ChicagoSportsBlogs : Non Compete

 Well what do you know? I actually still remember how to log into the site! How about a quick explination on where I have been these past few months. As most of you know my wife and I had our first kid last year, and as a result, I've been waaay too busy teaching my son how to be a Sox fan. It's been fun.Except that the Sox are absolutely terrible this year. It's been really tough to sit and watch a game. Underachieving baseball is the worst kind.

This became an even bigger issue when the Blackhawks decided to reach their potential in the playoffs.* It turns out that the boy loves watching hockey. At least for the five minutes he isn't running around. And so with that hockey, has taken over my household. I've always loved hockey...it is great to have it back.

One of the other reasons this blog has died a slow death is because work is work - and the Interweb killed blogs through something called Twitter. Maybe you have heard of it? The bottom line is that most of my readers have migrated off to other, well deserved Sox blogs (or even Chicago blogs) and Twitter. It's gotten to the point where I am thinking about finally migrating off this old Community Server platform to something like Tumblr, or even customizing this code base so that I can just use Twitter to capture my ranting and raving. But something bothers me about Twitter. It's the lack of prose. The lack of a complete thought. The fact it has changed my writing style so much that I write nothing but incoherent and incomplete sentences. So much for practicing my writing skills, right?

 Anyway, for the lone reader out there I wanted to say thanks for not deleting us from your RSS feed. I'll be back, and in a different form as soon as I figure out why its still fun to write about Chicago Sports. Because outside of the beloved Blackhawks, I don't see much going on that is worth anyone's time. Until then, find me on Twitter.

(interesting aside - when I commisioned the logo for this site (it's my third logo), the artist decided to go with a soccer ball instead of a hockey puck. I didn't mind, because at the time, the Hawks were terrible.Fast forward a few year and notice that the Hawks are on TV, sell out, and have the best young talent in the league! Go figure!)

I woke up early this morning to be inundated with stories of the President's speech in Copenhagen. This was on the behalf of Chicago's bid for 2016 Olympic Games. I have to go on record as one of the many people who are in favor of the Olympics in Chicago. It would be one of the greatest things to happen to the city since we rebuilt it after that stupid cow burned it down.

I remember when Atlanta hosted the Olympics. That was a disaster. For a number of reasons. Whether it was the guy who pulled off that bombing, or the fact that the IOC should have given the Olympics to Greece that year (it was the anniversary of the modern Olympics that year I believe) the Coca-Cola run Olympics sucked in the ATL. Sorry dirty South, but this is a universal FACT. It's time to write the wrong of Atlanta and show them how it's done. With that said, I do believe that the ATL did improve a lot of its infrastructure, and I don't recall them really losing a ton of money on the games.

Chicago is a perfect city for the event. We are diverse. We are large enough to host. We have the infrastructure to support the games (although it is aging and needs help). We're a great sports town. We're just a fit. What other city in this country could pull this off? NYC? LA? (they already got one) Miami? Denver? Maybe Seattle? Dallas? All fine cities, but no, Chicago has the perfect balance. Midwestern fundamentals wrapped into a big city.

But it's not all roses. The complainers in the audience have some serious issues with the city's bid. I've heard a lot of them these past few weeks via Twitter, the newspaper, TV, radio. The haters in Chicago aren't crazy. They have concerns that no one has answered yet. I'll give it a shot to calm them down. So grab a warm cider and relax, I'll get you through all your concerns:

• Taxpayers are going to foot this bill. If they overrun their budget, which every Olympic city the past decade has, the city of Chicago is going to raise its already high taxes to cover the costs. This is just plain wrong. Completely wrong, and I agree with the complainers with this one. You can't pull this shit off and then ask me to foot the bill. I want the Olympics, but I'm not interested in a 12% tax rate. The Feds should kick in some cash to cover the overrun that is expected.
  
• Cronies! Daley is Dirty! Unions are corrupt! Everyone is going to get rich? There are no ethics involved when making money in this town. Everyone is dirty. That's the assumption. And frankly, it's impossible to dispute. Everyone in this town is on the take. I'm positive there are going to be people taking advantage of the situation if we win these games, but let's get something straight. If some alderman accepts cash to allow some insider to own a block of condos outside of the Olympic stadium, then lock him up. If Daley is giving jobs to his family, which he has done in the past, lock him up too. Everything is going to go out to bid. And I would be shocked if some of those bids weren't going to go to outsiders (especially European firms that have done this before). The bottom line is this, the city is already corrupt. The Olympics aren't going to change that. Did all you people complaining about the potential shennanigans complain about the 30 condo buildings that are half built downtown? The Trump Tower? Oh, you did? Well, get over it already. What will happen is that there should be more of the pie for all of us to share. You really think I care if the guy hiring me gets rich off the Olympics? He gave me a job. I get paid too. Get over this. The politicians will have to kick something back to the community or they risk getting tossed out on their asses. If I'm not mistaken, Daley is up for re-election soon. Put your money where your mouth is hater-clan. Throw him out if he messes up. But if he actually gets federal support, and things like the CTA get upgraded as a result of this event, you need to eat crow.
• We should be solving the crime issue and the education issues in this town. Not planning a 2 week party for the world. This is true. People have this concern because Chicago is becoming more and more violent. I'm not sure what happened,but part of the Mayor's job was to keep us safe. He isn't doing this very well, and as a result I think he is going to lose the upcoming election. Notice, this again has nothing to do with the Olympics. The fact the City can raise all this money to host these games isn't a poor reflection on the Mayor or the City. It's a poor reflection on the private donors who are more interested in the Olympics than in funding education. But last I checked, there is only 1 way to improve the quality of police and schools in this city. And that's to raise taxes. Oh. Wait. We also have to use the tax gains to actually fix both the police and the schools. Well, how about a compromise. Force the city to take a good percentage of the revenue they make off the Olympics (if they make it) and have them kick it back into the community. Hell, force all the dudes that make money off the Olympics to kick back too. For the greater good, right? :)

