Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

Here is one of the few threads I will write about basketball so that means that something must have really pissed me off. On Saturday, two things concerning basketball really made me want throw my TV out the window.

1. On Saturday afternoon, I tuned in to watch my beloved Illinois Fighting Illini play the UIC Flames at the United Center. Knowing that UIC probably has never played in the NCAA tournament, you would figure the #12 ranked team in the country would be able to win this one with ease right? Well, the Illini lead briefly for a time late in the second half before the Flames reigned three point shots and drained free throws when it mattered the most. The Illini missed five three throws which was a problem. How in the hell does Illinois lose to these bums?

2. Later in the evening, the Chicago Bulls took over the United Center to face the Los Angeles Clippers. I was thinking to myself that this day cannot get any shittier but then again, the Bulls this season had the tendency to play down to their competition. Now I will give the Clippers some credit. Blake Griffin is a monster and Eric Gordon as much as a ass clown that he is, is pretty damn good as well. The Bulls like the Illini lead briefly but this time it was late in the first quarter. That was the last the Bulls saw the lead as they played like pansies the rest of the way until late in the 4th. The Bulls were down 10 but managed to make a comeback. It was 100-98 when Derrick Rose was fouled right before time expired. Rose makes the first free throw and as I am holding my breath on the second, he misses. Bulls lose to the FUCKING Clippers 100-99. Since Derrick Rose is basically the team, I am not going to get on him for that last missed free throw. Instead, I am going to blame the loss on the rest of the team for missing six other free throw attempts that could have been the difference in the game.

So the theme of these two games? Free throws. I have been bitching about this for years and I don’t even think the “experts” take it into consideration. But had the Illini and Bulls both made them, they both win. In fact, the last few years, both teams have lost a large amount of games because they have missed a shitload of free throws. It’s the easiest thing to do in basketball and in the NBA, players get paid a shit load of money to make those damn things and they can’t. PATHETIC.

On another subject, I will have a Bears recap late Monday night or Tuesday morning. For Sunday, lady Fro and I will be in the seventh row to watch the Blackhawks against the Kings. If I get some cool pictures, I will post them up later in the week.

Who is angry here?

It is not a myth that I write shitty article on this site. I do. It’s not a myth that I write these shitty articles for free. That is a fact.

However, if any of you read David Haugh’s articles in the Chicago Tribune without having your eyes bleed, I applaud you. This guy gets paid to write articles dumber than mine. That is not a joke. I will go as far as saying that every writer in the Chicago Tribune Sports department except for K.C. Johnson, is a dumbass. That includes the likes of Paul Sullivan, David K(r)aplan and Phil Rogers.

Here is some background on Mr. Haugh: He once wrote an article claiming that the Blackhawks were stupid for getting rid of half of their team in the summer. What David later learned is that the Blackhawks had to make changes due to the salary cap. What did Haugh do? Write another article complaining about the Blackhawks making changes to to their roster. That is like going to Ticketmaster to purchase tickets for a game only to be told that the game has been sold out then returning five minutes to try again. Pointless, right? He is mainly a Chicago Bears reporter but from time to time, you can find him writing articles on other Chicago sports teams. The problem with that is he lacks knowledge in every other sport he follows. The difference between David Haugh and myself is that he thinks he is an expert.

After seeing this article Monday night while watching the Blackhawks painfully blow a game late, my eyes were bleeding even more after reading this. He thinks that if the Bears make the playoffs, the season is a success.

Now, as the great Dan Bernstein of 670 The Score always said, “If a team does not win a championship, the season is a failure”. I do not always agree with Dan but on this, I do. What’s the point of playing a season in professional sports if you are not trying to win a championship? Forget professional sports, how about all sports on all levels? The goal is to win a championship.

Here is one quote that shows Haugh is a dipshit:

“So at least be fair in acknowledging what an NFC playoff berth would represent for a Bears team that was winless and witless during exhibitions. It would equal an accomplishment worthy of more than the likely scorn and skepticism from some football observers impossible to please.”

David, meatball and bandwagon fans believe that just going to the playoffs is good enough. Real fans want the Bears to win the Super Bowl. Anything less is a disappointment.

“I’ve always maintained the Bears handle failure better than success.”

You idiot. While Lovie has a winning record as Bears coach, the Bears still suck. The record may not tell you that but knowledgeable fans know. How about when Jerry Angelo drafts another bust? Failure? Yes. When Smith is questioned about plays or challenges he made, he gets very defensive when answering them. Did you forget to mention that when Brian Griese lead the Bears to a game-winning drive in 2007 against the Eagles, Lovie Smith and Ron Turner wanted him to apologize for saying he called all the plays on that drive? That’s right. Lovie and MoRon were pissed because Griese told the truth about calling all the plays by himself in that drive. That is proof that this coaching in the past has sucked so you’re quote of the Bears handling failure better than success is way off.

