Fire Ryan Poles | Fire Ben Johnson

Fire away.

Now that football is over, I can finally return to ranting about the shitty play of the Chicago Bulls and Chicago Blackhawks. On Monday night, I wished I would have used common sense rather than go with my heart. I realized that Monday Night Raw was on but I told myself “I have it on the DVR. I can watch it tomorrow.” I then remembered that Conan was on and I once again was reminded that I had that on the DVR. Great. Time to flip-flop between the two games. Usually when I have a bad day at the office, it usually ends up being a shitty night for my sports teams. Monday night was no different. Once again, I forget to use my common sense on this. Let’s get to this shit.

Blackhawks: After winning the Stanley Cup last year, I thought I could never get mad at this team again. I always thought that since they won it, I would always be happy no matter what. Well this year is harder than I expected it to be. During every game, I seem to forget about their success last year and act like it never happened. With the exception of Toews, Kane and Crawford, this team has been hurt and/or awful. Keith and Seabrook are playing like horseshit on the defensive side. Nick Boynton keeps making us wonder why he is even out there. Hossa has been hurt for the most part and when he is in, he just can’t seem to find his mojo. They have lost two must-win games in a row which were very winnable. The Blackhawks are probably going to miss the playoffs this year and it fucking sucks. Lady Fro and myself are going to Toronto during the first week of March to see the Blackhawks play the Maple Leafs. Too bad it probably it won’t mean anything. At least we get to explore the Great White North for a few days which is something we have been wanting to do since we met each other years ago.

Bulls: Where do I start with these bums? I guess I can say that when they play teams in their division, they win. When they play competitive teams like they did against the Trail Blazers Monday night, they lose and lose ugly. Let’s take a look at some stats (Cue Irish Yeti) shall we? Turnovers: 12. Bad. Keith Bogans Bogus: ZERO points. Hey. Isn’t that our starting shooting guard? Too bad he doesn’t make any shots. What a fuck tard. Let’s shift to the opposition for a second. LaMarcus Aldridge. Ring a bell Bulls fans? Yep. The same guy John tamPaxson traded to get Tyrus Thomas. I tell you that Paxson guy is a genius. Aldridge is doing just fine in Portland as he dropped 42 points on a team which he was on for about ten minutes. That’s like a general manager trading away Chris Paul for C.J. Watson. Only an idiot would do that. Then again, there is John Paxson. I loved the guy as a player and I will always love him for that shot he made in the ’93 Finals but it’s a “What have you done for me lately?” in this situation. Last but not least on this rant: free throws. The Bulls missed seven free throws out of 18 attempts. Luol Deng’s dumbass promptly missed a couple. Omer Asik (Ah fuck you to high waters) missed three. The Trail Blazers on the other hand? How about 37 out of 40. How frustrating.

Just a reminder to the dip shits who argue about free throws and this team’s record: Good teams like the Lakers in the early decade who had an average of 75% from the charity stripe could afford to miss free throws for two reasons: They had two of the best players in the history of the NBA. One was a shooting guard in Kobe Bryant who could score at will  and another who was one of the best low post threats in Shaquille O’Neal. The Bulls only have Derrick Rose. See the difference people? If the Bulls can’t make free throws, they will lose and lose a lot. The Lakers of those years could afford it because they had other ways of winning.

So next time, I will learn my lesson. Next time, I’ll watch fake wrestling or another show. Even though the storylines aren’t great now, I know they will be in the next year or so. In addition to that, I always know it will never let me down. No matter how bad the wrestlers or storylines are, I enjoy attending their events because it’s entertainment at it’s best in terms of excitement and price. When the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls or Illini lose, the rest of my day is sour especially if I attended their games. If my favorite wrestler doesn’t win, big deal. It’s scripted and fun to watch.

Til next time.

I want to give a congratulations to the Packer fans on this site for their victory. At least your organization knows how to run a football team. I said this before but I wish the Bears were half ran like the Packers.

Another thing that pisses me off is this labor agreement with the NFL. The deal ends March 3rd so if a deal doesn’t get done by then, a lockout is more than likely of happening. I won’t sit here and write a a whole lot about what’s wrong but I will say that Roger Goodell is an idiot when he says that fans want an 18 game season. I think that statement is no where near the truth.

So we should find out in the next month whether or not the owners will lock out the players. A deal still could get done after that but some reports have said that the season may be shortened because of it.

Unfortunately, this wonderful blizzard that is dropping two feet of snow on us is keeping the idiots closely monitored to the internet. Let’s see if we can keep them away.

It’s the only thing we can do as Bears fans. I am still bitter about the game Sunday as I am sure others here are too. Our good friends at Fire Mike Martz have already said what they think of people calling Cutler a pussy. I would like to echo what they said: If anybody thinks that Cutler quit, fuck off. The guy was sacked nearly 60 times and was probably knocked down another 60. He even had a concussion and still played against the Giants. If I was sacked like he was once, I wouldn’t be able to move for a week.

