How old is that chick? Honestly, she looks like she’s 10. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised though, typical Lakers fan, getting her ass beat  by a 10 year old girl.

PS

How about that bald guy just taking it all on. Guy didn’t even flinch. Like get out of my way girls I’m trying to check out the Luvabulls.

The White Sox agreed to a 3 year/$37.5 million deal with fan and clubhouse favorite Paul Konerko.  The best way I can describe this deal is “fair.”  Konerko probably could have got $15 million from a club like the Orioles and the White Sox probably could have played hardball and tried to only give him a two year deal since he turns 35 in a few months.  In the end, PK once again gave us a hometown discount with a lot of deferred money and will most likely get to retire in the black and white uniform that he wants to.

This deal was an absolute must in order to compete with the AL Central champs up in cake eater land.  I’m really excited about the 2011 White Sox….we have a mix of speed, power, and great starting pitching.  I still think Kenny has a trade up his sleeve and will unload a starter to get some bullpen help and reduce payroll.  Either way, the front office went all in and increased the payroll in a bad economy….now it is up to us to fill the seats and support the team.

For the time being its back to freezing cold weather….just 4 months until Opening Day.

Phew.  That…was…close.  Chicago narrowly avoided a disastrous loss at the hands of the Lions Sunday but hung on to win 24-20, improving their record to 9-3 and maintaining their lead in the NFC North.  Nothing about this win was easy.  Understanding the importance of this game (a must-win), I sweated out the first 58 minutes - I’m sure all my fellow Bears fans had the same unenjoyable time.  Honestly, the Bears played pretty good but so did Detroit.  That was the hardest part: it’s one thing to play a bad team close because of turnovers, penalties or a big play or two but when you are just being pressed by a 2-9 squad in every facet, that can be disconcerting.

But I’m not going to look at Sunday’s effort in a negative light at all.  This was a classic trap-game - a big win last week and a huge game against New England next Sunday sandwiched by a road test against a familiar opponent that hasn’t won a division game in four years.  The Lions had their third-string quarterback playing and were without one of their defenders.  Chicago had every reason to come out flat (which they did) but when push came to shove, the Bears found a way to win.  Good teams can win with their B- game and the Bears certainly did that on Sunday.

Continue reading “Survive & Advance - Bears 24, Lions 20” »

White Sox and Adam Dunn have agreed to a 4 year deal worth $56 million.  This is a big time move and this is why I love having Kenny Williams as my general manager.  He is always going to take a gamble, even if he swings and misses once in awhile (Peavy).  Adam Dunn provides the left handed power bat that the team missed last year.  Unless you really liked Vizquel or Kotsay at DH, you have to love thinking about the donkey smashing homers on the southside next summer.

I don’t want to hear about the people who are going to complain:  “He strikes out too much,” or “He can’t hit for average.”  Yes, Adam Dunn strikes out a lot and yes, Adam Dunn doesn’t hit for average.  You know what Adam Dunn does do?  He hits 40 homers, has 100 rbi’s, and walks 100 times with a great on base average.  You can count on that.

Hopefully having Dunn hitting 5th will convince Konerko to take a bit of a hometown discount.  I just got a chub thinking about the slowest power hitting combo of all time hitting back to back.

And please, just a moment of silence for Bobby Jenks.  Thanks for the memories.

Holy fuck, the Bears are 8-3.  Following Sunday’s impressive 31-26 win over Philadelphia, Chicago has the second best record in the NFC and a 1.5 game lead in the division with five games to go.  I saw this team winning 5 games all season (as one of our commenter’s was so kind to point out) but now find myself seriously questioning how far they can go.  Is this a Super Bowl team?  I’m not sold yet but there’s a really chance they will host a playoff game.  And here’s the best part: they’re getting better. Chicago is 4-0 since the bye and yesterday’s win was one of the biggest by a Bears team in years.

Overall, it was a great performance.  Everyone contributed and that had to be the case because the Eagles are a really good football team.  Before we look at specifics, let’s consider the big picture after Sunday.  The Bears earned a tie-breaker against one of the teams they will be competing with for a first-round bye.  The win, coupled with Green Bay’s loss, also gives Chicago a virtual 1.5 game lead in the NFC North.  With five tough games on the schedule, it was critical to stay ahead of the pack in the NFC and the Bears were able to do that on Sunday.  Here’s how:

• Jay Cutler has never played a game like that in a Chicago uniform.  14 for 21, 247 yards and four touchdowns.  Franchise quarterback game.  For the fourth straight game (coincidence?), he made the right decisions.  And for the first time in his Bears tenure, the offense is being tailored to his strengths.  Kudos to Mike Martz on that point.  He opened the season with his crazy seven-step-drop scheme that nearly killed Jay but has adjusted to a more conservative gameplan, running the ball and using short, timing routes to move the ball down field.  And Jay is absolutely delivering.
• The defensive line won the battle against Michael Vick in convincing fashion.  Julius Peppers, Israel Idonije and Henry Melton all had big games.  Anthony Adams was a terror on the inside.  And don’t look now but #91 Tommie Harris is starting to make some plays.  Harris is on the field about 25% of the snaps on defense at this point and that strategy might actually be working.  He’s strung a few good efforts together and his tipped ball that led to an interception late in the first half was the single most important play of the game.  Rod Marinelli and Lovie Smith have to like what they’ve seen from this group - especially with the contributions from unlikely guys.
• Earl Bennett has three touchdowns in the last four games and, whenever Cutler needs a big conversion on third down or in the red zone, he looks in Bennett’s direction.

Continue reading “A Cut Above The Rest - Bears 31, Eagles 26” »

So if you don’t live in Chicago or you do but live under a fucking rock there allegedly is this perfect storm sweeping through the city. Talking 50 mph winds, 30 foot waves, the whole nine yards.