So here is my bottom line. The Athens Olympics were a debacle in the early stages of construction. They were running out of cash, there were strikes, corruption, and facilities weren't being built. It was a scramble to the finish. With that said, I just got back from Athens and all the stuff they built for the Olympics : highways, the new underground train, and the tram finally make Athens a place I really wanted to visit, not just pass through. The city is beautiful. Sure, some old stadiums are probably going unused, but the infrastructure of the city drastically improved Athens and I'm counting on the same transformation for Chicago.

The 2009 Bears season started off with a spectacular display of ineptitude from our bright new quarterback, Jay Cutler. This game had me scratching my head in the first half. It was a pretty poor performance. And I know what you are all thinking. I'm being pessimistic. I'm always pessimistic. But this isn't the case tonight. This is pure fact. Jay Cutler had a bad day at the office. I put this loss on him 100% 2 first round draft picks says I can.

I'm afraid I am not one of these "give it time" apologists. I'm calling a spade a spade. Cutler was simply terrible tonight. His first half was one of the worst halves of football I've seen since...well...since Rex Grossman! I can hear the screams from the other side of this blog now: "But Perry, his offensive line was terrible! Orlando Pace was a turnstile! Omiyale couldn't keep anyone in front of him all night! Jay was running for his life!"

Yea, that's all true. But this is our young, agile, rocket-arm-having franchise quarterback. We gave up 2 first round picks for this guy! This was a nationally televised game against our biggest rival. What did Jay "Cuttey" do? How did he respond to this pressure? He shit the bed. But wait, there are even more excuses for why the Bears lost this game! The offensive play calling was terrible. Forte only had 8 carries in the first half. Can someone explain why the number one weapon on this team only touched the ball 8 times? Do I have to mention Ron Turner? Maybe Lovie should take over calling the offense too.

There is going to be a ton of chatter about how the Packers defense double covered Olsen all night, and how the inexperienced wide receivers were responsible for 2 out of the 4 turnovers that Cutler gave up. It's amazing how easy it is to find reasons for a loss. In less than 5 minutes I've managed to blame the offensive line, the inexperienced wide receivers, the play calling, and the lack of a run game. Umm, what's missing? Think hard. Could it be?

Yes. I'm telling you, it begins and ends with the quarterback. All of his early throws were garbage. His decision making process, specifically, his reads were off all night. He threw into double, triple, and even quadruple coverage tonight. But like golf, all it takes is one good shot to keep you coming back. Cutler hits Hester for a beautiful touchdown in the third.

Here is his line: 17/36 277 yards 4 INT and 1 TD.

Yes, he has a canon. Sure, he is the franchise quarterback we've all been dreaming of, but this first game was a nightmare. A nationally televised nightmare. Was he pressing? Did he even study the 3-4 defense? Didn't the Chargers run a 3-4?? Didn't he play them twice a season? I don't know. I guess I'm just disappointed because while there might be a lot of football left, I expected better from Cutler. My grades will be posted tomorrow. I've got to go calm down and watch some post-game analysis. Pittsburgh is up next.

BEAR DOWN

I'm speechless. I'm utterly speechless. I had to rush tonight and put the kid down so I could watch Mark Buehrle throw a perfect game on the Comcast replay. This was the most amazing baseball game I have ever seen in my life. Yes, it was better than game 1 of the World Series in 2005 (I'm contractually obliged to mention mad props to cousin Tony for those tickets back in '05)

I'm stunned. Mark Buehrle did something that's only happened 18 times since Moses chiseled the first box score into stone tablets??A perfect game. 27 up. 27 down. Zeros across the board. I can't tell if I'm in shock or if Twitter is the reason why I can't write a complete sentence. Ok, deep breath. Here are some thoughts. And I'll try my best to cut back on the staccato rhythms. (Yea, staccato. I played violin for 10 years.So what? You want to fight about it?)

