By Andrew Golden and Carl Mohrbacher

Blue: Reports are that Jay Cutler both knew his name and found his way to the plane after Sunday night’s game. That and the fact that the defense looked tough for three-fourths of the game are about the only positives that can be found from the Bears 17-3 ass-whupping at the hands of the New York Giants. The offensive line didn’t get off the bus, which made the passing attack as non-existent as the run game, which not only didn’t get off the bus but doesn’t appear to believe it has to get on the bus to get to the game. Ever. But I’m here to drink the Blue Kool-Aid of Bear love, so this might be a very quick installment.
However, before I get to the positives, I have to ask a small question: Did Jerry Angelo not realize – and does he still not realize – that no matter how fast you get the ball out of the quarterback’s hands, he does need to have a few seconds with which to work as he looks for a receiver?
When he was on his feet, as opposed to on his ass or back, Cutler either couldn’t find an open receiver or was waiting to be pummeled and inwardly bracing himself for the next hit. Never before did you feel so much like the quarterback’s inner clock was tuned to “oh shit oh shit oh shit!” instead of knowing that he had to get the ball out about three seconds ago.

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Posted on October 6, 2010

By Dan O’Shea

The top six picks in most fantasy league drafts this year were some combination of the following:
* Chris Johnson, RB, Tennessee
* Maurice Jones-Drew, RB, Jacksonville
* Adrian Peterson, RB, Minnesota
* Michael Turner, RB, Atlanta
* Frank Gore, RB, San Francisco
* Ray Rice, RB, Baltimore
The order may have varied from draft to draft, but the names didn’t. Now, going into Week 5, none of those players is among the top 10 fantasy performers, with the borderline exception of Peterson, who is probably the one guy on that list who was expected to see a slight drop-off this year.

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Posted on October 6, 2010

By Jim Coffman

Anyone still believe it matters whether Mike Tice is a good offensive line coach? He could be the Bill Walsh of line coaches but if the guys he coaches don’t have it, they don’t have it and nothing the coach says will make a significant difference. And that is why the Bears gave up an outrageous nine first-half sacks on their way to a worrisome 17-3 loss to the New York Giants in New Jersey on Sunday.
This is it, people. No more talking about a new assistant coach making a significant difference for one of our beloved teams. Maybe we should repeat it 10 times – you either have the horses or you don’t. You either have players who are strong enough and quick enough and smart enough to play positions well or you don’t. The specific sport, be it football or baseball or whatever, is immaterial.
It doesn’t matter if Rod Marinelli comes in to coach the defensive line or if Mike Tice comes in to coach the offensive line. It doesn’t matter if Rudy Jaramillo joins the Cubs to coach hitting.

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Posted on October 4, 2010

By Andrew Reilly

Did you know that the 2003 White Sox had an eight-game winning streak?
That the 2001 team went 18-9 in June?
That the 1996 team emerged with a winning record against the AL Central?
No, you didn’t and, all told, you probably shouldn’t.
Not because those things weren’t cool at the time, but because in the end they all just became marginal, less-than-representative components of larger, less-than-memorable campaigns.

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Posted on October 4, 2010

By Mike Luce

Some things should be left to the professionals.
Week Four was not the most successful week in the history of The College Football Report. We backed a loser – heavily – and even the Sports Seal took it on the nose, going 2-3 in his picks. This week, we’re going to lick our wounds and give ourselves a bit of a break. We will ramp back up next week. For the moment, we will take some small comfort knowing that in the world of college football, we weren’t the only ones who had an off week.
For an example, let’s turn to our colleagues in television. In all fairness to the suits in the booth, there are a lot of games on TV every weekend. And calling games can’t be easy. The interaction between the play-by-play and color commentator can’t be taken for granted, even when the pair regularly work together. Throw in a virgin color commentator, and well, we think you see where this is going.

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Posted on October 1, 2010

By Thomas Chambers

First of a three-part series.
The memory fades. Pushed further into the past, by more and more open lengths, just as he did to four others on that June day in 1973.
For anyone of an age to have been there, or simply remember the hold he had on America, it’s easy. For all the others, I guess there’s nothing wrong with a major motion picture rekindling the story of Secretariat, aka Big Red.
You’ll get an argument over who’s the best of all time, sometimes just for the obstinacy of it all, but Secretariat is always in the conversation. “Man o’ War! Count Fleet! Citation!”
And then there’s Big Red. Choosing the ridiculous title Secretariat: The Impossible True Story, Disney stays devoted to its own peculiar tablets of storytelling ethics. Sure, I’ll buy into it for the couple of hours it runs, but I’d rather remember the real story. Because it wasn’t impossible.

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Posted on October 1, 2010