Soul

Chicago might just be the town of the Q. Throw my hat in the ring.

There were Beasley supporters. Sooo glad we didn't go that way.

Makes sense now. Heck, I wish there had been more of this stuff. Makes it fun. Especially the Jets & Steelers. These two teams should be in an all out media war right now.

That's because Martz was a stubborn fool in several games throwing the ball way too much. Eh, the number of attempts are pretty similar though. A few more for the Packers, not many. I think the Bears are going to need to run effectively to realistically have a hope of winning. So I hope we've solved any early season issues and can reliably give Forte the rock and have him pick up yards. If Cutler has to throw and the Packers know he has to throw -- well, I don't want to think about what might happen in that scenario.

Probably being challenged way more because there's no one else to worry about. Harder shots to make because they aren't open shots.

Doesn't Gayle Sayers pretty much have a feud going with everyone? No offense to The Comet, but God he's got to be a nightmare to try to get along with. He's like Jersey & NG put together, with a dash of HCCF thrown in for good measure.

LOL. So true.

'70s, and early '80s too. From a Bears perspective, I remember things like "They sent the wrong Armstrong to the Moon" signs, bags over people's heads, freezing in the cold lamenting Avellini tossing another pass into the ground at the receiver's feet. Only Payton brought us any joy -- his greatness was magnified by the sheer ineptitude of the rest of the team. People were crazy for the '85 Bears team. Yes, there was a sense of destiny, but also a real sense that if they blew it, there would be no other chance. That was IT -- the one chance to be more than losers. This is really great, with the Packers rivalry and all. But even if this Bears team were to win the Super Bowl it just won't rise to the level that the '85 team did. I think for that to happen, the Bears would have to establish themselves as a dynasty -- win it more than once under Lovie, or someone else. That's the only way a Bears team could eclipse the '85 squad in my mind. Because that's the one thing they failed to do.

The whole area was still on a collective high from 85/86 to care as much about 88. I think you are completely overlooking the have never been there, haven't been there in a generation aspect that made those games huge. People think of the January 86 playoff games as formalities now, but that is not how they were at the time. After the loss in Miami, people were thrown for a loop. Doubt definitely crept in. And again, it was the first one ever in a depressingly title starved city. There were no Bulls rings to fall back on, there was no Stanley Cup. There were a couple of miserable failures by the White Sox and Cubs in the early 80's, and nothing. And nobody assumed anything with the Rex Grossman Bears. They were the most talented team, but the outcome was very much in doubt. Regardless, the level of confidence doesn't change the fact that we just did this a couple years ago, but in 85/86 and 06/07, Chicago was coming off very large droughts of football glory - and in the case of 85/86 any glory at all. It's tough, but what I remember about 85/86 was more intense than what I'm seeing now. And I think that's saying something, given that there wasn't the flood of media that there is today.

Your President has spoken: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/01/obama-predicts-chicago-bears-will-win-20-17/1

If the Jets win we're sure to be treated to a long piece on Fireman Ed. Be sure to set your DVRs. And there will probably be more opportunities for Namath to embarrass himself. If the Steelers win it will probably be a recycling of all the stories we've already heard. So from a pre-game perspective, the Jets will be more interesting!

Hehe.

I never really thought about comparing Jay Cutler and Ben Roethlisberger. That's weird but I guess his points make sense. I think Jay has a better arm though and relies on it. He was careful to qualify his comments about Rodgers, but I still think he failed to recognize how much Rodgers can/will make plays with his legs. I guess that isn't all that unusual though. I did find the comparison between Cutler/Roeth to be a little strange, as well. I don't see the two as very similar. Anyway -- I'm getting amped up for this weekend. I think we've got 2 really good games to watch, with some great matchups and a lot of great fan support for all 4 teams. Should be a lot of fun. The NFL is awesome.

+1 I don't know how many people I have seen/heard already counting their 7th SB. Not a single one of them thought they could beat NE. Steelers & Packer fans are the same in that regard, IMO. Steeler fans probably even more so than Packer fans. I've heard many comments coming from both camps -- they feel like the championship games are a foregone conclusion. I think NE fans thought the same. That place was a morgue. Those people obviously had never even considered that the Jets might win the game.