• The Rays aren't the Pirates. Tampa Bay is the 3rd highest ranked offensive team in baseball.  Buster Olney was all over this fact in the post game.
  
• Mark shut them down with nothing but offspeed stuff. He isn't exactly the guy who overpowers you. He threw the change and the curveball most often.Speaking of change ups, that's what he threw on a 3-2 count to the second batter he faced in the top of the 9th. Who does that? 
• Dwayne Wise made one of the best bobbled catches I have ever seen. ESPN did a great job of showing some of the other great catches that saved a no-hitter, but Wise's is by the best. He fell on his ass, backwards, after running straight into the wall to rob Kapler of a solo home run
• Credit Ozzie for bucking tradition and making a defense move in the top of the 9th. He moved Pods over to left and brought in DWise to play center. Now, Wise has been part of a pretty heated story here for the White Sox. Wise was kept on the roster instead of Brian Anderson when Carlos Quintin came back from his injury. A lot of people called this a racist move on Ozzie's part because BA was batting something like .238. Wise was only hitting a buck ninety, but the Oz felt they could use Wise more, well, wisely. Hah! I don't know if I agree with this move, but guess what? Brian Anderson who? Nice work DeWayne.
• This was the first time Ramon Castro has caught Buehrle since joining the White Sox. I'd say he did a pretty damn good job, right?
• This win ties the White Sox for first place with Detroit. It's unfortunate that the Sox fly straight up to Detroit tonight to play in a double header tomorrow. I would imagine there are few guys who would have been out celebrating till the wee hours of the morning...with Ozzie leading the way!
• Obama gave Buehrle a call after the game to congratulate him on the perfect performance. (video below)

Well, I've been away for awhile and I'm not going to push it. I'll wrap this up by saying that Mark Buehrle deserves every accolade he gets. I can't imagine what is left for Buehrle's to accomplish? He has a ring, a no hitter, and a perfect game now. What's left? For tonight, I'm guessing a few cold beers and a couple of laughs off the replay of DWise falling as he makes the greatest catch in his entire lifetime. Congrats to Buehrle and the White Sox. Now win that division.

Go-Go-White-Sox!

It feels good to be back.

Wow. Simply Wow. I couldn't believe it when the news trickled into the office yesterday. The Bears traded for Jay Cutler. It is official. We have completed our set of Vanderbilt commemorative glasses!  The 25 year old quarterback whose ego was bruised when Denver tried to trade for former Patriots backup Matt Cassel got what he wanted.

He got out of Denver.

Jerry Angelo has to be given credit this morning. Angelo put em on the table folks. He is all in. This move is his legacy in Chicago. With the transfer of 2 first round draft picks(this year and next year), Kyle Orton, and a 3rd rounder this year, Mr. Angelo has erased all of his previous draft picks. Rex Grossman is an afterthought. Dan Bazuin? Never heard of him. Every single one of the bust-outs or mild successes he has brought to the franchise are dwarfed with the Cutler deal. I'm going to applaud this move only on the basis that the Bears did something. Inactivity in this league eventually catches up with you. Go ask the Rams, Lions, or any of the other floundering franchises in the NFL. You can't stand Pat. Pun intended.

I still don't think Cutler is the next coming of Joe Montana. I'm skeptical. And you should be skeptical too. A healthy dose of skepticism can go a long way Bears fans. I understand Cutler's "great potential". I know he is 25 years old, coming off a ProBowl, and has a cannon for an arm. I get all of that. I'm also fully aware of how terribly he handled himself in regards to the business of the NFL. I'm not concerned if he can't handle the trade talk. I care if he can throw more touchdowns than interceptions. I care if he can do better than 17-20 in his NEXT 3 years.

Cutler comes to Chicago and is going to be welcomed by a decent tight end that we never throw to, a young running back who carried us last year, and his new best friend Orlando Pace. And that's it. It has been pointed out by a lot of sports writers in this town, Cutler will quickly realize that the cupboard is bare after that.  Where are Eddie Royal and Brandon Marshall? Sorry Jay! You get Devin Hester who has yet to learn the playbook and your old buddy Earl Bennet. Reality hits you like the windchill in this town.

We have been searching for this elusive franchise quarterback as if it were the magic pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. It has haunted this franchise for a generation. I've spend the better part of my young blogging career complaining about the horrible QB play. I'm kind of lost without that bit. If this deal works out, Jerry Angel has put me out of business. The cynical tone I've taken all these years has to evaporate like a fart in the wind. I won't be able to do the "I told you so" bit either. There is no point. All I wanted to see as a Bears fan was a committment to winning. The additions of 2, count them, 2 PROBOWLERS sent the message loud and clear.

Wow. Simply Wow.

Jerry Angelo was right when he slipped up after the season ended:

"It starts with the quarterback. It's all about the quarterback," Angelo said. "You don't win because of wide receivers. You don't win because of running backs. You win because of the quarterback. We've got to get the quarterback position stabilized."

