Tuesday, Nov. 29
George Knue at 2:01 p.m.
Packer Week: At the Milwaukee Journal Web site, Tom Silverstein recalls the Forrest Gregg and Lindy Infante eras, when a victory over the Bears was the only thing that mattered to Packer supporters. Here’s what former Packer Brian Noble told Silverstein: “Back then our seasons were judged on whether we beat the Bears. When we had poor football teams, all people cared about was beating the Bears. They’d say, ‘We don’t care if you’re 2-14 as long as you beat Chicago. Just spoil their season.'”
Bear fans can relate to those remarks — especially since the shoe has been on the other foot ever since Bear slayer Brett Favre took over up there. With that in mind, here are some facts Silverstein noted: The Bears are seven-point favorites, only the sixth time the Bears have been favored since Favre arrived, and only the second time since Week 2 in 1995. The spread is the biggest for the Bears in a Packer game since 1991.
Sure, the Bears are in first place and the Packers have only won twice, but here’s the thing: The Bears have to beat the Packers. Have to. Bear fans have taken too much junk from Cheeseheads to be satisfied with anything less.
Like any Bears-Packers game, it’s not just another game. You know what I’m talking about.
More Bears on the Web: Pete Prisco of CBSSportsline.com has the Bears ranked fifth in the NFL, behind the Colts, Broncos, Seahawks and Jaguars and right in front of the Steelers, Bengals and Chargers. The Panthers and Giants are at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively — but only two NFC teams are in the top 8. Writes Prisco: “Winning on the road against a good team like Tampa Bay is impressive. They do eventually need to get some more from the offense.”
The ESPN Power rankings have the Bears fifth as well, behind the Colts, Broncos, Seahawks and Bengals. The Chargers, Panthers, Jaguars, Steelers and Giants round out the Top 10. And the blurb with the ranking gives the Bears their due: “It’s time for anyone who is still holding out to realize that the Bears are a good team. Yes, the offense isn’t great, but the defense is really good.”
Monday, Nov. 28
Rahula Strohl at 5:07 p.m.
Bears post-game on the air: Around the Horn had a section on who is the best team in the NFC right now. Host Tony Reali seemed to be the only one who felt the Bears belonged in that spot. Bill Plaschke failed even to mention the Bears and Michael Smith jumped on Reali’s bandwagon at the end of the segment in an apparent effort to curry favor for more face time on the show.
Jay Mariotti said the Bears’ defense was superb, but their margin of victory during their win streak is not enough to make it impressive. Reali muted him, saying a margin of victory means they’re winning. Mariotti then said the Bears’ special teams were not good enough because Bobby Wade has nine fumbles. No mention of the impending demotion of Wade or that Brad Maynard is one of the best punters in the NFL.
On Pardon the Interruption, Chicago native Michael Wilbon was wearing a Walter Payton jersey. In the intro, Wilbon says, “Seven in a row, baby, I’m smellin’ ’85” Tony Kornhheiser‘s response: “You smell like you’re 85.”
After telling the national audience things that Chicago fans have been noticing the past three weeks (Wilbon says “They play defense and they can hurt you”), Kornheiser ends the segment by assuring Chicago fans that he doesn’t hate the Bears. He turns to Wilbon and says, “I don’t hate the Bears, I hate you.”
On the Web: Peter King remains the Bears’ biggest advocate among national reporters. He has them ranked at No. 5 on his league rankings, but the four teams ahead of them are all in the AFC (Colts, Broncos, Chargers and Steelers). Alex Brown is one of his defensive players of the week and in his “10 things I think I think” section, one of his quick hit thoughts is, “The Bears really look good.” Finally, his fifth thing he thinks is that we in football media- and fan-land can go ahead and make comparisons to 1985.
Less of a Bears fan and more of a Northeast United States homer, Dan Shanoff of the “Daily Quickie” says the Bears are more intriguing as an NFC pick than the Seattle Seahawks.
Wednesday, Nov. 23
George Knue at 2:12 p.m.
