Week 15: Bears vs. Tampa Bay - Sunday Dec 17, 12 pm CST

[Soul]

I just emailed Greg Couch about his article:

 

Greg,

 

Tank's situation is completely different from the Carmelo situation. That was a situation that took place on the court, spilled into the fans (however briefly) and was televised mayhem that was replayed on Sportscenter countless times. Tank's situation is something that took place in his private life. The guns he owned were registered in Arizona apparently, and rumor has it that the charges may even be dropped. The bad guy here was Willie Posey. He's the one that apparently took a shot at a dog in the backyard, had drugs on him, and got himself into an altercation that got himself killed. Tank's guilt here is by association with a problem guy. And he's supposed to be kicked off the team for that? The Bears did the right thing. Tank had legal troubles twice before, and he should have shown better judgment the night after the raid and not gone out. No question. I think the death of his friend and 2 games off is enough punishment, don't you?

 

Comparing this to the NBA, a league that gives you Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Rasheed Wallace, Jason Kidd, Kwame Brown, Stephon Marbury, Eddie Griffen, Jermaine O'neal, DeShawn Stevenson, Jason Richardson, Joe Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, Chris Webber, Ron Mercer and Chancy Billups…all players with arrest records ranging from rape to drug possession to domestic battery, is just funny to me.

 

That's cool. I'm still angry at Tank for making himself a distraction, but now that the facts are coming out little by little, it's starting to look more like he was just unable to sever a friendship that was poisonous to him and his career.

 

I can certainly understand this. It's difficult, but you have to part ways with bad people. But----I don't think people should be thrown down the toilet because they have a close friend who is trouble. It's a hard situation for everyone involved.

 

From now on, Tank, please no more guns. That is all.

[Banedon]

I just sent this email to him:

 

Peter,

 

How could you possibly be so ignorant to rate a team thats THREE GAMES WORSE above the Bears? I normally don't give much credence to rankings, but this lack of respect for the Bears is appalling.

 

Did you just look at the final score and just assume that the Bears suck? I don't get it. We had 4 defensive starters injured, and three Pro Bowlers. Our safety was third string. Maybe if you did a little research, you would see that if our secondary didn't get burned as bad as it did, which it wouldn't have if we had Vasher and Johnson in there, we would have won handily.

 

Obviously you can't watch all 16 games in a weekend, but I would figure you'd at least do a little research when you are going to rate a 9-5 team ahead of a 12-2 team from the same conference. Especially when the 9-5 team is coming off a deflating loss and the 12-2 team has done nothing but win 5 out of the last 6 games (with the one loss coming on the road to a good 10-4 Patriots squad by 4 points). Peter stop being so ignorant.

 

From his Tuesday column:

 

WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE BEARS RIGHT NOW? From Pankaj Chhabra, of St. Louis: "Do you honestly think that New Orleans is better than the Bears? Can you please explain your rationale for this, because from where I sit the Saints have lost more than two times the number of games the Bears have lost.''

 

Without Tank Johnson, Tommie Harris and Mike Brown, the Bears have been diminished a lot. Giving up 30 points, at home, to one of the worst offenses in the game played a major role in my thinking. At this point of the season, I'm not much for looking at records as the major arbiter of the Fine 15. I'm into how a team is playing. And what exactly are the Bears right now? I don't know.

[goonys evil twin]

From his Tuesday column:

 

I'm into how a team is playing. And what exactly are the Bears right now? I don't know.

 

What does that even mean? They are a football team that has been in cruise control because of how thoroughly they dominated the conference this year. They haven't played at their peak in every game, but they've won 3 straight, and only 2 teams have won more consecutive games. They have the largest PF-PA differential in the league. They've beaten playoff contenders at home and on the road, have come from behind, blown teams out and everything in between.

 

What are they? They are clearly the best team in the NFC, that's what they are.

[RynoRules]

From his Tuesday column:

 

I'm into how a team is playing. And what exactly are the Bears right now? I don't know.

 

What does that even mean? They are a football team that has been in cruise control because of how thoroughly they dominated the conference this year. They haven't played at their peak in every game, but they've won 3 straight, and only 2 teams have won more consecutive games. They have the largest PF-PA differential in the league. They've beaten playoff contenders at home and on the road, have come from behind, blown teams out and everything in between.

 

What are they? They are clearly the best team in the NFC, that's what they are.

 

Most important point of your post. They find ways to win even when they aren't clicking on all cylinders. Good teams don't have to be playing their best to win every game.

[Soul]

From his Tuesday column:

 

I'm into how a team is playing. And what exactly are the Bears right now? I don't know.

 

What does that even mean? They are a football team that has been in cruise control because of how thoroughly they dominated the conference this year. They haven't played at their peak in every game, but they've won 3 straight, and only 2 teams have won more consecutive games. They have the largest PF-PA differential in the league. They've beaten playoff contenders at home and on the road, have come from behind, blown teams out and everything in between.

 

What are they? They are clearly the best team in the NFC, that's what they are.

 

Most important point of your post. They find ways to win even when they aren't clicking on all cylinders. Good teams don't have to be playing their best to win every game.

 

How can he say the Bears should be ranked poorly becuase of how they are playing, when the Saints just lost to a terrible team and we won?

 

How are the Saints playing then? Worse than the Bears. He makes no sense whatsoever.