Any team with a secondary of Charles Tillman (Fuck you), Chris Harris, Danieal Manning and Major Wright Wrong is a bad team. Any team that has an offensive line that could not protect a quarterback with their lives on the line is a bad team. If Lovie Smith finds a way to lead the Bears to a Super Bowl victory, then I will gladly eat all my words.

“Whatever, the same standard I vowed to hold the Bears to in training camp still applies: playoffs or else. Logic tells me to put more stock in the past three months than three hours against a team that may not lose again.”

Mr. Haugh, you need to raise your standards. As far as your logic goes, mine says you should look for a new career. And please, stop going on Chicago Tribune Live. You sound dumber on TV than you do in your articles.

The Bears are already down 21-0 so it’s safe to say the game is over. There will not be a recap. Since the Bears cannot even compete with the Patriots, they are NOT a contending team. If someone wants to bring up that the weather was a factor, eat shit. The Patriots are playing in the same damn conditions. If you can’t beat the best, there is no chance you can be the best. I want to say thanks to Charles Tillman (Fuck you) for wandering around on a 3rd down play which later lead to the Patriots first touchdown. Thanks to the rest of the defense too for returning to their old self today. The “I-Pass” defense lives on.

Since the Lions beat the Packers earlier, the Bears remain in first place by one game and maintain the tie-breaker. The Vikings are up next but no one is sure where the game will be played due to the Metrodome roof collapsing.

While browsing through the old tube Tuesday night, I was going through the guide of channels and ended up noticing a program on The Biography Channel. It was called the “The Unreal Story of Pro Wrestling”. Being the fan that I am, I decided to watch to check it out and it was well worth it. It is a two hour documentary on how professional wrestling was started and how it has become today. This is a great documentary to see. There was a lot of information that I was not aware of like pro wrestling being started in the 1800’s, revolution of the sport when the TV era began with interviews from a bunch of past and present wrestlers.

There was a lot discussed in this documentary so I will only bring up a few certain topics. The first one would be how some of the rivalries influenced crowds starting in the 50’s up to the 70’s. While fans knew it was staged (IT’S STILL REAL TO ME DAMNIT!), they were still into it and treated it like an actual sporting event rather than entertainment. Fans were more into it than we as fans are now. Except for the NWO era, fans often trashed the ring when the bad guy would win. These interviews by wrestlers were of course done 15, 20 or even 25 years ago. Some of the interviews included Classie Freddie Blassie, Verne Gane and Lou Thesz.

Hulk Hogan was discussed on how he put pro wrestling on the map in the 80’s which became the second golden age of pro wrestling. We all are aware of what Hogan did for pro wrestling. What was surprising though is when Lou Thesz discussed Hogan and his effect. He said his charisma was through the roof but his ability was as good as some young kid’s grandmother. Couldn’t be farther from the truth. While most of us grew to love Hulk, looking back all of these years later, he had zero athleticism. But as always, if someone can put fans in the seats and make a lot of others tune in, they will be big.

Jerry Lawler was interviewed on the discussion of wrestling character and ability. As we have learned as fans today, usually the ones that can both wrestler and have character should go far in their careers while the wrestlers with only one ability or none at all, don’t really get far. Too bad that doesn’t work in today’s wrestling. These days, people who cannot wrestler nor act (Points finger at Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, Randy Orton, etc.) for some odd reason become main eventers. Shawn Michaels said in this documentary that along with the character/wrestling ability, us fans decide who they want as a face and heel.

With all the interviews that were done, the one thing I did find a bit humorous was when Gorilla Monsoon was interviewed, they said he was the WWE President. I think the Biography Channel needs to do more updated research…

Here are a couple things I found very interesting. Fabolous Moolah said she received her nickname because she defeated 13 women in one night. Lou Thesz vs. Verne Gagne wrestler six matches with each other in a span of a few months. Four of those matches lasted 90 minute WITHOUT one fall. Talk about endurance. If anybody wants to say that Bret Hart and Shawn Michaels went through hell wrestling a one-hour iron man match at WrestleMania 12, Thesz and Gagne would probably reply with “What a couple of wimps”.

Fun fact: When Ted Turner purchased WCW, he called Vince McMahon to announce that he was “getting into the wrasslin’ business”. McMahon said he replied with “Well I am in the entertainment industry. Big difference!”