Will he ever be out of the news? Had to laugh when an e-mail promoting a book-signing at the Michigan Avenue Borders book store referred to Dennis Rodman as a “two-time best-selling author.”
“In-store author events in December include John McCain, Al Franken, Dennis Rodman, and a lot more.”
Five-time NBA champion, seven-time rebounding champion, three-time husband, many-time defendant, yes.
But Dennis Rodman and best-selling author are probably words that don’t belong in the same sentence. But who knows? A search on Amazon.com reveals that he has been pretty prolific (at the keyboard, that is). Though stunningly he doesn’t do it all on his own.
Dennis’ latest literary effort, titled “I Should Be Dead By Now” was co-written with Jack Isenhour, who played hoops for Bobby Knight at Army. Another, “Bad As I Wanna Be,” was done with sportswriter Tim Keown. That one had the memorable cover photo of Dennis sitting naked atop a motorcycle– with a strategically placed basketball. And a third, “Walk On the Wild Side,” was done with Sports Illustrated’s Michael Silver.
Wait, there’s more. “Rebound: The Dennis Rodman Story” with Pat Rich and Alan Steinberg. And “Words from the Worm: An Unauthorized Trip Through the Mind of Dennis Rodman,” compiled by David Whitaker. And let’s not overlook “The Exotic Erotic Ball: Twenty Years of the World’s Biggest Sexiest Party,” which is written by Perry Mann but has a foreword by Rodman. And lastly “A Rodman Holiday,” which I couldn’t find anything more about.
All of which leads to the conclusion that Dennis, whether he wrote a word of any of these books or not, still must sell. He’s gone from NBA player – his last game was in 2000 — to making his living–and spending his money wildly–as a character. Despite his nefarious ways in a past life with the Detroit Pistons, we’ll always remember him fondly for the way he went completely horizontal diving for a loose ball.
Dennis’ scheduled appearance at Borders (830 N. Michigan Avenue in Chicago) is 2 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 10. The event is limited to 500 people; for information on how to be one of those 500, call 312-573-0564. No word if he’ll be in that wedding dress. Let’s hope not.
Meanwhile … Walter Payton’s widow, Connie, will be joining Brett Favre’s mother, Bonita, for a signing at 12:30 p.m. Dec. 2 at the State and Randolph Borders downtown. Connie’s book is titled “Payton” and would likely be a good Christmas gift for that Bears fan on your list.
Monday, Nov. 21
George Knue at 10:38 a.m.
Bears on the Web: Took a little spin around the Web to see how some of the NFL guys took the Bears’ whipping of the Panthers Sunday.
Peter King, in his regular Monday Morning Quarterback feature, has the Bears as No. 8 in his “Fine Fifteen” and eats a little crow: “I eat my words. The Bears have played somebody. A good team. And they kicked the living tar out of the Panthers.”
King also said Nathan Vasher was his Defensive Player of the Week, and further down, said this: “Maybe Kyle Orton’s numbers don’t look good, but he is good enough. On a defensive team as good as the Bears, Orton can win a playoff game.”
Jimmy Johnson on FOXsports.com says Lovie Smith is his Coach of the Year, and Len Pasquarelli of ESPN.com gives the Bears their due: “Guess what, guys? The word is out. Or soon will be. The Bears, especially on the defensive side, are pretty darned good.”
Pete Prisco on CBSSportsline.com graded the Bears an “A” after Sunday’s victory and concluded, “The Bears are legit.”
Even if the Bears only go 3-3 over their last six games, you have to like their chances to win the NFC North. And the way the defense is playing … hey, who knows?
Thursday, Nov. 17
Greg Gugger at 10:38 a.m.
The future: The Bears have a tough schedule the next seven weeks so we asked some of the Tribune writers who cover the team to give us their predictions. The majority believe that the Bears will finish the season 3-4.
K.C. Johnson, the Tribune’s Bears beat reporter, has the Bears going 3-4 the rest of the way.
