NFL Matters

NFL Christmas came and some major gifts have been opened and exchanged. The NFL is like an Ant Farm: No matter how many established inroads are dug by teams, the entire league can be shaken a few times and the whole thing starts over again fresh.

While the Bears didn't get Mario Williams, they still made a very impressive move by trading two third round draft picks for the incredibly talented and psychologically disturbed Brandon Marshall. With this trade, the Bears finally gave their franchise QB Jay Cutler the elite receiver the Bears haven't had since Johnny Morris. I also believe the Bears were NOT aware of Marshall's Lady-Punching incident in New York before making the trade, but it doesn't matter. The Bears needed to make this move strictly because they got a better receiver than Vincent Jackson for a much better price. I also believe Marshall won't be suspended for the alleged incident either.

The Bears also made sure that a Caleb Hanie situation never happens again, by signing Jason Campbell to be the backup QB, and they also added some linebacker depth by bringing in Blake Costanzo while retaining some of their own in Israel Idonije, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Craig Steltz, and Josh McCown.

All these moves the Bears made are fine additions, but they are not the reason Phil Emery was brought in as General Manager. Emery will ultimately prove his worth in the draft. Still, helluva start Phil.

Today also became a significant day in NFL History as for the first time ever, both an NFL GM and a Head Coach were suspended. Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis felt the wrath of Roger Goodell, as the commissioner suspended Loomis for 8 games, and Payton for the entire season as punishment for "Bounty-Gate".

I had predicted Goodell would suspend Gregg Williams for half a season, but Roger went WAY farther than that by suspending Williams "indefinitely". I also predicted Roger would make examples out of the Saints. He definitely came through in that regard, and then some, but not for the reasons I thought he would.

It wasn't so much the fact that the Saints were running a Bounty System that put Goodell in his patented "Hanging Judge Mode". It was the fact that Goodell confronted the Saints about their Bounty System TWO YEARS AGO, and they lied to him. The Saints first denied to the commissioner that the program even existed, then after acknowledging that lie, informed the commissioner that the program does exist and they will cease it immediately.

That was in 2010. Obviously, it didn't stop, and even more obviously, Goodell knew it too.

I'm not one of these blind followers of Goodell who applaud every single decision he makes, but Roger is spot on with this punishment in my opinion. It's bad enough to lie to Roger Goodell's face about something he already knows you're doing, but it's even worse to lie to him again when he gives you a second chance to clean up your act. The Saints weren't smart enough to recognize their second chance, and arrogantly continued the Bounty System.

The lesson ultimately learned? Don't mess with, or attempt to make a fool out of Roger Goodell. Good job Commissioner.

Mutiny On The Bounty

The NFL continues to remind us that their footprint does indeed last 12 months per year, as news broke on Friday that the New Orleans Saints implemented and orchestrated a Bounty System for a period of 3 seasons. The chief orchestrator behind the Bounty System was their now former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

The details of the Bounty System are as follows: players received $1500 for "knockout hits", $1000 for "cart-off" hits with payoff amounts doubling and tripling if they took place during playoff games. There also is a memo from the league that Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma put up a $10,000 bounty before a playoff game, as well as agent Mike Ornstein fronted the money for bounties at least twice. The investigation also concluded that bounty funds might have reached as much as $50,000 at one point.

The investigation into the bounties began after allegations arose that Saint defenders were targeting Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. As far as "who knew what when", Head Coach Sean Payton, and GM Mickey Loomis were very much aware of Williams' Bounty System. Even more galling, is that Saints owner Tom Benson also found about the Bounty System and told both Loomis and Payton to shut it down. Despite the mandate from Benson, Loomis and Payton did nothing to stop it.

There are also reports that Williams implemented a Bounty System when he was defensive coordinator for the Bills and Redskins.

The reaction has been pretty varied. Obviously Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about it very foreboding terms, citing that player safety has never been more important than it currently is, and this behavior is in complete violation of player safety in addition to violating the rules and salary cap.

In terms of fans and media reaction, there has been everything from Doug Farrar of Yahoo Sports calling for a "lifetime ban" for Gregg Williams, to former player Matt Bowen pulling the "part of the game" card. Others are also pointing out that similar systems have existed for decades in the NFL, and that it's impossible to stop it, blah, blah, blah...

In my view, this is absolute garbage. 

First of all the league has rules against the Bounty System and they should be respected, even though they also have rules against taking steroids, and obviously those rules aren't being followed. Despite the league rules already in place, I don't necessarily have an issue with bounties being part of a locker room, or having a defensive coordinator orchestrate an entire system around it. My issue stems from a Bounty System encouraging/rewarding players to play with deliberate intent to injure, rather than for clean solid plays.

Bounties for interceptions, fumble recoveries, and touchdowns? Fine. Bounties for "Cart-offs", "knockouts", and "kill shots"? Hell no! There has been, and always will be a line in every level of football separating aggressive play designed to cause pain, and cheap shots designed to cause injury.

An example I keep referring people to is Bill "Romo" Romanowski. Romo was one of the dirtiest players whoever played the game. Among his most notable incidents were a helmet-to-helmet hit that broke Kerry Collins jaw...in a PRESEASON game. Romo also kicked Larry Centers in the head during a game, and most notoriously tried to break Shannon Sharpe's arm during a game. You can see footage of the Sharpe play here.

All of those incidents involved Romo trying to injure someone, versus taking out players cleanly, and they all cross the line between good aggressive play, and intent to cause injury. As a result, Romo was vilified and despised by both opponents AND teammates (see Marcus Williams). The reason for Romo's universal dislike is very simple: he played the game with intent to injure, and was justifiably seen as a dirty player.

It is this type of play that I feel Williams' Bounty System is encouraging, and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that it did occur with the Saints. From Adrian Peterson suggesting the Saints targeted his high ankle sprain, to Jay Cutler getting kicked in the throat during the Saints game in week 2, there's plenty of mounting evidence suggesting that the line is/was habitually crossed by the Saints.

I'm predicting that Goodell will be looking to make a bold statement in this situation. Goodell will make prominent examples of both Williams' and the Saints. I don't think it will be as big as a lifetime ban, but certainly will be along the lines of what the Spygate punishment was for the Patriots. Two Draft picks, Millions of dollars in fines, and definitely a half-season suspension for Williams' at least.

