Does the NBA Scare White People?

Jay Busbee, in Chicago Sports Review wrote a thought provoking article about the cultures and demographics the NBA uniquely intersects. There is also some pretty good reporting on the different perspectives of NBA All Star Weekend. I personally think there is no problem with the NBA, its as popular as ever, it has higher and higher TV contracts and higher revenue teams. Attendence is higher than ever as well as salaries. There is labor peace, no performance enhancement scandals. Let's be real, the NBA is a business, and the only way to measure a business is profit and revenue. By that account, the NBA is doing great. If there is a problem, it's that suburban dads get scared when they see black men with tattoos. Furthermore, they get envious that these very wealthy tattooed men, can have anything they want. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that seems more like a problem with the suburban dad than the NBA. Anyway, check the article out, it's definitely worth reading.

dAYoNE

All of that waiting, and we finally got an upset that we could blog home about. This Thursday has always been my favourite day of the year. Sfter waiting for so long, it was tipoff time on a ritual that I've kept since the 1970's. Now, my faithful readers know that I just want to talk about that Depaul loss and us sneaking into that lutheren school so we could shoot hoops until the early A.M. I also wanna talk about that great Loyola team in 1985, the I.U. team in 1987, the Fab 5, Laettner's shot--wait, lets stop while we're still in the early '90's. Lets talk about that shit next time.

Day one yesterday was a ripe bit sad. So we got one upset. Everyone seems to really like that Duke lost to Virginia Commonwealth. Same here. I look @ it as a #11 going to the next round. I didn't bet, so I can root for whoever I want, unfettered by predictions. My criteria is as follows:

Alma Matars= None made it
Local Teams= Illinois, Southern, Marquette, Wisconsin, Indiana, etc
Catholic teams=Xavier, Notre Dame (both'd be more or less local), Georgetown, etc...
Any low seed=Weber State, Penn, New mexico State
Someone I like= Coach Knight

So, yesterday sucked. I got some stuff I liked, sorta= Butler, the one and only team I saw play live this year and is 'local', beat Old Dominion-but if they had lost, then good for #12 O.D. Indiana beat #10 Gonzaga. Xavier, #9, beat #8 BYU. B.C. won, but beat Texas Tech- too bad. And the Duke result.

Otherwise, it was pretty bad. No other stunning upsets. No close finishes. There have been opendays I've have less love for, but this one was pretty tepid. Marquette was just out of it. Eastern kentucky gave us the 2d biggest thrill, closing on big bad #1 seed North Carolina after losing by 27 points. As soon as they cut it to four points, CBS turned us to that game--and THEN North Carolina showed up. Sheesh- we missed the huge comeback, but just got tuned to it for the rout. But for a second there- actually, five seconds, since Eastern had just cut it to four when some N.C. monster just sprinted to the basket untouched on the next play-we though we had a game. Nope.

Saw the later games with The Angry Pacifist. It's funny, how this tournement works on people. We started to get excited about the NC-Eastern K. game when they were updating the scores, and we found ourselves for the first and last time huge Eastern K. fans. Now, of course, our reaction is "What school?" But for a second there-or, five seconds- we looked into the possibility of the thing. Not this Thursday.

But today is Friday, the second day. Lets discover the possibilities..................

A Rose By Any Other Name...

Still the suffering addict in denial, Pete Rose continues to dig a hole with no end in sight. Now stating on D.P's show that he bet on "every" Reds game as manager, he continues to distort, deflect and deviate from his own story.

His purpose for now using the every game technique is a poor attempt to strengthen his position. By going with the every game model, he can say that he didn't manipulate the rotation, batting order etc. So Rose has now gone the distance from denying any gambling with baseball to wagering on every game. Why does he continue to bother you ask, because he is still displaying the classic signs of an addict=lying and manipulating.

Remember Pete Rose was Mr. Baseball in the 70's and 80's. Ripkin's adulation was only a fraction of that for Rose as a player. Rose embodied the hustle, determination, and unselfish play fans ate up. I still believe that Rose should be in the hall of fame for his numbers as a player. His activities as a manager should be held separately from those of his playing days.

As I've said before in a few posts, timing is often very important in life. Pete Rose had very poor luck in the timing department following his unseemly disclosure. He faced an obtuse Bart Giammati who would not bend. Then with Bart's death, the bottom fell out with the Dowd report.

For Rose its been a fool's play from the beginning. In America its forgive and forget. The best move for Rose from the start of this mess would have been to admit his mistake, entering gambling rehab and beg for forgiveness. One and done-end of story. But this Rose by any other name is a Fool.

Bad News Bears: Tank Sentenced to Prison

Instead of this Bears offseason being focussed on returning to the Super Bowl, the bad news hit parade continues. The latest bad news is Tank being sent to the tank. He has been sentenced to 4 months in jail for a probation violation. Actually, this seems a wee bit ridiculous to me. I think he is being forced to the big house because of the other shady stuff he has been involved in, which doesn't seem fair. Then again, he shouldn't be given special treatment just because Lovie Smith showed up at his sentencing.

The firing of Rivera, the loss of their best offensive player, Lovie's contract foibles, Briggs threats and now this, the Bears are looking like a 9-7 team next year. On second thought, maybe that's not fair, after all they do still have the Sex Cannon. Better make that 7-9.

No Doubting Thomas

The Bulls are now a season high 10 games over .500 after their victory over the Celtics last night. The Celtics certainly are a sorry team and Doc will be gone at the end of the year. Truthfully, Danny Ainge is the one who should be fired there, but that is another post.

I've been frustrated with the Bulls this season, impatient with their perceived lack of progress and zero low post game. Last night that all changed. Tyrus Thomas had a team high 23 points and was aided by Wallace's 19. That's over 40 points for our bigs! True to form for a Skiles team, the '06-'07 Bulls are improving as the season goes on and are 9-3 since the All-Star Break. What has been even more impressive is that this has all occurred with Nocioni sidelined. Nocioni's absence has allowed Tyrus Thomas to get some real playing time. I was very excited about his draft pick last June, but had been disappointed with him. Again, credit my impatience. After waiting for Eddie and Tyson for all those years, I had grown weary of waiting again. Thomas, however, might really be worth the wait.

No Doubt, Johnny 'Redd' Kerr belongs, along with Ron Santo, in the Chicago Sportscasting Retirement Home, but he did manage a coherent thought last night. He mentioned how the Bulls haven't figured out how to utilize Tyrus Thomas' athleticism yet. And I agree. Watching him last night, I was struck with how athletically challenged the Bulls have been for so long. Thomas can sky! Ben Wallace was throwing up assists all over the basket. It really was a pleasure to see someone in a Bulls uniform with some athletic ability.

If Thomas can build on this, we can get Nocioni back, this Bulls team has a real chance to go farther than the first round of the playoffs. After that, who knows?

Finally, those green unis have to go. They are horribly ugly. Please retire them.

Atwal Under Investigation

PGA up and comer Arjun Atwal, who was mentioned in my season preview as a golfer to watch in '07, is under investigation in an alleged high speed race that resulted in the death of the driver of the other car near Orlando over the weekend. Atwal, who is the first Indian golfer to play on the PGA tour, wouldn't comment citing an ongoing investigation, but his father back in New Delhi stated that the other car came up super-fast behind Atwal and he had to speed up in order to avoid being run off the road. No word on what kind of cars either one was driving, but Florida State Police have the incident under investigation.

Sammy !!

