Soul

The point is indeed moot, but there's a theoretical/philosophical question here. Would you like to have a 40-year-old Bonds on the Cubs, knowing he's a roid cheat and an amphetamine cheat, but also knowing he could boost the lineup? In short, do you forgive the sins to get the performance? Does the end justify the means? For me, that answer is no. I think there are other ways to build a champion, Bonds hasn't shown that his presence = championships, and the distractions would outweighs the benefits to this ballclub, especially since they're short-term benefits.

Press availability ended today. Where did you see this? I saw him in an interview this morning and he looked alright. Maybe he was just sleepy 8-) It happened today. He said it this morning...they just played the audio clip on the radio. Lovie also shot back at the press when they asked him about the Rex criticism...he more or less responded, "The criticism is what it is, next question." I like it. Hmmmm...I saw the Lovie thing live, and I wouldn't characterize it as "shooting back." He simply declined to answer the question, and that was it.

Press availability ended today. Where did you see this? I saw him in an interview this morning and he looked alright. Maybe he was just sleepy 8-)

You only post it because the Colts won, be honest. I almost posted that I would have done it anyway, but I just can't be sure-at least that prediction has Grossman playing well for you guys. What's the record for Madden in Super Bowl predictions. I thought it was pretty good, but I can't find it.

You only post it because the Colts won, be honest.

I view Hub Arkush as a guy who realized his close affiliation with the Bears would raise eyebrows, so he made a point of finding flaws with the Bears. Unfortunately, many of the so-called flaws he harped on week after week were simply normal areas of concern that almost every team deals with: very young at certain positions, QB isn't a bona-fide superstar, injuries reduce effectiveness on the field, unproven coach, etc etc. They kind of came back to bite him, and now he's lost a lot of credibility in many people's eyes. He's a victim of his own desire to appear unbiased, to a degree.

Yeah, but they got very little in return. I think Jones is just waiting for a chance to interview Ron Rivera. I haven't seen anything but rumors with no credible source that he's really going to try to pry Lovie loose. Though I'm sure he would love to have him coaching the Cowboys, I'm sure there are plenty of teams who would, now that they realize he's capable of coaching a Super Bowl contender.

Really, it was Hub who was fanning the flames on that one. BTW - I can't say I'd be completely disappointed if Lovie went to the Cowboys for multiple first rounders and Rivera took over as head coach. Of course, I'd love to keep Lovie around. But in the NFL, multiple first round picks are huge. Just for sake of discussion...Imagine adding 4 first round talents to this team in the next two years. Of course, one or more could always bust. How did that work out for the Raiders? I think that's a disastrous idea. It doesn't suprise me to hear Hub Arkush thinks its a good one.....he's another guy who has been wrong about Lovie and wrong about this team the entire time. Several interviews this morning, aired on NFL Network. Long interview session with Lovie. Talked about his coaching philosophy, brushed off criticism of Rex, talked about family back home... Urlacher took the stand, wiping his eyes every few seconds like he just got out of bed (it was, after all, 6am in Florida)----reiterated he doesn't think he's in Butkus or Singletary's league yet, says he doesn't feel the need to talk to Rex because he's shown he knows how to get out of a slump and rise to the occasion. Just alot of the same old, same old. I'm ready for the game. I can tell the players are too.

I'm sure Jerry would rather have Lovie. Too bad Lovie would rather have Chicago. He can have Rivera if he wants him after the season is over. That would be a dream job for Chico.

From Ben Maller. I know wins don't count for much, but that's just frightening. I'd be quite ready to expect a bad season if I was a Cards fan. There's just no question. Brewers are better right now. I think Houston's better too, and the Cubs. By all rights the Cards should be finishing 4th in the Central this year.

They've been tossing him the ball out of the backfield a bit too. I'm liking that. Oh yes, despite the scouting reports, Benson can catch...

:-k Hmmm.....I think he's close to TJ at this point. I've been watching; there doesn't seem to be all that much difference.

That Pats D has to be blamed too. For most of the 2nd half they simply couldn't stop any play. There's no doubt if Peyton can get the time and find his open receivers, he's going to whoop up on pretty much any team. If the Bears let him stand back there and find open guys all over the field like that, we're going to get plastered, too. That's why he'll be in the hall of fame. He's a great QB, no question. If, on the other hand, we can limit the points and stop a few big plays from happening, maybe then we can have a chance.

Love the Brookfield Zoo photo. 8-)

Yes, I'm fairly resigned to the idea that the Colts are going to get their yards against us. I'm confused and worried about that Colts run defense. Has there ever been a run D so bad that suddenly got so good? I can't figure it. Can't just be Sanders. What's Dungy been feeding those boys? We'll need to run on Mr. Sanders and his suddenly solid run D or else obviously we will lose the football game.

