I am a little bit surprised that Ben Wallace got benched twice in the game against the Knicks because of Scott Skiles dumb rule of no head bands for the players on this team. From what I remember of watching Ben play all those games in Detroit, his headband was part of the mystique on who Ben is. There are so many players that wear head bands as it is in the NBA and they do not have a stupid rule prohibiting them. I think Skiles is a bit off the deep end here. Especially since there are no statements nor advertising on Ben's head bands like Jim McMahon had during the Bears Superbowl run. Granted I did like that as well. I just think the focus should be on basketball and not something so trivial as a freakin head band. This is basketball not modeling for GQ.

How much you wanna bet if Lebron were on the Bulls that rule would be abolished?

yeah i think its a stupid rule, i found this on espn

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2676104

everything you have.


am i truly supposed to feel sorry that poor widdle ben wallace and his 60 million dollars aren't allowed to wear a headband??

do i personally care whether or not a player wears a headband? no. i do care however that ben doesn't know how to listen to and obey his coach. this is probably one of the reasons he's been a big, giant sucking noise most nights on the court. if you can't be trusted with the little things, how can you be trusted with the big things?

Whats wrong with head bands? They keep sweat out of your eyes. Stupid rule. Doesn't give Wallace an excuse for breaking it, though

Because its a headband, a FREAKING HEADBAND. Ben Wallace is an adult and adults can make their own decisions. Its an assanine rule if you ask me. Skiles should care more about his teams performance rather than sit a player that has worn a headband all of his life. Let him do what he is most comfortable in doing. It probably gives him pride and it brings his Intinsity something that he hasnt had this season.

you said it best, "its a headband, a FREAKING HEADBAND". so the problem with having to take it off is? ben wallace is an adult who made a decision to keep on "a headband, a FREAKING HEADBAND." decisions have consequences, in this case, riding pine. like i alluded to before, there is more to this than just a headband.

Well its obvious he did this in reference to his 19 min of playing time against the Sixers...

Let me make a quick comparison.

You used to work at a law firm where there was no uniform codes. You move to a law firm that has a uniform code of formal Mon-Thu and a Casual Friday. If you come to work on Wednesday with jeans and a sweater, you're breaking the rules.

Ben Wallace went to work on Wednesday with jeans and a sweater, he broke the rule. Get over it.

I'm with Goldy on this one. Skiles is the boss, you've got to listen to the boss and obey his rules.

not when your contract is guaranteed.


What's Ben thinking?
Wallace's frustration finally rears its head

By K.C. Johnson
Tribune staff reporter

November 26, 2006, 9:00 PM CST


The frustration behind Ben Wallace's insubordination Saturday night has been brewing since the first week of training camp.

According to league and Bulls sources, Wallace has felt unfairly singled out by team rules that have taken away his pregame music, his headband and his tape-free ankles.



General manager John Paxson is to talk Monday after practice about Wallace's breaking a team rule by wearing a headband in Saturday's victory over the Knicks. However, Wallace is expected to miss practice because he needs an MRI on his right wrist and fingers after injuring them in the second quarter in New York.

Wallace played after the injury, which neither he nor coach Scott Skiles addressed in New York. Paxson hopes similar solidarity will ensue once this public dispute fades.

Sources said Wallace became upset early in training camp when Skiles enforced a team rule to tape ankles. Wallace never taped his ankles when he played for Detroit.

Wallace left practice to get his ankles taped and, unaccustomed to being constricted, had trouble running and sat out most of the practice, the sources said.

Less than a week later, Wallace hooked his MP3 player into a docking station to play music in the locker room before the first home exhibition game. Asked then if he now allowed pregame music inside the locker room, Skiles said he was unaware any was playing.

By the next home exhibition game, Wallace had headphones connected to his MP3 player. The headphones hung from a hook in his locker, with the volume turned up so loudly that music clearly emanated from them throughout the locker room.

Several people within the organization, including players, theorized Wallace was marking his turf for what perhaps was an inevitable clash between two strong-willed men.

Skiles even addressed such a dynamic during a one-on-one interview earlier this season. He talked about minor clashes he'd had with coaches as a player and, at the time, called such give-and-take "healthy."

Skiles acted unconcerned then about a similar scenario happening with Wallace, who hasn't played pregame music loudly since the regular season began. Skiles underscored that calmness late Saturday when he said he isn't concerned this latest issue would have lingering effects.

Still, Skiles considered the issue serious enough to conduct a 25-minute team meeting after Saturday's game to stress unity. Wallace didn't apologize for wearing the headband, according to two people present at the meeting.

Skiles, who gave his team Sunday off, declined to discuss the reasoning behind the Bulls' no-headband rule. It's not uncommon for professional sports franchises to impose such rules.