Sammy's getting lots of press these days, and not just for the freakscene usually surrouding him. After being out of baseball last year following the 2005 season where he mite as well have been out of baseball, Sammy has been garnering lots of press this preseason. The former White Sox outfielder has been batting like his arms are stuffed with cork. Word is is that he'd hammering the fastball while still learning to let on o the breaking stuff.

I for one welcome him back. My fellow staffers have rather the opposite opinion when it comes to this divisive slugger, but I've always enjoyed the circus. The silly little jibbers that he makes @ bat, his running onto the field @ the start of a game, his homage to the great White Sox announcer Harry Carey after a home run- even the batter in front of him being walked to load the bases by Jerry Manuel in a deeply important game situation- Great!! In some ways that same air that followed Ricky Henderson or that other divisive former Sox player Jose Canseco. Hate them or love them, they created interest.

Sammy's greatest moment was as a Chicago Cub, although its been tainted by the Juice issue. During the 1998 season and its famous home run chase, with Big Mac getting all the attention, Sammy caught up to him on a weekend game @ Wrigley Field with his 61st and 62HR . Although Cub fans are ridiculed in this city for the attention they pay to the game, that afternoon they forced a halt to the game when Sammy hit his 62d. It was nice to actually see some life out of that type. Sammy later hit his 66th HR later that week and was, for 45m ahead of Mac and the major league player with the most hr's in one MLB season. It was good to see, even for this White Sox fan. Welcome back Sammy, and lots of luck except when yr playing the Gangsters in Black.

Black Sox Faction

Early Look '07Early Look '07
So, of all the people on the staff, it's Javier Vasquez that gets the extended contract. There has been a tonne of talk, especially from me, that the Sox's offseason moves smacked of another "White Flags" disaster. To get other opinions on this matter, I convened The Black Sox Convention. This is a group of Sox fans that can make the connexions between Bart Johnson to Lamar Johnson to Lance Johnson to............um.............uh, John Garland? They remember Sox announcer Harry Carey shouting "SOX WIN SOX WIN SOX WIN...HOLY COW!!!"@ Old Comisky(Deep shame that Harry never lived long enough to see the 2005 team), worshipped the '77,'83,'90, and 2000 Sox teams, and let out that large exhale in October 2005. They know and care what they're talking about.

First subject: Kenny Williams. It may seem strange to many outside Soxdom, but Kenny Williams is generally well liked and trusted by sox fans. Donny Idol said he "...earned a lot of rope with the 2005 Championship squad, and I have full confidence he can pull it off again." Ditto Adam Killforme, who has "...learned to trust Kenny Williams and I believe even if some of these moves backfire, i.e. Garcia wins 20 for someone else, he is always moving and shaking which is the rule of baseball business in the off-seasons these days." Moho said he "...won’t diss Williams unless another GM wins us a WS." Bad trades in the past? Idol said "...his aggressiveness has been wonderful compared with his way-too-conservative predecessor. With the luxury of hindsight, some of his worst deals weren't really that bad when filtering in the players were gave up- I just don't see Hall of Fame plaques bearing the names Kip Wells, Josh Fogg or Mike Sirotka." We will now have to wait to see if Brando McCarthy, another young pitcher, can be added to the list. My opinion? He's great. With the well known financial restrictions of the Sox management, he maybe the best GM in baseball.

Most of Williams off season moves dealt with pitching. To most, it seemed the team totally denuded the starting staff to bolster the pitching in 2009. However, most felt that the team will still be strong this year. Idol said that the starting pitching "...is not without its questions, but I think it will be decent. I don't look at any of the top four starters as a solid #1, but as a unit I think they provide pretty good depth through those spots in the rotation." I tend to agree, maily. True, they lost workhorse Garcia, which to me is the major loss. Mcarthy may be a loss, but we'd have to see him over a full year to fully judge that. Garland is baseballs winningest pitcher over the last two years and Jose Contrearas has shown that he can be one of the dominatant pitchers for a half year. Mark Buerle to me is a special case. To me, he's one of the faces of the team and one of my favourite players. However, he's up and down every other year. Since this is his 'good year' and its also a contract year, I'm betting that Buerle will really try to impress St. Louis into a huge contract. It'll be sad to see him go, but maybe we can do without his projected 14-16 record for 2008. That's four starters: Idol adds ...i'm just hoping the youth experiment with that fifth slot doesn't degenerate into another Danny Wright situation." The Sox have about 7-8 names for the fifth spot, but there seems a good bit of confidence in the choices. We'll have to see on that.

The bullpen seems in strong hands as well. Moho was concerned about middle relief, but Idol liked the bullpen and felt that the "...back end already was strong with Jenks, Thornton and MacDougal. Seems like we have a lot of options to fill those middle relief innings, and a lot of those options seem to be able to hit mid-90s and above on the radar gun. Hopefully at least a couple of them know how to pitch, too.

Catching seems one of the unquestioned strenghts of this years Sox. A.J., an All Star last year, has turned out to be one of Williams greatest catches. He has hit well, caught well, and not turned into a distraction that many feared. Idol said "I'm a big fan of shit-disturbers...", and A.J. has taunted other teams players into getting thrown out of games and suspended and won World Series games by keeping his head in the game. And he bats lefty.

The infield has some questions. Well, ok, maybe just one question: Juan Uribe. He turned in a terrible year last year and followed it up by..........what the fuck happened in the Carribbean? Killforme said that "...compared to the rest of the AL shortstops, his '06 performance was near the bottom. Short leash for Juan this season." Idol added that Uribe "...is the key. As long as he has his head out of his ass and hungers for another title rather than some comida criolla, he'll be alright." Moho had confidence that he will rebound. The rest of the infield looks excellent. Ozzies '05 Sox MVP, Tadahito Iguchi, is one of the best things about the Sox. His Fieldwork is outstanding, and whether he bats 1st, 2d, 6th, or 7th, he will produce for the whole team. Every team would be lucky to have a player of his caliber on it. Joe Crede is also a solid bet @ 3d. 30HR, 94RBI,and a .283 avg.) and Gold Glove type fielding makes Ozzie and Sox fans happy. The only concern is his back, which held him up a bit last year. Killforme thinks that "...Crede has his self therapy down and knows how to manage his back condition--I have same problem--you can stay ahead of it with proper care. I look for him to repeat '06 greatness." And if not, the Sox can try to start the "Replace the Loved Longterm Third Baseman of the Sox" experiment early with Josh Fields. Pencil in- no, make that ink- another key year for Paul Konerko (35,113,.313). The infield is deep as well. Alex Cintron, Pablo Ozuna, and Fields provide a lot of confidence if any injuries happen.

The Sox have a tonne of strenght in the D.H. position as well. Jim Thome's exploits are well known (42,109,.288,.416 OBA,.598 slugging). However, a recurring back injury limited him @ the end of the year. The loss of reliable 1b/of "awesome" backup Ross Gload via trade means that if Konerko or Thome go down, the Sox will have to scramble for a backup.