That's a good place to start.

Super Bowl Round Up

Super Bowl XLVI was a good game. Not a great game, or even a memorable game, but a very efficiently played, physical game which came down to the wire with the New York Giants emerging (once again) as world champions. While the game itself might not be memorable, the outcome and legacy certainly is. The Giants now have beaten the Team of the Decade twice in the last four Super Bowls.

Back to the game itself for a moment, it was very obvious to me that the Patriots were completely not prepared for the game on the outset. A 12 men on the field penalty early in  the game was the biggest reflection of that. Rob Gronkowski's high ankle sprain injury was the subject of the mandatory week-long hype and speculation, but "Gronk" ended up being a non-factor throughout the contest. 

The Patriot offense did manage to get it going late in the first half, scoring a quick ten points to enter halftime with a 10-9 lead. The Giants on the other hand ran an effective mix of run-pass offensively, while Eli Manning was on target most of the day going 30-40 for 296 yards and the MVP to boot.

Obviously the play of the game was the catch made by Mario Manningham on the first play of what proved to be the game-winning drive for the Giants. Manning made a terrific pass to even get the ball to Manningham who was double-covered on the 38 yard reception. After the catch, Manning took chunks of yards from the Patriots defense - 16 yards to Manningham here, 14 yards to Nicks there - eventually putting the Giants in position to score the winning touchdown. A touchdown which Ahmad Bradshaw reluctantly scored while running the ball for a 6 yard TD.

Even though Chris Collinsworth called Bradshaw's TD "a mistake by the Giants", it proved to be vital since it meant not only that Brady and the Patriot offense had just 57 seconds left to score, but they had to score a Touchdown rather than a field goal. This proved to be too tall a task, and in the end the Giants walked away with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

As far as this game's legacy, it will be largely remembered for Brady failing to join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks to win 4 Super Bowls. It will also serve as yet another dent in the Belichick armor in my opinion, since he's now 3-2 in Super Bowls as a head coach despite his Spygate tactics.

Many people are saying that this game will put Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning as "locks" for the Hall Of Fame now. I'm not one of those people and here's my reason why. Tom Flores and Jim Plunkett also won two Super Bowls within 4 seasons, yet neither one are in the Hall Of Fame. So why are Manning and Coughlin "locks" while Flores and Plunkett aren't? I don't get the logic in that?

Regardless, the Giants are champions today, and as a Bears fan it gives me hope watching a 9-7 team that was left for dead at one point, win the Super Bowl. It makes you wonder what else is possible?

Yeah But You Still Suck...

I honestly didn't think it was possible for a Bears win to make me feel bad, but here we are. Today's game against the Carolina Panthers and their #1 draft pick rookie sensation Cam Newton was to serve as a measuring stick for how good the Bears are. Unfortunately for us, the results were not good for the Bears long term prognosis.

Regardless of the score, this Chicago Bears victory is hardly what I would term "resounding". As a matter of fact, the Bears were pretty fortunate to escape with the "W" when you consider that the Panthers - who are in a rebuilding mode mind you - absolutely decimated the Bears vaunted defense both through the air and on the ground. Were it not for a few lucky breaks from the officials (see Jeremy Shockey's non-pushoff "push off"), and some fortuitous turnovers amid some stupid-ass flips/back flips, this game could have easily dropped the Bears to 1-3. Let's get to the particulars:

Offense : After weeks of hearing how the Bears need to run the ball more, Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz went Full Retard and called a grand total of 31 rushes, including 9 straight to open the game, paving the way for Matt Forte to rush for 205 yards on the day. Forte's 205 yards tied him for #2 in franchise history for yards in a game.

Martz called plays in a manner that seemingly was meant as a direct middle finger to all the arm-chair play callers that have been pissing and moaning for three weeks about "balance". The problem is, it completely backfired as now the meatballs get to say "See I told you so". Never mind that while the offensive line is getting a lot of credit, people who actually watched the game know that Forte made a lot of those plays happen all by himself. There were plenty of times where lineman missed their block (completely whiffing in many cases), and only the sheer athleticism of Forte made something out of nothing.

In the end it meant 17 pass attempts for Jay Cutler amounting to 102 yards. Jay might as well have been neutered right on the 50 yard line once the final gun sounded. Congratulations Bear fans/Jerry Angelo. Through your constant idiotic consternation and lack of obtaining good offensive lineman, you have turned a 4,000 yard Pro Bowl passing quarterback into Mike Tomczak. I hope you're proud of yourselves because all you've done is show that you haven't accepted the fact that the only way to win championships in the NFL is to throw the football. Want proof? See Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers, Ben Roethlisberger, Eli Manning, Peyton Manning, do I need to go on?

Defense : The beast known as "Lovie Marinelli" shouldn't be sleeping well tonight. In case you were wondering, the Bears defense gave up 543 total yards today. The Bears haven't given up that many yards in a game since 1982! Think about how many AWFUL Bears defenses have taken field since then. I'm talking about the Wannie and Jauron years specifically, where many a team went through the Bears defense like they were a high school team, yet NONE of them touched what the Panthers did today.

It wasn't exactly a one dimensional approach the Panthers took either. Despite Steve Smith doing his best "2005 version of Steve Smith" imitation en route to 8 catches for 181 yards, the Panthers also got 169 yards on the ground as well. In case you were wondering, the Bears didn't feel the need to sack Cam Newton either, as anytime the Bears generated any pass rush, Newton stepped up in the pocket and drilled a (WIDE) open receiver.

This unit should be embarrassed. There is no excuse for this type of performance.

Special Teams : Bail Outs are fun, and the Special Teams unit gave the rest of the team a BIG one today. Devin Hester broke off a 69 yard punt return for a TD, while Julius Peppers blocked a field goal in the third quarter. Punter Adam Podlesh gave the Bears good field position, and Robbie Gould was his usual efficient self. Make no mistake about it, Special Teams gets the Game Ball for this one.