What do you expect them to show all day? It's the same thing with all of the league networks. They have to fill the crappy time slots and the offseasons with something. Not complaining about what NFL shows, just about people who shun anyone that watches ESPN at any time. I haven't heard/seen anyone draw personal conclusions to it. Their commentary is really dumb, a large percentage of the time. That doesn't mean someone who watches it is dumb. But there are better options to watch, in my estimation, and it's a fair point to bring up.

He's starting to build up mileage on that arm now, too. And with that motion...... I really like Marmol. But I agree, it would be unwise to dedicate a lot of time & money to a big contract.

The Bears national imprint is very large. They might not have a Sal Palentonio, who is a Philly guy because he's from Philly, but they will always attract one of the largest audiences in primetime. They are one of the biggest draws in Vegas as well. They were more or less a non-entity for 1.5 decades and when they splashed on the scene 4 years ago it was with defense, and very short lived. If Chicago turns into a consistent contender with offense, they will be as marketable as any team in American sports. Its really bizarre. As soon as the Bears are good they pull enormous numbers on primetime games (Eagles game, the Patriots game), yet they still don't really have a dedicated reporter from ESPN. Theres Michael Smith...sometimes. Both Packers and Bears fans should be pissed the NFL Live spent more time commiserating about the Patriots losing than on pregame for this game. There's a whole lot of guys at ESPN with Chicago roots. Michael Smith, Phil Rogers, Michael Wilbon, Mike Ditka, Mike Greenberg, and Gene Wojciechowski, just to name a few. Plus the first regionalized ESPN site was ESPNChicago.com, and that has it's own crop of Chicago folks, like Melissa Isaacson and Bruce Levine. That may not be what you want, but Chicago certainly is not without ESPN representation. I wonder how much of it is because the Bears try to stay away from controversy most of the time. Other than the annual QB hatefest, what is there to talk about? There's no TO. No Vick. No Dallas soap opera (which is certainly not dampened Jerry Jones -- he likes it). The Bears like to run a quiet ship. And you're right, ESPN has dedicated some resources to Chicago. Also, most mornings on Mike & Mike you can hear guys like Mike Ditka -- and they always give him a chance to talk purely Chicago sports. They cover the Bears. They don't necessarily like the Bears. But they cover them. That said, I'd still rather listen/watch local Chicago coverage of the teams, homeristic as it may be.

If they make this philosophy work I'm going to throw stuff.

All true, in my estimation. We're just not going to be very good until we get better players back. It really sucks, but there you go. This is what we have right now. Not much can be done. I still enjoy watching Rose, but it was pretty frustrating last night. Especially that one possession late where the Bobcats kept getting offensive rebounds and finally scored on like the 3rd or 4th shot. I've got to figure Noah gets the rebound and we turn it back the other way. That's just one possession out of any entire game, but I was thinking -- here we go, can't do anything about this without our better players. I mean, I'm no expert but duh -- if they keep getting to take shots over & over eventually they'll score. You've got guys like Korver flailing around trying to pull down rebounds and defend down low. That's what it looked like to me. Guys completely out of their element just trying to fake it.

Pretty much. Deng has the occassional good game every now and then, such as Monday's game. Besides that, the rest of the team isn't very good. Yep.

yeah i think he has sufficiently embarrassed himself and tarnished his legacy now. Which would mean the Bears wind up being the team to see him off. Marvelous. Small measure of revenge after being the man's personal whipping boys for so many years. I'll take what I can get.

Mike & Mike took calls this morning, and every Packer fan was asking about how the Packers match up against either the Jets or Steelers. Greenberg had to stop them and remind them that they hadn't actually made the Super Bowl yet. Sully's right. Packer fans are the worst.

That was brutal, but with 2/3 top players out there's not much that can be expected.

I don't have a dog in this fight, so I'm not really rooting for anyone. But I think it turns out to be something in the neighborhood of: Steelers 24 Jets 13 I think that Jets train stops here. Sanchez is going to get hit & rattled by that Steelers D. Mistakes will be made, drives killed. Roethlisberger will keep enough plays alive with his size & mobility to put together a few nice scoring drives.

Before Koyie was around, we had a slew of other catchers about whom similar things were said. How can Bruce quantify these things that go unnoticed, and place a value on them compared to what a replacement player would bring? I'm sure Koyie is a great guy and all, but it doesn't seem like a huge task to bring in a catcher that can also do well at those elements of the game. League minimum? OK, maybe that's a stretch.