Rose Family Reunion: Pete and Derrick

This summer TBC had an all access pass to the Rose Family Reunion in rural Iowa. As promised, this is the first bit of wisdom given to Derrick by one of his famous extended family members; Pete "Charlie Hustle" Rose.

When we found out Pete was going to be at the family farm we were ecstatic. Pete is a favorite around here, with my parents even giving me his namesake. I imagined hearing stories about the Big Red Machine, walking out onto the field in Atlanta as a part of the All Century Team and then pretty much telling Jim Gray where to stick it, and finding out who cuts his hair. None of our dreams came true and actually, we had a hard time tracking down Pete once we arrived.

Late into the first day we lost track of Derrick. We walked around and around the farm again and again, in vain attempts at locating the guest of honor. We checked in the barn. Nope. We looked in the tool shed. Again, not there. We checked in the cellar. Not there either. Then we went behind the woodshed and we found Pete with his arm around little Derrick, having a little heart to heart.

"You know Derrick, I was Rookie of the Year," said Pete.

Derrick is looking at him like he is speaking a foreign language, probably wondering why they are out behind the woodshed.

Pete continued. "I won the rookie of the year because I hustled. Nothing was given to me. It was a tough time trying to make it in the bigs back then. But the 60's were a great time, not quite as good as the 80's but pretty close. Anything beats those damn hippies. Anyway, where was I? Oh yeah, rookie of the year. Well if there is one thing I can tell you about the season after is that you are going to have anything you want. I mean anything."

Derrick stops gazing off into the distance and looks slightly interested.

Pete went on to talk about all the important people he met and all the women and just as he was about to lose Derrick's interest again he said this.

"Just make sure you go slide head first any time you can and remember the rule of Andy."

"The rule of Andy?"

"Yes. Andy. A - N - D - E. Admit nothing, deny everything. I forgot that one time and I will never, ever forgive myself for it. Oh and if that still doesn't work and you need anything else, I mean ANYTHING, here is Ronnie's number."

910 Conversation - Central Division

Chicago Bulls

Derrick Rose, fresh off his rookie season where he won rookie of the year and then took his game to another level in the playoffs, decided he needed to get back to his roots a little bit. So when the invitations came out for the Rose Family Reunion, he naturally thought it would be a good way to do just that. He loaded up the Bentley and headed out to the family farm in Iowa and luckily for you, through a family loophole, we happened to be there for the weekend and followed Derrick around while he caught up with family, got advice from distant relatives and most of all got in touch with his roots. Throughout the season we will drop small excerpts from various conversations had at the Rose Family Reunion.

Cleveland Cavaliers

If you don't know all that has gone on in Cleveland this off season and all that might go on in the future, I'm not sure why you have read this far. So with all the hype and expectation in Cleveland, we have teamed up with the biggest free agent of the summer of 2010 to give us an exclusive insight into the team and into his preparations for free agency. Thats right, all 7 foot 3 inches of Zydrunas Ilgauskus will be checking in from time to as a guest blogger here on The Black Converse. We couldn't be more excited.

Detroit Pistons

Tayshaun and Rip Hamilton remain all that is left from the D that was in Detroit. The hallmark of the 3 different Detroit championship teams was their defensive prowess. Even in the biggest stretch, Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva would never be the missing pieces that would bolster a team defense. So a blue collar team in a blue collar city abandons its blue collar roots. At least they aren't making an electric engine Camaro.
With little interest in how this season plays out for the Pistons, it reminded us here of another Detroit native; Kid Rock. Our level of caring for the Pistons this season is proportional to our level of caring what happens with Kid Rock. We believe the parallels between Kid Rock and the Detroit Pistons don't end there.

Indiana Pacers

Danny Granger will score a lot of points. The Pacers will play 5 white guys at one time. Nobody will think twice about the Pacers as a legitimate threat to make the playoffs. But they did draft Tyler Hansbrough, or Psycho T as he is more affectionately know around here. We have decided to create a Psycho T Intensity Tracker. We will check in periodically to see where the Intensity Nobs have been turned to and with any luck he will turn them up to 11 this year.

Milwaukee Bucks

"There is nothing to see here. Move along."
Don't think Obi-wan Kenobi was talking about this year's Bucks team? You're right. He was talking about every Bucks team since Ray Allen and Big Dog. Unless hell freezes over, or thaws out if you are a Bucks fan, the only thing remotely interesting about this organization is Bango the Buck and his Tales of Intrigue.