I couldn't agree more. I just didn't know you had it in you Jer.

BEAR DOWN

I started this site years ago to capture the water cooler talk me and the guys were having at the office. This is a common story. I'd bet my $10 NCAA tourney challenge fee that most of the independent sports blogs were started for the same reason. I'll give you 3 guesses as to what the most common topic has been. If you said Bears quarterbacks, you'd be dead right. This post is no different.

The news out of Denver that rookie head coach Josh McDaniels was unable to mend fences with quarterback Jay Cutler is music to a lot of people's ears in Chicago. Everyone is all over this story. Opinions on whether or not Jay Cutler should be a Bear, is skewing 50/50 in my opinion. Let's take SunTimes writer Neil Hayes for example. (go read it, I'll wait) He's got us trading anything and everything to Denver to get Cutler. Urlacher, 2 picks this year, 2 picks next year, Forte, Orton, and deep dish pizzas. Send it all! Do whatever it takes! I have to admit, that a few days ago I was saying pretty much the same thing. I was willing to give Denver anything but Forte and Olsen. You have to have something to work with if you're Cutler, right? But the more I think about this move, the more I'm thinking we stick with Orton. MJ has already listed all the things this team needs, and I agree with him Quarterback isn't one of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Orton is the answer. But he most certainly isn't the problem.

It basically boils down to wins for me. Wojo said it best on ESPN.com

Why call Denver and ask about Cutler? Because the Broncos haven't reached the playoffs since the 2005 season. Because Cutler's record as a starter is 17-20.

Yea, he's from Indiana. Sure, he's a Bears fan. But wasn't Sexy Rexy from Indiana too? Wasn't he a Bears fan? (actually I think it was the Colts, but you get the picture) What exactly does this guy bring to the table? Potential. A quantifiable amount of potential because he's been in the league for 4 years and gone to a Pro-Bowl. At least that is what everyone is thinking. Drafting a QB this year is going to be a huge crap shoot. Hell, it's always a crap shoot. We should know, we've cornered the market in drafting bust outs.

Jerry Angelo and the Bears should give up trying to draft a quarterback. At least with the intent of landing that guy who works under center for 15 years. It ain't going to happen. Besides, with the fiscally challenged (or responsible) Bears organization, we'd rather land a diamond in the rough like Tom Brady on the second day of the draft. It would be cheaper and there would be less pressure. Who wants to spend all that money on an unproven quarterback? They can't bring anything of value to the table except for POTENTIAL.

Free Agency or a blockbuster trade are our best chances at getting that elusive franchise quarterback in Chicago. The problem is I don't think it's Cutler. The "wise" Mel Kiper has called Cutler overrated. He believes he has delusions of grandeur. Kiper went so far as to compare Cutler to Jeff George. Uh-oh. I want nothing to do with that! But Kiper is going too far in my opinion. While Hayes is willing to give up everything to get Cutler in a Bears uniform, Kiper is asking for his money back. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. 

I'm running out of steam tonight. More on the Cutler Saga tomorrow. Let's just hope he doesn't end up in Green Bay or Minnesota while we're all sleeping. Especially since Jerry Angelo has been sleeping in this offseason.

Bear Down!

I think I may have forgotten how to write. It's been a terribly long time since I have written on this blog and as a result I am sure I have lost both of my loyal readers. That's the bad news. The good news is that while I was off on my sabatical from writing about Chicago Sports I finished another semester towards my Masters and the wife and I had a kid. So, that's my excuse. What's yours?

There has been a lot of news lately surrounding the various Chicago sports teams. First, you've got the Bulls. They're fighting for a spot in the NBA playoffs. I still don't care. Don't get me wrong, I love Derrick Rose. I just can't get into NBA basketball. Call me a fair-weather fan if you must, but I just can't sit and watch this team for 4 quarters. I will say that I love how the Chairman makes trades to bring back guys who used to play for the Bulls. Second tours of duty are common for the White Sox, and now, common for the Bulls too. Welcome back Brad Miller. What's next, bring back Ron Artest? He was a Bull once right?

We've also got the mighty Blackhawks doing well this year. (ok, maybe not as of late. They've won only one 1 game in their last 5) They're doing well enough that I may have to reach out and get a Hawks writer to help cover them. I love hockey, and I love the Blackhawks, but we all know that I'm an inconsistent contributer to this site as of late. The Blackhawks, in my opinion are the second most likely team in this city to win a championship within the next 3-5 years. Which leads me to the Cubs!

Aaahhh yes. The Cubbies! What fun does this team have in store for us in 2009? I'm not sure what the hell is going on with the Northsiders except for the minor grumblings I hear out of MJ every-so-often. The bottom line with the Cubs is that they should run away with the division this year. Watch me go out on a limb here: If they stay healthy and their pitching is solid, they can't be stopped in the NL Central. Anything after that is just gravy on a biscuit.

