrested for DUI last week in New York.

Welsh has resigned from his new job as head coach of Hofstra University, the school announced Monday.

The former Providence coach spent the last two seasons working at ESPN before being hired in late March to resurrect Hofstra’s hoops program.

Welsh was arrested early Friday morning after Police found him sleeping in his car at a green light. He failed a field sobriety test with a blood alcohol level more than twice the legal limit in New York state.

It will be interesting to see what happens next for Welsh, who was a decent analyst and did a fair job rebuilding the Friars.

The Hofstra administration will now be forced to embark on what could be an exhaustive coaching search.

Speedy Claxton must be rolling over in his grave.

Mariners cut OF Byrnes days after he leaves clubhouse on bicycle

Byrnes is a weird dude--a weird dude without a job. (Pic via yahoosports.com)

The Seattle Mariners have had enough of Eric Byrnes–both on and off the field.

Monday the Mariners made several moves in an apparent attempt to spark a woefully pathetic offense that scored just three runs in 32 innings against the Rangers over the weekend.

The lowlight came on Friday, when Byrnes inexplicably pulled his bat back with Ichiro barreling down the line as the potential winning-run. The failed suicide squeeze baffled everyone, including Rangers manager Ron Washington aka Tyrone Biggums, who was ejected after arguing that Byrnes should have been called for a strike on the play. In reality, Byrnes didn’t actually offer at the pitch–even though it appeared he could have made contact with the ball.

Things got even more puzzling after the game ended.

Byrnes, who apparently lives nearby Safeco Field in downtown Seattle, hopped on his Huffy and biked out of the Mariners clubhouse moments after the game ended, without speaking to his teammates. He passed General Manager Jack Zduriencik in the hallway and kept right on riding.

He was back in the lineup on Sunday, going hitless and striking out looking with the bases loaded. He finished his career with the M’s a dismal 3 for 32.

Byrnes is due $11 million dollars this season, most of which will be paid by his former team, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

It will be interesting if any team offers Byrnes a roster spot again this season. Plenty of teams need outfield help, but a overpaid underachieving player like Byrnes probably isn’t the answer.

This is Mike Brown’s reaction to Mo Williams’ dunk

I’m not sure what exactly coach Brown did in between the final buzzer of Game 1 and the postgame press conference, but he just couldn’t stop laughing when asked to describe his reaction to Mo Williams’ dunk over Paul Pierce:

I just can’t figure out what was so damn funny…