Where Do We Go From Here : To Detroit, where I fully expect the Lions to practically castrate the Bears. Aside from the fact that I believe the Lions are for real this year, I just don't expect the Bears to come up with a realistic game plan offensively to attack the weak spots (read : secondary) of the Detroit Defense. Concurrently, I don't expect the Bears defense to be able to stop the Lions offense - specifically Calvin Johnson - with a non-existent pass rush and a depleted safety corps.

In a world where the most dynamic, innovative, and talent-laden teams throw the ball to win, the Bears are running it 63% of the time...

A Big Bag Of "Awful"

Jesus Christ where to begin? There are any number of things to be mad about, if you are a Chicago Bears fan like myself. How about Rodgers throwing for 10 incompletions on the day? TEN! That's out of 38 attempts mind you. Actually, if you saw the game, you have to be amazed he reached double digits in incompletions because outside of another spectacular interception by Brian Urlacher, Rodgers was on target most of the day. 

I guess if we're being totally honest with ourselves as Bear fans, we shouldn't be too surprised by this. Even though the Packers are the defending Super Bowl champs, that really isn't the reason the Bears lost today. They may have lost to a better football team on the field, but more importantly the Bears have been losing to a much better talent-evaluating organization for quite some time. Let's get to the body count:

Offense : After a much hyperbolized and often parroted call for "balance" from the Bears play calling, Mike Martz promptly went out and called 43 pass plays opposite 9 rush plays. The funny part is, you won't hear nearly as much consternation about the lack of running plays this week, because:

1. The Bears had no chance of blocking the Packers Run Defense
2. The passing game - minus a some bad hiccups - was largely effective. Cutler was 21 of 37 for 302 yards with 2 TD's. 2 costly interceptions still occurred however, to go along with 3 Packer sacks, at least one of which was Cutler's fault for holding onto the ball too long.

Regardless of the play calling selection, the Bears were playing catchup from the outset. While at times the unit looked like they had things figured out, they found ways to shoot themselves in the foot, multiple offensive penalties being the sabotage-du-jour. In my opinion however, the Bears offense is not what lost this game...

Defense : Make no mistake about it, the Chicago Bears vaunted defense is the biggest culprit in this defeat today. If the game clock didn't reach 0:00 in the fourth quarter, Greg Jennings, and Jermichael Finley would still be wide open catching touchdowns this very second. How many times this week did we hear, "Oh the Bears Tampa 2 scheme has had success against Aaron Rodgers historically"? Well guess what....I'm pretty sure the Packers figured out where to attack the Bears 2 deep zone. Craig Steltz getting burned like charcoal ALL EFFFING DAAAAAAAAAAY, certainly helped the Packers do whatever they wanted through the air as well.

When the Packers didn't feel like slicing and dicing the Bears secondary, they had no problem running the ball either, as Ryan Grant had 92 yards on 17 carries. The Bears front four was continually pushed around and set up for Grant to maximize his cut-back ability.

Admittedly, I don't know anything about football, but the Bears scheme is designed to be stout against the run, while allowing for short passes over the middle utilizing a "bend but don't break" philosophy with the hopes of generating turnovers. When you can't stop the run, nor deep passes, and generate two measly turnovers, it's going to be a long day for your defense. Today was a glaring example of that.

Special Teams : Obviously the meatballs are going to bitch about the non-holding, holding call on Corey Graham late in the 4th quarter which negated an unreal deke by Devin Hester that allowed Johnny Knox to return a punt for a touchdown. Would it have made a difference had the touchdown counted? Sure. Would it have absolved everything the Bears did wrong prior to that play? I don't believe so.

Still, it was a remarkable play which would have been awesome if it was successful. Unfortunately, it was the only thing worth noting from Special Teams all day.

Where Do We Go From Here : The Cam Newton show comes to Soldier Field next week. The funny part though, is that I don't worry about whether Newton will be the Bears. I worry about The BEARS beating the Bears.

I know it's only 3 games played, but it's time to (further) call a spade a spade here. This offense is abysmal. The Bears have a quarterback that has a chance to be magnificent, and they're WASTING him. Jerry Angelo and company have surrounded Cutler with a Swiss-cheese (full of holes and it stinks) offensive line, and receivers that would rather catch a cold versus making a play. They have an offensive coordinator that believes in an offense so obsolete, that no other team would hire him.

Defensively there really isn't anything new to extract from this game. When it works, it's great. When it doesn't, you get games like today. No matter what defense a team is running, if you don't generate pressure, you won't stop anyone in the NFL. Most teams do it with 3-4 blitz packages like the Packers do. The Bears do it with 4 lineman, which is to say ONE lineman in the form of Julius Peppers. When Peppers can't get pressure all by himself, there goes any chance of the Bears getting to the quarterback.

I'd love for this to have an easy answer, like say - fire Mike Martz right now - but we're beyond the point of no return for that. I'd love to say, "Fire Lovie Smith right now", but that wouldn't do any good at this point either. We're stuck with this bunch for the time being, and as such, I'm hoping that they have the ability to make a complete adjustment on the fly like they did last year.

Is that even possible? Technically, yes but as Bear fans know there's a big difference between "possible" and "likely".

Nice Hair

Greetings and Salutations :

There have been plenty of news and items scattered throughout the world of sports lately. Unfortunately, none of them have compelled me to write extensively about them. Instead it's time for Quick Takes:

• Would you believe that after 16 years, several undeserved Gold Gloves, 5 World Series Rings, Zero MVP's, and now....over 3,000 career hits, I remain completely indifferent to Derek Jeter the player? I honestly can take Jeter or leave him. He's not one of the all time greats in my opinion. He was very good for a long time, and at face value, deserves to go into the Hall Of Fame. None of what Jeter has done on the field, gets my blood up, but when it comes to Jeter's spastic, over-reactive, and constant embellishing fanbase on the other hand, it's a different story. The people who think Jeter IS an all time great, do an excellent job getting me to root against Jeter much more than anything Jeter does, or will do, on the field.
• Speaking of Jeter, his ex-teammate Roger Clemens is on trial this week for perjury. Clemens famously gave testimony before Congress three years ago, denying all the charges levied against him by Brian McNamee and The Mitchell Report that Clemens used performance enhancing drugs. Most famously, Clemens offered a wide variety of "explanations" from "That's my wife's HGH" to Andy Pettitte "misremembers". Meanwhile, the government appears to have a really strong case against Clemens, and I'm much more hopeful to see Roger have to make the dreaded "Perp Walk" when this trial ends.
• In NFL Land, the likelihood and prospect of a Labor Agreement appears to be making progress. Barring a complete About Face by the Players Association, the Lockout looks like it's nearing an end, and I have a feeling the owners are going to get pretty much everything they wanted. If that happens I can't help but feel that this has largely been much ado about nothing and could/should have been avoided.
• Speaking of avoided, James Harrison should have avoided opening his mouth to Men's Journal. By now you know he spoke ill of Roger Goodell, the Patriots, and his own teammates, in a vivid display of his insanity. In terms of punishment, I don't believe there's much Goodell or the Steelers can do to him at the moment, but there's plenty his teammates can do! These are the kind of actions that fracture locker rooms, not to mention Player Unions. Controversy has been nothing new with Harrison. He's been outspoken in the past, and has incurred a ton of fines for his aggressive play, but this is a new low for him. With the Steelers looking at Super Bowl Hangover this season, this can only hurt their chances to compete next year. It will be interesting to see if the Steelers finally have had enough and cut Harrison this year. That's what any franchise worth its salt would do...then again this is the same franchise whose fan base gives a standing ovation to their rapist QB.

Speaking of creepy Steelers Fans, I'd like to take time to address my recent Twitter war with Chicago SunTimes columnist Joe Cowley. For a long time, Joe has fancied himself as a tough writer who speaks his mind all the time, and doesn't care who gets hurt by what he has to say. That approach by itself is something I don't have a problem with. Cowley's journalistic style has made a ton of enemies within the White Sox organization, specifically Kenny Williams. Kenny is seemingly a target that Joe is loathe to give any credit to, and (like a child) Joe is often the first person to point out when Kenny does something wrong.

Joe's dealing with the White Sox however, is not what I had a problem with. My issue with Joe is that he defends Ben Roethlisberger, strictly because Ben plays for the Steelers. Never mind that it's very likely Ben is a serial rapist, and that if Ben played for the Patriots, Joe would feel quite differently about Ben's legal issues. Cowley's defense of Roethlisberger, coupled with the fact that Cowley is one of these Twitter Loudmouth's who talk a lot of trash, prompted me to engage with him on Twitter.

Suffice it to say that it went south pretty quickly. Rather than actually act like a sensible person who should know that rape is wrong, Cowley chose to act like a child, started name-calling, at one point making a joke about my mother, and in no way shape or form comported himself like a sensible journalist (he actually used the word "brah" in one of his tweets). Unfortunately for him, I'm also quite capable of acting in the same manner, only WAY better than him! As Cowley soon realized, I'm so much better at that type of behavior than him.....that he chose to BLOCK me and my good friend, The Rassi.

I won't say this is my proudest moment. Far from it actually, but it doesn't matter. This was about proving a point, and the point is that Joe Cowley, while more than willing to dish it out, is completely unable to take it. When it comes to taking as much grief as he gives, his skin is about as thick as loose leaf paper. For someone who claims he "always tells the truth", he is quite averse to having the truth be told about him.

That truth being, that no matter what he has done so far with his career, Cowley will say/write something that will get him in a lot of trouble someday. Mark.My.Words.

Loudmouth and Stupidity are a powerful combination, and as Jay Mariotti can tell Cowley, it's only a matter of time before that combo does you in.

Looking For The Reset Button...

I hate this time of year. It happens every time, and now thanks to the NFL changing when the Pro-Bowl is played, this time of year got here even quicker than normal. The Pro-Bowl is usually the annual symbolic "funeral" for my 2010 Sports Season. I'm used to it being held after the Super Bowl and once it's over, it's pretty much hibernation time for me until baseball starts.

This year though (as it was last year), it's held the week before the Super Bowl. After watching about 10-15 minutes of it yesterday I had to laugh. The "efforts" or lack thereof from the NFL'S best players was comical. The version of Julius Peppers that takes plays off, was on FULL display yesterday as he literally jogged when the ball was snapped-and I DONT' blame him in the least! You can tell that the players are not going to kill themselves and shorten their lifespans for games that don't mean anything, and I believe yesterday's Pro-Bowl reflected that. So now we're left with a Super Bowl with two teams that I absolutely despise. After that, it's a slow burn.

Look I get it, the Chicago Bulls are doing things record wise that they haven't done since 1996-97. That's wonderful, believe me, and I have been watching them regularly even though I haven't written about them. Is it me, or does anyone else get the feeling that despite how well the Bulls have played, they can still go out there and get trounced by 30 on any given night? I just don't see them as a dominant team, but rather a very good team that will more than likely get bounced by Boston, Orlando, or Miami in the postseason. I guess I'm uneasy about a team that 65% of it's offense comes from the point guard.

Then you have the Blackhawks, who won't get interesting until the last month of the season. Lance Armstrong had a big "Expose" in sports illustrated two weeks ago, but it didn't really reveal anything interesting or new. Speaking of steroids, Tiger Woods still sucks at golf without them. College Basketball is still a joke as every year the Player Of The Year will be won by a Freshman, and then off to the NBA he'll go.

I guess what I'm saying is, we've got a long road ahead of us until April, but I promise you my loyal readers, that I'll do everything I can to keep it fun until then. So if my postings suck even more than they usually do for a while, hang in there my friends. I'm looking for the Reset button.

Is The Ring The Thing?

I have been thinking about this for a while, and tonight's castration of the Washington Redskins by the Philadelphia Eagles helped confirmed my feelings.

For as long as I can remember, there is always one aspect of watching football that has never changed over the years. That aspect being that no matter how successful or accomplished a team is, someone will always want the coach fired in favor of someone else. This is the age old folly in sports that many have fallen prey to over time. I've been guilty of it*, many other NFL, College and High School Football fans I know are guilty of it, and print/electronic media syndicate is certainly guilty of it. Someone always wants the coach fired no matter what, for various reasons.

What usually follows this "Fire His Ass" sentiment, is the prevailing opinion that whomever they end up hiring MUST have won a Super Bowl as a head coach previously. That's the reason why guys like Vince Lombardi, Hank Stram, Mike Ditka, Bill Parcells, Jimmy Johnson, George Seifert, Tom Flores, Mike Holmgren, Dick Vermeil, and Mike Shanahan have been hired by other franchises. It's also the same reason that guys like Bill Cowher, Jon Gruden, and Brian Billick are high on every teams list.

Here is my question though. Out of all the guys I just listed...who among them won another Super Bowl as a Head Coach for another team? The answer is NONE. I originally thought Don Shula was the only one, but upon researching this I came to find out that he was NOT the Head Coach of the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl V. That would be coaching legend (kidding) Don McCafferty.

Sure, some of them have Super Bowl rings as assistants, but that's not why those guys are sought after as Head Coaches. All of them were hired by other teams largely on the basis that they won Super Bowls as Head Coaches, and ALL of them were unsuccessful at winning another Super Bowl as a Head Coach. As a matter of fact, out of all of those names, Mike Holmgren is the only one to even get BACK to the Super Bowl as a Head Coach of another team.

Am I saying that every available coach who has won a Super Bowl should be avoided when filling a Head Coach Vacancy? Absolutely not. All I'm saying is just because a guy won one before, that does not mean it is guaranteed he will do the same thing again for another team.

As a matter of fact, the next guy that does it, will be the First to do it.


*I'm not writing this to defend Lovie Smith. Quite the contrary. My position on Lovie Smith has not wavered despite the Bears 6-3 record. I still remain doubtful that he is the right head coach for this franchise, and when his contract runs out in 2012, I would not shed a tear if he wasn't retained. However, I do retain the right to change my mind on bringing him back if the Bears were to win the Super Bowl. Until such time, I will not confuse activity (being competitive, multiple playoff appearances) with accomplishment (winning Super Bowls).

Getting Warmer

As I'm sure you are aware, the NFL is at the crossroads of an epidemic. It's not an epidemic in the traditional sense as say Staph Infections, or Astroturf causing an increase in ACL blowouts or other permanent knee damage. The epidemic the league faces is much scarier than that, simply because it's striking very closely to the center of what the game of football stands for. The epidemic is permanent brain damage compounded with early death, and it's an even more serious a threat to the NFL than the upcoming lockout in 2011.

At the forefront of this epidemic is Chris Nowinski. If you're not familiar with the Arlington Heights, IL native, you can learn more about his involvement (Part I, Part II, Part III) as a Concussion Expert in this HBO Real Sports special that aired earlier this year. While he was initially rebuffed by the NFL three years ago when he first tried to bring this problem to their attention, the NFL is certainly listening to him now, and taking action. Thanks in large part to his brain studies, nobody is able to deny that there is a definitive link with depression, early onset of Alzheimer's, and other brain damage due to the amount of concussions and general hits to the head a typical NFL player endures throughout their career. As such, many active players have agreed to not only spread awareness of Concussions but also donate their brains to the Center for the Study of Traumatic Encephalopathy at Boston University in order to further their pursuits to combat this epidemic.

Even more important than those actions, is the NFL and it's teams have dramatically increased their awareness and treatment of players who may have suffered a concussion. The days of "rub some dirt on it" are no longer prevalent when it comes to players complaining of "dizziness", nor will they dismiss big hits as "getting his bell rung". Teams take no chances with possible concussion cases anymore...which leads me to Hunter Hillenmeyer.

Hillenmeyer was put on Injured Reserve today by the Chicago Bears ending his season. This is an interesting situation because Hillenmeyer is the Bears Union Player Rep, who has been very active regarding the awareness of Concussions throughout the league. Hunter is also one of those active players that has volunteered his brain to be donated for study when he passes away. Yet when you read his statements, it's pretty obvious that placing him on injured reserve due to complications arising from Concussions, was not Hillenmeyer's idea. As far as the idea of the Bears doing this to him in order to secure a better negotiating position for the upcoming lockout...I'm not going to indulge that conspiracy theory just yet, mainly because the Bears ownership is not one of the franchises that's leading the Owners cause. Also, the Bears could have just forced him to retire, but by placing him on injured reserve, they are able to pay out his contract for the entire year versus giving him nothing if he retires.

The way I see it, this is a good thing for both the Bears, Hunter, and the NFL. For the NFL it is another step in spreading awareness of this Concussion Epidemic. For the Bears, they are not only protecting themselves by placing him on injured reserve, but they are preventing Hillenmeyer from his most dangerous enemy at this point....his own desire to play no matter what the risks entail.

NFL Supreme Court Ruling

I'm sure all of you heard that the Supreme Court made a significant ruling that the NFL is not one large business, but rather 32 separate businesses, and therefore ineligible from Anti-Trust Exemption. Of all the breakdowns of this historic 9-0 ruling, Deadspin has the easiest break down of it here. Essentially this means that they cannot be protected as a whole, and are much more vulnerable to lawsuits than they would have been had they received Anti-Trust protection.

This also means a big victory for the players association for the upcoming lockout in my opinion. We shall see what impact it has a year from now...

A Picture Is Worth What Again?

It's good to be back from vacation. Plenty of interesting things happening since my last post. The Blackhawks haven't wrapped up their series against the Canucks yet. The Cubs and Sox are still a big bag of AWFUL. Starlin Castro providing early mixed reviews at best so far, while Jake Peavy continues to be one of the few bright spots for his team. Lawrence Taylor managing to top himself in terms of self destruction by being caught with a little statutory sex slave - ouch... The Raiders finally said "Step In To My Office 'Cause You're F*ckin FIRED!" to JaJokeus Russell. Plus Eldrick Woods pulled out of the final round of the TPC because (Wannie voice) "He's Gotta Neckkk..."

The funniest and most ironic story though, was the report of Houston Texans Linebacker Brian Cushing being in violation of the league's Steroid policy. Cushing had apparently tested positive in 2009 and had been appealing the positive test, but the final decision was handed down last week. Cushing will now be suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2010 season. Cushing's story is that he took a non-steroid banned substance but hasn't said which one yet. He also said he's been taking it for the last 10 to 15 years with no issues at all, however that is completely not true.

Cushing (along with another one of my personal most wanted steroid suspects Clay Matthews Jr) reportedly tested positive for steroids at the 2009 Combine, but that report was later proven false. Take a look at the picture above though. As you can see Brian's body has undergone some (ahem) changes over his time at USC. The picture on the left certainly puts the "gyne" in "gynecomastia" doesn't it? I'm not a doctor, so forgive me if I find it hard to believe that some random supplement, or some herbal tea, or a B-12 shot would be responsible for boobies! Cushing can pass all the other tests in the world, but one test he's not passing for sure, is The Beard's Eye Test.

With that said though, I must admit that I believe Cushing is doing exactly the same thing that 90% of the NFL is doing. He just had the rotten luck of getting caught. While I've maintained that I don't want steroids in Major League Baseball for some time, I don't feel the same way about the NFL or College Football. Just to give you the Cliff Notes version as to why I treat the two sports differently :

1. MLB is all about it's numbers, statistics, and ORDINARY men achieving those extraordinary numbers and statistics. Baseball has been around for over 120 years, and those numbers are transferable from generation to generation. Steroids compromises the integrity of those numbers by deflating their significance when the records are broken by guys who wouldn't have been nearly the hitters they were without The Juice.

2. Football is about Large, Strong, Angry, Super Fast men running into each other for our amusement, nothing more. It's not the least bit concerned with it's numbers the way baseball is and to prove it, ask yourself this question - How many rushing yards did Emmitt Smith finish his career with? Odds are, you don't know the number off the top of your head. Yet if someone asks you how many home runs Hank Aaron hit you automatically know the number without even thinking about it, don't you? Therefore due to the numbers being negligible, the use of steroids (over the past 40 years according to some accounts) is much more permissible when it comes to Professional Football, in my opinion.

So while it is amusing that Cushing has maintained his supposed innocence over the years despite damning visual evidence, it's hard to come down on him too hard, since he's now been caught by the NFL's ILLUSION of being against Performance Enhancing Drugs, rather than an actual league trying to prevent it's players from doing steroids.

Do I Really Understand This?

The picture you see is of former Denver Broncos kicker Rich Karlis. He is jumping because he hit a field goal to beat the Cleveland Browns in overtime to send the Broncos to Super Bowl XXI in one of the most legendary games ever played in NFL History (See "The Drive").

Now that the overtime rule in the NFL has been changed for the postseason, my question is, would this even HAPPEN under the current system? The rule states (in case you're not familiar yet) that if the team that wins the coin toss kicks a field goal on the first possession, the team that lost the coin toss gets the ball for a subsequent possession. If that other team kicks a field goal on the subsequent possession to tie the game, it will then go to the traditional sudden death rules.

So lets take the example above of the 1987 AFC Championship Game. After Elway's miraculous drive, the Cleveland Browns won the toss in overtime. The Browns took the ball first, but eventually punted to the Broncos. The Broncos drove 60 yards, and Karlis kicked the field goal to win it (even though my friend Brad still thinks he missed it...take a look at the replay and you'll see what I mean). Game over.

From what I can tell (bear with me because debating these scenarios might make your penis hurt), under the current rule change it's not clear if the Browns get the ball back with a chance to tie it? The rule only addresses what happens if the team that wins the coin toss kicks a field goal on their FIRST possession. It doesn't specify why there is a difference between kicking a field goal on the first possession of overtime, versus the first field goal kicked by EITHER team in overtime. Why should one field goal count as "sudden death" and another field goal doesn't count?

Help me out with this one if you can and/or feel like it. I'm sure I'm missing something here, but nevertheless I feel it's worth exploring. Again, if you're going to have sudden death in overtime, leave the system the way it was. If you want both teams getting a possession, then adopt the NCAA Overtime Rules. Don't half-ass it by splitting the difference NFL.

GuciNugs and Observations

The Beard is checking in with some odds and ends he noticed over the past weekend:

• Terrific NCAA Tournament so far. One of the best I can remember quite frankly, despite two of my predicted Final Four teams already eliminated-THANKS A LOT BIG EAST! Plenty of upsets, last second shots, overtime thrillers, and overall good "white boy basketball" being the term I heard a few pundits use to refer to the success of teams like Cornell, Northern Iowa, Butler, and St. Mary's, as they all advanced to the Sweet 16. After watching the games this weekend, it seems the easiest explanation of why so many upsets took place was the decided advantage teams with seniors in the starting lineup have over teams that have highly recruited talented freshman players. The correlation being that the teams with the seniors have played together longer and know each other's strengths and weakness versus a team featuring superstar freshmen being overwhelmed at the reality of playing in the tournament for the first time...I doubt very highly if that will stop Kentucky from winning it all, but if Kentucky does win it, it will likely be erased within 3 years.
• The NFL Owners Meetings are taking place in Orlando this week, and the number one story so far seems to be possible changes to the Overtime System in the playoffs. The main talking point would be the significance of a field goal, meaning if a team kicks a field goal in overtime, the other team would get a fresh set of downs to do the same. If they kick a field goal in return, THEN the game goes to sudden death. There are three points of outrage that come to my mind. First of all, that's just silly since sudden death would still be possible under this change anyway. Second of all, I somehow get the feeling that the only reason this is even being talked about is because Brett Vicodin didn't go to the Super Bowl last year, and the Networks didn't like it. Third, there is a friggin LOCKOUT on the horizon! How The Lockout isn't priority number one during these owners meetings is beyond me?! Worrying about overtime, and concussions is the equivalent of making sure the doorknobs and brass railings are really shiny on the Titanic. All things NFL should take a backseat until they can secure that the league will even be playing football in 2011.
• Eldrick Woods once again took another major misstep on Sunday. In another bizarre move from Goliath, he agree to do a 5 minute "interview" with not one but two handpicked media members Tom Rinaldi and Kelly Tilghman, in which he once again revealed.....nothing. First of all, I did chuckle at the irony that Woods would choose Kelly "Lynch Him In A Back Alley" Tilghman, as she once was suspended for two weeks for making off-color remarks about him. Overall though, this was just pointless because he still isn't answering any questions. He was asked about Thanksgiving and he gave a b.s. "It's all in the police report" answer, even though it's NOT in the police report. He never talked to the police, nor was any explanation given (blood tests, breathalyzer, etc.) as to why he evaded a DUI. He wasn't asked about the investigation regarding Doctor Anthony Galea, or if he's talked to the FBI during their investigation. He did deny that anybody in his camp was pimping women towards him, even though TMZ and others have reported that the head of his design group Byron Bell was doing exactly that for him. If this latest misstep has proven anything, it's that Woods still hasn't learned a damn thing during this whole saga. He's still a raging dirtball, and will always be one. I have a sickly feeling though, that his ass-lickers are not going to care, and will still look to him as their hero when all the smoke clears.

Adios

The Free Agency period is rapidly approaching the NFL Landscape, and two interesting names have been thrown back into the market, in Thomas Jones and Orlando Pace. What makes them interesting, is they are both former Jerry Angelo gambles that ended up being significant losing bets for good old, nautical referencing Big Jer. Most importantly though, both decisions drastically altered and diminished the Chicago Bears chances of postseason success since Super Bowl XLI.

Angelo (with the help of Lovie Smith) bet the farm that Cedric Benson was going to be a better fit as the franchise running back for the Chicago Bears than Thomas Jones in 2005. Jerry still believed this to be the case in 2007, despite obvious overwhelming evidence that Jones was a far superior fit (ran for 1335 yards in 2005, 1210 in 2006, and led the team to the Super Bowl) than Benson. Now Jones after rushing for 3,833 yards and 28 TD's in 3 seasons including a career high of 1,402 yards plus 14 touchdowns last season, finds himself released by the New York Jets after refusing to take a paycut. It would never happen, but ask yourself this Bears fans, which available free agent running back would you pay $5 million for right now? Washed up Ladainian Tomlinson, washed up Jamal Lewis, concussion case Brian Westbrook, or the pride of Big Stone Gap, Virginia who showed he's still plenty effective at 32 years old in Thomas Jones?

On the other side of the coin is the release of Orlando Pace. Angelo signed the veteran left tackle the same day of the Jay Cutler trade (btw I'm still waiting for that "winner" Kyle Orton's playoff game to start? When is that supposed to happen? He's a proven winner right so shouldn't his team have played in the playoffs this past season?), and the results were not pretty. Pace was a shadow of himself the entire season, both in pass and run blocking to the point where he was demoted to a reserve in favor of second year player Chris Williams. What's even more interesting about this move is that Pace initially was thought to be returning to the Bears with the hire of offensive line coach Mike Tice. There was also talk about Pace retiring as well. Neither of these scenario's happened however, as the Bears gave Pace the "see ya later".

It's pointless to ponder what could have been since the past is for "...cowards and losers." Still it does make Bears fans uneasy about the decision making process heading into this Free Agency period., It's even more disheartening when Jerry Angelo still hasn't hired his buddy Tim Ruskell as Bobby DePaul's replacement.

Don't Be Fooled...

Jay Cutler finally showing what he's capable of when his offensive teammates (particularly up front) around him are interested in playing football, and chucking 4 TD's, including the game winner=Awesome! Devin Aromashodu showing more than just potential, with a breakout game tonight=Fantastic! The defensive line stepping up in overtime, and Hunter Hillenmeyer punching the ball out of Adrian Peterson's grasp=Sweet! The Bears ending the Vi-queens chance at the number one seed in the NFC Playoff Picture=Fun, Fun, (schadenfreude) FUN!

As thrilling as tonight's victory over the Minnesota Favre's was, unfortunately it's a hollow victory at best, and no reason to overlook glaring problems with this team, at worst. Once again, there is plenty of evidence from this game, no matter how pleasant the outcome, to show that this is a fundamentally flawed team.

Lovie Smith's vaunted defensive play calling after a very impressive first half, didn't trust his new safeties and stuck with that beaten scheme that is the Tampa 2 (with the stupid fake blitz up the middle with a linebacker). The Tampa 2 promptly went out and allowed 30 second half points, 321 passing yards from Brett Favre, 94 yards and 2 TD's from Adrian Peterson, and 423 yards allowed overall. Once again, Lovie has nobody to blame for his porous defense but himself. His pointless loyalty to a scheme, that zero playoff teams including the Colts even run anymore, allowed Favre to work the middle of the field and deep sideline routes ad nauseam for pretty much the entire second half. And that's just the defensive side of the ball...

Offensively, the execution was much better than in recent weeks, but then again it was hard to get any worse. For as much as Olin Kreutz wants to run his mouth calling for "top to bottom" organizational changes while still playing like a swinging gate, he did nothing tonight to convince anyone that he's not overmatched in the trenches and that he can still play at an elite level in the NFL. Matt Forte looked better, but still seems to missing something that rhymes with "burst". Aromashodu again had a great game, Olsen, Clark, and Earl Bennett had good contributions. In this blogs view, all of the success largely was due to Jay Cutler's fearless play. Cutler showed that when he's given time, and his receivers execute their routes, he can make Lame Duck Ron Turner's offense look good. Imagine what he could do with a good team and a real offensive coordinator...

So for now, HUZZAH to the Bears for tonight, and refocus on making this franchise a playoff contender next year for tomorrow.

NFL Nuggets

Fresh off the heels of another embarrassing national TV loss against the Carolina Panthers, the Minnesota Vikings decided to make a bad situation, much worse with some pointless sideline drama. Head Coach Brad Childress actually tried to take Brett Favre out of the game, not for his ineffectiveness, but for fear of Favre getting injured. Favre took exception to this, "talked it out" on the sideline, and remained in the game.

There's two sides to this obviously, but why would Childress start worrying about Favre's safety NOW? Favre is 40 years old, admitted that he played injured last year and didn't tell anybody, and is known as being one of the great "competitors" in the history of the game. Childress and the Vikings were willing ignore the dangers and risks behind these facts this past summer, so why fret about it at this point in the season? The Vikings are fighting for home field advantage, and had a huge opportunity to close the gap between them and the Saints. They blew that opportunity Sunday, and now have to deal with questions like "Who is really running the team, Brett, or Brad?" and "Are you really more concerned with Brett's health than home field advantage?" Not the best way to handle things when you just got a 4 year contract extension Brad Childress. Fortunately for you, the Bears are next up on the menu.