I'm going to reserve any judgement on the White Sox as I am still trying to collect my thoughts from the few spring training games I have seen these past 2 weeks. I'll get you a pre-season White Sox post SOON. And I don't mean in April. There is a ton to talk about with the Sox. We don't have Crede at third any more, Bartolo Colon is back(second tour of White Sox duty, thanks Chairman Reinsdorf!), Jose Contreras pitched today and looked pretty damn good, Chris Getz, the kid we drafted from Georgia, Owens, Anderson, JD is still on the team, Thome has back problems, will the rotation be solid again, and on and on and on...

You get the picture. I'll wrap this return up by saying that the NFL draft is coming in a month and the Bears are hopelessly trying to figure out how not to spend more than $500k at a time for any given player. You have to love the moves we've made this offseason. MJ has the breakdown here.

Finally, today was Selection Sunday, and it came and went without an appearance from my beloved Ramblers. I'm wondering if I'm going to be alive long enough to see Loyola ever go dancing. It's going to take a miracle, but thankfully, the NCAA continues to support conference championships. They're our only hope of getting into the tourney. Loyola will never have an RPI high enough to get into the dance. Their RPI this year was a stout 222. Winning 3 or 4 games in a row during a conference championship is clearly the only way little Loyola gets invited to the dance. Here's to hoping for that last miracle. And that's all I have for you tonight!

Come back this week kids, and tell your friends. It's going to get interesting.

I've never been a big fan of Thursday night football. It grinds my gears. I'm a traditionalist. I like my Bowl games on New Years Day, and I like my NFL football on Sundays. I let Monday Night Football slide because, well, Monday's suck and ESPN is right about this one fact.MNF makes the horrible pot of stink-stink otherwise known as your 9 to 5  disapear witha 7:15 kick off. Thursdays are just wrong. It causes people across the country nothing but stress. Who amongst us hasn't forgotten about the Thursday night game and what it means to our confidence pools or our fantasy team? I know most sites send nag emails to remind us, but this just isn't good enough for me. There are only two Thursday NFL games that I can ever remember in my pea sized brain. Turkey Day and any Thursday the Bears are playing.

So the Saints come marching into frigid Soldier Field this Thursday, in what I describe as a must win game for the Bears. It's crunch time kids, and the Bears are most likely going to miss the playoffs if they don't win this game. I know that with Minnesota's 4th quarter push past the woeful Lions last week the job gets tougher for the Bears. A lot of people are saying we have to win out to actually make the playoffs. MJ subscribes to this line of thought, but Not So Fast My Friends. I'm going with the old coaching stand by - one game at a time. Let's beat the Saints. We'll start with figuring out who the Saints are.

They have a record of 7-6. They rank 3rd in points scored, 1st in pass yards, and 27th in rushing yards. I'll give you 3 guesses what the Saints game plan is going to be on Thursday. Drew Brees comes to Chicago with a gaudy number of touchdowns thrown (26). The Bears secondary is going to be tested early and often by the QB out of Purdue. Speaking of Purdue QBs (yes, this is the battle of Boilermakers) our very own Kyle Orton has nothing to worry about with the Saints defense.

The Saints D is 24th in points allowed, 21st in total yards, 26th against the pass, and 20th against the run. This should translate to a great game for both Orton and New Orleans native Matt Forte. I'm looking for Forte to break 120 yards against the Saints defense. This is going to be a big game for the young man, and if my guess is right it will get him another few points on the road to finishing in second place for the rookie of the year award. Sorry Matt, but I think Matt Ryan from the ATL is a lock for the rookie honor. But who cares about individual accolades, right? We're hoping for a win.

The Bears defense is going to have a very tough time with the Saints. Corey Graham is going to be tested often and I wouldn't be surprised if this is the game we lose Mike Brown. I hate to jinx it for you Mr. Brown, but you are like that old carton of milk in the fridge. Way past your expiration. I anticipate a long winter of hot baths and Ben-Gay for Mike Brown after this game. I don't know why, but I just have a bad feeling. The feeling gets stronger each time I see who goes on IR. (Dusty Dvoracek is the latest addition to the "I have an ouchy" list)

And just think, December just started!

I'm not too confident that the defense can get any pressure on Brees, and as a result I'm picking against the Bears at home. The Saints take this shoot out, but the Bears will have to come on strong to make it look interesting in the end: Saints 32 Bears 21. I hope I'm wrong, but there ya go.