So as we are moving on with the show, I am not going to talk about firing Smith or Angelo. As much as we want them gone, they are not going anywhere so there is no reason to complain about it. What we can talk about is what the Bears should realistically do in the offseason to make this team better. As we noticed all season, the Bears were lucky all over the place and eventually, it ran out. From the offensive line to the secondary, the Bears need a lot of help.

On offense: While J’Marcus Webb and Chris Williams played much better when they were in their new positions, I am still not sold on either of them. Since the Bears will have at least six picks in the draft this year (barring any dumb Jerry Angelo move), they should draft a lineman and find another one that goes undrafted. Sometimes, the best ones are found in later rounds. Next on offense is a wide receiver or two. I like Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett and Devin Aromashodu, but we need receivers who can actually jump and get the ball rather than wait for the ball to come to them. If they can’t get one through the draft, Braylon Edwards, Vincent Jackson and Plaxico Burress when he gets out of jail later in the summer are available. While Edwards and Jackson may demand a lot of money, Burress will be really cheap. Maybe like Michael Vick, Burress may help a lot more than people expected. I would take a flier on him.

On defense: Tommie Harris is probably going to be gone next year so the Bears will probably need to draft a defensive tackle regardless. A couple names would be Corey Liguet from Illinois (If he enters the draft) or Drake Nevis from LSU. The Bears pick is 29th so it is doubtful they will get a better tackle than these two. While Briggs and Urlacher had great years, they are still getting older. While we all love Urlacher, he has lost a step. The Bears need to to find a linebacker in the draft to play the outside and be able to fill in at the middle slot should Urlacher have problems.

The Bears secondary needs a lot of help. As we saw in the last game of the season, the wonderful “I-Pass” defense returned. In the first half, Aaron Rodgers had his way to with the secondary. I don’t want to hear anything about the “Cover two (who?)” defense or “prevent” garbage that people have discussed all year. Do those schemes mean giving receivers 20 yards to do whatever they want? If you said yes to that question, you should not be allowed to watch football. Charles Tillman (Fuck you) was awful that game. Tim Jennings mimicked him in that game and I couldn’t stand Danieal Manning since he has been in the NFL. If the Bears want to get better as they claim they do, two cornerbacks and at least a safety in the draft or free agency are a must. I want cornerbacks who actually know how to cover a receiver. I want a safety who actually knows that if they are playing that crappy “Cover Who”, that they wouldn’t wander off letting a receiver go down the field for an easy touchdown (Danieal Manning). If the secondary was just decent in the first half against the Packers, the Bears are probably playing in the Super Bowl this year.

As we said, complaining about Angelo and Smith isn’t going to do much because they are both staying put. I only wish the Bears were half ran like the Steelers or Packers. Look at the Steelers who have had only three coaches in their entire franchise are in their seventh Super Bowl. The Packers who are in their fifth Super Bowl appearance, are an organization owned by fans and have management that doesn’t tolerate bullshit (Brett Favre). The Bears on the other hand are owned by a crazy old bitch and her delusional son. Adding on to that is a president who doesn’t know the difference between a football and a basketball. God help us all.

I am exhausted. Everything went wrong with the Bears from the second the ball was kicked in the air. In the first half, the defense was awful. Then in the second half, they kept the Bears in the game. Where was that shit in the first half?

Cutler gets hurt then a pathetic excuse for a quarterback comes in. He then gets “hurt”. Enter Caleb Hanie. For a minute, it seemed like one of those movies where the bench warmer comes in and leads the team to a miraculous victory. He then throws two costly interceptions. But before that last interception, what was Lovie thinking giving it to Bennett on a handoff? I cannot believe this. Out of all the crap that was going on, the Bears still had a chance to at least tie the game.

I would sit here and write more about what went wrong but I am tired. Very tired.

Go figure. The Bears on both sides of the ball kick so much ass in the first half. Then in the second half, we witnessed the stupid play calling of Mike Martz, a dumb wildcat play by Forte and a defense that returned to feces in the last quarter. I cannot understand why this team is not capable of shutting the door on teams. They were leading the Eagles 31-13 at the start of the fourth quarter and nearly blew it but still won 31-26. Facing the Seahawks Sunday, the Bears had leads of 28-0 and 35-10 before Hasselbeck was figuring out how to pick apart the defense. Luckily, it was too late and my blood pressure is slowly going back down to normal.