One last fact that I found very interesting is the type of crowds that have attended wrestling events throughout time. One wrestling historian (Really. They exist) showed old footage of fans sitting in crowds starting from the 20’s all the way to the 60’s. Just about every one of the fans there were people dressed up in suits and dresses. In the 70’s and when wrestling started to be televised more often, the next generation of kids began to attend. As it stands today, adults to children in crowds are about half and half. The wrestling business profited greatly because of the expansion of fans to a new generation.

That’s it for now. There was a lot more but I basically just put the stuff that I thought was most important. Til next time.

It was frustrating to see the Bears’ defense once again let their opponents throw and run all they wanted. The good news was that they only allowed it in the first half which helped the Bears beat the Lions in a close one 24-20. The Bears have flaws all over the place but the important part of their 9-3 record is being able to adjust to them.

Offense: Shitty offensive line? Martz early on was sending Cutler to the seven-step dropback and he paid for it. Cutler was running for his life quite a bit in this game. Martz to his credit though, had Cutler going just one or two steps back on some plays then firing the ball to a receiver which was huge. We also saw some draw plays for Forte and Taylor and both were able to score on the ground. The word I have been saying in these recaps since the bye-week is “balance”. No matter what the stat people (Cue the idiots who believe they know everything about football) think, balance of the run and pass plays can be the difference between a win and a loss. The Bears ran the ball 28 times and passed 26 times. As long as it’s close to 50/50, this team will be in every game. Another important part in balancing the offense is that this leads to controlling the time of possession which the Bears did win by almost seven minutes.

In the passing game, Cutler hit seven different receivers including Earl Bennett who had a career game with seven catches for 104 yards. A key play of this game was the Nadamukong Suh hands to the head of Jay Cutler. When watching it live, it looked like Suh hit him in the back of the head real bad. When the replay was shown, Suh pushed him on his shoulder with his left hand and on his neck with his right. I didn’t think it was a penalty but the Bears were lucky on that. Rather be lucky than good? I’d say so.

Defense: In the first half, the defense was absolutely shitty. Drew Stanton was Drew Brees early on. I realize that these aren’t the same  Lions the Bears are use to seeing but that was awful. Here’s a stat for the morons to chomp on: The defense gave up 253 yards in the first half alone and over 100 of those yards were on the ground. The last drive of that half went for TWO plays and 91 yards (45 yard run by Best and 46 yard touchdown by Johnson). All I have been hearing this whole season is the defense saying in the media that they don’t care if anybody else thinks they are good or not. Well, the first half proved that they are not as good as people think. I will give them credit in the second half that they decided to wake up and actually play defense. The only score they gave up after halftime was a field goal and that was because Cutler fumbled the ball in his own territory and they only gave up 49 yards. They found a way to hold it down but problems still remain.

Special Teams: Well, this has been the most consistent part of this team. Robbie Gould nailed a career-long 54 yard field goal in a crucial time down six in the third quarter. Devin Hester nearly took one back on a punt return but later on, the Bears scored the eventual game winning touchdown so the field position he gave the offense was huge.

The Bears are now 9-3 and maintain their one game lead in the North. They will host the Patriots next Sunday while the Packers are on the road against the Lions. This division race will not be easy.

Sometimes in life, you try to ignore things that piss you off. You try to get away from something that annoys you. For me two years ago, I quit watching baseball. I couldn’t stand it. These days, the only way I even see that piece of shit team that I use to follow is on the news.  I see some of your reader’s comments from time to time, but that’s only to make sure everything is flowing smoothly and that the idiots who come here every now and then discuss sports in a grown-up matter.

However, this is something I cannot ignore. Ron Santo died Friday morning. I was checking the site before getting ready for work when I saw all the comments. I could not believe it. This sucks ass. I am one emotional kid this morning.

Until I was 16, I grew up just south of the Wisconsin border in Northwest Illinois. I did not have cable tv and WGN came in once every great while on the rooftop antenna. The only way I could watch baseball on TV was to either wait for the game of the week on Saturdays or go to a friend’s house (Which I did every now and then). So there I was stuck listening to Radio 720 WGN as early in my life as I could remember. I remember Harry Carey doing some of the games then in the mid-90’s, Pat Hughes took over.

Needless to say, I fell more in love with baseball when I heard the duo of Pat Hughes and Ron Santo. I could not have imagined looking back how much I enjoyed those two guys. Hughes is one of the best announcers in baseball right up there with Vin Scully and Bob Uecker. This baseball team was as bad as it could get yet all of those years, I still made it a priority to follow them everyday. I could remember jumping in excitement as a kid when Hughes called a homerun for the team I use to root for with Santo being excited as well. The team was probably in last place, but Hughes and Santo made it sound like they were in the pennant race.

