Soul

No. Cutler is the biggest acquisition in recent memory and easily the most important pickup in the offseason. cutler is easily the biggest acquisition in bears history. My brother in law was over yesterday and said he wasn't all that excited about the Bears this year. I said "What? We got freaking Cutler!" He said "Who's Cutler?" You might suggest to him that agoraphobia is a treatable disorder.

I had the extreme pleasure of being at the game 6/20. I couldn't believe the number of Cubs fans who got up and left after the 9th inning. WUT?!? It's Saturday afternoon, the Cubs are deadlocked, and you have better things to do?? I couldn't be MORE happy that they missed out on a fantastic finish. Next time, keep your damn seat you wimps.

That's like the 5th story exactly like that I've seen. Perhaps they should just re-print it every month, you never know some Bear fan could be on a 6 month sabbatical in Zimbabwe.

Pat just said Derrek hit a dramatic game winning home run. Why are we still playing?

KW will always be one of my top 5 Cubs of all time. Even when I see him blow a save against the Cubs, is like a stab in the gut. It's bittersweet, I love it that the Cubs tied it, but it sucks it had to be at the expense of KW. Really? I can't understand that. I'm upset he's not wearing a Cub uni, but I REALLY want to beat him. I didn't say I'm upset he's not wearing a Cub uni, I said it is bittersweet. I am fan of the organization, of course, but I am a bigger fans of the players who play(ed) for the organization. I'm not knocking you, I just think it's interesting and strange. I'm a much bigger Cub fan than I am of any of the players. Once they put on another uni, I still remember the good times, but they are the enemy.

where's Fuk? Is Fuku hurt? He should be hitting against the RHP instead of Reed.

Can we sub for Reed? I don't want him hitting against Wood.

KW will always be one of my top 5 Cubs of all time. Even when I see him blow a save against the Cubs, is like a stab in the gut. It's bittersweet, I love it that the Cubs tied it, but it sucks it had to be at the expense of KW. Really? I can't understand that. I'm upset he's not wearing a Cub uni, but I REALLY want to beat him.

Dammit Pat made that sound like it was going to drop.

Of course not! His clothing is from the wrong tailor.

LEE DOES IT!!! LEE DOES IT!! LEE DOES IT!!

1 out.

Seeing Wood in the gameday window with an Indians hat on just doesn't compute.

Sounded like a nice cheer for Wood when he came out.

And losing it, with the man who should be our closer shutting us down, would be equally morale crushing.

Amazing that this game has turned into a Wood save opp.

Marmol dangerously close to throwing a figurative bucket of cold water on our nice hot little rally.

Which is more then proves the point. If Lovie knows he's on the hotseat, he should be (at least I know I would be) trying to convince my boss to give me the best team possible. If I (or in this case Smith) can't coach up the talent then the coach should be fired. But it also goes to show that if Angelo has to fired Smith, then logically speaking Angelo would then be on the hotseat. Which means it is in the best interests of both guys to put the best team possible out on the field, for job security. Angelo had a chance to fire a coach and hire his guy already. I'm not sure he'd get a chance to do it again. I just don't sense this is make-or-break for Angelo. If I'm wrong, so be it.

So Marmol playing with fire again.

Remind me why Aaron Miles shouldn't be released again.

FWIW, the Bears were 5th in the league in yards per play last year. Unfortunately, there were lots of plays, and thus, they gave up a lot of total yards. I believe they may have had the most or second most time on the field. All the short possessions by the offense did not help that at all. They were also 10th in turnover rate. They were very bad, however, in sack rate. Something like 30th. Simply having a better offense will help that a good amount. If we can get improved play out of the line, we're in really good shape. If Marinellis' really *that* good, then I'll be happy to bow down.

Does this mean I can't sing "Go Cubs Go" today?

But Angelo and Lovie might be. I think a big reason for the trade was Angelo felt he had to do something to significantly improve the 2009 team. Exactly. Which is why they haven't close the book on acquiring a WR like Marshall or Plax. I thought that was abundantly clear when Angelo was trying to acquire Boldin during the draft. Yeah, that's what I was alluding to, not sure why I didn't finish the thought. I don't know if they will get a WR, but I get the impression that Angelo is not in the "well let's get one of these this year and one of those next year and possibly one of those the year after" modes. He went after lots of line help and the franchise QB, plus brought in LB despite depth at that position. He sounds like a guy who would really like to get a WR. Lovie may be in trouble, but Angelo? I'm not sure I buy that. I definitely agree he looks like a guy who would like to acquire a WR. But not at any cost. Not "my job depends on it."

I'd like to sign someone experienced like Plax. But it could be that this season we've done what we're going to do, and next season we go after the bigger WR weapon. Cutler isn't here for only one season. I still think we're going to be looking at larger defensive holes this year than what most people are talking about. When I look at last year, we had bunk for receivers, a horrible offensive line, and Kyle Orton. Yet if I had to make one claim on what sunk our playoff hopes, it wouldn't be the offense. It would be the 3 or 4 horrible, 4th quarter defensive breakdowns that we had, which snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. As it turns out, if just one of those doesn't happen, we're in the playoffs. So let's not pin the success or failure of this team on the Wide Receivers. They weren't the reason we lost last year, and we didn't even have Jay Cutler.

I understand and see the Bears group of WR as being talented, but unproven. I get that. Getting a WR a good QB is half the battle, I get that. But with the current WR on the roster (admittedly, some may not be on the team come the season), doesn't really inspire me as a fan: Devin Aromashodu (6 games, 7 rec) Earl Bennett (zero games) John Broussard *8 games 4 rec) Rashied Davis Deven Hester Juaquin Iglesias* Johnny Knox* Eric Peterman* Brandon Rideau (2 games) Derek Kinder* So you have 4 rookies (Knox/Iggy/Kinder/Peterman), a 2nd yr WR with no game experience (Bennett), 3 WR who seem destined for the practice squad one of which is a rookie (Broussard, Aromashodu and Peterman), a still developing WR (Hester), an organization player (Rideau) and a bottom of the depth chart WR (Davis). To me potential is great, and having a great QB is key, but to expect Cutler to help developed all of these WR's is not overly smart. Not to mention if the Bears hierarchy (ie Angelo and Smith) really like what they have at WR then why not come out and flat out deny they have interests in available WR? Angelo going for Boldin at the draft, then flip flopping on Plax, tells me that while they do like what they have, but would love to bring in a vet WR with skill the Bears do not currently have. I get Olsen could/should have a big year this yr, and I get Forte should see prolly a slight uptick in recieving numbers this yr, but the Bears do need a WR who can take pressure off Hester. It's as simple as that. And there isn't a WR on the roster that can do that. I understand that the WR crop doesn't make eyeballs pop out of their sockets, but it seems to me everyone is making the mistake of assuming because a receiver is unproven, that receiver will never be able to do anything. It's a false assumption. The NFL especially -- players are breaking out all the time, turnover is high. There's always players deep on someone's roster who will suddenly make an impact. The examples are all over the league. I just think it's wrong to say "there's no experience here" and jump to the conclusion that there's no chance for any of them to succeed. The two aren't necessarily connected.