Bulls win! AP sucks!

As I was happily reading the recap of the Bulls' thrilling overtime win in Game 1 of their series against the Celtics, I was jolted from my delirium by this:

Rondo hit a short jumper over Noah in the lane to give the Celtics a 96-95 lead, but Rose -- who missed four crucial foul shots down the stretch when Memphis lost the NCAA championship game last year -- put Chicago ahead on two free throws with 9.4 seconds left in regulation. (italics mine)

That would certainly make the story more compelling, wouldn't it? Had he missed all those free throws just a year ago, then hit two to put the Bulls ahead? What a bit of redemption! Only it never happened. The four missed free throws, that is. I read it and was instantly furious. HE MISSED ONE! DOUGLAS-ROBERTS MISSED THE REST, I screamed to no one in particular. And my memory was correct, as you can see here. With 1:15 remaining and Memphis leading 62-58, Chris Douglas-Roberts missed the front end of a one-and-one. Then with 16 seconds left and the lead down to 62-60, Douglas-Roberts missed two more. But Memphis rebounded the second miss, Rose got fouled with 10 seconds to go, and clanked the first before hitting the second.

While still maintaining some intrigue, the sentence very easily could have been Rose -- who missed a crucial foul shot down the stretch when Memphis lost the NCAA championship game last year -- put Chicago ahead on two free throws with 9.4 seconds left in regulation. Sure it might have been a little less compelling, but it would have been, you know, true. All they had to do was look at the box score -- for the game Rose was 3-for-4. But what's three additional missed free throws among friends?

In case you missed my previous diatribe against the AP, I'm not a huge fan of the organization. And I just could not let this gross inaccuracy stand. So I found a contact number, called, and got bounced around a bit before finally getting someone in sports, who said they'd "look into it." Fabulous. Perhaps you should have looked into it before putting the article on the wire.

Crap like this pisses me off to no end, because of the effect it has on the casual sports fan, who now comes away thinking, Man, I hadn't realized Rose choked so bad in that championship game. Yes, making 1-of-2 isn't exactly clutch, but it's nowhere near the choke job of missing four different times. I just want the AP would be a little more mindful of the influence they have, which might mean including some fact-checking. And I highly doubt their "looking into it" will actually involve correcting their mistake. Check to see if they have by clicking here. If they haven't, and you too would like to harass them, please call 212-621-1500 and ask for the sports desk. Power to the people. And Go Bulls.