George Steinbrenner doesn't allow the Yankees to wear facial hair. The Knicks demand players wear suits while traveling. And White Sox and Bulls Chairman Jerry Reinsdorf, who is believed to be behind the no-headband rule, asked catcher A.J. Pierzynski and Joe Crede to get haircuts during last spring training.

What annoyed Wallace, a source close to the player said, is that he wasn't informed of the no-headband rule until after he signed his four-year, $60 million free-agent deal.

Bulls management considers itself to have minimal rules. Most just seem to have rubbed Wallace the wrong way, which could be manifesting itself in his uneven play.

Despite Skiles' consistent public insistence throughout training camp that Wallace's transition has been seamless, the coaching staff is perplexed by his occasionally listless play. That's why Skiles didn't criticize Wallace going one-on-one against Samuel Dalembert on the Bulls' first two offensive possessions Friday night in Philadelphia, leading to two wild misses.

In fact, Wallace might get more touches in an attempt to jump-start his defensive play.

Wallace, who is expected to be fined, still talks regularly to his former teammates in Detroit. His history with coaches there isn't great. He clashed last season with Flip Saunders and had a deteriorating relationship with Rick Carlisle before Larry Brown replaced him.

Less than three weeks after being hired in 2003, Skiles uttered this classic quote in regard to a standoff with Eddie Robinson: "I've never lost a battle of wills in my life. And I don't plan on doing it now."

Wallace, who called himself "stubborn" in the preseason, clearly viewed his decision to wear a headband as payback.

With Wallace signed through 2010 and Skiles through 2009, the task is for these two to find compromise or, at least, some common ground.

I do agree that if its a rule Wallace should just follow it and get over it, However, with all the stupid rules the NBA has now if theyre allowed to wear head bands, which do serve a purpose although Im sure players are wearing them as a fashion statement, then you might as well let them.

What exactly was Wallace trying to prove. he knew coming into Chicago that Skiles has a reputation for following the rules for everyone. He is an idiot if he thought this would end any differently.

So in other wards, Wallace regrets signing with the Bulls because they didnt tell him he couldnt wear a headband untill after he signed? Man thats just lame....

wallace needs to get over it, hes getting paid 14 mil a year, and skiles needs to do the same its just a headband.
its also making the bulls look like a joke, the story is all over now. we need to stop worrying about headbands and start winning, right now we are the 3rd worst team in the league.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2677154

skiles has some pretty dumb rules, but those were his rules before wallace came, and i i think wallace is the main reason the teams chemistry's hasnt been so great.

so is ben saying he wouldnt have signed with the bulls if he knew he couldnt wear a headband?

Do I think no headbands is a stupid rule? Yes. But it is Scott Skiles team, and he wants his players looking professional. Kinda like how Steinbrenner wants his Yankees to look professional. I have no problem with it.

you couldnt have said it any better

Exactly, Its all about the money.......

pfft.... shaggy hair doesn't effect their play. If anything it hurts them. Long hair enables a foe to get a good grip on your head, yank it back, and slit your throat. Headbands, on the other hand, keep sweat out of your eyes. They are performance enhancing. In a game where hand eye coordination plays an enormous role keeping salty fluid out of eyes is PARAMOUNT! THIS RULE IS RI-DANG-DICULOUS!!!!!! Next thing you know Skiles is going to start banning contacts and prescription goggles.

So thats why Wallace hasnt been wearing his fro'. No headbands.... pfft

If Wallace can't wear a fro, b/c he's not allowed to wear a headband, that's bs. Skiles needs to get over himself and his stupid rules. If Rodman played for the Bulls and Skiles was the coach, Rodman wouldn't even be allowed to die his hair. Or throw his jersey into the stands. It's stupid. Wallace's Fro is what makes Wallace "Big Ben". Without the fro he looks like a juiced up Luol Deng.

If true, they should have been upfront with Wallace before signing him. Don't hide something in fear that it would make him change his mind.


freaking retarded rules.

How can a rule that exsisted before you came along, single you out? That might be dumbest thing I have ever heard of.

Maybe he feels singled out because the bulls knew he did all that crap, but declined to tell him there were rules against it until after he inked the deal

Why is it up to the team to tell him everything ahead of time? I have never worked for a company that told us stuff like that in the interview stage. If it was a question, he or his agent should have asked.

The Bulls OBVIOUSLY knew that Ben wore a headband through his entire damn career, you would think they would tell him that up front. When you are trying to sign someone who does something blatantly violating team rules how do you not tell them about that?

