By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes with Thomas Chambers
The Fox is in. Plus: Trouble In Bulls Paradise; The Blackhawks Remain A Delight; Super Bowl Bound; Coach On Kogan; and Our Man On The Line.
Posted on January 16, 2015
SportsMonday: League Blames Cutler
By Jim Coffman
Editor’s Note: Listen to Jim talk sports with Rick Kogan on WGN-AM this morning between 10:15 and noon.
Reports have it that Marc Trestman had interviewed for the offensive coordinator job in Tampa Bay and has either done the same or plans to do the same in Atlanta (although presumably the head coach has to be hired there first), Jacksonville and Cleveland. And then the rumor over the weekend was that new head coach Rex Ryan wanted the man to take the job in Buffalo.
All of this does not exactly bode well for a potential Jay Cutler trade.
It would appear that a whole lot of people are not spreading around the blame for the Bears’ brutal flame-out in 2014. They are putting it on one guy. And that guy isn’t the coach.
Posted on January 12, 2015
The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #33: The Bears’ Two And A Half Men Make Their Move
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes with Thomas Chambers
George & Ted’s Half-Assed Adventure. Plus: Spelling Derrick Rose Without The ‘D’; The NFL Playoff Spread; South Side Cubs; and The Blackhawks Are Who We Thought They Were.
Posted on January 9, 2015
SportsMonday: Considering Cutler
By Jim Coffman
If Jay Cutler quarterbacks the Bears this coming season, it means only one thing. It means the Bears are another season further away from a championship.
And if a general manger or coaching candidate tells George McCaskey that he can be the guy to get the most out of Jay Cutler, that guy should be removed from consideration immediately.
Posted on January 5, 2015
The Beachwood Radio Sports Hour #32: The Bears Have Already Blown It
By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes with Thomas Chambers
George and Ted’s not-so-excellent adventure. Plus: Bucks, Ducks And College Programs Giving No Fucks; The True Story Of Costa Rica’s Weird-Ass Bullfights; Wild Card Weakend, and The Hero of 2015.
Posted on January 2, 2015
The College Football Report Bowl Preview Pt. 5: Katy Perry Still No. 1
By Mike Luce
The bowl season rolls on.
Rose Bowl Game Presented by Northwestern Mutual (National Championship Semifinal)
#2 Oregon Ducks 59 vs. #3 Florida State Seminoles 20
Allstate Sugar Bowl (National Championship Semifinal)
#1 Alabama Crimson Tide 35 vs. #4 Ohio State Buckeyes 42
The inaugural championship playoff format gave us two, or possibly 1.5, good games on New Year’s Day. To the relief of many (and disappointment of contrarians), the system functioned as designed by sorting out the best two of the top four teams. Looking back at the Rose and Sugar Bowls, there’s no question Oregon and Ohio State proved they belong in the national championship.
Florida State looked overmatched and Alabama looked out of place. Substituting Alabama for Florida State would likely have yielded the same result, as Oregon looked capable of playing tough enough on defense to limit scoring opportunities and too fast and too skilled on offense to bow out against even top-ranked Ds. The national championship game will resolve the flip side of the same question by pairing up Oregon and Ohio State. As a marketing scheme, the format will undoubtedly succeed as well, as discussion of the upcoming championship will dominate sports coverage for nearly two weeks.
Posted on January 2, 2015
The College Football Report Bowl Preview Pt. 4: Winner, Winner, Cricket Dinner
By Mike Luce
Our inimitable bowl coverage continues.
Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl
#9 Ole Miss Rebels (9-3) vs. #6 TCU Horned Frogs (11-1)
December 31, 11:30 a.m.
Georgia Dome, Atlanta
Another in the Poultry Playoff Series, the Peach Bowl features two one-time contenders. Ole Miss went through a terrible four-game stretch late in the season, bracketed by impressive wins over #3 Alabama and (more importantly) #4 Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl. The games in between included losses to #24 LSU, #3 Auburn, and (most damning) unranked Arkansas, which dropped the Rebs from playoff contention. An unbeaten TCU team would also have been playing for all the marbles but for a three-point defeat to #5 Baylor.
Why watch?
For an answer, do not turn to Yahoo! Answers. A Yahoo! search for “peach bowl why watch” returns, among other front-page results, a series of compelling reasons in response to “Why isn’t my crested gecko eating independantly?!?!?”
Posted on December 31, 2014
Browns’ Andrew Hawkins Explains Why He Wore A ‘Justice For Tamir Rice And John Crawford’ T-Shirt
‘My Heart Was Broken For The Parents’
“I was taught that justice is a right that every American should have. Also justice should be the goal of every American. I think that’s what makes this country. To me, justice means the innocent should be found innocent. It means that those who do wrong should get their due punishment. Ultimately, it means fair treatment. So a call for justice shouldn’t offend or disrespect anybody. A call for justice shouldn’t warrant an apology.
Posted on December 30, 2014
The College Football Report Bowl Preview Pt. 3: Koozies For Floozies
By Mike Luce
To get us caught up, a number of football games took place on Saturday. Take our word for it. There are box scores and everything. Here is a rundown on the few remaining bowls prior to a full slate beginning New Years Eve:
AutoZone Liberty Bowl
Texas A&M Aggies (7-5) vs. West Virginia Mountaineers (7-5)
December 29, 1 p.m.
Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium, Memphis
Someone will win the day in Memphis, carrying the team to victory in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium to win the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, brought to you by AutoZone.
Posted on December 29, 2014
SportsMonday: Son Of Buddy Next?
By Jim Coffman
First and foremost, the McCaskeys are fans. George is the chairman of the Bears and his mom Virginia, the daughter of George Halas who will turn 92 on January 5th, is always referred to as “the matriarch,” whatever that means. But despite their titles, they are fans through and through.
And as such, they had to be feeling all the same things the diehards were feeling as this Bears season went so incredibly wrong these last few months.
They had to be feeling that they could not possibly watch one more delusional Marc Trestman press conference. They had to be feeling revulsion as Phil Emery gave a clueless interview Sunday in which he seemed completely convinced he would carry on despite all that has happened.
And finally, leading up to the news today that the coach and the general manager have both been fired, the McCaskeys had to be feeling that for the first time in the franchise’s 95-year history, ownership simply couldn’t care how much it all cost. They concluded that they couldn’t have these guys in charge of the NFL’s charter franchise for even one more day.
Posted on December 29, 2014