Not a Rosey Situation

Yeah, it's been a tough month to be a Chicago sports fan.  Sure, the Cubs have been a welcome distraction for one portion of the base, but there's no avoiding the harsh realities of what has become a dark corner.  As if the criminal rape investigation involving Patrick Kane wasn't enough, we now have to deal with our own Derrick Rose getting involved with something similar.  Okay, so it's not a criminal investigation, but the nature of the alleged crime is no less serious.

In a story first reported by TMZ Sports, an unidentified woman has filed a lawsuit against Rose for drugging and gang raping her with two of his friends in August 2013.  The aforementioned crimes allegedly began at Rose's Beverly Hills home and ended at the woman's apartment near downtown Los Angeles.  Rose and the woman were in a relationship from 2011 until a month before the sexual assault is said to have taken place.  The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, aims to give the woman "an award of money judgment for mental pain and anguish and severe emotional distress."

While the woman says she only remembers "flashes" of what allegedly happened, she can recall being forcibly raped by the defendants after they broke into her apartment.  She waited two years to file this lawsuit because she was "ashamed and embarrassed" about it.  She also did not want her "conservative family" to know.

Rose's camp didn't wait long to respond.  Attorney and spokesperson Lisa Cohen issued the following statement, as first reported on Twitter by Liz Mullen:

“The plaintiff’s allegations are completely false and without any factual basis.  This is nothing more than a desperate attempt to shake down a highly respected and successful athlete.  Mr. Rose was in a non-exclusive, consensual sexual relationship with the plaintiff for over two years.  The plaintiff expressed no complaints about Mr. Rose until various lawyers began to surface and demand that the plaintiff be paid millions of dollars.  This is the third lawyer the plaintiff has retained in this matter.  Two years have passed since Mr. Rose ended the consensual relationship with the plaintiff and her claims are as meritless now as they were two years ago.  We have complete confidence that the case will be dismissed and that Mr. Rose will be vindicated.  This lawsuit is outrageous.”

On Thursday, the Bulls were less blunt and accusatory, simply saying "We just learned about this matter and do not know all the facts.  It would be inappropriate to comment further at this time."  Then again, this is what we would expect a professional organization to say in times like this.  The Blackhawks said something similar when the Kane story broke.

I'm not going to analyze the woman or her claims because doing so would be extremely detrimental in talking about a heinous crime that, for all we know, really did happen.  This is a very delicate situation that, again, is not any better without any criminal charges involved.  Instead, I'm going to target a couple of groups, starting with the one made up of the two Chicago athletes who have made the wrong headlines this month (never mind that this is a Bulls blog, not a Chicago sports blog).

Rose and Kane have a lot of similarities.  They were born a month-and-a-half apart in the fall of 1988, play in the same venue at the same time of year, are among the best in their respective sports and even have condos in the same building.  Now, both have been accused of doing something to a woman nobody ever should.  There's a reason people who have done it become one of the first targets among prisoners.

Whether they did it or not, they've both come across as very undisciplined.  Whether it's the people they hang around or behavior that makes others uncomfortable,  they've put themselves in these situations simply by not having enough common sense.  People with values, or lack thereof, can turn on you if they feel they have been wronged.  Even if those people are not in the right, you have to really think about those who want to be around you and consider if they will get you in trouble based on what they think you've done.

You can't blame victims or even consider the alleged rapist guilty before facts have come out.  In Rose's case, neither side has been shy about their feelings about this.  As for Kane, all we know is he's talked to investigators about what's going on and only the alleged victim has talked.  Regardless, you can't let yourself get into a situation where people are pointing fingers or going to the authorities because your reputation can take a hit and then, others might not want to go near you.

Both will be 27 this fall, meaning they're past the point where they should have grown up and become adults by now.  Being undereducated should be no excuse for not knowing how to act in these situations.  Someone else took Rose's SAT exam and Kane never went to college, but you'd think they would have gained enough street smarts by now to avoid these situations.  Okay, maybe they haven't actually been wandering the streets recently, but how much real-world experience do you need before getting the message that no means no when a woman says it?