Outfield is another matter. First the good news: Jermaine Dye!! He is another of those incredible pickups Williams is famous for. Going into the last year of his contract, Dye has only hit 75HR and driven in 206 runs as well as being the 2005 World Series MVP. Depend on him. However, The Black Sox Convention has rather differing thoughts on Dyes mates in the outfield (Idol said "...the other spots are a mess"). Scott Podsednik gets the most stick. Killforme called him a "...sissy who hurt our team all season. He never dove to catch a flyball, hit below average, and got caught stealing regularly. Cut him." Moho echoed those thoughts: "Pods is done and I would cut him in a second." Idol doesn't want him cut : "Podsednik is a huge key to the season- he needs to get healthy and keep his mental game in line so he can put up that .350+ OBP number, as he did in 2005." I agree. When he's healthy, he can really be a force (remember those 17 RBI in the 2005 regular season? O.K., that's not his game, I know.). Hopefully the hernia will heal nicely. Pods running amuck can really take an opposing picthers attention away from the sluggers after him. Opinions differ on Brian Anderson as well. Ozzie wanted him to play solid defense last year and ease into the team. However, his offensive stats (8, 33, .225) were so bad to make him a target of fans all year. Moho simply said "e gone". Killforme had a different and suprising take : "I believe this is year for Brian Anderson to turn into Andy Van Slyke-remember him? Great hitter-great fielder." We had to wait a long time for AAron rowand, Crede, and garland to turn into excellent players. I'm willing to give him another extended look this year. Idol's take? "Only God knows who will end up with the center field job- just as long as it's not Mackowiak (defensively, nice memories of the Jose Valentin experiment in center)." A wild card is Darin Erstad. He's had a wicked injury run the last few years, but Idol "...likes Erstad's rep (he fits the "grinder" mentality of 2005) but not the injury history." So, and All Star in right, and All Questions in the other two positions. Left and right are the main areas of concern for the Sox this year.

Another thing to look closely for this year is three key players (Dye, Iguchi, and Buerhle) in their contract years. I prompted the Convention with the question "If you could keep only one of these three next year, who would it be?" Moho said spend the money on Buehrle. Killfor me wasn't so sure, saying "If we see '05 Buerhle not '06 Buerhle in '07 we should keep him at all costs. If not, I believe Dye has several more productive years ahead. If Iguchi wants a lot of yen, he's gone." Idol agreed with me in several regards: "...gotta like it that three key guys are playing for a contract. See 'Adrian Beltre 2004' or 'Alfonso Soriano 2006.' Only one? Idol picks Iguchi: "I think our depth is better suited to make up for the losses of the other two than it is for the secondbaseman". Me? Wildly tough call. My thoughts on all three Sox players are above. Buerhle, Dye, or Iguchi? Dye indicated that he will give the Sox a hometown break on his contract. Beurhle, although somewhat inconsistent, has been a fixture on the team since the playoff team of 2000.However, it would have to be Iguchi. I've been deeply impressed with his play for the Sox, and agree with Ozzie that he is a team MVP type. Great fielder, and bats wherever Ozzie wants. Hopefully, the contract year of these excellent Sox players will provide fire for the team, and not a distraction.

But THIS YEAR : 2007. How will this team do in a division where 90 wins puts you in third place? Moho has it this way:Sox, Indians, Tigers, and Twins. He points out that the team needs "...Needs speed and small ball to compensate slugger slump. If we won 6 more games with speed and sacrifices, he would have won the division in 2006." So, what type of team will Ozzie try to create? Killforme has the Sox possibly going south: "Sox have talent and experience to get back to top--can Ozzie get the attitude back in the clubhouse and keep it there all year? That's the question. I say no--starters won't be stellar and couple of key injuries doom Sox to 85-77 year-just missing wildcard. Hope I'm wrong. Idol split the difference: "I think the AL Central will again be the toughest division in baseball. The Tigers are built around pitching, most of which is young and should only improve. The Indians should be greatly improved with a revamped bullpen (despite the retirement of Keith Foulke) and the return of their potent offense. I'm looking for a 4th place finish out of the Twins- their starting rotation is decimated, and I just don't see 3rd baseman Nick Punto hitting .290 with a .352 OBP again. Early Prediction: Sox finish 2nd behind Detroit. The wildcard is ours for the taking. I'm somewhat scattered all over the board. I can see the starters gelling into the best staff in baseball again. Garland, Buerhle, Contrareas with 18w, Vasquez with 15. Pods and Thome healthy and hitting. Crede, Iguchi, Konerko, Dye and A.J. all having their regular years. With the team and coaching staff that they have, I can see them very easily finishing first and winning another ring. However, @ the same time, "with the team and coaching staff that they have" I can also see this team disintigrating like the Imperial Guard @ Waterloo. Five weeks to opening day @ Comisky. Lets get some runs!!!

Big Ten Tournament

Back on December 30th, I gave you all a preview of the upcoming season in the Big Ten. I chose 6 teams that I felt were worthy of the Big Dance. I am happy to report that my investigative and intuitive skills were pretty damn good. I thought these six teams were gonna do well enough to get an invite:

Wisconsin
Ohio State
Michigan State
Indiana
Illinois
Purdue

When the selections go out this weekend, look for all six to make the dance. The only other teams on life support to get an at-large bid are Michigan and Iowa. I give Michigan 10% and Iowa less than that.

I now handicap the tourney starting tomorrow at the United Center.

Thursday
Michigan over Minnesota
MSU over NW
Fightin Illini over Penn State

Friday
Ohio St over UM by 3
Purdue over Iowa by 10
Wisconsin over Mich St by 5
Indiana over Illinois by 1

Saturday
Ohio St over Purdue by 7
Wisconsin over Indiana by 2

Sunday
Ohio St over Wisconsin by 15


The full disclosure

2007 NCAA Backgrounder -- Sports Wagering

Sports wagering has become a serious problem that threatens the well-being of the student-athlete and the integrity of college sports.

The explosive growth of gambling has caused a noticeable increase in the number of sports wagering-related cases processed by the Association.
The Internet has made it easier than ever for student-athletes to place bets, providing easy access, virtual anonymity, and essentially no supervision.
Student-athletes are viewed by organized crime and organized gambling as easy marks.
When student-athletes gamble, they break the law and jeopardize their eligibility.
When student-athletes become indebted to bookies and can’t pay off their debts, alternative methods of payment are introduced that threaten the well-being of the student-athlete or undermine an athletic contest - such as point-shaving.
(Source:www.ncaa.org)



With that out of the way, a look ahead to the studs, dreamers and sleepers of March Madness:

Studs:
North Carolina
Ohio St
G'Town
Xavier

Dreamers:
UCLA
Wisconsin
Memphis
Kansas

Sleepers:
Creighton
Nevada
Virginia Tech
Winthrop

I will update the night before the tourney. Look for the First Annual DaChicagoSports Blog Contest with scoring and all maybe Paypal cash to the high finishers.

Da BookEnd

Prior Last Produced in a Prior Life

After missing most of the 2006 season, and large parts of the last 3 years with injuries, Mark Prior pitched for only one and a third of a scheduled two innings against the Mariners before Piniella had to pull him. The Mariners got three runs on three consecutive hits before Piniella sat him down, later saying "Obviously he has to throw the ball better. Let's be honest." Yes, let's be honest, even though he is not throwing the ball well, his shoulder may get better with time. The real question is his confidence which shows through in his lazy-faire attitude. Prior proclaimed that his best pitch was a homer he pitched. Prior mumbled to the media after the game that he was just glad to be playing. Let's face it, this bum should be canned.

Its Ced's World Now!

Thomas Jones finally calls Phillips bluff and bolts for NYC. He's expected to get 12mill guaranteed. Good for him- the Jets will love his work ethic. The Bears have clearly had issues with Jones for the last two years. Why? It certainly wasn't his numbers, durability, cohesiveness, or work ethic. Again, it always comes down to money with the Bears.

