By Flint Wheeler
Derrick Rose has had an uneven start to the season. He looked pretty damn good when he was on the court, but he’s already missed four games due to the pair of sprained ankles he’s been dragging around. On Tuesday, he offered a partial explanation for why he’s already missed so many games, and it did not sit well in the blue collar corners of the Chicago media. Questioning why I saw almost no stat line for the former Olympian and MVP, I read;
“Derrick Rose Hurt Both Of His Ankles Again” – Says multiple sources.
Here’s what Rose had to say on Tuesday: “I feel I’ve been managing myself pretty good. I know a lot of people get mad when they see me sit out. But I think a lot of people don’t understand that when I sit out, it’s not because of this year. I’m thinking about long term. I’m thinking about after I’m done with basketball, having graduations to go to, having meetings to go to. I don’t want to be in my meetings all sore or be at my son’s graduation all sore just because of something I did in the past. Just learning and being smart.”
In spirit, nothing being expressed in that quote is all that controversial. It was perhaps a little clumsy of Rose to include “meetings” as a thing he’s trying to keep himself healthy for, but what he’s getting at here is a sentiment that has been shared by many athletes before him: “I don’t want to be a hobbled old mess when I’m older, and so I am going to be careful about playing hurt and potentially re-injuring myself.”
Despite how sane and generally unremarkable Rose’s comments were, I cannot help but think of our boys and girls in blue and the sacrifices that we not only know about, but the sleepless nights and mourning of friends lost that we the privileged never hear about.
Rose needs a friend. Does Rose even have a friend? Because a friend would tell him how dumb he sounds and looks.
I normally do not ‘pile on’ as most athletes quotes are either taken out of context or muttered after, no doubt, an all-nighter when one is liable to say dumb things. But this was not. The quote was taken after a game in which Rose did not play and unless the ball kid is spiking the Gatorade, Rose was completely sober.
I don’t know if that’s his brother or agent putting that garbage in his head, but it’s one of the most embarrassing things a player can say.
Thing is, it’s not just that the statement is idiotic, it’s that he apparently believes it. It’s galling and stupid, and Rose doesn’t seem smart enough to understand why.
The Bulls are trying to win a title and they gave him a $95 million contract toward that end. And they get that horsebleep?
Let’s not even talk about how his days are numbered in a blue collar city like Chicago.
In the desert, I know at least a dozen single mothers that are rolling their eyes. Life is hard, nothing comes easy. Derrick Rose made it very easy to look into his eyes and ask, “What are you thinking?”
The Bulls spent the last two seasons discovering that no matter how gritty and well-coached they are, they just aren’t winning a championship without the offensive firepower that Rose can provide. If Rose is missing games early in the year because he’s trying to avoid injuries—ones that would prove detrimental not only to Rose’s post-basketball health, which Bulls fans aren’t obliged to care about, but to the team’s title hopes—everyone should be just fine with that. Except maybe for Chicago sports columnists, who are always happiest when they have an excuse to call Derrick Rose an idiot and most definitely a spoiled, privileged athlete who simply doesn’t get it and therefore DOES NOT deserve it.
Founder of Silex Strategies L.L.C. providing sales and consulting in Insurance, Retirement, Real Estate and Taxes through A.I.G./Valic. PGA Class A Member and T.P.I. Certified Golf Trainer. Host of “The Tilted Sports Radio Show” on Fox Sports 1270 from 3-7pm on Thursdays, Live from The Kilt. Contact at 760-409-4612 www.flintwheeler.com