If a woman is only hanging around you because of your money, that should be the first sign that she's a flake and not worth pursuing.  Obviously, she won't imply that when she hangs with you, but how can you be so sure she likes you for who you are, not what you've accomplished?  These two guys need to take good, long looks at themselves and think about how they've allowed these situations to happen.  You are who your friends are and if you can't recognize there's something in you or them that may lead to a downfall, that's your fault.

The second group I wish to talk about is those on social media who have already declared Rose guilty and are choosing to make light of it.  I've already heard some telling Chicago to get its athletes together, which is pretty bad considering neither has been charged with a crime.  Worse than that however is people who came out with photoshopped images of Rose that implied he did what he's been accused of.  Not even an hour after the initial report was released, images such as Rose in a prison jumpsuit and Rose with Bill Cosby were already making the rounds on social media.

What kind of sick people are you?  I get that social media allows us to create instantaneous reactions to everything, but why do you have to lightly tear down every public figure right away when even the slightest accusation comes his/her way?  First of all, this is something serious that has supposedly happened.  Secondly, I didn't realize civil and criminal cases were now decided by the court of public opinion instead of that old-fashioned, outdated judge-and-jury combo.

Those who want to joke about this right off the bat are either immature, can't be reasoned with or are some combination of the two.  You can't even picture Rose in prison if no criminal charges are involved.  I guess ignorance is bliss though.  If you must, live your own little world where alleged facts are actual facts and thus, we must torch anyone who has even the slightest connection to a crime that may or may not have happened.

I bet it wouldn't be so funny if someone in your family was accused.  How would you like it if someone placed Bill Cosby over a loved one's face or cranked out memes like they were going out of style?  If that wouldn't upset you even a little bit, I have no hope anyone can teach you to have empathy or an open mind.  You have my pity for that.

Jessica Luther, a freelance journalist based in Texas, tweeted the most appropriate thing about this particular angle:  "If you heard about Derrick Rose and your immediate impulse is to tell a joke:  don't."  God bless you, Jessica.  I'm glad you have a firm grasp on things and don't jump to conclusions before any facts have come out.  Granted, Rose hasn't been the most well-liked athlete of late because of injuries and bad communication, but is that really a reason to quickly jump on something more serious than anything that has come before?

I'm probably just feeding the Internet trolls by spewing this stuff, but you really need to know some people just won't listen for anything new to come out and just make up their minds right there and then.  Once they do, they'll either rip them a new one or find it humorous and find some way to express how they feel.  The best advice I can offer is if you come across them, just ignore them.  They love to stir up trouble and will sit in front of a screen all day hoping to get multiple rises out of more reasonable people.

This whole thing is just a sad state of affairs and I'm not looking forward to seeing how it plays out.  No matter what happens, Rose is going to be reminded of this everywhere from now on.  Maybe a championship will deflect some of those words away.  Even if it does however, there's no denying he will be connected to this for a long time, possibly the rest of his life.

Scheduled

In four years of keeping this blog, I have never once posted about the newly released schedule.  That's mainly because I've found it to be nothing more than a formality for an NBA team.  The Bulls play every team at least twice and don't skip any stops on any courts.  See why I typically find this uninteresting?

This year however, I decided it was worth talking about.  We don't know how wide that championship window is open or even if it still exists.  There's a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Bulls on whether Fred Hoiberg's first season can approach what Tom Thibodeau accomplished in his final year.  And yet, the league still finds them good enough and marketable enough to give them as much national exposure as possible.

It starts on Opening Night when the Cleveland Cavaliers come to the United Center to help them officially tip off the season on TNT.  This is the second straight year the Bulls have welcomed Cleveland and national TV to open their home schedule.  It's also the second time in the last three years the Bulls will face LeBron James in their very first contest.

For the sixth straight year, the Bulls will get a Christmas game.  This time, it will be the second of five scheduled that day and they'll be on the road to play the Oklahoma City Thunder.  The Bulls have won three of their last four games on the NBA's marquee regular-season day, but they've traditionally struggled at Chesapeake Energy Arena.  With Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook expected to be fully healthy this season, Santa Claus may not do the Bulls any favors on that day.