Cedric Benson gets all of the spotlight now. He's got enough foot-mouth disease from the bench, wait till he gets all of the camera's. But the bottom line with the Ced will be numbers. He hasn't been durable even on a part time basis to put of Jones like numbers. Obviously, Adrian Peterson will be back and spell Benson as soon as he goes down. Though low profile, Jones was the Bears MVP last year- they wouldn't have made the big game without him.

This trade brings to mind the Edge leaving the Colts last year. Adai came in and the Colts didn't skip a beat. The difference with the Bears, is that their O line is aging and we've already seen that the Ced is no Adai.

Ced is the man of excuses who now has none. The two back system worked like Franco and Rocky last year. The most disturbing part of Jones leaving is we have to see more of Rex. Laughing already?

Give Em A Dose Lou Part Deux!

After today's thrashing by the White Sox, Sweet Lou let loose the following comment.

"I'm glad it was only Spring Training," Piniella said after his first Cubs-White Sox game Sunday, in which the Sox romped, 13-2, at HoHoKam Park. "That's the only good, saving grace out of this thing. Our pitchers aren't pitching well, and our hitters aren't hitting very well. Outside of that, we're OK."

Our pitchers aren't pitching well, our hitters aren't hitting well. Outside of that we're ok. That's priceless. I have to say, I was one of the last Dusty supporters, long after other members of the DCS staff had lampooned him as a no good nice guy. I had known Dusty in San Francisco as well, so I guess I was used to him. But he sucked! Lou is definitely a breath of fresh air.

Things weren't all bad for the Cubbies, $136 Million Dollar Man Soriano did go 3-for-3 and Derrick Lee did hit a home run. Tomorrow will be important as both Prior and Woody will take the mound. Let's hope for some better play tomorrow, or our new manager will definitely let them know it.

'Invincible' Reminder of the Old Days

In "Invincible" Mark Wahlberg is at his best as a bad ass walk-on from a tough South Philly hood to the Eagles in the mid-70's. This is a Rocky-like movie for anyone who enjoys sports that does a good job of reminding us of the importance of grit and guts as opposed to the business side of sports that too often dominates today. Greg Kinnear is good as the first year Dick Vermeil, but Wahlberg stands out as a bulked-up bartender who plays most of his ball in the street and brings that attitude to the NFL. A true story that is a must see for any sports fan.

Give em a dose Lou!

Its only a few games into spring training, but the Lou factor is making its presence felt in every which way. He's cleaned the Dust out of the clubhouse and Lou's rules are the only ones that matter.

How refreshing to see a manager who at least acts as though he cares how the team is playing. Screw the players manager- I want a managers manager. When a player can't hang, call him out or hang him out- period. The money quote, "Those are just facts, there's talent here, and we have to get it to mesh... If not, its a struggle."

In the first week of spring training, Lou has implied that Ramirez can play another position if he can't find the way to first with the ball. He then told Prior to start pitching-not towels- immediately. And most importantly Lou said the second team can't play fundamental defense. Histrionics you say-wrong! This is exactly what this talented team needs. They were coddled by the Dust for three years and each year yielded deteriorating results.

Lou calls it like he sees it. He is starting both Prior and Wood on the same day in different cacuts league games, " I told the pitching coach we'd answer all the same question in on day. It won't take two or three." This is so refreshing to the fans who at least want professionals called out when they play like St. Rita. Win or lose, Lou has guaranteed not only a exciting season, but one in which we will get the most out of our team-not excuses full of Dust.

Thank god they killed the chief

It was a political hit of course, and frankly one that was long overdue. I concede absolute shaudenfraude at all the drunks lamenting the death of "tradition"; and I couldn't help but notice how they were all of similar skin tone.

As I understand the "civil rights" argument put forth by traditionalists; first they got rid of blackface now this, how is a white man ever to show his love of minority culture and bridge the gap.

Well lets be clear then. Calling the football team of the nation's capital the Redskins has the same flavor as say the Hamburg Hebes, or the Ankara Armenians. Those cultures were decimated by cruel acts of state. To name teams after them would be to celebrate those acts.

So fuck the chief and good riddance.

Lovie Gets Paid

Looks like things are working a little differently up in Halas Hall. The Bears have just agreed to pay Lovie Smith $22 Million for four years. That's $5.5 Million a year! They also signed Angelo through 2013. That is a seven year extension!

I guess all the pundits were wrong after all. Lovie can finally afford a house up in Lake Forest.

Sick of Santo

Who's ready to join me in saying that they are sick of Ron Santo and the phony Santo-mania that the local media tries to create around this buffoon? I hope they never let his sorry ass in to the hall of fame. The media is collectively grieving today...boo hoo, they did such a diservice to poor Santo. Fuck him and the wheelchair he rode in on. He is the worst announcer that the Cubs have ever had and he needs to be fired immediately so that people can just forget about him.

Black, Brown and Green in Chicago

The Sun-Times Carol Slezak brought it up first, but it's a powerful argument. The facts or at least the perception of the facts depending on your viewpoint suggest potential racial overtones in the Lovie contract debacle. That coupled with Briggs situation can lead a Bears fan, black, white or brown to begin to question the McCaskeys' even-handedness in dealing with players and coaches of color.

One needs only to compare the Lovie situation with the Jaron deal of a few years ago. As Slezak points out, the Bears doubled Jaron's salary after his one good season in a four-year deal that only spelled disaster for the hapless family-owned business. A similar comparison can be drawn between the Urlach and Briggs matters. With two years still remaining on his contract, the McCaskeys forked out a staggering $56.65 million for franchise player, securing his services through 2011. On the other hand, as has been well documented on this blog, Briggs who is a two-time pro-bowler, has yet to be given his due.

Would a white NFC Champ coach or a white pro-bowl linebacker have been treated this way by the McCaskeys? Recent history clearly says no.

Carol, you're right, it certainly does make you wonder.

Looking Good

The up and down season for the Bulls is in the midst of an upturn lately. They have beaten Cleveland away, Washington @ home, and just lost away to Detroit today. With the trading deadline passed and the Bulls roster settled for the rest of the season, playing well against possible playoff opponents is very important. And winning games, especially with the question around the health of Andres Nocioni for the rest of the year, takes on added importance if the team is to get a high seed. On Friday I was able to attend the game against the Wizards, and the Bulls looked pretty good. It was a good match up in looking forward to the playoffs: Washington had the second seed in the Eastern conference @ game time.

I went with my girlfriend, nieces #1 and #2, and two of #2’s frenz. Although they all wanted the home team to win, it was fairly obvious that only #1 and I could name even one player on the team. What did that matter to them? Modern N.B.A. games are crammed with bingo games, the LovaBulls, and t-shirts launched like R.P.G.’s to the upper accesses of the stadium. Remember when you could go to a game in Chicago and just hear to organ @ the old Stadium or famous Nancy Faust teaming with Harry @ old Comisky? The lengthening of t.v. commercials and the destruction of the modern attention span means that we are stuck with these distractions during all pro games. So, along with the five ladies I was with, cheered along trying to win Bulls Bingo (I'm sure the fix is in-never won), rooted for #1 in the bottled water race, and gloried when the bulls finally hit 100 points: FREE BIG MACS !!! I must admit, it made the game for 2/3ds of my crew, but I do miss those non televised high school games where a 20 second time out actually is 20 seconds.