Offense: The whole game, we saw the offense playing at a top level. Cutler was all money in the first half with the exception of that stupid pass which was was nearly an interception. The game was 7-0 with the Bears close to the goal line when all of a sudden, Cutler throws inexplicably right to Jordan Babineaux. If he gets that pick, this game might have been the other way around. The Bears had more running plays than passing which was nice and Forte had a great game on the ground. Big thanks goes out to the offensive line for playing outstanding by getting great blocks and limiting the dumb penalties. Greg Olsen had three catches for 113 yards and a touchdown. He also helped on the ground by making some big blocks for Forte and Taylor. However, Mike Martz proved he still has some idiot in him when he calls a wildcat play for Forte. I have no problem with the wildcat but when Forte tries to pass the ball, there is no excuse for Martz to call that. It was 28-3 at the time and all the Bears had to do from there was to run the ball to burn time off the clock. Instead, the Bears give the Seahawks a chance to make a comeback.

Defense: In the first three quarters, the defense was outstanding. It is amazing to see what happens when a secondary actually learns how to cover receivers. The Seahawks receiving core had trouble getting open right from the start. The front four put pressure on Hasselbeck and we for the second game in a row, witnessed a Tommie Harris sighting. Nice to see him show up. Now onto the fourth quarter. After the idiotic pass by Forte, the Seahawks had the ball at the Bears’ 33 and Hasselbeck had no problem on that drive which lead to a touchdown. I will give the defense a pass on that drive. The last two however do not merit passes (No pun intended). All the Bears had to do was play like they did the first three quarters. Then all of a sudden, they start to look like the defense we saw most of the regular season. Big plays, lots of yards and quick touchdowns. The defense was once again fortunate as time ran out on the Seahawks to complete their comeback.

Special teams: Brad Maynard had some nice punts that pinned the Seahawks near their own goal line. That lead to the Bears’ defense forcing a few three and outs. Devin Hester gave the Bears good field position on one of the touchdown drives in the first half by taking the ball near midfield. One thing I still cannot understand is why Danieal Manning was on kick-returns after one of the Seattle scores. When Hester is back there, good things happen for the most part as we have witnessed in the past.

Next up are the Packers at Soldier Field for the NFC Championship.

If you were to tell me a year ago this time that the WWE would be going with a youth movement rather than have the veterans be the center of the main event, I would have told you that you are nuts and WWE would never do something like that.

What a difference a year makes.

Last year at this time, I had three young wrestlers in Dolph Ziggler, Jack Swagger and Evan Bourne as being the young nucleus to take WWE into the next decade. Now, Ziggler is going to get a World Title shot at the Royal Rumble, Swagger was champion shortly after Wrestlemania but  it might have been too early and Bourne is currently on the injured list with a return coming up in the next couple months. Along with these three guys, you can add another five wrestlers to that list.

In just one year, WWE has given us Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett, Justin Gabriel and Heath Slater along with The Miz being thrown in that mix. That is potentially seven main eventers who are under the age of 33. I doubt any fan wouldn’t be encouraged by that. The good thing about this also is Barrett and Del Rio have already main evented and both are good heels which WWE has lacked. Del Rio and Barrett are the perfect bad guys and the thing that makes this even better is that both can WRESTLE which is another thing WWE has lacked the last few years. With Gabriel and Slater, they are also heels but can be faces if needed. They can also add depth to the tag-team division which has lacked since the Attitude Era.

So with these seven guys in the young nucleus of WWE, you can see the arrow is pointing up at a time where the ratings haven’t been all that great. Wrestlezone reported that since 2006, the average RAW rating dropped nearly a full point from 3.9 to 3.1. So it’s nice to see that Vince McMahon is realizing that and maybe finally taking some advice from the paying customers like us. There is no guarantee that this youth movement will work but at least McMahon and the writers are trying something new rather than throwing Randy Orton and Sheamus out there to stink up the arena with their horrible wrestling. An example you can put out there is The Miz. I know we have one reader here who can’t stand him and I am sure a lot of people can’t but once again, at least they are doing something differently. It may not or has not worked, but it’s better than what we have seen in the last couple years.

Another reason why this could not have come at a better time is due to some of the veterans who might be calling it quits in the next year or two. Shawn Michaels has been retired for almost a year. Triple H doesn’t seem to have any motivation to return anytime soon. The Undertaker has broken down so many times and if he doesn’t come back in time for Wrestlemania, he will for sure be done by next year’s. Chris Jericho while saving his body by taking months off at certain times, is in his 40’s with a wife and two kids so he might be done soon. John Cena will be around but he can’t do it himself. Lastly, Kane and Edge have a lot of miles on them as well so you can’t count on them to give WWE a full schedule down the road.

So as we wrestling fans are settling into 2011, we can know that the arrow is pointing up for this company as long as the writers do not stall the young guys’ development which we have seen in the past. In conclusion, this is all occurring in the PG era. I have mentioned before that I don’t think it matters if it’s PG or TV-14 but how the talent can wrestle and develop character. We don’t need swearing, sexual innuendo, blood or chair shots to show how great these young guys can be. They can simply show it by how they come out to the ring and show their talents by displaying athleticism and character. That is something to look for.