I met Ron Santo in 2004 and in 2005, I met both him and Pat Hughes. Hughes signed a baseball for me on the last home game of the 2005 season. That guy was as classy it could be. I remember telling him how much him and Ron meant to me listening to the games and he replied back with “Thanks for tuning in”. He is one classy guy. I ran into Santo again earlier that year and he was kind enough to sign my baseball glove. Even when I was still following baseball, I could see why he was screaming and yelling in the booth. That’s why I was never annoyed with him. I did the same damn thing in my house. I just wanted them to fucking win and so did Ron Santo even more than me. I think in the later years as a fan, he was screaming even more in the booth. I am sure all of us could notice the idea in the back of our heads that his time was running out and all he wanted to see was his team to win.

Loyal reader of the site JimmyD said a big “Fuck you” to the veterans committee and I would like to second that. It doesn’t matter if he gets in or not now. It’s too late. Go fuck yourselves veterans committee. Just another reason for me to hate that sport.

I remember watching his documentary a few years back and seeing all of his struggles. I almost cracked a tear. This morning, I had a couple running down my eyes. The only thing I missed about following that fucking baseball team was listening to Hughes and Santo on the radio. Now one of those guys is gone. No matter how much I hate baseball now, it was my life when I was younger and that was because I listened to the games on the radio. Before I quit watching the sport, I remember telling myself I really wanted them to win the whole thing. While it seemed selfish that I wanted them to win more than anything else, I wanted them to win more before something bad happened to Santo. Too late on that too.

I am going to miss you Ron Santo. No matter how shitty life was for me growing up listening to that team, you along with Pat Hughes made it a consolation prize.

I have said this before on my site: I am not a pessimist. I am a realist.

Well the reality on Sunday was that the Bears escaped disaster on more than one occasion against the Eagles. They went into the 4th quarter leading 31-13 and nearly pissed it all away. Luckily, the ball bounced their way earlier and that was enough.

Offense: For the first three quarters, the offense was outstanding. Matt Forte had another 100 yard rushing game. Cutler hit six different receivers and had four touchdown passes. Knox, Bennett and Olsen had touchdown catches and Hester had a few key catches that later led to scores. Johnny Knox did a couple stupid things both occurring in the fourth quarter. He had a nice catch for about 30 yards before fumbling which nearly gave the ball back to the Eagles. Then on the onside kick, he had possession of the ball but instead of staying down without hearing the whistle, he sat up and let the ball go which also nearly led to a potential disaster. The offensive line wasn’t spectacular giving up four sacks but they were good enough to open up space for Forte to run and Cutler to throw. And speaking of Cutler, he is a fucking dumbass. Forte was held on an incomplete pass but yet, Cutler decides to yell at the refs and get a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty late in the game. Stupid. And before I forget, the offense was shut out in the fourth quarter. They can get away with that in regular season games but if they want to contend, they need to score points and score consistently.

Defense: The defense was driving me nuts all game. They looked good on one series then they looked completely lost on another. When it was 14-13 late in the second quarter, Vick was marching the Eagles down the field with ease. Then all of a sudden, Tommie Harris did something productive and tipped the ball in the air for Chris Harris to get an interception in the end zone. The Bears had no answer for the passing game. Vick was throwing short passes nearly the whole game and the defense was clueless. Somehow (I really do not know how) the defense only gave up 13 points in the first three quarters. Then the dreaded fourth quarter came. Vick took out his “I-Pass” and marched the Eagles down the field not once, not twice but THREE times which lead to three scores. This seems to be a trend for this defense. When teams use the hurry-up offense, the Bears’ defense tends to let them get big gains in consecutive plays. I am not sure if the lack of learning how to cover is the problem (Which is very possible considering who the cornerbacks and safeties are) or if the coaching is the problem. Whatever it is, I am sick of seeing that crap. It happened against the Lions in the first week and it happened against the Eagles.

Special Teams: This may go unnoticed in the papers this week but the special teams was outstanding. Hester had at least two returns that set up excellent field position. Manning even had a nice return or two but one of those runs was called back on a stupid holding penalty by Nick Roach.

So now, the Bears are up one game in the North on the Packers. Technically, they have a two game lead because of the tie-breaker so that is good news. The Lions are up next in Detroit. These are not the same Lions no matter what their record says. We can all be sure that they want payback after what happened in the first game of the season.