Nov. 20: Panthers—Loss
Nov. 27: at Tampa—Loss
Dec. 4: Green Bay—Win
Dec. 11: at Pittsburgh—Loss
Dec. 18: Atlanta—Win
Dec. 25: at Green Bay—Win
Jan. 1: at Minnesota—Loss
Tribune pro football reporter Don Pierson pedicts the Bears will go 3-4.
Panthers—Loss
Bucs—Loss
Green Bay—Win
Pittsburgh—Loss
Atlanta—Win
Green Bay—Loss
Minnesota—Win
Tribune columnist Mike Downey’s crystal ball reads 4-3.
Panthers—Win
at Tampa—Loss
Green Bay—Win
at Pittsburgh—Loss
Atlanta—Win
at Green Bay—Loss
at Minnesota —Win
Tribune reporter/columnist Fred Mitchell says 3-4.
Panthers—Loss
Bucs—Loss
Packers—Win
at Steelers—Loss
Falcons—Win
at Packers—Loss
at Vikings—Win
Tuesday, Nov. 15
Ryan Jaster at 12:09 p.m.
Lee the MVP? If NBCSports.com’s Mike Celizic is right, Derrek Lee is your National League MVP.
Celizic justifies his prediction by saying the voting for baseball’s other major awards was heavily influenced by statistics. Since the Cubs first baseman had a realistic shot at the Triple Crown as late as August, Celizic reasons that it will be enough to top the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols and the Braves’ Andruw Jones.
However, Celizic neglects to mention that the other major award winners also won division titles. The Cubs finished fourth, 21 games behind Pujols’ Cardinals. Finishing first certainly isn’t a prerequisite, but it helps.
So will Celizic be right? It’s doubtful, since Pujols has played bridesmaid to Barry Bonds the past four seasons (2001, Monday, Nov. 14 Page 2: Former Tribune columnist Skip Bayless gives Vasher’s return the honor of being his “Damn! Moment of the Week.” Jim Rome: Gave a whole section at the top of his show, “Jim Rome is Burning.” He talks about how impressive the return was and how ridiculous Robbie Gould’s missed field goal was. Rome gives the 6-3 record its due, saying, “Are they as good as the Colts, Steelers or Panthers? No, but they’re winning and that’s all that matters.” Around the Horn: Dallas Morning News columnist Tim Cowlishaw gave a shout-out in the intro to Vasher, but gave a Texas twist to it, saying, “Longhorn time baby!” On their “Buy or Sell” section, Sun-Times columnist Jay Mariotti said he learned from his choke predictions of the White Sox, and says the Bears are a lock to win the division. Woody Paige agreed, Cowlishaw said he thinks the Lions aren’t dead and L.A. Times columnist Bill Plaschke said the Bears will lose the division in Minnesota on New Year’s Day. Pardon the Interruption: Surprisingly enough for the heart-on-his-sleeve Bears fan Michael Wilbon, PTI fell significantly short. They didn’t even mention the return. They did a section on the Bears, but spoke only of the high-speed wind. The only video clip they showed was Robbie Gould’s right-turn field goal miss. Greg Gugger at 3:33 p.m. Mike Downey and John Mullin predicted a Bears’ win against Carolina this Sunday. All the writers said the game against the 49ers was a ‘W.’ And on the opposite end of the spectrum, they all saw the Bears beating the Browns. Tuesday, Nov. 8 The love from King is much more substantial than that from Bristol. ESPN.com’s Dan Shanoff says that the Bears being in first place is no more than a sign of how bad the division is, and lauds the Giants as the third-best team in the NFC. Sure, their offense is good, but their defense is suspect. Remember, it’s pretty much the same unit that got torched by Craig Krenzel-to-Bernard Berrian last year. How is that different from a good defense and a suspect offense? Furthermore, SportsCenter just gave a five-second clip of Bears highlights in their express roundup while devoting a solid few minutes to a mock press conference with Steve Phillips answering Red Sox off-season questions. I know a lot of the “Worldwide Leader” viewers are interested in Yanks-Sawx, but isn’t early November slow enough