If There’s a Ring, There’s a Bull Fight

The curse of Michael Jordan continues to haunt the Chicago Bulls, the NBA’s worst team. Before suffering their most lopsided defeat of the season, a 33-point loss at Detroit on Wednesday, the Bulls were at odds in their locker room.

According to the Chicago Sun-Times, veteran Kendall Gill told Eddy Curry to shut off his cellphone and be professional. In the NBA, cellphones are to be turned off in locker rooms, but Curry’s kept ringing. It turned out that the caller was teammate Eddie Robinson from the other end of the room.

“It’s frustrating,” Gill said of the lack of professionalism. “But we’ve been harping on it all season. If it’s not going to change, there’s only one thing to do. The future of the franchise is dependent on younger players.”

The injured Curry didn’t even sit on the bench during the game, because he didn’t think his jeans and T-shirt were appropriate attire. Robinson was the only player in uniform not to play in the blowout loss.

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Trivia time: Who was the last player to hold the NBA record for points scored in a game before Wilt Chamberlain?

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More MJ curse: The same night that the Bulls lost by 33 points, Jordan’s other NBA team, the Washington Wizards, lost, 108-99, to Orlando, with the Magic’s Tracy McGrady scoring a franchise-record 62 points.

The Washington Times’ John Mitchell wrote that the Wizards “showed up at TD Waterhouse Centre looking very much like a team ready to mail it in.”

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State of NHL: Eric Francis of the Calgary (Canada) Sun: “Sticks are wielded like scythes, constantly jeopardizing opponents’ eyes, teeth and modeling careers, while reckless hits and head shots are dispensed with frightening regularity.

“At the current rate in which the respect among players is disappearing from the NHL, it won’t be long before someone is paralyzed or killed. It’s only a matter of time, especially if the league doesn’t introduce simple safety measures such as mandatory visors and no-touch icing.”

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Privacy problems: Carolina quarterback Jake Delhomme may have lost to New England in the Super Bowl, but he has been treated as a hero around his hometown of Breaux Bridge, La.

Delhomme lives next to his parents off a two-lane highway, and strangers have been camping out at his house. Some knock on the door, while others pull over and stop when they see Delhomme playing with his daughter in the backyard. The family doesn’t want to move but does plan to install a fence.

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Trivia answer: The Lakers’ Elgin Baylor, who scored 71 points against the New York Knicks on Nov. 15, 1960. Chamberlain broke the record with 78 points for Philadelphia in a triple-overtime game against the Lakers on Dec. 8, 1961.

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And finally: After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers failed to land quarterback Jeff Garcia, Joe Henderson of the Tampa Tribune wrote about incumbent starter Brad Johnson: “If the Bucs eventually hand [Johnson’s] position to someone else, would anyone be surprised if he demanded to be released or traded? Then the Bucs would be right where they are now -- needing another quarterback to back up the starter. Perhaps Joe Namath is available.”