Philadelphia, PA - Give coach Tom Thibodeau credit.

Evan after his No. 1-seeded Chicago Bulls were jettisoned by the upstart Philadelphia 76ers in the most painful way possible, Thibodeau never made excuses despite missing superstar Derrick Rose and starting center Joakim Noah for most of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals.

In fact, he repeated what almost became a mantra for the Bulls: "I do believe we had more than enough to win with," the coach said after watching his team fall, 79-78, in a sixth and deciding game Thursday night.

He was probably right.

In Tuesday's Game 5, something Sixers coach Doug Collins called a "human nature game" for Philadelphia, human nature was evidently a euphemism for an inability to shoot the basketball.

With a chance to close out the Bulls, Philadelphia was putrid in the Second City. Chicago limited the Sixers to just 32.1 percent field-goal shooting with the second quarter proving particularly challenging for the 76ers. They trailed 17-16 after one, but managed just 10 points in the second on 4-of-23 shooting and never recovered.

Meanwhile, the 69 points Philadelphia mustered were the fewest points the team scored in the postseason since laying a 68-point egg to Orlando in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs back in 1999.

Perhaps more importantly, it meant the young Sixers failed a very big test and failed it miserably. This wasn't getting a 69 on your mid-term, this was putting up a 40 on a test your professor graded on a scale.

In the Sixers' first chance to eliminate a playoff opponent since capturing Game 6 against New Orleans in the East quarterfinals back in 2003, this group built around young players like Jrue Holiday and Evan Turner and unproven playoff veterans like Andre Iguodala and Elton Brand, came up smaller than Earl Boykins at the Bol family reunion.

The Sixers, of course, are far from the first team to take their foot off the gas after amassing a 3-1 series lead, but considering they were an eighth-seed coming in against the NBA's No. 1 team, you would think a sense of urgency wouldn't be too hard to create.

Of course, the only thing worse than sleepwalking through a Game 5 would be a lackadaisical Game 6 at home. Let's be honest, you could sit Rose, Noah, Taj Gibson, Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Bob Love and the Sixers weren't winning a Game 7 in the Windy City.

New York - The NFL Players Association has reportedly filed a grievance challenging the authority of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to suspend four players for their involvement in the New Orleans Saints' bounty program.

According to a story by ESPN, the grievance claims that conduct prior to the new collective bargaining agreement, which was ratified last August 4, is not subject to discipline by the league.

Additionally, since the actions in question took place on the field, the appeals should be handled by hearing officers Ted Cottrell and Art Shell, not Goodell, the story said.

On Wednesday, Goodell suspended Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma for the 2012 season, current Green Bay defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove for eight games, Saints defensive end Will Smith for four games and linebacker Scott Fujita, now with Cleveland, for three games.

Tampa, FL. - SLRN can be loaded on IPhone by downloading ooTunes and select SLRN and you have it. However, if you have a androde phone

However, this is a trial and you will have to buy it at $3.99. We want as many people as possible to hear our shows. Soon there will be a auto radio with a FM-Internet on it.