NO!! Can't be true! You totally photoshpped that, admit it! :wink:

You're right. I forgot about the DLine rotation because it doesn't seem to be tied to nickel vs. base. I imagine they'll start with the standard package Ogun-Tank-Scott-Brown, and then sub in Mark Anderson on certain drives along with Boone. The one thing I could see happening is, if Indy limits our ability to sub on the fly you might not see Idonije in the game at all.

I'm going to shamlessly bump my own post, only because I was silly enough to post it at 1:30 in the morning, and don't want it to get buried with only 1 or 2 responses. I really would like to know what defensive alignment Bears fans think they should stay in most of the time, and how they match up with the Colts in that particular alignment. The Colts don't allow anyone to substitute often. But the Bears really don't play that way anyway. We stick with our base defenses, or just run nickel, and then key off that for everything else. The Bears are fairly equal in effectiveness between their nickel and base packages. The only difference you will see personnel-wise is, in nickel Ricky Manning Jr. will be on the field, and the base package has Hunter Hillenmeyer. RMJ is basically a rough-guy, not a real good cover CB (that's why he's nickel) but he hits very hard. Hillenmeyer isn't the toughest linebacker, but his coverage is alright. Either way, we can key off those packages and run whatever we want, so I'm not sure this is the key you are thinking it is. Here's the key in my view: our safeties suck. Sometimes they do alright, but alot of times they're late in over-the-top coverage, and they don't stick in run support all that well (that's why the dropoff in defensive efficiency can be traced to Mike Brown's injury more than Tommie Harris). I think if Manning can call the plays that exploit our weakness at safety, he can get us going backwards. If he can't, I don't think the nickel vs. base package is going to help all that much.

And so she takes this non-football related social agenda of hers, and heads for Miami to push it on everyone else, and we don't care. Lame. Reporters who make themselves and their agendas the story: LAME.

Well, there are a few factors, nothing REAL big. * I have been a Dish Network customer for about 6 years, now - and I have been extremely happy. * I am locked into some pretty good deals with Dish Network. * There is a totally different channel scheme between the two dishes. This is a problem that would go away when we learn all the new channels, but after years of knowing where to go, it would be a royal pain in the arse to relearn hundreds of channels. * DirecTV has already served me a BAD taste. They called me telling me lies like Dish Network was shutting down, and I would never get a deal like the one they were offering me. I asked them if they could give me all of the programming I had with DN, plus the EI package that I had already paid for - and they said absolutely. The DirecTV contractors came out and took down our old dishes and put in theirs, then when they called in to activate the service, the DirecTV operator told me that my monthly bill would be almost $30 MORE per month, and I had to pay for the EI package AGAIN if I wanted it with them. We got the original salesman on the phone, and he crawfished - then admitted to offering me those rates (even though it was impossible). I told them "no deal" and made the contractors pull down the DirecTV stuff and reinstall my DishNetwork stuff. Quite the ordeal. I did tip the contractor for all his work, though. Wasn't his fault. Believe me, I will give switching a good look regardless. Whoa. That's bad news man. You actually had some DirecTV salesman on the phone telling lies about package pricing? Wow. I had no idea anything like that was going on. Strange, too. DirecTV doesn't really need Dish subscribers that badly. They already far outpace them in sales. I looked at the Dish network channel lineups once, and discovered I couldn't get the channels I wanted without going with a higher-priced package. That + the fact that DirecTV offers Sunday Ticket clinched it for me. I've never had any of these issues some are reporting here. In fact, the service I personally have received has been far, far better than the Time Warner guys and the Charter guys I dealt with.

BTW, if you woke up and turned on your usual TV channel to get your Today show fix or Good Morning America, you missed a bunch of live Bears interviews on NFL Network. Lovie, Grossman, Urlacher, and Moose were all on-----this time I think it was largely sports media because the questions at least made sense. Nice way to wake up before work 8-)

In Bill Simmons' column today (well, it's not a column but rather just a bunch of photos) he made a comment about how easy it is to get a pass for media day. He said that Jimmy Kimmel live decided to send a couple of the American Idol rejects to media day. Simmons didn't say anything about them singing with Rex Grossman but he said they forced Adam Vinatieri sing "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" with them. I see. Kimmel's resorting to "Howard Stern" type tactics now. Lame.

What was the deal with those fools singing take me out to the ballgame to Rex? They didn't look like reporters to me. Looked like Colts fans trying to get into Rex's head.

Respect is gained when they kick your ass. :lol: He said he thought the Bears were still the best defense in the NFL even without Tommie Harris :) He did say it was a huge loss though.

That actually sounds like a good idea to try, if you have a laptop or easy connectivity between your comp & TV.