John Gruden has been mentioned as being interested in the University of Texas head coaching job. Would he consider the University coaching job? There are many of us long suffering 'Canes fans who would love to go back to the Big East days when the football team owned the conference.
Al Golden's version looks like the Chicago Bears, score a lot of points and give up as many. And as bad as the last two coaches were, Randy Shannon and Larry Coker they didn't lose to Duke. Randy Shannon had some of the best recruiting classes in his four years (2007-2010) and Larry Coker had Butch Davis players when he left to coach the Cleveland Browns. A case of winning with another coaches players which happened each time a coach left the school for the NFL. Coker parlayed that into two national championship appearances.

Former coach Jimmy Johnson who'd won a National Title at Miami with Current Bears Coach Mark Trestman, also won a superbowl in the NFL. So it can be said that a program like Miami needs a coach with NFL credentials like John Gruden or NFL potential. Both Coker are and Shannon are still in college as football coaches/coordinators.

Goldens bunch gave up 554 yards to Louisville in the Russell Athletic Bowl. Alumnus Ray Lewis was probably did what other 'Cane fans did and turned the television off halfway through the debacle. Granted Teddy Bridgewater is a first round pick in the NFL but being that Miami is a high profile program against another high profile program you can see the recruits who used to think a letter from Miami meant a direct route to the NFL is looking at them as a middle of the pack team. That doesn't bode well for the 'Canes future. Grudens number should be on the speed dial and the call should have been made before halftime.

Chicago, Il. Week 52

In Theo We Trust.

The Cubs have been criticized for the choices they’ve made since the new ownership and now the the management of the team since the end of the Jim Hendry days. Funny that it took a massive season ending choke job by the Red Sox in 2011 to get Theo here. A choke surpassing the choke job of the ’69 Cubs.

Since he’s been here he’s signed and traded nearly every free agent for draft picks and minor leaguers. Let Ryne Sanberg slip through his hands. He’s yet to trade away Castro who has gotten now two managers and counting fired. It’s possible to say that when/if this team starts winning it might be in spite of Theo.

Being shouted out by Scott Boras the fact that a team that actually made money last year through a second straight losing season. A large market team like the Cubs are not in the market for any big name free agents besides possibly considering a Japanese pitcher who won twenty four games last year. Which team isn’t looking at him?

For once I agree with this strategy. I never liked the mid season sell offs of veterans unless it meant winning or losing a division. I believe the Cubs are still short of talent for the long term winning they profess. Certainly one good year could win it for anyone.

Rich Rodriguez an underwhelming signing by the Cubs may just a baseball genius according to whatever matrix Epstein and staff are using. Maybe he has an ability to teach young players particularly Latin players but coming from the National League West where all the pomp and circumstance is due to Hollywood and not talent. Though the National League West has won two recent Championships, league play hardly includes the difficulty of three playoff contenders every year.

The Cubs only chance is to win the National League Central. The Wild Card system is a disaster. The current talent in the minors will certainly bring a burst of success which will just as quickly burn out. Will a World Series come from this? We can hope. My prediction is the burst will begin in 2015 and burn out by 2020. The losing will then return to the north side. By then Cub fans will return to comfortably numb.

Festivus For The Rest Of Us.

It can be said the NFL has become a league geared towards offense. A team would almost be lucky to go through a season like this one without having given up thirty points. Any explanation for the league turning into the NBA?
Teams would kill to have a defense like the one Lovie Smith built. But as clueless as he was on offense is as clueless the rest of the league is on defense.

Case in point the Bears haven’t given up less than twenty points at any time this season. That doesn’t sound like much but considering they gave up fifty four on Sunday night and thirty one the week before we would take a twenty point average.

The city has been worrying about how the new offense would work out sure that the defense would be fine without Smith or Urlacher.

Going into the game against the Eagles the Bears were on track to give up the most yards in franchise history. Also on par to break offensive records that have held since the forties and fifties.

There’ll be a lot of could’ve. Would’ve. Should’ve going on in the locker-room this week. A week full of positive vibes from publicity . Charitable work. Squashing of supposed beefs between quarterbacks in a contract year. Me once being a Jay Cutler apologist has suddenly changed my tune. But I also said we should have drafted a back up on this last draft.