Those are just two of the 32 nationally televised games the Bulls will play this season.  They join the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers as the only teams with 10 appearances on TNT.  They have maxed out their games allowed on both that network and NBA TV.  It sure says a lot about the league's faith in this team as well as its marketability.

Of note this year is the that the annual circus trip will only last four games.  The first three will be played on the West Coast, including one at Golden State, but the final one comes in Indiana on Black Friday.  Although the Disney on Ice trip will still be seven games, the players won't have to deal with their typical early-season adversity of going on the road for so long.  That may actually be shifted to later on however with eight of their final 12 games being played away from Chicago.

Perhaps the Bulls are more ready to contend for a championship than we've been led to believe.  Hoiberg might very well have been the one piece missing from the equation last year.  The coming year depends on the health of Derrick Rose and others, but if all goes well, will we see something special?  We could also say many outside Chicago are more optimistic about the season than your typical Bulls fan, so it's a two-way street.

The season is apparently supposed to be a good one, so it's now time for the Bulls to reward everybody with solid basketball.  It's tough not having reservations about the roster remaining virtually intact, but we've seen teams succeed greatly with little turnover before.  Is this one of those cases?  We have 82 games, plus the playoffs, to find out.

Red, White, Blue, But No Rose

Since tearing his ACL, Derrick Rose has prided himself as a player who does what's best for his long-term health.  Because of his rather inconsistent play since, the jury is still out on whether that's really been the best course of action.  Regardless, the more non-NBA basketball he plays, the greater the risk that the Bulls' investment in him will be damaged further.  That may have factored into his decision to skip the Team USA mini-camp in Las Vegas next week, where only attendees will be considered for the 2016 Olympic team.

Jimmy Butler will be one of 34 players at the camp, but he'll be the only Bull representative.  While he's just beginning his pursuit of Olympic gold, Rose has effectively ended his.  Rose has always wanted a gold medal and playing for Team USA at last summer's world championships seemed to indicate he would be ready to do so.  Instead, it was simply a step in shaking off his long layoff from his first meniscus tear.  Now, he'll continue to work on his game by focusing squarely on how he can help lead the Bulls to a championship.

In the past, I might have been disappointed by this.  Rose is as close to a superstar as we've had since Jordan and naturally, that would mean I'd want to see him accomplish as much as possible.  He earned his way to the top and all it took to set everything back was one major injury followed soon after by another.  Anything to earn those spoils back would have been nice to see.

But now, we've seen that Rose's superstardom is flashy at best.  This past season was filled with inconsistent play, sitting while struggling, trying to develop a three-point shot that's not really there and above all, not giving the proper results when the Bulls were on the brink against a weakened Cleveland in the playoffs.  This should have been the year the Bulls got over that hump.  Instead, Rose couldn't deliver what Stephen Curry, Chris Paul and John Wall are all far more likely to do.

To be fair, this is Rose's first offseason since just after his MVP year that he's been able to focus squarely on his game and not rehabbing a knee.  Trying to balance both at the same time can be difficult, even for someone with his talent.  He may not have been totally comfortable last year and re-tearing his meniscus only hampered his progress once more.  To say he's been riding a long roller coaster is an understatement.

So I'm fine if Rose feels he has to give up his Olympic dream.  He's no longer your typical invincible NBA star.  He has shown to be very human and is prone to break down anytime.  We have no way of knowing how long he'll remain healthy, but we should be more comfortable with him only doing it in a Bulls uniform rather than our country's colors.

In some respects, the timing is perfect for Rose to decide not to attend the camp.  A year ago, before we really knew what the post-injury version of him would be, people would be split on whether or not he should sit out.  Now, there's barely a whisper about this.  Of course, all the talk about whether Patrick Kane committed a serious crime seems to be diverting the city's attention away from this particular story.

Instead, we'll continue to let Rose be so he can be in proper shape for the season.  Wherever he's working out, give him as much privacy as possible.  We don't need someone in his camp to say the wrong thing to the wrong person and create yet another distraction for him.  As we've learned, that can create a media controversy that would grow old on people really fast.