BEAR DOWN

I'm anxiously awaiting the biggest Bears game of the year tonight. The Bears are visiting the Vikings tonight in an NFC showdown! How exciting. Well, at least on the surface. The Bears are trying to win a game on the road, in the garbage bag, to distance themselves from the Packers and the Vikings. This is a big game because if we do get the win, then I'm pretty sure we're going to win the division. The Packers have already lost to the Panthers today and a win over the Vikings would leave the division looking like so:

1. Bears (7-5, 6-4 division)
2. Vikings (6-6, 4-4 division)
3. Packers (5-7, 4-5 division)
4. Lions (0-12, 0 for the rest of my life)

Not bad. Is it an unlikely leap of faith on my part to predict that the Bears would win this division if they win tonight? Sure, but I don't see how a win in Minnesota tonight doesn't build some tremendous momentum for the Bears. I didn't expect the Bears to win more than 5 games, but a win tonight puts them in the driver's seat for the division. Now, we're going to be the weakest division winner in the NFC, but it doesn't matter. Kyle Orton, and Matt Forte have done a tremendous job getting this team back on track. If the defense can rise to the challenge that is Adrian Peterson, we're going to be even better situated for the remainder of the season.

And that's the key. The defense. The non-existent defense. The defense that showed up and actually stopped the run against the Titans will have to make the trip to Minnesota tonight if we are to win this division. The injuries are going to start pilling up on us too. Nate Vasher is out for the rest of the season.  Corey Graham is going to start in his place. Is this a drop off in skill and talent? You bet. But in the end, I don't think it matters. I think the defense has been playing soft all year long. It won't matter that Graham is starting instead of Vasher. How could it when our corners are being asked to give receivers a 7 yard head start? You watch. Regardless of the cover 2, you won't see any bump and run. No catch and release. Nope. You will guys back off the ball, and thus the receiver. You'll probably also see Mike Brown being sent on an occasional blitz too, but at entirely the WRONG times.

The only hope I have for this game is going to come in the form of a Devin Hester kick return. He is long overdue, and considering we probably won't see much of an air game (Forte v Peterson), this will be the only real excitement in this game. It will be a close one, but I'm going to take the Bears on the road to beat the Vikings tonight:

Bears 17 - Vikings 10. 

Bear Down

Trying something new here kids. Not so new over at the Bears website though. Some half time reporting for you. I'm writing this as Brian Urlacher FINALLY makes a play and intercepts Rodgers. Too bad the Bears defense couldn't do anything with it. Another 3 and out.

So far the story of this game is the Bears defense. We can't stop the run. This is a surprise to everyone as the Bears defense did a number on Chris Johnson and the Titans last week. With 4 minutes remaining, the Bears defense has already given up more yards on the ground to the Packers than last weeks entire game!  It's over 80 yards on the ground. If the Packers continue to run so effectively against us, we're going to be in trouble. They have gobbled up time of possession in this first half. We're only down 7-3 but with 3 minutes or so left they are driving on us. It's 3rd down and 4. This is a big 3rd down. We could get the ball back before the 2 minute warning. But then the Tampa-2 lets us down as Rodgers finds a wide open James Jones for the first down. The Packers are still driving...

Offensively, just like games in the past, Matt Forte is the only bright spot. Orton is still hobbling around and clearly isn't 100%. In fact, we almost lost him on the first drive when one of the Packers defenders stumbled into his shin. A handful of his throws have been off the mark this afternoon which leads me to openly question if it was a wise move to have him start this game. I know I don't like Grossman, but losing Orton for longer than a few weeks would be devastating.

So to summarize, the Bears defense can't stop the run. Either the schemes have been totally wrong, or the fact we are missing tackles are the causes. No sooner do I type that..the Packers actually score. On the ground. Ryan Grant. He made it look easy. Time to see what Babich and Lovie Smith can do during the half to get this game under control. 

There isn't much to say about the Bear's 21-14 loss to the undefeated Titans. It was your typical cold day in Chicago. Some people lend themselves to hyperbole and call it "Bear weather". It came complete with the mid-game cheer for the year's first flurries. That's a requirement in this town. No matter how far the league moves away from Bear football, we Chicagoans hold onto it as if we were a baby with a blankie. Snow means we win. Right? I mean, we still play outdoors and on real grass! That's got to count for something. Nevermind that our backup quarterback, Rex Grossman got the start instead of our most recent beloved savior, Kyle Orton. Let's forget the fact that Orton had an opportunity to play in this game if his pre-game workout passed his own scrutiny. To no one's surprise, it didn't.

Kyle is a lot smarter than he looks. Why would he risk further injuring his ankle against a Titans defense that ranks 5th in total defense? I understand his logic. What I don't understand is how Rex Grossman hasn't gotten any better sitting on the bench. You'd think that the time away from the pressures of being the starting quarterback would have him working hard on his fundamentals. The fact is, Grossman hasn't improved at all. He still throws off his back foot, throws into double coverage, and has the worst pocket pressence of any quarterback I've seen since Moses Moreno. That's right, I named dropped Moreno. Don't act surprised. You all know we have a HUGE list of incompetants to compare Rex against. To be honest, no one really remembers Moreno except for Bear's savants like MJ. This game could be a win if Rex Grossman wasn't playing. I stand by my assesment. Rex had a bad game. He missed a lot of open receivers. The most painful inaccurate throw had to be the one to Devin Hester. Hester was cutting across mid-field on a slant and Grossman missed him by a good couple of feet. How do you overthrow the fastest guy on the field? Do you blame that on rust? I don't. I blame it on Grossman being Grossman.