The game, you ask? So, the Bulls looked good against the #2 team in the conference?

They did. Not great, but they got it done. Throughout the game, the offense consistently moved the ball around and found the open man. However, the Bulls could not hit the net consistently through the first half. It was frustrating to watch the ball get to a wide open player only to see the shot miss time and time again. The notion that the Bulls needed to address their offense deficiencies was squarely in my mind throughout the first 24m.

Despite the shitty shooting, the Bulls were leading by five @ the half and seemed the better team. It was, as always, the defense that kept the Bulls on top of the game. The Wizards had some nice shooting in the first half, but they were also forced into several 24 second shot violations and had other hurried shots forced upon them. Ben Wallace typified the smothering defense of the Bulls. He was able to chop the ball out of a Wizards players hands for a steal and then later track down and break up a court-long pass cornerback style. He also had 12 boards.

With Nocioni possibly out for the year, the rest of the team will have to replace his energetic in-your-face effectiveness. Coach Scott Skiles has indicated that Malik Allen, and to a lesser extent Tyrus Thomas, will get expanded minutes. Ten Bulls played tonight. Another player seemingly destined to get more playing time (18m tonight), P.J. Brown, disappointed. Twice I noticed him slacking to loose balls that seemed within his reach. Both times he refused to put his body in between the ball and the opposing player. Anything but hustle, it seems. He played less in the second half.

The second half showed the Bulls shooting better and clamping down on D. The Bulls, @ one point leading by 14 points, survived several questionable referee calls (Chris Duhon was tossed in a scramble for the ball that totally looked 50/50) and a Washington run to close the third quarter that cut the Bulls lead to three points. However, that was it for Washington. The Bulls asserted themselves in the first three minutes of the fourth and kept the game in their grip for the remaining time.

Player of the game? Luol Deng continued with his outstanding play of late with a career high 32 points to go with 11 boards. Captain Kirk closed on a triple double (14p, 12a, 8r) and looked great running the offense. But the player who kept riling up the home crowd was Washington star Gilbert Arenas. He finished with 36 points and @ one point had 18 straight points for Washington.

So, which way are the Bulls going? Going up, going up? Maybe. The conference can be there for the taking. Miami just got Shaq back, but now Wade is hobbled and the team is @ .500. The Bulls had a good lead in Detroit yesterday, but couldn't make it stick. As I write, I can see the Bulls maybe making it to the second round this year-anything less I feel would be a disappointment. However, I'm guessing that the Bulls will have another year to grow and add another player in the off season. Bit by bit seems to be the word on this model of Chicago bulls.

Shaft!

Yet another addition in the "what the fuck are they thinking" column as the Bears give Lovie the shaft. Phillips offers 3.2 mil when the going rate for Lovie should be a minimum of 5 mil. Something is clearly going on here with the additional departure of Wilson.

Angelo can claim business as usual in negotiating contracts, but the foundation is cracking. It seems the pettiness can never end at Halas hall. First they put the franchise tag on Briggs, thereby denying him a signing bonus and then lose two key assistant coaches.

Lovie has all the leverage and if he plays this season w/out renewing, he can leave and name his own price with many teams. Lets be realistic, there are at least 5 coaching vacancies every year. Lovie has taken the Bears to the promise land and will not be rewarded. Even if the two sides eventually agree, Lovie has been treated like he should be a grateful negro.

Just when we thought we were seeing the new breed of Bears, we are reminded that they are still owned by the McCaskey's. What would they do if Lovie walked-call back Rivera whom they have fired 3 times already. Lovie should give them the shaft for his brother man.

Sam Smith-Dream Over

All those monday mornings that Sam Smith insisted that the Bulls acquire Pau Gasol have finally come to an end. The GM wannabe can now move on to other laundry list conspiracy theories and acquisitions we can only dream of.

The trade deadline is over Sam and no Gasol deal, no Garnett deal, and, of course, no Kidd deal. Nothing left to do but keep drinking. What a business to be in, kind of like hollywood journalism, just keep pushing juicy deals and salicious off the court activity and be the #1 nba writer. We're still waiting for the next "Jordan Rules" Sam.

As for the Bulls, Sam will have to deal with their 6th seed. At the moment this would lead to a first round debacle against the Cavs. The deliniation from here would be Skiles job- not a bad thing- and the questoining of Pax's actual qualifications to be a GM. A mediocre player who hit a few key shots and did some commentary for radio.

Sam may have a point in annointing himself GM. He is as qualified in his own way as Pax. Sam pushed for the Curry deal throughout '05 and Pax finally listened. Its too bad Pax didn't listen to Sam on the Gasol deal. The trade deadline is over and so may Pax's reign. Don't worry though, Sam's ready.

Bears Failing to Get Lovie on the Cheap

ESPN is reporting that the contract talks with Lovie and the Bears have broken down. Billick, the Ravens coach just got a five year $29 million deal. John Fox, of the Panthers is making $5 million. There is no way the Bears are going to come up to these type of numbers. Maybe Lovie will be gone next year...

Read the whole article here.

Deal or No Deal #1

Lovie said thank you bye, bye to Ron Rivera today. Actually he was cut loose two days ago, but after failing yet another interview he was publically flogged today. Apparently the Bears think that they are running a credit union, not the financial empire they sit on.

I'll be the first to admit that i'm not the biggest fan of Rivera, but numbers don't lie. Even with injuries, Rivera put together one of the best defenses in the league for the past three years. Clearly he was an Angelo guy and not a lovester.

The bottom line, of course, will be the performance of the D next year. Any difference will be attributed to the coaching change because everyone will return. Why mess with a good thing over a few bucks, because that's the Bears style. Remember, Lovie has yet receive his new contract. We'll see how this plays out.

Rivera suffered the ultimate shaft by being demoted back to linbacker coach for the schizophrenic Chargers. Lovie showed no remorse in sacking Rivera, but if he doesn't take the Bears back to the promise land he may be next. Rivera took the high road-shut up and take it. The only road for a minority trying to make it.

Skiles Skating on Thin Ice

The Bulls start the second half of the NBA season with a disappointing record only 4 games above .500. Skiles has been demanding that it is time for his players to play like NBA players now, that they can no longer get by on being kids. Well, I think Skiles has look in the mirror and wonder what kind of job he has done. This team has too much talent to have this record. It has been ten years since the Bulls have won a playoff series.

What has Skiles done? It seems, that besides the Bulls re-upping his contract last year, that if Skiles does not get this team to least to the Eastern Conference Finals, serious consideration has be made for replacing him.

What worries me more is that to win in the NBA, you need a marquee, superstar player. Oftentimes two. Its clear the Bulls need at least one more player. If that player is Paul Gasol or not, I'm not sure. The more important question is how will this new marquee player react to Skiles. Skiles job was to give the 'kids' discipline. Has he accomplished this? It's debatable. The Bulls lose an incredible amount of large leads. This is mostly due to Skiles poor in-game coaching skills. No one ever accused Skiles of being smart, but just being a disciplinarian is not enough anymore.

The city is hungry and due for a winner. Perhaps Skiles should be given the same ultimatum as Isiah, produce significant improvement or be let go.

Elite Eight for March Madness

The Dance is almost here and I have selected my favorite eight teams to eyeball heading into the tournament.



East-North Carolina and Georgetown
Midwest-Ohio State and Pittsburgh
South-Memphis and Florida
West-Nevada and UCLA

UNC-Terry, Ty and Tyler (Terminator 3?)

