Happy Halloween

Chicago Bulls 2009 Season Preview: Controlled Chaos

Evidently the regular season already started. So I guess its time I wrote a season preview for the team. So without further ado , I give you the "Controlled Chaos Bulls". Why Controlled Chaos? Well, let me explain. First, like Scott Skiles, Vinny "never coached" Of Black, will tinker with the Bulls lineup like a shady mechanic on your 1987 Honda. Secondly, Derrick Rose is going to push the tempo, create offense, and dish out assists in what will look like a chaotic offense, but is actually quite well controlled. Now that I've explained my theme, lets look at the Bulls in further detail.

1. We have zero idea what Vinny Of Black will be like a coach. He's never coached before. I don't even think he's coached his son's (if he has one) Bitty Basketball team. Either he's good or terrible. Time will tell. I sort of like the high risk that Paxson took on Del Negro, but this has the potential to back fire if things get off to a terrible start.

2. As I said before, with a crowded back-court and an unsure front line, Coach Of Black will rotate the starting lineup a few times this year. I'm not a big fan of this idea, because players need a set rotation. People need expectations in order to meet their expectations. As we experienced in the Skiles' era, its hard to be consistent when you play 30 minutes one night, and 5 minutes the next night.

3. We still don't know who these Bulls are. Are they a dominate defensive team? Or are they they a fast-breaking full court team? I have no idea. I don't think Vinny Of Black knows for sure either.

4. The Bulls have a very deep bench. In their first game, they had Hinrich, Nocioni, Ben Gordon, and Noah come off the bench (you could also add Larry Hughes to that once he's healthy). That's either a testament to how deep your team is, or how bad your first unit is. In the end, a deep bench might actually get the Bulls into the playoffs. The Bulls' bench is their biggest competitive advantage this year.

5. The Bulls will struggle early on because of the new coaches, new players and lack of identity. Hopefully, they'll be able to forge some kind of identity by the end of the year.
---------
Bulls Team:
Physical: B (I like the tandem of Gooden and Ty Thomas as our front court. But they lack the elite size to block teams from driving the lane. With Hinrich, Gordon and Rose playing significant minutes in the back court, we've also got a smallish back court. On the plus side, we're much more athletic with Rose and Thomas playing more minutes.
Mental: B- (I want to give this team a higher score, but last year's dismal performance by Hinrich, Gordon and Deng showed that they may not have the mental fortitude to lead the team during challenging times. On the other hand, Rose's addition alone should improve this grade.)
Potential: Above Average (Rose and Ty Thomas are full of potential. Deng looks more solid so far this year. Plus, the inclusion of Rose seems to have set a fire under Hinrich and Gordon. They can no longer believe that they are the best guards on the team. They've got to step up, or "Bermuda" aka Rose will take all the fame and minutes.
Overall Grade: B (I really think this team has a chance at the post-season. They will struggle early on because of all the changes. But, they have a good mix of youth and veteran players to make it as the 6-8 seeded playoff team.)
Record: 43-39
Fan Level : Hopeful (At the very least, the glass is more half-full simply because of Derrik "the Bermuda" Rose. It will be exciting to watch a very talented, athletic, and highly motivated player blossom).

Tuesday Morning Thoughts

Sorry. Really no TMTs this week. I'm on a bye week like the Bears. But I thought I would share this image from the Google images search "Sarah Palin and Thoughts". That's some nice fur. I was wondering how someone could spend $150K on clothing in a matter of months. Clearly, here, we have the answer. Buy yourself and your crazy friends some fur and authentic Viking clothing.

P.S. Seriously, how could you vote for this person?

Chicago Bulls 2009 Preview: Luol Deng

LUOL DENG: So nice and so, clean, clean. When you think of Luol Deng, you think of: Smartness, maturity, mid-range jump shot, a hard worker, and overall a nice young man. All the things that one looks for when cheering on a local sports hero. He's so nice and so clean, clean.