Really? They didn't explain the dress/safety code to you? In every place that I've worked or applied to that has been something that has explained to me. Of course, it was all lab jobs where safety/dress was paramount. (paramount is totally my word of the week )

If he wasn't allowed to wear a headband, they shouldn't have promoted the season with a picture of him wearing a headband. They purposely took pictures of him in a uniform with an afro and the band to make it their poster advertising campaign. It's outright wrong for them to do that and not allow him to wear a headband. End of story.

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt...6lr%3D%26sa%3DG

definately a double standard!

http://www.nba.com/media/bulls/robinson_041029.jpg

The player that started all this controversy. It was Eddy Curry or Jerome Williams it was e.

That picture was Photoshopped. It was of him in a Pistons uni and they transferred a Bulls uni on him. It's damn near impossible to remove a headband in photoshop and still make it look realistic.


I don't quite understand what you mean, but that's Eddie Robinson.

This is the part of it that pisses me off the most. He did it on purpose, knowing it was against team rules. In other words he purposefully hurt his team. Is it too late to get Tyson Chandler back?

"I knew that we weren't allowed to wear the headbands," the Bulls center said. "If you know the rules and break them, you expect to be punished.

"I can't try to put myself above the team or anybody else and wear a headband like I did. I'm man enough to take the punishment. But I'm not sorry."

Wallace didn't shed much light on why he wore the headband Saturday night in New York.

"I just felt like wearing it," he said.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...bulls-headlines

We put way too much into this.. Rules are meant to be broken, the guy just felt like wearing a headband.. Who cares? Atleast he didnt try slitting his wrists because he plays for the Chicago Bulls!

Scoop Jackson likes to make everything about race.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story...mp;lid=tab3pos2

Paxson and his rules against young men being black

If you are cool with players intentionally hurting their team, then yeah, we are probably putting way too much into this...

If hurting the team means giving our back up big men minutes against an inferior oponent in a game the Bulls ultimately won....

In retrospect, that is real easy to say. Now what if he pulled the same stunt against a team like Orlando when we really needed him?

then he would be hurting the team... he hasn't yet though

So as long as they don't lose, its OK? Great logic there.

is there any other logic?

winning cures all ills.

I guess Wallace must have ESP in that headband because somehow he knew that sitting on the bench wouldn't hurt his team. Yeah, there is common sense that saids when you pay a guy to play a game, that the least he can do is, oh I don't know, show up.

He did show up. He earned his paycheck for that game. You haven't heard of any fines have you? There isn't a clause in his contract saying he must not wear a head band or he forfeits some of his 16 million. He's following the contract, if he wasn't, there would be monetary punishment.

Maybe he saw malik in the shoot a round and thought he was looking really on that night... decided if there was ever a game to make his political point, it was that one. Besides if the Bulls can't beat the knicks without Ben on the floor they should just blow up the team and fire skiles and paxson on the spot.

He showed up KNOWING he was in violation of the team rules, and did it anyways. He knew Skiles was going to do something about, and that didn't bother him. He didn't seem to care that the team couldn't put its best line up on the floor, because Wallace had to make a statement. Here is a crazy idea, instead of putting your team at risk, why not mean with Pax and/or Skiles in private and ask them to change the rule, instead of trying to prove something in front of everyone. I have zero respect for a guy who puts himself in front of his team.

How do you know he didn't go to Pax and Skiles first?

And if you have no respect for guys putting themselves in front of the team you are watching the wrong league. He is owed 60 million. Pax and Skiles can do nothing to change that fact.... and I don't pity them. They put themselves in this situation. They picked up a powerful personality, then proceeded to impose their will on him. This is a league where you coddle your freaking superstars because, thanks to guaranteed contracts, you need them... not vice versa. Hell, by pursuing this battle of wills, Pax and Skiles are putting themselves ahead of the team...

Besides they ran the 7 foot tall defense first center with less of an ego out of town. They made this bed, now they have to sleep in it.


ps. Ben is playing with a torn ligament in his hand and bone chips in his wrist... he could easily elect the pain free route and have surgery, miss a month or two... instead he is playing through the pain and killing himself against centers twice the size of him... yeah, he is putting himself ahead of the team

According to Ben that is what is wrong. According to the Bulls staff, he has a little old damage, and nothing else to speak of.

I don't really care too much. He created a stir but you know what I think he's going to get comfortable. I'll allow him to whine and complain a bit early on and I like how the Bulls are not giving him special treatment and actually making an example out of him.

I also think we'll see the Bulls get a bit closer through all this because sometimes things like this can help (like Skiles insinuates).

a six game winning streak can make a gang land murder look like a simple misunderstanding... I LVOE IT1




a six game winning streak can make a gang land murder look like a simple misunderstanding... I LVOE IT1