G'Town-Top six players average more than 7 points with tough defense

Ohio St-Oden and Conley Jr have played on same team since 6th grade!

Pitt-Aaron Gray on a mission

Memphis-Coach John Calipari and his stellar cast of athletes

Florida-Defending champs with son of Yannick Noah

Nevada-Fazekas great human interest story (look him up) and George Mason of 2007

UCLA-Depth, talent and hunger

Who will win the tournament? I can't say right now, but one of these eight teams will either win or at least play in the title game. Until the brackets come out, it is tough to say. If I had to choose, UNC would get my early vote.

Show him the $$$$

With all of the money the Cubs spent this off-season, why must they revert to the old regime by penny pinching Big Z. Zambrano stated yesterday that "I must go" if no deal is reached before the beginning of the season. The Cubs offered 11 mil while Zambrano wants 15.5.

With his tempermental attitude, leaving the contract window open on Zambrano would lead to poor team chemistry. Big Z can act like a 3 year old at times. Why risk everything that they have put together these last few months by undercutting your best pitcher.

Zambrano is the horse we will win with. He is always reliable and is just entering his prime. Lets not forget his bat-he had more homers than several starters last year.

Zito has raised the bar, wether fair or not, and the Cubs must and should pay Big Z. He is there future. True they could deal with him as a free agent, but i wouldn't count of Zambrano coming back here if he is mistreated.

The bottom line is that Zambrano is a great investment at a great price right now. Pay him!

What new? Yanks beat Mexicans in soccer

It may seem counter intuitive, but the U.S. mens soccer team actually dominate a world power in soccer : Mexico. For the eight straight time last night, the U.S. shut out their World Cup rivals in the States. They are now 8-2-1 in the last 11 games.

Mexico had the 20th century; the U.S. seems to have the 21st. Now remember: the state of soccer in Mexico is on a greater level than in the U.S. The Mexican League is, overall, a much stronger and richer league than MLS. Everybody knows who the national team players and coaches are in Mexico. However, the trend is apparent in this regional rivalry: arriba los Americanos, and Mexico down.

But there is another strange anomaly: The 60,000 strong crowd in Arizona was passionately supporting…………….Mexico. The fact is, the millions of Mexicans in the USA (10% of all Mexican citizens live in the USA) have and have shown more passion for the national team than the hundreds of millions of Americans here. Even @ Chicago Fire home games against Mexican clubs, the Section 8 Fire supporters club, get pelted and harassed the whole game (they love the attention). It can be a little humilating to play games in the States and still be outsupported 5-1 in terms of crowd size and noise.

One can think of the last World Cup where Champion Italy beat every team they played except one : the Yanks. The USA were helped in a large measure by the tremendous crowd support they recieved from Americans @ the nearby U.S.A. military base. Think also about the support of the crowd in Columbus where the U.S. beat Mexico in World Cup qualifying in 2001. U.S. Soccer played it smart that year and scheduled the game in the city that had the least amount of Mexicans they could get, and then steered tickets towards certain U.S. fans. It was the least support the Mexican team has ever had in a game in the US.

But these incidents are too few. It's a work in progress, and its taking decades, but the terrible USA-Mexico results of my youth (1-10-1 for 70’s and 80’s) are long gone. But the work-in-progress of soccer in America continues.

McMahon to McNabb?

Understandably, much of the consternation around Chicago following the Super Bowl centers on the quarterback position. Greg Couch has a great article on why the Bears should dump Grossman in the Sun Times. Jackson has claimed that the Bears are 1-and-done as far as Super Bowls are concerned, whilst the black captain or Deux Visage has said we should stay the course. I believe that bold action is needed and staying the course won't do. What do you do if next year Rex is terrible again? Now you have wasted three years on the this quarterback fiasco. Stays at the top in todays's NFL don't last that long. The Bears might have a slightly longer window because they play in the worst division in the league. I also believe that with a very weak NFC and a strong young foundation the Bears can repeat. Here's how: Trade for Donovan McNabb!

Can you imagine the hometown hero coming back to Chicago to lead the beloved back to the Super Bowl. With Peyton finally winning one, McNabb now holds the dishonour of 'Best Quarterback Never to Win the Big One'. If Philly thinks they are better with Garcia, let them have him. I think Donovan is unhappy with how he has been treated in Philly and they are definitely on the downward slope of their run. The Bears might just be in the middle of theirs. We've had one Irish quarterback lead us to the promised land. Why not the descendant of slaves that were owned by Irish masters as well?

What would it take? I'm not sure, but I'd be willing to give quite a bit. How about Rex and Ogunleye? I'd even throw in Thomas Jones. The Eagles need a power running game to go with Westbrook. What it takes really doesn't matter. The NFL is definitely a quarterback league and shooting yourself in the foot, or waiting to watch Rex ruin another year is pure folly.

Be Bold Lovie, go get McNabb. Your fans will thank you!

In praise of Rex

Bad Rex was on display in front of the world wide audience, and the team paid for it. He sucked. We lost. But, just give him some time. I believe it may be well worth our while. The question is : if we had Luckman or Nameth or even Jimmy Mac, would we have won the Super Bowl? Maybe (even probably), but these types of payers do not grow on trees.

Given Rex's total playing time of 23 games (my constant harp this year), I'm willing to wait another year for him to develop. Rex needs time to grow, and shouldn't be judged wholly on these 23 games. He looked terrible in some, but he also looked great in others. Given that some of his great games were against shitty teams, but he had enough to show me some promise.

But do the Bears have time? Jackson has posted in these pages that 2006 may have been this generations shot @ the Super Bowl. Very maybe. In todays NFL, teams seem to be good for 2-3 years before they fade. The Bears the last two years have been very good, and that was playing with less than a full QB. The Bears may be in the mix again next year, and another full year of a healthy Rex can only be good for the Bears.

Go elsewhere? They did have a 'good' year without Rex last year, which is kind of damning towards Rex; in the regular season he was not much better than Kyle Orton record wise. maybe the solution is to make a trade, start Griese, or draft someone new. But I've seen more than enough from Rex to say Lets try again next year. Another years seasoning will do him good. And, hopefully, our memories of Super Rex will begin.

Once a Generation

Enough of the whining ananlysis. Rex was brutal and kept the defense on the field far too long. The reality of the situation is that the Bears will not return to the Super Bowl for many, many years!

This century's NFL is built for parity and that leads to playoff variety. You may still see a dynasty once in a while, but its not likely. Certainly not with this incarnation of the Bears. True they overachieved, but under the tuteledge of Rex it won't happen again. First, a dynasty is built around a great QB. Think Bradshaw, Montana, Young, and Aikman. Even the devastating Bears of the 80's could only see the promise land once.

With many tatented young coaches on the move, teams like N.O. can rise quickly. Just as quickly, teams can lose players and coaches and slide like Pittsburgh. The Bears have made their generational visit to the big game. So there is no wait till next year, because free agency for both players and coaches won't allow it. We can continue to parse Rex's inability and Lovie's ignorance in backing his man, but statistics don't lie. Its just another version of one and done.

Your 2007 World Series Champion Chicago Cubs!

Now that Rex has fumbled, stumbled and ruined the Super Bowl run of the beloved, it is time to talk about my favourite sport, Baseball. As the billboard says, baseball will divide the city but football will unite it. It's time to pick sides and I'm a Cubs fan. I might be getting ahead of myself with the title, but what the hell. Expectations have been raised dramatically this offseason. In case you haven't paid attention to all the Cubs off season moves, Jayson Stark has a really good article on all of Hendry's moves.

