Soul

I dunno..... I mean, I agree it should serve as a wakeup call that we need to play at 100% every game, but I'm against this view that the Bears were "lucky" or should have lost the game. When you see a team knifing through an OLine as talented as the Vikes late in the 4th quarter to force a turnover, then witness your offense strike downfield for a TD........that's so far away from luck or good fortune it isn't even funny. Most defenses would have been too gassed to ever considering making a huge play like that in the backfield late in the 4th. Heck, most teams would have been too deflated PERIOD after the Grossman INT. Vikes are a definite playoff contending team in my book. You waltz up there and beat them, in their house, with that crowd? That's some serious football right there. We're going to destroy those guys in December @ Soldier Field.

I hope the Bears are ready for that... I think the biggest difference is, you can't audible in a stadium like the Seahawks have because of the noise level. So the Giants really had no chance. We'll be able to audible next week. Now----whether or not Rex is ready and able to make those audibles? That's a different story entirely.

Benson...spewing the typical 'hasn't proved anything' veteran 'you don't know unless you've played' crap with vicious vitriol about a callers suggestion that Benson be given moreof a shot. I fear that Benson will never gain the favor of this team, and Hampton was doing his part to ensure that. just let the holdout go and see what the guy can do. What's the deal with Hampton? He's picked against the Bears all 3 games so far this year, now he's spewing crap about players? Put down the bottle, Danimal.

They gave up 37 points to the 5th best team in the Big 10. I'm tempering my enthusiasm a bit.

"10 Ways to Blow a Big Lead," by Drew Stanton. A sure-fire best seller 8)

First time I read that I missed "one of". It's gonna be hard for him to ever reach Lawrence Taylor in my book. But I think he can end up in the Derrick Thomas class, and probably a notch below Derrick Brooks at the OLB position. There are some pretty good MLBs that I don't think he will catch either, Ray Lewis, Singletary and others. And I was one of the people that thought Merriman was severely overrated last year. He was not a pro-bowler to me, but definitely showed enough flashes to warrant it. Now it would be a crime if he's not there each of the next 10 years. Still, he's the 2nd best OLB on his own team! Shaun Phillips on the other side is a star! Merriman's alright. I'll give SD Hillenmeyer for him. How do you like my chances? :mrgreen:

Clearly the refs are out to get Notre Dame. What are your thoughts on the personal foul on Trannon? I didn't see it, but nothing I said would change your guys' mind anyway since you all think the media and the refs all love the Irish. Suffice it to say if you had seen it, you probably would have thought better of making the case that the refs are against ND :wink: Just saying......it was a total rape by the refs of MSU. Right in front of the MSU alumni, too.

Now Quinn's got to stage a huge passing-attack comeback in gale-force winds.

Whoa. Rapid deterioration of weather conditions!

The fabled momentum swing. That pendulum......she's a swingin'

Holy blown coverages Batman. ND strikes back, 31-21 MSU.

We need to make a Bear fan out of you in the worst way. Come on, release your inner growl 8)

Really? I'm probably the most hopeless Bear fan on the planet. But what exactly did we win last year? I'm certainly not satisfied with a division championship and a quick, unceremonious exit from the playoffs. The deficiencies of the Bears last year eventually caught up with us, and we lost. Turns out, those Bear fans were right, IMO. Good to see we have some offense this year, because if we play Carolina with this offense? We don't go 3-and-out every possession of the 1st quarter and get down 13 points before we can blink. And the secondary....jury's still out, but I like our position at safety and our depth overall better now. Hopefully that all plays out and we continue with those strengths-----put teams down early and dare them to try and come back against our defense. That's more of a formula for Super Bowl success than last year's "we can't score, but neither can you" philosophy. Believe me. Because good teams in big games? Often times, yes they will score. And sometimes you just have to be able to match fire with fire when that happens. Ironically enough, we didn't lose because of those deficiencies. We lost because our defense picked the wrong game to lay an egg. Agreed. However, it could be argued that despite the offense putting up 21 points, they failed to move the ball for most of the first half and eventually, Grossman showed his lack of experience with the #1 crew by throwing an untimely INT late in the game that sealed the deal. ....and I did mention the defensive backfield, which most astute Bear fans realized was a weakness once Mike Brown went down.