There isn't anything surprising about Rex's performance. I don't believe in good-Rex and bad-Rex anymore. It's just Rex. He is a decent backup quarterback, but if you want to get the win, you have to find ways to hide his deficiencies. That job is left to Ron Turner. Turner had to be wondering how much longer he could continue to avoid giving every play to Matt Forte on Sunday. The only positive yards I saw for the Bears came from the young back out of Tulane. He is a great all-purpose threat and I'm curious as to why we didn't give the ball to Forte on a number of our possesions in the 4th quarter.

The defense is another matter all together in this match up. I'm not happy with the defense. I understand that we only gave up 21 points, but our defense has to get it together. I did not hear Urlacher's name mentioned even once on the telecast. I take it back, he did shoot the gap on an all out blitz which ended up with Mike Brown getting a sack. The secondary was piss-poor again. (go ahead, argue with me) Kerry Collins threw for 289 yards and 2 touchdowns. With all due respect, the Titans were known for their run game. Specifically, the Titans are known for the great Chris Johnson who has been tearing the league apart. Credit should go to our defense for stuffing him all game long. Johnson finished with 8 yards on 14 attempts. But I'm greedy. I didn't see enough pressure on Collins. Wouldn't you think the defense would blitz a little bit more to keep the pressure up on Collins. Maybe we should have been "hurrying" him a bit more to get a turnover or two?

 The bottom line on this one is that the Bears probably could have avoided the 8 straight posessions of straight punts if Orton would have played. But that is why the play the game right?

I'm running out of steam on this one. I've got a ton of points I still need to get down on paper, but for tonight...that's all. BEAR DOWN.

If the NFL was cool - they would allow me to just embed their video's into this post.

But since they continue to be uptight about their content, I give you the links to the Bears/Titans game highlights here.

One could argue I've taken a lot of breaks on this site this year...but this is sort of big news.

Chicago is the center of American politics tonight as Senator Barack Obama just won the 2008 Election. You read that right. Your next President is from the Chi.

And he's a White Sox fan. And probably a CSB reader. :)

Now that we got that out of the way, it's time to start talking about:

• How/why the Bears are going to go 2-2 without Kyle Orton.
  
• How the Blackhawks are a better team without Denny Savard
• How the White Sox should shape their team next year (hint - get rid of all the old slow guys)
  

Until then, I'm waiting to see if he name drops the Pale Hose. 

 (Credit the picture to Therese Flanagan via Flickr)

That's right. A close shoot out. How else would you explain the Bears 48-41 victory today over the Vikings? I haven't had this much fun watching a Bears game in years. Unlike MJ I wasn't having flashbacks of the 1995 Wanny/Turner Bears. That could be because I can't remember yesterday, let alone a Bears season over 10 years ago. This team doesn't remind me at all of that 1995 offensive juggernaut. For starters, I think Orton is better than Erik Kramer ever was, and our defense isn't as bad this year. Then again, I'd have to check the stats. Huh. I guess the 95 Bears defense finished 19th at the end of that season. This year's team is sitting at 16th in total defense. Maybe MJ is on to something...

Don't get me wrong, the 2008 Bears defense stinks like French cheese. There is nothing special about our D this year. We gave up over 40 points today to the Gus Ferotte led Vikings. That is nothing to be proud of. We should ask Ferotte which Bears defense is better, the one he saw back in his Redskins days or the Brian Urlacher led team that makes Adrian Peterson look like he should be wearing the #34. I swear AP gets another endorsement deal every time he plays the Bears. He's great. No doubt. But you get the feeling his hall of fame tape is going to consist of nothing but Bears highlights. AP had 22 carries for 121 yards and 2 touchdowns. His longest run was for 54 yards in which he proceeded to make Mike Brown look like a fool. Other than that, we kept him in check.

It goes without saying that the Cover-2 defense doesn't seem to work when you can't rush the quarterback. I guess I shouldn't get greedy. The Bears did sack Ferotte twice. That's 2 more sacks than we have seen in the previous 2 games. It concerns me a great deal that we can't get to the quarterback more often. Is it because Babich isn't being as aggressive as he was last year with his play calling? Is it because Tommie Harris has mental problems? Maybe we need to send Urlacher after the quarterback every so often to keep quarterbacks honest? I'm not sure what the solution is, but I do know that I was getting nervous watching the Vikings stampede down the field with 4 minutes left in this game. The only bright spot I saw on defense, scratch that, the only consistent play I saw today came from Alex Brown. He was terrific today.

