Memo to Chicago Media: Fire Yourself.

This, much more so than the game next week at Cincy, is a must win game for the Bears. One team will come from the West, the Giants are looking like they will win the NFC East, and the Saints are the prohibitive favorite in the South. The Vikings have a good head start in the North, although the division may still be winnable whenever they play a team that is worth a damn. That leaves three strong teams fighting for two wildcard slots - the Bears, Falcons and Eagles. That makes this week even more of a must win than last year's game in Atl was. The winner of this game has a huge advantage in the wildcard race.

The problem was drafting CB in the FIRST place, not letting him go later. Thomas Jones would still be here running well. And, I'd rather have Cutler than Orton any day. I'm resigned to the fact that Morrissey is simply a tool.

Good article. This is not the time to be negative in Chicago. Your right it is bush league and it disgusts me that this kinda crap is what sells papers and strums up conversation more than a good team playing well.
I agree with Spawn. This is basically a wild card game right now. This could determine if one of these teams has not only a real shot at winning their division, but also making it to the playoffs through the wild card. This is a HUGE game this week. Nothing will be concrete after this but it can go a very long way to making this a special season.

The "same" special teams that hurt us against ATL last year will win the game for us this year.

maybe its a joke that i just missed but shouldnt it be "woe" not "woah"?
(i only point out cause of your criticism of mainstream media's shortcomings recently)

BDG, I dont blame the special teams for the loss in ATL last year... I blame the coaches that called for the squib kick in the firstp place

I wonder if some of the hacks fear the wrath of our leader. Get em Jeff!! This is game is going to be a 15 rd heavyweight championship. It is going to be a heart attack a minute. I can feel it.

sidebar trivia question: How do you lose a football game when the opposing QB goes 2-17 for 23 yards and a pick.

Good question, Jersey.
Excellent answer, Z.
Both of you can take the rest of the day off!

This thread is required simply as another by-product of the Bye week.

The result: Writers with nothing tangible to write about clicking into "I guess I have to make something up" mode.

Can you say "Mike Florio"?

Bye Weeks come and go but columnists deadlines just keep coming.

Also, I am guessing AMNESIA is a a requirement for a some writers because, for the life of me, I cannot recall a single Chicago sportswriter who wrote "We have to find a way to keep Cedric Benson a Bear!" or anything approaching that.

Not so clever twist on an dld joke:

Question: What do you call 100 sportswriters at the bottom of Lake Michigan?

Answer: A good start.

Just remembered of the #1 requirement for being a sportswriter:

20-20 Hindsight. It goes hand-in-hand with that Amnesia a mentioned earlier.

Haha pretty much Albert........I pretty much just read them to see if they actually have anything of worth to say but alas......Im usually left shaking my head and wondering how they have jobs

I've been saying for years that Chicago sports comlumnists (led by Jay Marriotti) were negative for the sake of being negative. They think finding a dark cloud around every silver lining was the Way To The Pulitizer and stopped listening to them long ago. Rick Morrissey and Dan Pompei and Melissa Issacson are the worst.

Rosenbloom's comments on Orton are stupid. Orton had success here, now he's having success elsewhere...there's no change.

However, he could (I don't know) be correct on Benson IF (and only if) Lovie and Angelo PROMISED HIM THE STARTING JOB from his rookie year onward....which would explain his stupid egotistical comments his rookie year...and some of his laziness when he wasn't starting. And then the pressure to get rid of Thomas Jones soon afterwards.

Also, Benson's dumbass agent may have demanded his client be gifted the starting job (informally)...with that gift ending Benson's orginal holdout.

