I had a wonderful conversation last night at Josie Woods Pub, conveniently located here in the city that never sleeps (but often feels like it’s in a coma).  We discussed what I believe is the coming Golden Age of American Soccer, compared the depth of the PGA field during the heydays of Nicklaus and Woods, argued about whether Tony Stewart’s wrecking of Kyle Busch to win at Daytona on Saturday night was warranted and he explained to me what a blue line is. 

When the conversation got to football, the Giants and Bears fans asked each other one question.  “What do you expect from your club this season?” 

“11-5,” he said.  “Division title and one playoff win.”  A very honest answer.

“How about you?” he asked.

“Super Bowl.”

He laughed but I realized that for the first time in my life as a Chicago Bears fan, I believed what I was saying.  For the first time in my life as a Chicago Bears fan, I expect them to be the best team in the NFC.  I expect them to win more games than any team in the conference.  I won’t expect a championship because anything can happen in those sixty minutes in February.  But I expect them to be in the game.

Now I challenge you.  Tell me who’ll stop them from getting there.  And make a convincing argument.  If I go into the actual season feeling this way, this place can erupt into anger and disappointment quite fast.

As training camp peeks its head around the bend, the Vikings are preparing to welcome a new master of ceremonies to the Minnesota circus.  And it hasn’t take long for players to voice their displeasure with the move:

Previously, there have been a few indications that some were hesistant
to welcome Favre with open arms.  Defensive end Ray Edwards has said
that Favre will have to drop the “prima donna act,” and linebacker Chad Greenway has questioned “where [Favre’s] loyalties lie.”

A disloyal prima donna is exactly what the Vikings know they are getting.  A disloyal prima donna with a vendetta against a former exployer, serious injury concerns, a penchant for breaking down and one of the world’s worst dome records is what the Vikings must be ignoring. 

Here are my real questions.  What happens if the Vikings open 1-3 and Favre looks awful?  Do they bench him for Tarvaris Jackson?  Does Favre stand on the sideline for three months?  By signing him, are they forced to ride the horse until the horse can’t ride?

If you’re one of these people that thinks Favre coming to Minnesota makes them better, I beg you to stop thinking about the Favre of five years ago.  The Favre who never lost in Soldier Field.  The Favre who seemed to find ways to win every game late.  The dog no longer hunts.  This Favre is a mediocre player with the capacity to tear apart an organization from the inside. 

And when it’s the organization we’re chasing for a division title, that sounds good to me.

When the Chicago Bears open the 2009 season at that toilet in Wisconsin on a warm September evening, it won’t be Jay Cutler and new-look offense I’ll be focused on.  Yes, I think the Prime Cut we see in Week One will be vastly different than the Cutler of Week Ten.  Yes, I think the team would be wise to add a veteran receiver to the mix.  Yes, I think it may take some time for the coaching staff to correctly align the boys up front and a few weeks more for that group to gel. 

But when I read comments like these from Jerry Angelo, regarding the impact of our new defensive coaching assignments, my Bullshit Alarm sounds pretty loudly:

I think they’ll make a huge difference. When you have quality coaching,
you’re going to see it reflected in the performance of the players.
It’s a coaching league. We see that because of all the attrition that
each team has every year. Coaches have to get players up to speed right
away. I anticipate that our coaches will have a very big impact, just
as much as a quality player would have.

I might be fine with this statement if the coaches discussed were not Lovie Smith and Rod Marinelli.  This is a defense that struggled covering down the field on third downs, entering the season with a noticeable weakness at the safety position.  This is a team that never pressured the quarterback in big situations, adding a coach who’ll be remembered as the only head man to ever go 0-16. 

Why make no personnel acquisitions on the defensive side, outside of bringing in an outcast linebacker from St. Louis?  Arrogance.  Plain and simple.  I’ve long constested (and written) that Lovie Smith couches an annoying amount of over-confidence underneath his aw shucks, hillbilly demeanor. Look at his solutions to the struggling unit he prided himself on building and developing: (1) Fire every coach but Bob Babich, his buddy and the man responsible for the play-calling.  (2) Take over all the play-calling duties himself.  (3) Bring in only one player – a man he drafted while the DC in St. Louis.  Lovie’s answers have all, essentially, been Lovie.