I shouldn't complain about the defense too much. They did end up with 4 picks thanks to Corey Graham and Trumaine McBride. Both were filling in for Peanut and Vasher. I was worried that former Bear Bernard Berrian, who I am on record as saying was not worth all that cash, would pound us. He had 81 yards and a touchdown. His replacement, the much older and cheaper Marty Booker had 79 yards on 3 catches and a touchdown. He should have had 3 touchdowns, but he is an old dude and his hands aren't as good as we remember them being. He dropped 2 DARTS from Kyle Orton today. I'm going to cut Marty a break tonight because after he made his first catch, which wasn't in the end zone, he looked around astonished. It seemed as if he was saying, "Thank God. I finally caught a pass". I appreciate the frustration and more specifically, the acknowledgment of his struggles. Booker is all class and I'm happy to report he tore up the Vikings secondary on his touchdown pass. It was a brilliant maneuver that split the safety and got him out in the open. It was like watching the 25 year old version of Marty Booker burn right down the field for a score. 

This was a good win. There were some down moments that I'll cover in depth tomorrow (yes, I will be back tomorrow. I've got my shit together again) like Matt Forte's lack of carries, the inability of Ron Turner to find his tight ends, and why we always sit on 3 point leads. But for now, I'm like that fat dude at McDonalds who just realized that apple pies are 2 for $1 - elated!

BEAR DOWN

I swore off baseball this year after the Sox crapped the bed against the Twins last week. I'm getting a lot of shit from White Sox-Nation about that. I'm even getting it from our very own MJ. "Fair weather fan, like all White Sox fans." Yea, I'm afraid I don't have the stomach to sit through this team's struggles anymore. That magic number was stuck on 5 for a week. It was pathetic that we couldn't get a win in Minnesota. Listen, I understand that their stadium is crap, but you can't use that as an excuse. We looked like we had it figured out that last game up in the garbage-bag, but we blew a 5 run lead instead!

Wha?

So I had that glass of vodka Ozzie recommended and said to myself, Good night Irene. Those little piranha got us again. Good luck to them. What else could I do? Tip my cap and chalk this season up to a bit of overachieving and a ton of what could have been! Does that makes me less of a fan? In some people's eyes, for sure. But I am tired. I'm so VERY tired of having to watch a team stumble in the last 2 weeks that I don't know if I can muster the energy to watch these last two games of the season....but I couldn't help myself...

 I was stuck in class last night when I noticed the score go up on the game-cast. It's hard not to get excited when this happens:

The Cuban Missile strikes again! I couldn't believe it. There is a slim bit of hope on the horizon for this team. The Twins are back in Chicago for a do-or-die playoff game tonight. I guess I've got just enough energy to lift my fat ass back onto the bandwagon. Good luck to Johnny Danks. He goes on 3 days of rest and faces the Twin's Blackburn....the same Blackburn that Ozzie threw under the bus when he beat us last week in Minnesota. Ugh, lets hope it doesn't bite us ALL in the ass.

I haven't posted anything about the White Sox for weeks. You know why? Because the world is going to hell, I was close to losing my job, and well, shit my house is a mess. But you know what? I want to to vent a little, and I'm going to take it out on the White Sox.

WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?!

We had a 6-1 lead in tonight's game against the Twins in that God-forsaken garbage bag of a stadium and we blew it. The Sox have nothing left. I am so disappointed in this team. I know that no one expected us to win the division, myself included, but this is completely out of hand. We had a GREAT chance at winning this division because our pitching was 1000% better than ANYONE expected this season.

The offense has been HORRIBLE, and if it wasn't for Quentin we would probably be buried in 4th place like all the pre-season predictions. This team is not balanced. We can't run the bases, our defense had to be the WORST I've seen of any Sox team in recent memory and our "big boppers" have been no bigger than a rabbit turd. If anything it was a struggle the entire season. It's true what they say: good pitching always beats good hitting. I would have settled for mediocre hitting on the South Side. Am I taking this sweep hard? You damn right I am. The White Sox make too many excuses for why they can't beat a Twins team that will most likely get swept in the first round of the playoffs this year. The Twins aren't that good of a team. They have speed, which is important when you play on slabs of concrete, and some timely hitting. Shit, they have solid hitting...who am I crapping. They have guys who make contact, and GOOD contact. Not this little "duck snort" bullshit I've been forced to endure from the likes of Thome, Konerko, and Swisher. Dirty 30? How about Pathetic Pauly, or Hit-it To-Me on the first pitch?

We wasted 2 good outings by Buehrle, and Floyd. Vasquez is a lost cause, so that first game isn't a surprise. He is a mental midget. The Rex Grossman of the team if you will. 

Carlos Gomez beat us tonight? Seriously? He went 4-4 tonight. We just lost this division because no one on our staff knew how to get Carlos Gomez out.

Great. Nice work guys. I can't handle it anymore. So much for October basball. The Royals are heading to the garbage bag next and they won't throw Grienke. The only pitcher they have who could beat the Twins, and he sits. Why? Because the Royals want to save him for next year? What a bunch of crap. The Sox on the other hand come home and face the Cleve. Oh! And guess what? Cliff Lee, this year's (so they say) Cy Young Award winner is pitching the third game against us. 

I need a drink.