A False Hope

The nature of our great democratic country is our unending desire to hold out hope for the future. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, we vowed that we would come back stronger and we did. After the 9/11 attacks, we vowed to wage an assault against global terrorism and we did. However, there are times when our hope is unfortunately supplanted by the cold hard truth. Since this a sports blog, I hope you are beginning to see where this is going. If you haven't made it that far yet, I'll just tell you because it bears repeating. The NBA lockout.

There are two sides to this story. The one that the league and the players are telling you and the one that is actually true. For months we have been led to believe that there was the potential for the deal. In my mind, I've seen it as a ticking timebomb waiting to explode. In July, we were somewhat worried about the prospect of an NBA season but players had been drafted and David Stern had still remained hopeful that a deal could be made. I'm not going to bore you with the month to month details but I'll just simply give the hint that NBA draftees still have not been signed. Why? Because we're in a @%$#ing lockout. And that's the truth.

There is a certain hypocrisy that is inherent in sports today that was not present a few decades ago. Owners and players will repeatedly tell you that they are putting on a show for their fans. That every time they take the court, the diamond, the rink, the gridiron, they are doing it to please and satisfy the fans. Unfortunately, as you and I both know, this is simply not true. Money is the root of all evil as is frequently said and it is ever present in this case as well. Do players and owners actually care about their fans? Yes. But not in the sense that you might think. You see, owners see fans as money. Each sucker that sits courtside at an NBA game at Madison Square Garden that is not named Spike Lee, is taking out a mortgage on their home just to pay to watch a measly 2.5 hour game. I think you get the idea. Players on the other hand, see fans as financial opportunities. There is what you might call a causal connection and relationship between players and fans. Players perform well on the court and fans buy their merchandise. Simple as that. Do something for me and I'll do something for you. Except the only party seeing a real return on that financial investment is the player. Does a fan really get any financial gain in buying Kobe Bryant's shoes? No. In fact, you would actually call it a financial loss. Kobe on the other hand gets a nice little percentage every single time you walk into a Footlocker and lace up in one of his shoes.

Of course the NBA is a business primarily and financially. Fans understand that just like the players and owners do. But when players and owners only care about renegotiating a 57-43 revenue split rather than getting on the court, then there's a real problem. America's in an economic recession which at this point is no real secret. So when owners are bellowing out that they're losing loads of money from their deep wallets to fund their multimillion dollar franchises, I tend to miss the point. You see where I'm going? Sports are supposed to be a pastime for our great nation. When things are rough, professional sports are supposed to be there as an aid to help us through the pain and suffering. A calm away from the storm. Especially in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. In that sense, there is a real human aspect to these players and owners. But when money and greed comes into play, that human aspect is always blurred in favor of profits and gains. I'm not suggesting that the NBA will be defunct forever. Of course it'll come back one day and the hope will be that it is stronger than it was before. But until they tap into the human aspect of the game, the pastime ideologies and the real reason they play the game, a promising end to the NBA lockout will be a false hope. There is hope for the future. It's just being blurred at the moment.

Mo-Town Beatdown

That's it. I've had it. I'm fed up with mediocrity. I'm tired of being embarrassed about being a Bears fan. I've been following this team for almost 20 years and it's the same stories with the same excuses every game and every year.
Let's get some things straight:
1) Jay Cutler IS our franchise quarterback.
2)The offensive line is a joke.
3) The "we're going to only rush four" and "cover-2 defense" ideas need to go.
4) It's time to rebuild.

I'm going to start backwards. The defense is not longer a ferocious feared top-5 defense. No, it's a bunch of post 30 year old players who are overpaid. Lance Briggs wants a new contract? Trade him. Adios. Let's get some draft picks for him while he still has value. We need help everywhere on defense it's impossible to pick out just one area. There is no pass rush, so where is Stephen Paea? Our linebackers are always out of position, let's see some of Dom Dicicco. Our safeties are a joke, cut Craig Steltz and let me see Winston Venable and Chris Conte.

Offensively, I cannot figure out why we didn't draft another offensive lineman after Gabe Carimi. Matt Forte deserves his money and if you want to rebuild wisely, you lock him up for the next 5 years. The receivers are all average but none are stellar or a true #1.
After seeing a majority of teams switching over to the 3-4 defense, I begin to wonder if the Bears are even considering it. I don't like it but it does give the defensive coordinator more options to disguise blitzes. But who am I kidding, the Bears don't blitz, they just believe the front four will generate pressure on a consistent basis. Ha! Not since the days of Alex Brown and Adawale Ogunleye has that happened.

Want to help the offensive line? Jon Stinchcomb, Shawn Andrews, Mario Henderson, Flozell Adams, Mark Tauscher, Langston Walker. All available and all have experience. Some of these guys may be past their prime but they're all better than Frank Omiyale and it never hurts to have a little depth...Right Jerry Angelo?

Let's make something very clear. Jay Cutler cares about this team. He wants to win and he will give everything he's got to do so. If tonight's game wasn't proof enough to how amazing of an athlete he truly is, than I don't know what is.
You want to look towards the future? Here's the offensive future: Gabe Carimi, Jay Cutler, Matt Forte, Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett, Dane Sanzenbacher.
Defense: Amobi Okoye, Henry Melton, Corey Wooton, Stephen Paea (maybe...I have to see him in action first). Not a bad front four actually. Major Wright (needs work but maybe can stick around until we get someone better) and D. J. Moore.
Special Teams: Robbie Gould, Corey Graham, Devin Hester.

Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo are going to be asked why they can't win and they will both just shrug their shoulders. You want to know the reason the Bears are losing? Because the let go of Olin Kreutz who was the leader of their O-line which made a very reliable Roberta Garza have to move elsewhere and they got rid of Jay Cutler's favorite safety valve, Greg Olsen. No more excuses. It is time for a fresh start.

While I'm embarrassed by what happened tonight in Detroit, I'm glad it happened on national television for all to see. Let everyone see how Jerry Angelo has solved our offensive line woes. Let everyone see how Rod Marinelli has rejuvenated our defense. Let everyone see how brilliant it was for Lovie Smith to go for it on 4th and 1 with the ball on the Detroit 25 in a scoreless game (Those 3 points basically cost the Bears the game as they trailed by 11 the whole game instead of 8). Don't worry Bears fans, I can almost guarantee a Chicago victory next Sunday. Forget that it's coming against a terrible Minnesota team. No, the Bears will win so their fans will say, "Hey we're still in this thing".

Yeah, right.