How often do you go into a game with a win and you’re in scenario against a team who gave up forty eight points last week against Minnesota? The Bears on prime time not only lay an egg but in such a fashion they cannot even start to think about Green Bay next week. For the next several days they Bears should  do nothing. Cancel all appearances. Stay away from the radio and television. Don’t even show their faces around town. Throw out the video of this game. No need to be reminded how bad they are.

Like the famous Seinfeld episode where everyone else is having a merry Christmas they should be reviewing  everything. Every stupid loss. Detroit twice. Minnesota. St. Louis. And how badly they played in nearly losing to Cleveland of all teams. The many ways they found to lose. With a Super Bowl type offense and a historically inept defense. I wouldn’t want to sit through another Trestman press conference which is worse than a Buddah like experience of a Lovie Smith put us through.

Don’t get me wrong I don’t miss the man but I don’t remember him ever losing this badly.

Bulls fans never fear. We do have the talent to turn this into a winning season. We just have to be patient. After the dismantling of the two top teams in the east in Miami and Indiana I believe the Bulls were they in the playoffs the could win more than one series if they get their heads in oreder and let the loss of Derrick Rose go. Management handled him poorly so there should be no guilt on the part of the players. Dunleavy was a great signing and Tony Snell was a great draft pick. I only wish we had held onto Nate Robinson and let retire a Bull. But never fear the Bulls will be in it one way or the other. In Thibs we trust.

This years football season in Chicago should not be put on Trestmans back. Though I cannot listen to the man talk because he reminds me of a school administrator his offense is much better than when Lovie Smith was here and he has a defense racked with injuries. It would be great to win the lats four games which I think wont happen. We'll get blown out by Dallas and Philly, sqeak out winners against Cleveland and Green Bay if Rodgers isn't back. I say that only if we do not continue to give up 150 yards on the ground in either of those games. Talent wise we are as good as any team in the league but we are an aging team. Within a couple of years we will be the Monsters of the Midway again. It is worth the wait unlike the wait for the Cubs to get their act in order or for Derrick Rose to play a full season. I would give Trestman the grade of a B- for this year with the success of the offense. I can't put the defense on him.

I see you guys (Cleveland) like signing former Bears backups. I said Jason Campbell sucked but you guys like him. Now you got Caleb Hanie another one of our backups. You better hope you don't need him. That dude really sucks. He has a lot of potential but I think he was scared shitless when we threw him in there. I hope he does well for you guys. I liked the kid but he couldn't win for us.

On the Derridck Rose thing I think the Bulls did go very wrong with him. I think they should have brought him off the bench instead of putting him in there right away for entire games. And letting Nate Robinson go was just dumb.

It might be a crazy though to have at this time but could Derrick Rose's days in Chicago be numbered? He's been with Chicago for five years now. Except for his Rookie of the Year season in '08 and his MVP season in '11 he hasn't done much that many would consider him capable of comparison to other players at his position.

Derrick Rose is undoubtedly a great ball player. A hometown boy so the city of Chicago is hurting with him. But with another catastrophic knee injury that will sideline him for another season where there was great hope of finally beating the Miami Heat in the playoffs. Personally even with him I don't think that was going to happen.

The Bulls have a great core of players but do we really want to rely on Kirk Hinrich at point guard all season or the Teague kid? I suggest the Bulls make a trade and fast.
Going back again to the question of Rose's days being numbered in Chicago. Will fans want to sit through another year to see if the team will handle him differently this time? I believe that he should not have played last year though many say we would have gone deeper in the playoffs if he had played. I completely disagree.

First of all the year the Derrick hurt his knee against the Philadelphia 76ers in the 2011-12 season the Bulls had the best record in the NBA. They had the "Bench Mob," basically an entire team that had he been hurt there were a number of players who could have stepped in for him and kept it going. After the loss to the 76ers that team was dismantled and a patchwork team was put together. Regardless of the fact they made the second round of the playoffs in 2012-13 I agreed with Reggie Rose that the Bulls had done everything on the cheap and were lucky to have the success they had.

