Chicago -
By Carl Mohrbacher
No point in mincing words, this offensive scheme was silly and I completely blame it for the Bears not winning the division.
I blame it like I blame Animal’s cocaine habit for breaking up Dr. Teeth And The Electric Mayhem.
I blame it like I blame John Wilkes Booth for ruining the third act of Our American Cousin.
I blame it like I blame Scott Bakula for . . . well, he knows why we can’t visit Rochester again.
Posted on January 3, 2013
By Roger Wallenstein
The holiday lunch table conversation – replete with juicy burgers, greasy fries, and my wimpy chicken Caesar wrap – covered a variety of topics, starting with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa and the Steroids Era. Should these mopes gain entrance into the Hall of Fame when the balloting is announced on January 9th?
We all know the answer to this one, yet it continues to occupy our attention. My two pals, Bill and Doug, like myself, are in their 60s, and none of us made the case to let any of the denounced athletes into the sacred bastion. However, the cases of Bonds and Clemens, both of whom had Hall of Fame numbers prior to ramping up their games and extending their careers with PEDs, at least merit discussion.
Posted on January 1, 2013
By Mike Luce
Happy New Year, college football fans. Take advantage of the bargains on offer today and start the New Year right. With a little luck, you might offset the cost of the O-bombs, cab fares and/or escorts from December 31. For fun, we suggest a four-team parlay: Oklahoma State, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida State. At 10-1, the payoff could be one hell of a kickoff. That said, our selections thus far in bowl season have been ludicrously bad. But we feel the Free Range Chicken is due for a comeback.
Game: TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl
Time: Tuesday, January 1, ESPN2, Noon (Everbank Field, Jacksonville)
Teams: Mississippi State Bulldogs (8-4, 4-4 SEC) vs. #20 Northwestern Wildcats (9-3, 5-3 Big Ten)
How they got here: The Bulldogs treaded water again in the SEC. Under head coach Dan Mullen, Mississippi State has gone 29-21 overall including back-to-back postseason wins, crushing Michigan 52-14 in the 2010 Gator Bowl, followed by a 23-17 win over Wake Forest in the Music City Bowl. Wins in-conference have been harder to come by, and Mullen’s squad has only posted a 13-19 record since 2009.
Posted on January 1, 2013
By Mike Luce
The bowl season rolls on. We’re on it.
Game: Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl
Time: Monday, December 31, ESPN, Noon (LP Field, Nashville)
Teams: NC State Wolfpack (7-5, 4-4 ACC) vs. Vanderbilt Commodores (8-4, 5-3 SEC)
How they got here: Vandy head coach James Franklin, now in his second season, endured a tiresome interview process before scoring the job. Franklin’s squad bears little resemblance to the doormats of past years.
Posted on December 31, 2012
By Steve Rhodes
The news broke, as it does these days, on Twitter.
First, that Lovie was out.
Second, that before the Bears had even made the announcement – still hadn’t as of 10:30 a.m. – word leaked out this way:
Whoa: Bears have sent out consent forms requesting permission to interview head-coaching candidates.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) December 31, 2012
–
Oy.
Let’s see what various Chicago personalities are saying.
Posted on December 31, 2012
By Mike Luce
Bowl season rolls on. We’re on top of it.
Game: Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl
Time: Saturday, December 29, ESPN, 11:45 a.m. (Amon Carter Stadium, Fort Worth)
Teams: Rice Owls (6-6, 4-4 C-USA) vs. Air Force Falcons (6-6, 5-3 MWC)
How they got here: We were going to say something obnoxious about the Falcons arriving by helicopter, but does the Air Force fly choppers or only planes? Somehow, we have a mental image of Top Gun-types pooh-poohing the idea of flying a helicopter. Real men fly jets, that sort of thing. Those that can’t hack it can either push paper or fix helicopters. But with costs for next generation choppers topping out at seven figures each, we doubt the Air Force hands the stick over to any hacks.
Posted on December 29, 2012
By Mike Luce
Bowl season rolls on. We’re on it.
Game: AdvoCare V100 Independence Bowl
Time: Friday, December 28, ESPN, 2 p.m. (Independence Stadium, Shreveport)
Teams: Ohio Bobcats (8-4, 4-4 MAC) vs. Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (8-4, 6-2 Sun Belt)
How they got here: College Football Report darling Ohio U. suffered a sharp drop-off, losing four of their last five after starting 7-0. Opponents figured out that the Bobcats folded under an aggressive pass rush and brought the pressure. OU yielded 22 sacks in the four final losses of the season, limiting the effectiveness of star QB Tyler Tettleton.
Posted on December 28, 2012
By Carl Mohrbacher
Thanks Cardinals, you made us feel like we have a Super Bowl-caliber defense and an offense that’s good enough to win. This was like a great party at the end of a marriage that’s been loveless for five years.
They get dressed up, appear at a nice controlled social environment and slap on the charm for a roomful of casual acquaintances. For a few hours, he’s the charmer she fell in love with and she’s lightly touching his arm as she offers to grab him another drink from the bar.
But next week, they’re arguing bitterly about who was supposed to take that bag that’s been sitting in the foyer for the last two goddam weeks to Goodwill or angrily debating whether Lovie Smith’s career record is enough to justify a lame-duck gig in 2013. By this time next year, the papers are signed, the house is split and, because nobody at that party suspected a thing, they all quietly blame Lovie for being such a divisive figure.
Posted on December 26, 2012
By Jim Coffman
Bears fans deserve better than what they’ve received from their team of late. But it isn’t as though they ever really demand even the tiniest of improvements.
That was the thing that struck me as I walked among my fellow fanatics in and around University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, on Sunday.
In the past week there was the predictable response to Brian Urlacher saying he didn’t care what the fans think with commentators slamming the linebacker for biting the hand that feeds him. Then there was the backlash as other commentators argued that fans were fools if they didn’t think that every pro athlete feels the same way to a certain extent.
Now I don’t think fans are fools but I must profess I don’t begin to understand how many of my brethren behave. And that goes back to the whole “never demanding that you be treated better” thing.
Posted on December 24, 2012
By Mike Luce
After a solid regular season, our picks in the first week of bowl season aren’t faring well.
The Chicken opened at 0-2 last week and the remaining pick doesn’t look good. As this is being written, San Diego State is trailing BYU 16-6, meaning the Aztecs need either a touchdown and a field goal; a touchdown and a two-point conversion; a touchdown and a missed extra kick and a safety and/or field goal; two field goals and a safety; one field goal and three safeties; or four safeties to cover.
Posted on December 21, 2012