Really? I'm probably the most hopeless Bear fan on the planet. But what exactly did we win last year? I'm certainly not satisfied with a division championship and a quick, unceremonious exit from the playoffs. look at the context of my statement and put 2 and 2 together. I for one didn't think the Bears would make the playoffs until after beating Tampa on the road, despite beating Carolina the week before. I think alot of Bears fans would have agreed. and I am having a difficult time reconciling your statements. are you a hopeless Bears fan or are you an unsatisfied Bears fan? if you thought the Bears were hopeless, shouldn't you at least be somewhat satisfied with winning the division? or is it just a case of wanting to bitch no matter what happens? for clarification, the difference is Bears fans didn't think their 'make no mistake' quarterback play was going to get them to the playoffs until late in the season. thus, most Bears fans were wrong as the Bears did in fact get into the post season, with the second best record in the NFC. the fact that you consider the division championship irrelevant or apparently 'not getting it done' has nothing to do with my point, and your interjection inexplicable. I think you're having trouble reconciling my statements because you're having trouble picking up the correct meaning of them. Hopeless Bear fan = HUGE Bear fan. Any Bear fan for life, like myself, should not be satisfied with winning a division and then getting raped in the playoffs. Sorry, but I use colorful language sometimes and that's just not going to change.

"How to Throw Away a Football Game," by S. Moore DB, UK.

No Defense

Never thought a Charlie Weis team would lay down, but I can't think of a better way to describe this. Quinn: most mentally fragile QB in the country. Guy can't throw so much as a screen pass right now.

Might need to have an alternate closer waiting in the wings, though. If his arm can't handle the pounding having 5 days of rest, how will it handle having to pitch, say, every day for 3 days and then another 2 after 1 day of rest in between? That's the life of a closer at times. Not that I don't want him. Just saying.

@ NY, I believe.

my thoughts exactly. I agree in principle, but I struggle to conceive of how a new owner could perform much worse than the Trib in terms of on-field performance of the ballclub under their tenure. The Trib has definitely done a fantastic job at preserving the Cub history, making Wrigley one of the most sought-after sports destinations in the world, and generally promoting the team nationwide. I'd sacrifice a good portion of that for a Championship though.

Really? I'm probably the most hopeless Bear fan on the planet. But what exactly did we win last year? I'm certainly not satisfied with a division championship and a quick, unceremonious exit from the playoffs. The deficiencies of the Bears last year eventually caught up with us, and we lost. Turns out, those Bear fans were right, IMO. Good to see we have some offense this year, because if we play Carolina with this offense? We don't go 3-and-out every possession of the 1st quarter and get down 13 points before we can blink. And the secondary....jury's still out, but I like our position at safety and our depth overall better now. Hopefully that all plays out and we continue with those strengths-----put teams down early and dare them to try and come back against our defense. That's more of a formula for Super Bowl success than last year's "we can't score, but neither can you" philosophy. Believe me. Because good teams in big games? Often times, yes they will score. And sometimes you just have to be able to match fire with fire when that happens.

Watching this PSU / OSU game, I'm not sure if I'm seeing OSU play bad or PSU play good. I think it's a little of both. Penn St.'s defense looks pretty good. OSU seems to be starting to take control now though.

Dunno. What's the alternate they are showing?

I understand your point. This year though----there's got to be a drop in revenue. Those stands are looking pretty empty these days. Who knows how many hot dogs are going cold, replica jerseys remaining unsold.....advertisers complaining about the dropping viewership. Trib will never tell us. But some of that has to be happening. Fan interest in this team has dropped through the floor this year.

Yes, I think it would take some time to complete a deal. I'm just doubting that the GM/Managerial situation would hurt the chances of selling the team. I mean, the Cubs are already real bad on the field. Any buyer is going to know this coming in. Any additional value the Cubs might have garnered by being a winning franchise has got to be out the window at this point anyway. So you muddle along for 6 months before you can mandate wholesale changes.......I don't see that as a real deterrant when you're talking about a possible lifetime commitment.