Well while everyone else acts like a bunch of pussies, hiding their patio furniture, buying extra water, the Big Cat is going to keep chugging along. Do you think a little wind scares me? Please, I eat wind for breakfast.

Not to mention, there is no chance I will ever miss a 50 year storm….

PS

I’ve never actually been in a tornado but if I was I think my move wouldn’t be to scream “We’re in a tornado, we’re in a tornado” over and over while my hand shakes with my flip cam. I’d probably focus more on getting out of the actual tornado. I mean one second you’re in a tornado and the next second you’re fighting flying monkeys and dancing midgets. I’ve seen it happen a million times.

Another Sunday, another dreadful performance by a Chicago team that has to make you wonder how they ever won four games in the first place.  The Bears fell to the Redskins 17-14 yesterday in a game that provided a new definition for the word “ineptitude”.  Our “offense” started the game with six straight punts…and it only got worse from there.  Sure, there was that nice seven play, 70 yard touchdown drive right before halftime but that whole blind squirrel principle applies in this instance.  The Bears took the momentum into halftime and shit their pants.  Here is what the Bears with the football in the second half (prepare yourself…no, seriously, get ready…and now): fumble, interception, interception-for-TD, fumble, punt, interception.  You can’t make this stuff up.  Two weeks ago the Bears were 4-1 and looked like they had a real shot of reaching 6-1 before their bye week.  Now, fuck, who knows where this thing goes after a week off.

• I’m really, really tired of the uninterested, throw the ball all over the fucking place Jay Cutler.  When he’s on, he can be elite but after watching him for the last year and half, it’s clear to me that he is a front-runner.  Even worse, he has shown absolutely no ability to rebound from a bad play or a mistake.  One bad Cutler interception spirals into three, four or five.  Great quarterbacks have the mental make-up to lead a game-winning drive no matter how poorly they have played and that is a skill Cutler does not have.  His last interception against the Redskins (DeAngelo Hall’s fourth) was a give-up throw.  Unacceptable.

Continue reading “That’s It, I’ve Seen Enough — Redskins 17, Bears 14” »

First…

Fresh off one of the most frustrating losses in recent memory, the Bears (4-2) are looking to right the ship before their bye week with a home date against the Washington Redskins.  We all know on paper this is an important game for the Bears.  A fifth win in seven games would far exceed expectations for Chicago, if they haven’t exceeded them already.  Plus, the NFC North is only going to get closer as the season moves on but a win on Sunday, combined with a Vikings loss, would give Chicago virtual 2-game lead in the division.  Throw in the atrocity that was last week’s 23-20 loss to Seattle at home nonetheless, this game is clearly a must-win.

More importantly, however, I think this game may be the defining moment for the 2010 Bears in terms of character and heart.  Sure, those words are cliche and heard on every pregame show every Sunday thanks to some mumbling, post-concussion-syndrome suffering has-been wide receiver or quarterback.  But every once in a while the Sports Gods throw us an opportunity to really, truly see how much these larger-than-life characters’ actually care.  And that is the opportunity the Bears have on Sunday.  Here’s how I see it: you surprised and excited everyone with a great start thanks to a fat schedule, got your shit kicked-in at home by a crappy team to come crashing back to earth and now face another team you should beat in front of your home fans.  If the Bears don’t come out ready to play, and play angry, I’ll have seen all I needed to from this team.  No heart, a lame-duck coach, no leadership - 2 or 3 wins the rest of the way.  But if they do come out and (to paraphrase Rex Ryan) line-up and beat the fuck out of the Redskins, well then I guess the second half of the season will be more interesting than I originally thought.

Continue reading “Bears vs. Redskins And Other Week 7 Thoughts” »

Well that did not go as planned.  The Bears, sitting pretty at 4-1 with three winnable games upcoming, were hosting a rebuilding team that has not won a road game in like 40 years and yet somehow they completely failed to show up.  Give Seattle a lot of credit for their performance; they were prepared and played patient, mistake free-football.  What’s frustrating is that it’s not like the Bears hurt themselves either.  They didn’t turn the ball over, committed two penalties yet somehow found themselves down 10 with two minutes to go.  And that is what scares me most about today’s outcome — you can’t point to a reason why they lost except for the fact that they were outplayed by a crappy team.  Ipso facto the Bears might not be very good.

• If you ever questioned how good Lance Briggs is look no further than today’s game.  Without #55, the Bears defense, which had been rock-solid all season, was shredded by Seattle throughout the game.  The short passes are one thing, the Bears are willing to give them up.  The real difference was against the run where Marshawn Lynch and Justin Forsett routinely had their way.  This is no knock on Briggs’ replacement, Brian Iwuh, either.  It’s more of a testament to how important Lance is to this team’s success.
• Jay Cutler took another beating and that is now a routine occurrence.  More importantly, when Cutler had time, he was not very good at all.  Accuracy continues to be an issue as Jay completed just 17 of 39 pass attempts.  It doesn’t help that the receivers cannot create any sort of separation.  If I have to see another slant call on third down I’m going to vomit.  With the Bears small receivers, that play just does not work.
• Speaking of play-calling, Mike Martz has to run the ball more.  Plain and simple.  There were 14 runs Sunday, two of which were Jay Cutler scrambles.  That means he called 39 passes against 12 runs.  What happened to Lovie’s mantra “We get off the bus running”?  You have to be able to run the ball in this league to take pressure off your quarterback.  Until Martz proves he can commit to the run teams will send blitz after blitz and continue to fucking rock Jay Cutler.
• The Bears two best offensive plays?  Punt returns and pass interference.  Mike Martz the genius, everybody!

Continue reading “The Bears Are Who We Thought They Were - Seahawks 23, Bears 20” »