...
Benson may have never have thrived here because of his attitude, but Chicago definitely waived him prematurely. He would have been a cheap 1 or 2 -year backup for Forte...which seems important now that the Bears have little depth at running back.

according to the 4-letter network (and i'm paraphrasing):

the Bills are now kickin' themselves in the ass and are shopping around TO. We are one of the teams they're looking at (for a mid-round pick).

now i'm not too hot about a mid round pick for him (see "volcano" and "opportunity), but i think he would give us that added hump for these reasons:

1) he will NOT destroy the locker room. cutty would not take any shit from him (see him-urlacher, him on the field pushing anybody in his way, etc.) as well as urlacher, wale, briggs, etc.
2) bills have a shit QB. TO over here would still force a double-team, leaving room for hester and knox on single-coverage (can you say putting up MVP numbers)?
3) he can block downfield, helping out the run game

dunno if it will happen, but if it does, i won't knock it. with that move (and provided T.O. gets an attitude adjustment from the Bears), it will be nice. if not, just bench him, let him go after the year, and look toward Anquan Boldin or any other #1 receivers in free agency (and bolster the line a little w/ some of those draft picks)

i love football...the jets dolphins game is a god damn shoot out!! Beautiful execution of the wildcat tonight for the fins and for the Jets, Braylon Edwards had a really good game. very entertaining way to spend a monday night. oh, and the whiskey helped too.

Are you guys fucking kidding me? Are we going to talk about this again?

NO T.O. Jesus H. Christ. What a terrible idea. Just when our Wide Recievers look like they can be the real deal...

And do you Benson supporters remember 2007 and Cedric Benson's patent-pending running style of 'grab ball, hit pile, fall over.' I once heard someone say his running style looked like he was running into a swarm of bees. He shines in a couple games in Cin City and you guys want to resurrect his career as a Bear? Good riddence to bad meat, I say.

Now get off my lawn you god damn kids!

What an entertaining Monday night game!

HOWEVER... if I am a Browns fan (and thank heavens I am not),
I am screaming THE FOLLOWING at #17 of the Jets:

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH BRAYON EDWARDS!?"

Great article! I completely agree; in fact, I would go so far as to say the Chicago sports media is partly responsible for the failures of the Chicago teams. Whatever you might think of Rex Grossman, you can't deny that the media destroyed his confidence and made it much harder for him to succeed. Look at what they did to Cutler after the 1st exhibition game, and again after the Green Bay game. They were analyzing his facial expressions for signs of attitude problems for christ sake. Let's hope Cutler continues to have thicker skin than Grossman.

And then of course there's the Cubs. 100 years of failure, but what can you blame it on, when there have been different players, coaches, managers, executives, and owners? What's the common thread? Wrigley Field? A goat? No, it's the negativity of the Chicago media. They go overboard with high expectations, then as soon as there's any adversity they panic and turn against the team en mass like a vicious horde. This creates a negative environment which makes it more difficult for the team to succeed.

It incites the fans too, who then contribute to the negative environment. You actually had fans booing Derrick Lee in Wrigley early this season, remember? Lee has thick skin so he was able to shrug it off. He has enough self-control to never commit the cardinal sin of criticizing the media or fans. But the media badgering sent head-case Milton Bradley off the deep end. Now they blame Bradly and Hendry and Pinella. They're right of course, except that they conveniently neglect to blame themselves as well.

It's comical that Rosenbloom blames Lovie Smith and everyone else he can think of for the Cedric Benson fiasco, because the media had a big part in that one. Benson is another thin-skinned head case, but he's talented. Put him in the right environment, as he is now, and he can thrive. But not in Chicago. Once you get on the Chicago media's bad side you're toast.

Lovie Smith is the exact opposite of the Chicago media. Consistent and level headed. Never panics. Never turns against his team. The media can't stand this. It's like matter against anti-matter. Every week they try to badger him into joining them in their panic attack. They want another Ditka. In fact they need another Ditka because it allows them to survive in their current form. Lovie is only the 2nd Bears coach to go to the Super Bowl, but it didn't get the media off his back. Even if he had won it wouldn't have made any difference... the media would still be trying to destroy him in order to save themselves.

Great points Ghost. Who wants to work with people who bitch and cry like Benson and that receiver. Benson could still have a good career if he straightens out and grows up, but I'm glad the Bears got rid of him when they did. Guys like him end up being a cancer 9 out of 10 times.

This is a funny parody of ESPN regarding the Bart Farve fiasco. Great rips on the ESPN. Scroll down a bit to catch the story.
file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/Corey/Desktop/espn_completely_misses_brett_favre.htm