that that kind of thing can be saved for a mid-week show when the NFL hasn’t played? Isn’t the primary function of that show to report news? And if it isn’t, shouldn’t it be? Also, the Bears were 18th on ESPN’s Power Rankings last week. It will be updated tomorrow. More then. Wednesday, Nov. 2 Rahula Strohl at 12:24 p.m. The only difference, Whitlock says, is that Owens’ claim was legit, Weis’s shaky, at best. But where is the vast public shame of Charlie Weis? Why isn’t his agent painted as a slimy, voracious and repugnant scumbag the way Drew Rosenhaus was? Furthermore, why does 5-2 earn a 10-year deal when Ty Willingham’s 8-0 start didn’t? When the Domers fired Willingham, it opened a floodgate of allegations of racism. But ultimately, Notre Dame was let off the hook by the results-now culture of college and pro sports. Now, their way out is: “Pro teams are interested in Weis.” Weren’t they last year? At best, Notre Dame’s decision-makers are completely out of touch with the public perception of their actions. At worst, it is a racist institution. Neither is an image the school wants to portray. Rahula Strohl at 12:24 p.m. “4th L in row, precisely the number of L’s they’ll take in the ALCS before being exposed as a regular-season mirage.” Join Nelson Muntz and me as we all say, “Ha-ha.”
2002,
2003,
2004) in the MVP race and it seems like it’s his turn.
Rahula Strohl at 4:51 p.m.
“Historic” is subjective: Most of the ESPN mavins gave Nathan Vasher his due for his 108-yard return of a missed field goal Sunday. Some highlights:
Hope they didn’t go to Vegas: Back in April the Tribune’s Rick Morrissey, Mike Downey, John Mullin, Don Pierson, Terry Bannon and Fred Mitchell predicted how the Bears would fare in every game. And they all saw 7-9 in their cystal ball.
Adam Caldarelli at 4:40 p.m.
No love: So the Sox are getting snubbed left and right for postseason awards. First Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand were overlooked for Gold Gloves. Then Tadahito Iguchi finished fourth in the Rookie of the Year voting. Now Mark Buehrle and Jon Garland come in fifth and sixth in the Cy Young voting, behind Cleveland’s Cliff Lee, no less.
Tomorrow we’ll know if Ozzie Guillen takes home Manager of the Year honors. At this point, would it surprise anyone in Chicago if Cleveland’s Eric Wedge or Los Angeles’ Mike Scioscia were to win?
Thursday is the NL Cy Young and I’m pretty sure no White Sox are up for that.
But the Sox have this: Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci, in a rather touching tribute, selects Paul Konerko as his Sportsman of the Year.
Monday, Nov. 7
Rahula Strohl at 11:59 a.m.
Grin and Bear it: Sports Illustrated’s Peter King is impressed with the Bears. In his “Ten Things I Think I Think,” the Bears’ defense is among the things he thinks he likes. His comment? The unit “never has a bad day.” Also, the Bears are 13th in his NFL rankings. King’s colleague, Dr. Z, had the Bears at 19 last week, and we will have to wait a day or two to see this week’s rankings.
Rahula Strohl at 4:01 p.m.
Why you have to love the Sox: A.J. Pierzynski was on Jim Rome’s television show today and talking about Geoff Blum’s homer in Game 3 of the World Series. He told Blum before his at-bat Blum had to hit a home run because “I’m hungry. The fat kid has to eat.”
Black and white: Jason Whitlock makes an evocative comparison between Charlie Weis and Terrell Owens in an article on ESPN.com’s Page 2. He says that Weis’s camp and Owens’ essentially said the same thing to their employers: “I have outperformed my contract, give me a new one.”
Clipped and saved: As I was perusing the “Daily Quickie” on Page 2, I remembered that I had suggested we clip and save a comment from the author, Dan Shanoff. On Aug. 17, Shanoff wrote the following after a 16-inning loss to Minnesota:
