By Steve Rhodes

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me a million times and I must be a Bears fan.
It’s easy to bask in the glow of this one, but don’t forget: Jay Cutler is still Jay Cutler. The reason he’s so frustrating is that he has games like this in between games like that.
What we witnessed on Sunday was every bit the Same Old Jay as last week, when he seemed to have finally been abandoned even by the Cutler dead-enders.
If Jay was a Seinfeld episode, he’d be this one:

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Posted on October 13, 2014

By Mike Luce

1. Mississippi State.
All of Starkville celebrated a dominant win by its newly minted #1 Bulldogs over SEC West powerhouse Auburn. Lou Holtz brought the cowbell.

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Posted on October 13, 2014

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

Mercurial and mysterious. Plus: The Swagger Of Patrick Kane And Dougie McBuckets & Theo Epstein’s Latest FAIL.

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Posted on October 10, 2014

By Mike Luce

We’re jealous of Condoleezza Rice’s weekend schedule. Rice told ESPN that she watches 14 or 15 games every week, including live games on Saturday and recordings on Sunday.
She must start early. As the point person on the College Football Playoff committee for the Big Ten and Conference USA, she’s watching games that kick off at noon eastern though she lives on the West Coast.
We hope she’s perfected her kegs ‘n’ eggs recipe.

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Posted on October 10, 2014

By Carl Mohrbacher

Fate placed me in Charlotte on Sunday, unfortunately under circumstances which had nothing to do with the Bears.
Oh, there were “bears” involved, but most were not the kind with a capital “B.”
In any case, I’ve found that the road puts you in a weird headspace.
You ask yourself questions; quandaries that normally don’t bubble to the surface within the confines of a normal routine.
Like, how many times can I turn the ball over in the last 500 seconds of a football game before it becomes statically impossible to win?
Or, when you’re presented a “very special offer” on a plane, why is It always a credit card? Why can’t it be muffins?

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Posted on October 10, 2014

By Thomas Chambers

This is the lull before the two-day horse racing storm.
We try to keep our minds clear of all the wiseguy posturing that could lead one to the conclusion that every horse in the 2014 Breeders’ Cup (October 31 – November 1) has an equal chance to win. They don’t, so don’t be confused.
And there are sundry developments in the pitiable world of Thoroughbred horse racing, such as a prominent trainer with yet another drug suspension; Arlington Park bitching and moaning about being foiled again in its mission to monopolize Illinois racing; Shared Belief, one of this year’s racing stars, getting mugged in the Awesome Again Stakes in his final prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic; and the hard-working Wicked Strong is finished for the year.

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Posted on October 10, 2014

By Dan O’Shea

We’ve been paying so much attention to the fact that the ranks of fantasy football running banks have been turned upside down this season that we’ve hardly even discussed how something similar is happening among wide receivers.
Try finding the pre-season No.1 at WR – Calvin Johnson, DET – among the current top 10 fantasy receivers. He isn’t there. Until last week, you would not have found the pre-season No. 2 – Demaryius Thomas, DEN – among the top 10 either, and it took a historic output in Week 5 to get him into the top 10. Then there’s Brandon Marshall – well I won’t repeat what every sportscaster in town has been talking about, but you get the gist.
The list of top five receivers by fantasy points in ESPN PPR leagues after the first five weeks contains some recognizable – but still surprising – names:

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Posted on October 7, 2014

By Jim Coffman

The missed 35-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter might very well have been the worst kick of Robbie Gould’s career in terms of degree of difficulty (ultra-low) and the circumstances. It was as pivotal as Jay Cutler’s brutal interception with his team up three midway through the fourth. Get the field goal there, take a 17-point lead, kick off to Carolina with less than 1:30 left in the second quarter, make them take possession at the 20 at best (without the momentum of a missed opposing field goal) and there would have been a great chance that last Panther drive didn’t happen.
Take the glorious 17-point lead (the one that forces foes to score three times to go back in front) into the second-half and the Bears’ Win Expectancy Rate (I’m just making that up as I sit here but you know what I mean) skyrockets.
But it is tough to slam the kicker for the miss because it is so rare (going into the season Gould had made 86.2 percent of his field goal attempts in his career – the third-best such number in NFL history). The same reasoning is in order regarding Matt Forte’s brutal bobble, given that his overall fumble rate (per carries) has been one of the lowest in the league throughout his career.
Of course, the same does not hold true for Cutler’s second pick and that is why everyone has come crashing down again on the embattled quarterback in the aftermath of the Bears’ discouraging-to-say-the-least 31-24 loss to the Panthers on Sunday.

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Posted on October 6, 2014

By Mike Luce

1. Katy Perry.
Katy Perry appeared on ESPN’s College GameDay bedecked in bizarre football attire and brandishing corndogs. In the pregame, she disrupted Lee Corso’s shtick of donning a mascot’s headgear, gave the Ole Miss mascot a full-body hug, and was spotted chugging beers and bodysurfing in an Oxford bar following the game.

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Posted on October 6, 2014

By Jim Coffman and Steve Rhodes

And it’s really grinding Coach’s gears. Plus: Pondering The Packers, Panthers Prognosis, Jerry’s Kids, All About Jay, Being The Blackhawks, and Bulls Rolling In The Deep.

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Posted on October 3, 2014