And that is why the 2009 season falls squarely on his shoulders.  Anything less than a playoff appearance should lead to his immediate dismissal and the hiring of one of the four Super Bowl winning coaches who’ll be itching to get back into the game.  (My vote would go to Mike Holmgren, though I doubt he’d be willing to share the talent decisions with Jerry.) 

If Lovie does do what we all want him to do and wins the NFC North, the opposite must also hold true.  Lovie must be given the keys to the kingdom going forward and a lengthy contract extension.

That is why the 2009 season will define this organization for the next half-decade and why the Jay Cutler story may only be a sub-plot. 

ProFootballTalk disputes the John Clayton-begun report that the Bears are no longer considering Plaxico Burress as an option at receiver.  Here’s what I have to say about the Bears lack of interest: Bull. Shit.

The only reason any team with a need at wideout would not consider Plax is character (not salary) and it is impossible to make a significant financial commitment to a player when you’re unsure if that player will be avilable on Sundays.  Can the Bears confidently state that Burress won’t be suspended for the bulk of the 2009 campaign?  Do they believe he’ll be eating his lunches alongside a guy doing 15-20 for first-degree manslaughter?  Is it not crazy to commit eight million dollars for what might be only eight games?

Plax is not a good wide receiver.  He’s a great wide receiver.  His signing would make the Chicago Bears the odds-on favorite to walk through the NFC North.  But we should expect nothing of note until Goodies makes his official decision and lets the league know how available the player will be to play.  Until that moment, all speculation is pointless. 

We’ll waste some midweek space by focusing on some fan-related points of interest around the club. 

Tickets On Sale July 25th
Vaughn McClure thinks “there is sure to be a mad rush” for tickets, as the Bears welcome their first franchise quarterback in…ever.  We here at DaBlog plan on being in attendance for the October 4th victory against the Detroit Lions and are hoping to be having some kind of festive occasion on the evening of the 3rd (most likely at Rossi’s on North State).  More on that as we get closer.

Shocker! Tailgating More Expensive
Dave Newbart has a Sun-Times story, detailing the steep price increase for regular folks trying to attend a football game in difficult economic times. 

A lot beneath McCormick Place Lakeside Center and another at 31st and
S. Moe Drive will cost $25, up from $17 last season. RV drivers must
pay $50, up from $34.

I’m not some kind of working man’s muckraker but I’ve got a space and I’d like to use it.  Municipalities are in financial disarray (along with everybody else) and it’s about damn time regular people stop being punished for the mistakes of the wealthy and powerful.  An $8 increase on $17 and a $16 increase on $34 is not “steep” – it is robbery.  It is theft.  I have no problem with inflation but inflation does not operate in 50% increments.  Some folks have no other means but the only way to show your disapproval is to leave the cars at home, carpool to games, use public transportation…etc. 

Training Camp Photos Wanted
If you’re headed to training camp in Bourbonnais this summer, please send us any photos or videos you might think will be of interest to fans.  We’ll be scouring the media world for any and all information throughout camp and if you’re attending, you can help.  
 
       

Nothing going on around Halas Hall right now.  Absolutely zero.  Here’s some mindless crap, in case you’re bored.

Jay Likes Brandon
Jay Cutler sings the praises of Brandon Marshall during a visit to William & Mary, saying he could become one of the greatest to ever play the position.  We’ve outlined all the personality risks, contractual demands and required draft picks but if the Bears were to make a move for Marshall, it’d be incredibly difficult not to think this team becomes the favorite to reach the Super Bowl in the NFC.  Don’t count on it, however.  Jerry Angelo is a subscriber to the belief that the quarterback makes the receivers.  (I’m assuming he started believing this in March.)

I like Jay
I wish the work in the Daily Herald were better, as Bob Legere would be a welcome addition to the Sun-Times v. Tribune “battle”.  LeGere does have a quote in his OTA wrap-up that warms my heart even more at the thought of Jay Cutler playing quarterback for this club:

“This is the time when we have to have everything going right,” Cutler
said, “and if it’s not, we have to get it corrected. That’s the first
time I think it’s happened to Devin like that, so he’s going to be
fine. It’s going to happen. It’s going to happen in games, but we just
have to try to limit it as much as possible.”   

Nice job by Brad Biggs (been saying that quite a bit recently) with his position summaries coming out of the OTAs.  Let me break it down, in brief:

The Non-Surprises:
1. Caleb Hanie is going to be the team’s backup quarterback, making him the player I’ll be watching the closest throughout the summer. 
2. Pisa is going to be the starting backer on the strong side and I don’t see Hunter Hillenmeyer as more than a special teams player in 2009. (Especially due to the emergence of Jamar Williams.)
3. Frank Omiyale is lining up as the starting left guard.  Frank Omiyale will be the starting left guard.

The Surprise:
Biggs reports that Corey Graham was playing nickel corner, not safety, meaning Kevin Payne and Craig Steltz are currently the starting safeties.  This doesn’t necessarily mean that Graham won’t be moved there in August but that’s a frightening amount of inexperience on the third level.   

The Summary
The Chicago Bears are going to be able to run the ball and stop the run, just as they did in 2008.  The questions heading into training camp and the 2009 season will be can the club make plays down the field offensively and prevent opponents from converting in third-and-long situations?  They’ve upgraded the offensive line and quarterback spots.  They’ve brought in Rod Marinelli.  This means the focus at the end of July will be on the wide receiver and safety positions – where the most intense competition will be taking place.

Updating Earlier Stories: Chicago has decided against retroactively taxing PSLs.

Shame on me for not doing my homework.  But since this just became something of a paying gig for me, I shall vow not to make the same mistakes in the future.

I have spent more than a dozen blog posts arguing that Jerry Angelo continue his borderline brilliant off-season by making the acquisition of a big time wide receiver.  “Give up the 2010 draft,” I’ve said, for Anquan Boldin.  Surrender your moral principles to get Brandon Marshall or sign Plaxico Burress.  I wanted T.O.  I wanted Braylon Edwards.  But perhaps the smartest move for this organization right now would be no move at all.

Before I continue, we have to understand that Jay Cutler is going to the Bears’ starting quarterback for a decade.  Forte, Hester, Olsen…these guys are kids.  There is no rush for this offense to be successful in 2009, with the exception of pressure on the current coaching staff.  In the past, the need at wide receiver was an attempt to compensate for a weakness at quarterback.  That weakness no longer exists. 

And look at the list of wide receivers set to become free agents in 2010.  Roddy White emerged as a star once Matt Ryan moved under center for the Falcons.  Greg Jennings and Vincent Jackson are big, strong players who have thrived in pivotal moments.  Braylon and Brandon have 2009 to prove they can play with consistency on the field and maturity off of it.  Antonio Bryant’s 2008 may have been a fluke.  But if it wasn’t, he’ll be a hot commodity next off-season.  All these players – viable number one entities – could be on the open market at the end of this coming season. 

So while many of us may be desperate for a winning 2009 and a return trip to the playoffs, the wise, patient and prudent maneuver for Jerry Angelo may be giving these kids a shot at receiver.  Let Hester, Bennett, Iglesias, Rash and Rideau lineup and play.  If it works out, problem solved.  If it doesn’t, there’s a smorgasbord of receiving talent in the waiting. 

And lest we forget!  There is no reason on earth the lack of a veteran wide receiver should keep this club from winning the NFC North.  For Brett Favre is coming to ruin the Vikings organization. 

This according to a report on Sportscenter.

I’ll have more information as I keep on this.  Marshall has been unhappy since both Mike Shanahan was let go and Jay Cutler was traded.

Needless to say, the Bears will be interested.

Welcome to the Party, David

First off, kudos to David Haugh.  I’ve been hard on him in the past but he opens today’s column with something I’ve been dying to write all week:

Unless either Don Shula or Chuck Noll wants to weigh in, let’s wait at least a day before hearing from another Super Bowl-winning head coach interested in questioning Jay Cutler’s character publicly, OK?

I understand the city’s (and my own) infatuation with Captain Cutler but asking every coach who has ever stood on the sideline whether he’ll be a success or not is getting ridiculous. 

The column itself asks the question, “Do the Bears need a veteran backup quarterback?”  The answer – as I wrote two weeks ago – is yes.  Absolutely.  This team should refuse to be one vicious tackle away from Caleb Hanie and a 6-10 season.  They’re not going to find a star on the market but they can find a serviceable veteran.

Anybody have a grain of salt?

The Bears need to stop congratulating themselves for signing all their draft picks, especially when they have no picks in the first two rounds.  These are slotted salaries and contracts.  They require about as much creativity as painting the walls in a hospital room.  I like that there won’t be any holdouts in a month but I’d like a legitimate number one receiver more.