Now Rose is hurt again and if he remains with the team I think once his rehab is done he should play his way into shape by playing in the Summer League with the rookies, then pre-season games but brought off the bench to start the season. If he had no doubts in his mind before about the ability to come back from such devastating injuries he will next season. Fear not Bulls fans the Bulls will make the playofs this year even if it is by the will of Coach Thibs'. But will we see Derrick Rose in a Bulls uniform again?

Rose is having surgery. There is a good chance that if he played last year even a little he'd be in shape and not hurt. Can't know for sure, but I am telling you he was managed poorly and the effects were disasterous.

I agree that he may have been maanaged poorly. As I've said you can't put it all on him. The Bulls are definiately complicit in this. Plus I think it's his style of play. His knees aren't built for it. Remember there was no contact in either injury. I think the Bulls were also stupid for letting Nate Robinson go to Denver.

Rich Renteria an underwhelming pick to manage the Cubs, exchanging one Dale Sveum for another. Smartest they could’ve done was put Ryne Sandberg as manager of the guys coming up had played for. Certainly Castro and Barney. Speaking of the Cubs infield. In order for them to compete in the toughest division in the National League.

The Bryant kid will have to play first base. Valbuena will have to play third base. Castro and Rizzo will have to go via trade. The Cubs will have to sign veterans in the outfield and teach they kids how to win.

Are we as Cubs fans willing to wait for all of this to shake out? The Cubs have had losing seasons before. That was before I learned what you get if you win. Selling your veterans for draft picks is as old as time. For the only professional club in the world that hasn’t won a damned thing in over one hundred years they don’t seem to be in any hurry to placate their fans. They’d rather waste money turning Wrigley Field into a monstrosity. People were screaming for a single owner for the Cubs. “A media company doesn’t know how to run a team.” The Ricketts haven’t had a winning season since they’ve owned the team.

To me the situation seems even more scatter brained than when they were owned by the Tribune Company. In my opinion the owners want to turn not only the ball park but the neighborhood into a circus. You start to wonder how a club goes one hundred plus years without winning it all. There are more teams. Better teams. Better scouting including into Latin America. Better Minor league systems to keep teams on top of their divisions for years.

Why should we wait to see if any of this will come to fruition? Why should we wait we continue to watch  ticket prices go up while batting averages go down? Because we hate the White Sox too much  and choosing the Cardinals is too easy. Milwaukee is in no better shakes. Pittsburgh is probably the best choice but who knows how long they’re going to be good. Texas. Detroit. Boston. A designated hitter should never be MVP! He doesn’t have to play the field. Major League Baseball having been beaten out by the NFl as the country’s favorite sport. It is a nuisance as people flood the neighborhood with noise. Outside the park you can tell who won when you hear fans are singing, “Go Cubs Go.”

When the ball park goes dark in late September for construction. Another season with more losses than wins.

Welcome Rich Renteria. Welcome to the circus. I’m sure you’ve heard the not to unpack your suitcase jokes. You’ll be back in San Diego before you know it. There’ll be questions of why we gave up Quade, Sanberg and Sveum. The answer will be on the Cubs new jumbotron. Castro drifting off to sleep. You think Alex Gonzalez blew it in 2003 who would trust Castro in a similar situation? No one in St. Louis or Boston is asking that question.

Why should we put up with it as Cub fans? Why the hell should we continue to care? If they do win it all do we come running to revel in the madness? Do we occupy the streets of Wrigleyville so that we can say that we’ve been there and have seen a Cubs World Series victory in our lifetime. I predict we’ll be looking for a new manager in two years and the Cubs still won’t be any closer to 80 victories. Anone can have a bad century. The way things are looking it could another hundred and baseball could be played on another planet by then.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Loss Is A Loss

Whether because Cutler was hampered by an ankle or groin, a lack of a running game. Lack of a defensive pass rush or porous secondary.

Welcome to the “black and blue” division where no one is surprised that Detroit could win the NFC North. I’m certainly not surprised. But that it’d taken them this long to do it. I’m not talking about the Matt Millen days when they were so bad that they’re the first team to go winless in a sixteen game season. No I’m talking about since they’re recent visit to the playoffs. They’re real. They’re dangerous and they’re good.

I question why the Bears have not drafted a quarterback to learn under Cutler. I can certainly say that Josh McCown is the definition of a back up. He can move the ball down the field and put the team in field goal range. McCown has gotten us more than field goal.

While the Bears wouldn’t have beaten the Packers without Aaron Rodgers getting hurt it was one game where only the numbers on the board mattered.

I’m crazy enough to say that McCown should’ve started against Detroit. Regardless Detroit gets all the credit for defeating Chicago. If this is their year consider how many of their players will actually be on the field for the playoffs. Unnecessary roughness penalties and all.

The Trestman era as with any new regime you hate to see talent wasted while he figures things out. I’d originally picked the Bears to go 10-6 again but making the playoffs. There are questions of whether or not to extend Cutler’s contract. But with no Colin Kapernick waiting who would we get to play the position? Particularly now that we have a coach capable of running an offense. An offensive line to protect him. I also suggest drafting one of those Alabama running backs. They know how to move a pile and run the clock.

The Bears are 5-4 still trying to get Brandon Marshall his first playoff appearance. As if division games aren’t tough enough there are the non divisional games left against the Ravens Cowboys and Eagles. One would be hard pressed to say the “black and blue” division isn’t one of the toughest in football with the collapse of the AFC witnessing one of the greatest periods of Bear football since the days of Halas. At this point sweeping Green Bay and Minnesota won’t guarantee a playoff spot if Detroit keeps winning or we’re tied for first at the end of the season. Tie breaker and all that. But what is assured is winning ugly or ugly end to the season.*

Dolphins Know More Than They Are Saying

There is more to the kerfuffle in the Miami Dolphins locker room with Richie Incognito and Jonathan Martin than is being said. While some say Incognito has a reputation for being a bully and Dolphins GM Jeff Ireland had heard of some angst between the two as well as Incognito's behavior with other young players had told Martin to punch Richie, fight back. It is hard to believe that in a sport dominated by players of color he would on his own make racial statements on voicemail considering what Riley Cooper of Philadelphia had to go through for making racist comments at a concert this past year.
I've heard word the Dolphins wanted Incognito who plays on the same side of the offensive line that Martin does wanted Incognito to "toughen" Martin up and Incognito's bullying would do the same for other young players.
While pranks are a part of the NFL and all sports one way or another it turned out a very harmless one was what sent Martin over the edge.
Supposedly when he sat down at a table in team dining room for a meal all of the players got up and left. Word is that there is a penalty for being the last one in the dining room after a meal.
Baseball players are well known for their pranks as well. Having a player sing his college's fight song or dressing in drag.
There have been some well known hazing cases in the high school ranks in sports in Illinois in recent years that have been of a sexual nature.
But before we go out an start calling Richie Incognito a bigot all sides of the story has to come out including the possibility Martin was too thin skinned for the hyper-macho NFL. No one has come out and said anything like this goes on in any other locker room not to mention the fact that Martin is a second year player not a rookie.

I am an African American male who will call a spade a spade when it comes to issue of race. Not because it is vogue to point to the nearest white person if they say something that I don't agree with or gets under my skin. I also know when something isn't passing the smell test and this story stinks of an inside job. I'm sure if Incognito had a problem with Martin it could have been handled a year ago when the Dolphins drafted Martin out of Stanford.
While Stanford University is a well known academic institution, in recent years since the Harbaugh days when he was coaching the football team Stanford is a football school. The Dolphins are better this year than they've been in the past so if this was a sad sack team I'd say fire everybody and start over. But with a decent team this year no one in charge's head is on the chopping block which it should be.
It would be harsh to say I don't think Incognito has the brains to pull what he did but he doesn't strike me as a guy who would go out of his way to do something as reprehensible as record a voicemail with racial slurs and threats of bodily harm and death. I think he's been around too long. I think this one stinks from the head and poor Richie is the whipping boy for this one. I hope this is the case. I would hate to see someone's career ended over some completely avoidable nonsense because he took one for the team.

Godfrey Logan