And in case any of our Southeast Asian readers need reminding about the dreaded curse, here's another link here.

No way !!

Well, it was the best team that won. The Colts, best team from a strong AFC, proved that they were way too much for the best team in a weak NFC. After a brief bit of hope in the first quarter, the dominant team showed who deserved it. The Bears did they best they could, fighting off the inevitable until a late in the game. In this way, just hanging around hoping to accomplish a miracle, the Bears actually did quite well. Before the game, I posted a few items that Da Bears would have to accomplish if they were to win.
Let's review:

What Went Wrong

Beat up the Colts.
Never happened. It was the fourth quarter before the defensive line finally got to Manning. Otherwise, there was next to no pressure on him. Thomas Jones had some nice runs, but overall, line play on both sides of the ball went to the Colts. Any chance for the miracle would have meant decisively winning this battle.

Bad Rex.
Great. We hoped. My favourite line of the night was said by me in the fourth quarter: O.K. everybody, this is the drive that we will always remember as the real start of Rex's Hall of Fame Career! After the fumble or interception or whatever badrexplay that immediately followed my pronouncement, the next line was I hope this is not the drive that we will always remember Rex's career by. Rex was terrible. Better than Orton would have been, but just terrible. Fumbles, interceptions, and no leadership. I'm sticking by Rex for next year, but what a shitty game yesterday.

Turnovers.
Too many. Bad situations. The only hope was for it to all fall the Bears way. Not yesterday. The early interception of Manning gave a lot of hope to Bear fans, but he settled down.

What Went Right

Keep it Close.
What can you say? As badly overplayed as they were, they were in a position to win the game near the end if things went right. They were only down by two at half despite indications that things were headed south. The Bears needed to keep it close, and they accomplished that. A wicked hit on Manning, a fumble, interception, bad call or missed tackle etc... and the Bears might have just pulled off the miracle. As it turned out, when it came time for a championship caliber team to stand up, it was all Colts. But as sloppy as they played the entire game, it was only with four minutes left or so where it became obvious no miracle would happen. They did the best they could.

Special Teams.
We got what we wanted out of Hester. We couldn't've asked for two or three td's from him. Gould did well. And Vintieri actually missed a Super Bowl kick. For awhile, these items may have looked like possible signs of an upset. In the end, they were just isolated incidents early in the game, signifying nothing. Just wasn't enough.

In the end, the magic the Bears needed just wasn't in the air. They needed a lot to go rite, and it didn't. They pushed it for awhile, but in the end it was a mismatch.

Miami Meltdown!

The Bears allowed almost 200 yards rushing, could not stop short passes, and Bad Rex showed his ugly head in an embarrassing 29-17 loss. The score makes it appear much closer than it really was. Poor defensive game plan that reminded me of Dave Wanstedt, horrible play calling on offense, 5 turnovers and just a total meltdown.

Stay tuned for all the analysis here.

Yes way.

No way !!

Yes way:
I think the Bears have a chance in the Super Bowl. I even think chances are more or less equal for both teams. Maybe I'm just the biggest homer outside of Springfield, but I'm not buying into the notion that Da Bears are the quaking underdogs that should be shivering under their angry masters rolled up newspaper.

Well, for one, how about statistics that point to Da Bears 10th NFL title? Consider what’s on the Scores website : a system that has supposedly been a correct predictor in 14 of the past 16 Super Bowl. According to this system, 12 categories are compared, and whoever has led the other in more of them in the regular season wins the title. Categories include such indicators as rushing yards, point deferential, opponent total yards, etc… this system has Da Bears leading 9-2 and one tie. A team like the Bears leading in nine categories has won 15 of the last 18 games.

And then there is today’s New York Times article by Mike Smith, who indicates that in recent Super Bowl history, the generally held theory that ‘defense wins championships’ has held. This holds even in games that feature good defenses against high powered offenses. This seems to favour the Bears fifth ranked D vs. the Colts third ranked O.

But statistics can be made lap dogs for anyone with an argument to push : isn’t the Bush administration attempting to tout the economy these days to show its competence? Similar handling of statistics show that Rex has a 2006 playoff QB rating almost ten points better than Manning. However, the point of my argument is is that this game will be competitive, point spread be damned. And yes, Da bears can win.

Beat up other team.

This is not a call to play dirty, but a call to play the game its meant to be played. Football is a sport where it is of the utmost importance to physically dominate the other team. One has to pound on the other team for 3 1/2 hours in order to assert its will. This means hitting the other players hard enough and consistently enough where they will be taken off their game. This way several things happen : the opposing team is worn down. They may get injuries. They become tired from having to exert themselves so much. And they get the mindset that whatever they do, a big hit is coming their way. Lets hope the Bears Tyson them. This is most important when it comes to the sumo crew on the line. Games are won through the strength of the lines. It will be most important for the Bears to do well on both sides of the line.

On defense, if the Bears can get in and put some hurt cycles on Manning, he becomes less of the awesome danger he is. Lets get him aching and thinking. We need to see him being pressured when he drops back to pass. We need to see the blitz hounding him. And the Colts running game must be halted.

On offense, Rex needs the time to be comfortable. How many bad Rex plays have been when he made a bad decision while scrambling for his life? Then think how much like a pro QB when he has the time to confidently throw downfield. We also need to see Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson having lanes to run. Lets control the offensive line!

Good Rex.

And Rex should have not just a good game; he has to play worthy of Super bowl champion QB. He must, of course avoid a QB rating in the 23’s and the 10’s, and especially the 1’s and 0’s. Especially that sort of game. But he must show more: this is the Super Bowl. He’s started 26 games in the NFL now (this is his fourth playoff start), and he has shown flashes of leadership @ different times this year. We got to get a full game from him.

The defense must control the Colts offense so they do not go wild.

No doubt, the D has a tough job to do. The DCS staff have written already about the non-inviolability of this fifth ranked defense. But in this most Super of games, they must not resemble voile. Control the Colts line. The secondary must have a great day against the Colts passing game. Tough, tough, tough; but it’s doable.

Special team have to come up big.

Both team have excellent kickers. Adam Vintieri is in his element, but Robbie Gould has also had a great year. Punting and kick coverage should go the Bears way. A big wild card is Devin Hester. The Colts coverage has been suspect, so look to Hester to make some magic happen. Avoid fumbles !! Hopefully, when we think back to on Hester this season years from now, it will be on his spectacular game in the super bowl. It can happen. And maybe not on a kick return : i’m waiting for him to get some plays on offense, or maybe a fumble return or interception.

Finally, who knows where this game will take us?
Who will be the star of the game; will it be Hester or Manning or Urlacher or…………..someone we haven’t concentrated on so far this year. Who knows?

So:
Keep it close in the first half.
Beat up on the Colts.
Pressure on manning and good coverage in the secondary.
Rex
Hester.
Make turnovers happen.
Start showing signs of dominance in the third quarter.
Play hard till the end.

Baaaeeerrrzzz : 26-20.

Goober Manning Loses Big!

Let's be honest. The media is in love with Peyton Manning winning his first Super Bowl. So in love with this idea that some are saying that he deserves to win. This is utter rubbish. John Elway got to three Super Bowls with not one, yes, not one Pro Bowl player on offense. That is leadership. Peyton has so much talent on offense that the fact that he hasn't one a championship already speaks volumes of his failings. Both him and Dungy are losers. Peyton has not removed the monkey off his back by beating the Patriots. He needs to win the Super Bowl to remove the monkey.