It would be remiss to not address recent changes in Whitey Guccione's very own Cleveland Browns. Brady Quinn is now done for the season and now Derek Anderson will have to, once again, show that he can't play in the NFL all the way to the finish line. Hope is looming on the horizon for Whitey, as Mike Holmgren has agreed to become Team President.

Congrats to him, Whitey, and the rest of Browns Nation. Holmgren has more than his work cut out for him. The big debate will be what his first move is coaching wise. Eric Mangini (shocker) says he isn't worried in the least, and is showing in his own words a "flippant" attitude towards his future. In this blog's view, Mangini might be hanging out with Charlie Weis very soon...


$100 million dollars doesn't equal happiness? Albert Haynesworth made a point to say exactly that today as he lambasted his head coach Jim Zorn after one of the most humiliating loss in Washington Redskins history. What is interesting is the words Haynesworth used in describing the problem, "We need somebody to lead us in the right direction."

Ummmm Albert, you're supposed to be one of the "leaders" buddy. Role players, and foot soldiers don't get $100 million dollar deals, leaders do. Leaders, let their practice habits and play, set the example. Leaders don't throw their head coaches under the bus, no matter how justified it may be. Leaders don't sit around and bitch about how bad things are when they produce a walloping 4 sacks for the season. You think the Redskins are missing a leader? The best place to start looking for one is staring at you right in the mirror.

One more thing about the Redskins. Yeah Jim Zorn is not a good coach. Sure he was way under-qualified when he got the job from Dan Synder last season. Of course he was effectively fired the day Sherm Lewis showed up at Ashburn, VA in the middle of this season, and everyone is entitled to rip on the Redskins if they choose to do so. The one guy who should NEVER get to rip on the Redskins, or anyone else's team, is Matt Freakin MILLEN!! I'm so glad Mike Freeman of cbssportsline.com caught this too. How many coaches did you fire because you kept drafting wide receivers again Millen? Next time you feel like laughing at someone, remember that you are the worst GM in the History of the National Football League and you're lucky to have a broadcasting job again.

Quick Tidbits

So apparently Tiger Woods has been named "AP: Athlete of the Decade" finishing ahead of Lance Armstrong. Even though this blog doesn't consider professional golfers "athletes" anymore than professional pool players, bowlers, or fisherman, I suppose Eldrick is as good a name as any for this award. What I find amusing is that Woods and Lance finished 1 and 2 respectively. Both of them have issues regarding possibly being dopers/drug cheats, as well as having no problems abandoning their responsibilities as husbands when it comes to practicing monogamy either! Congrats fellas!


Chris Henry has decided to endanger his life by falling out of the back of a pickup truck during a domestic dispute, and is in critical condition as a result of it. While normally the loss of life is something that shouldn't be made light of, this would be a fitting end to a bizarre individual. Chris Henry is the owner of this proud list of off-field incidents, and never seemed to understand the privileged situation he was in as a star in the National Football League. While he seemed to have made tremendous strides to the contrary recently, this incident indicates that very little has changed and now this might be the final lesson he learns (too late) that one of the worst things in life, is wasted talent.


Someone brought to my attention that Warrick Dunn is in the top 20 among all time rushing leaders in NFL History. That didn't surprise me too much. What DID surprise me was who number 27 on the list, and that was none other than the Tyler Rose Earl Campbell pictured to the left. While I vaguely remember Earl as a player, I certainly remember the romanticism and admiration former players and fans have for him. I've constantly heard what a powerful runner he was, his 34-inch thighs, and how he played with a complete disregard for his body, etc. His body of work numbers wise though, just doesn't exactly blow me away. Campbell has 2187 carries for 9,407. Other running backs with similar carries and yards include, Clinton Portis, Shaun Alexander, Terry Allen, Tiki Barber, and Jamal Lewis. Nice names, but not exactly names that are going to inspire the kind of praise, and reverence that Earl Campbell receives.

So I put it to anyone that feels compelled to weigh in. Earl Campbell...Overrated, Underrated, or Appropriately Rated?

PLAYOFFS!!!

I'll keep this short and sweet since I've been a little under the weather. I read this today, and apparently someone still thought the Bears were alive in the playoff hunt up until yesterday. After reading that the Bears were no longer alive in the playoff hunt, I channeled my inner Jim Mora and screamed from the top of my lungs in my cubicle at work, "PLAYOFFS?!!?!?"

I don't think there was any Bear fan with a three digit I.Q. that thought this team had any chance of going to the playoffs this year, even WITH the mathematical chance they may have had. More importantly, it was speculated by this blog that yesterdays game actually did have some significance with regard to the future of Lovie Smith as Bears head coach. Not only did the team fail to cement Lovie's chances of returning, but if anything supplied even more evidence that wholesale changes need to take place in Lake Forest. If the season high of 13 penalties committed, the showcase of further impotence in both running game and run defense, and crucial turnovers weren't enough, the bizarre time out-THEN WASTE A CHALLENGE situation that took place was a nice cherry on the top of this turd we call the coaching staff. That is just flat out indefensible! That type of ineptitude is worthy of Dave Wannstedt and Lovie has nobody to blame but himself for that lack of decision making and leadership.

Aside from that debacle, there's the penalty situation. The Bears are the fourth most penalized team in the league, which normally wouldn't be as big a deal if they had the talent throughout the roster that could make up for it like say, Cincinnati, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Green Bay which are the only other teams who have committed more penalties than the Bears. It's also not a coincidence the Bears have been beaten by three out of those four, and the Bears play the Ravens this weekend. Penalties come from a lack of discipline, and discipline starts with the Head Coach more than any other place, pure and simple.

It's clear to this observer that Lovie needs to go. He's made so many decisions ever since his arrogant, stuck-up little "trust me" speech after Super Bowl XLI that would justify eating the money he's owed, and bringing someone new to coach this team. Someone once tried to defend Lovie Smith to me by saying "Lovie Smith is the best coach the Bears have had since Ditka." While that may be true, that is not the equivalent of saying "Lovie Smith is a good NFL coach". Being the tallest midget, doesn't mean you are tall by definition. Rising slightly above mediocrity, is not the same thing as being good.

Let's hope Ted Phillips, if not Jerry Angelo understand this as much as anybody...