The media's memory lapses go beyond Peyton to somehow believing that the Colts have a strong defense. This is based on playing tough against KC and Baltimore. I'm sorry, but they were ranked 32 in the league this year and no team with a defense ranked lower than 10th has ever won a Super Bowl. The Colts lost 4 out of their last 7 games to teams including the Texans and the Titans. This is not some juggernaut rolling through to an inevitable win.

As is often the case, the media and the talking heads are more interested in the story than the facts. That somehow his Sprint, Gatorade, MasterCard and whatever else Peyton prostitutes himself for justify him being a champion. Exposure does not equal champion, just ask LeBron.

I'm always a little wary when things seem too well scripted. Look at the Cardinals this year. They had no chance to even win a game against the Tigers. What about the Heat? Down 2-0 to the genius of Avery Johnson? How did that turn out? How about the Buckeyes and all their inevitability against the supposedly lucky to be there Gators?

What I believe we have in this Super Bowl is not an air of inevitability, but the drowning weight of expectations. No one has had higher expectations than Peyton. The Scion of that ultimate loser Archie and older brother of overrated loser Eli. Some people are losers and some are winners. Peyton is a loser, like his father before him and his brother after him.

This weight will weigh down the Colts, Freeney, Manning and Dungy. So much so that they will play tight and the Bears will be loose. So loose that they are going to run away with this game. Final Score: 34 - 16

Colts to the Finish Line

I believe the Colts will win easily and Peyton Manning will dedicate the win to the recently departed Colt named Barbaro.

Seriously folks, I broke it down by players, coaches and intangibles.

Quarterback - Manning will add 21 points and Grossman will subtract 7 points. COLTS BY 28

Receivers - Indy by 4

Running Backs - Bears by 10

Offensive Line - Indy by 7

Defensive Line- Indy by 3

Linebackers - Bears by 7

Corners and Safeties - Indy by 10

Special Teams - Bears by 7

Coaches - Tie/Push/Best Friends/Yada Yada

Intangibles - Field,Weather,and Bears lack of respect - Bears by 10

FINAL Indy 52 Bears 34

Perfect Storm

Forget all of the technical ananlysis. There are several facts in this game and a few intangibles. The facts are obvious and will play to the stregnths of both teams. It is the uncontrollable intangibles that will decide the game. So here we go.

The facts for the Colts. Their offense is clearly better and they will be able to score.

The facts for the Bears. Their running game is unstoppable. Their defense is much better. Their special teams are the best in the league. Outdoors, Robbie Gould is as good as Adam Vinitari.

It will come down to the intangibles. For the Colts; can their defense continue to out perform as it has lately. Can their offensive line contain the pass rush.

For the Bears the only intangible that matters is Rex. At worst Rex should be a non-issue. At best the MVP of the game.

It is meaningless that the line is 7 and that almost everyone is picking the Colts. This game is smelling more and more like Superbowl III. A young gun quarterback whose games were up and down vs. the wiley vet with all of the experience and poise. No one expected the underdog to win in Superbowl III. The Colts had better be students of history. Da Bears 31-22. MVP-Rex!

Benson & Jones Give Bears Edge

When you put aside the endless pix of various Bears partying it up in Miami with good looking chicks and the also endless Rex questioning, along with the ridiculous societal blame game being played by the Tank "44-magnum and multiple 9mm" Johnson, the game will come down to who's ready to kick ass on Sunday. The Bears are in their usual underdog poisition which is preferable to being the favored team or worse, like Manning, the "must win or your career doesn't mean much".

Any way you slice it, the Bears beat the Saints on the ground in the championship game for 3 TD's. When multiple carries by Jones proved ineffective, the ball went to Benson, who got the job done in convincing fashion. Lovie and Turner have to be given a lot of credit for the Bear's superior running game. Jones was the favored back gaining almost 1,000 yards when they decided to draft Benson who got a bigger contract than Jones ($35 mil) and then ran for under 300 yards all year. Lovie has managed to get the two backs running with the type of abandon necessary to run all over the Colts.

Still, an intense rivalry and mistrust still exists. Benson said the other day that when Jones hugged him after a TD against the Saints, he still doesn't know whether it was real or not, but that he would give Jones the benefit of the doubt. Not exactly a ringing endorsement, but the rivalry no doubt results in two guys hungry to show who's the best. Turner says that the game plan is to give the ball to Jones early then get Benson in and try to split the runs 50-50 with 35-40 total carries. Against the Saints, Benson carried it 24 times with excellent results. No matter which way the wind blows, Jones and Benson are a deadly combo.

Breakfast's Superbowl prediction: Da Bears by 2 TD's!

Predictions:I hate everything Indiana more so after Sunday

I really can't find a Indiana Icon I find appealing.
Bobby Knight? A violent thug who would have a rap sheet if he were a mechanic instead of coaching a kids game and engaging in serial child abuse.
Reggie Miller? Only liked him when he was in the Garden dissing Spike Lee.
And then there was... oh yeah I guess that's about it (Larry Bird was a Celtic).
If you need any additional reason to dislike Indiana remember no state had more Ku Klux Klan members than Indiana.

But I fear Peyton Manning. He is on the A-list of QBs of this generation and he just overcame his big mental block- Tom Brady and the Patriots. Without Tommie Harris the Bears will not be able to disrupt Manning, and unless Devin Hester shreds the Colts return team each time he touches the ball Manning will dictate the game.
34-17 Colts.

I would also like to add I am eager to eat crow and be wrong.

Bristol Boys Blitz Bears Part II

Well, all the analysts except Eric Allen have picked the Colts again. Unfortunately, even the computer AccuScore has picked the Colts this time. I think this might be a good thing. After all, they all picked the Saints two weeks ago. Our favorite analyst Chris Berman, the Swami, also picked the Colts 30-20. Again, look for DCS staff members picks before the big game.


Look at the ESPN 'talent' picks here.

Cub Nation

Not in recent memory has a baseball team been poised to go from last to first in one single season. Yes, i'm aware of the Leland Tigers turnaround, but that wasn't expcted. The Cubs have new money, new management, new faces, new positions, and most importantly new attitude!

The excitment will simply be unbearable as the ass-kicking Pinella takes charge. The free spending Hendry has brought us the greatest grab of the the free agent market- Alfonso Soriano. With Soriano leading off and home on the range in center, he can make up for deficiancies of Jones in right and the Floyd/Murton combo in left. The infield is defensively solid, with a healthy Ramirez and D. Lee back. Barrett behind the plate rounds out an offensive powerhouse of a lineup.

Pitching is always the key and with Big Z receiving a new contract he should again be a horse. The linchpin is Prior who is in a career year. Whatever mysterious ailments he had have supposely been resolved. If he can even come close to old form, he will be invaluable. For me the greatest excitment comes with the conversion of Wood to a closer. He has the potential to be one of the best in the majors. Remember, no one ever aims to become a closer, it occurs by happenstance.

The final piece of the puzzle is the N.L. Central itself. It continues to be very weak even though the Cards won the series. They have been hurt by several departures. Cub nation has the potential to explode like never before with Pinella at the helm. No more dusting everything under the plate. Pinella tells it like it is and keeps everyday exciting. A bloggers dream.

Reasons to be a Blackhawks Fan

Thank the Black Captain for this post. Enjoy!!