But, nice and clean only get your team so far in the playoffs. Luol can hit a descent wide open mid-range jumper. But he can't create a nice open mid-range jumper. He can post up smaller players. But, those smaller players realy only existed in college. He can beat the bigger, slower defenders off the dribble. But again, they really only exist in college. Put simply, Luol is an average to slightly above average small forward that is too small to post up NBA caliber SFs, and a little to slow to beat the bigger NBA small forward. Don't get me wrong. He's solid. But he's not going to win championships. There's been a lot of hype in the last few years that Luol was going to blossim into an All-Star. Well after 3 years, it still hasn't happened. Worse, I'm not sure it will ever happen. Unfortunately for us Bulls' fans Luol Deng is a nice compimentary player, but never a leading man.

----
Mental: Good (Great attitude and mature for a relatively young player).
Physical: B (Okay size, but lacks the athleticism to be an elite scorer.)
Skill Set: B (A nice mid-range jumper and can slash to the basket).
Will to win: Average (Has he ever been the go-to guy down the stretch?)
Potential: Minimal (I think he is who we think he is. P.S. I love that line. Thanks Coach Green).
Overall Grade: B
Interesting Link: He's from Sudan, speaks Arabic and is British.

Chicago Bulls 2009 Preview: Derrick Rose

Derrick Rose: Too soon. Its too soon to buy the hype. Even though he looks like a Google, we've got to temper him like he's Yahoo. But its hard. Just looking at the video (above), how do you not get excited? Road Runner speed, impossible quickness and athleticism. Best yet, he's an actual point guard. Not a shooting guard (AKA BG or Captain Kirk) filling the role of PG simply because they are short. Ben Gordon sees the court like Stevie Wonder sees the keys on a piano. Rose you ask? He's a little Magic Johnson, except more athletic. A pure pass first point guard. What more can you want?

Alright, I guess I fell into the hype trap. Seriously, we need to temper our expectations. Rose has not played one regular NBA season game. He would be a sophomore in college at Memphis. Wven while at Memphis, he ran what was really a fast court offense. Can he handle the half-court slow down offense typical of the NBA? I think so. I hope so. But this much is clear. I think Rose struggles early on, but by January, he's the best player on the Bulls team. Not so hard, when Drew Gooden is your best player. True. But this Rose will grow, sprout, and start flowering. P.S. There is a Rose called the Bermuda rose. I guess its a very rare and special rose. Maybe we call Derrick, "Derrick "the Bermuda" Rose. hmm...

----
Mental: Unknown- (But, from what I can tell, I think he's got the righ attitude).
Physical: A- (Super athletic, pretty big already. Maybe a little too short.)
Skill Set: A- (He's got everything but the outsider jumper).
Will to win: Unknown (Memphis' meltdown in the NCAA championship game worries me a little).
Potential: Sky's the limit
Overall Grade: B+
Interesting Link: The complete guide to Derrick Rose.

Chicago Bulls 2009 Season Preview: Thabo Sefolosha

Thabo Sefolosha: No excuse me, you have to say it like Stacey King. TAHBOOOOO SEFALOOUSHA! As a side note, I love Stacey King. Johnny Red Kerr will always have a place in my heart, but Stacey's the real deal. Not so sure about the new partnership with Funk though. Funk's great and all, but his energy coupled with King's energy might be too much. But again, let it be known, I love Stacey. No homo of course.

Alright. TABO. He is Scottie Pippen in every way except that he's not as good a shooter, defender, driver, dunker and doesn' t have Superman aka MJ as his leading man. But, I still like Tabo. He's got long arms, plays strong defense. If he could just find a consistent outside shot, I would replace Hinrich for him in a second. He's bigger than Kirk and plays better defense. Sure he's a little green, but you got to have minutes in order to get black and blue. With all that being said, I'm still not sure he possesses the quickness and speed to be a great player. He doesn't have an explosive first step and can't blow by people. This, combined with his lack of outside scoring prevents him from being a better player. I hope that changes this year b/c he would be a better fit alongside Rose than Hinrich. So until he can drain the tre, he's riding the bench. Finally, FYI, he's not a small forward. Skiles tried playing him there. He's just not big enough. If he's going to make his way in this league, he's got to do it from the guard positions.

----
Mental: Unknown- (Not enough PT in important parts of games to make a fair determination).
Physical: B (He has the size, but lacks the athleticism to be an elite guard.)
Skill Set: B- (Great defender, but inconsistent outside shot is providing the low grade).
Will to win: Unknown
Potential: Above average * (*He's still going to improve, but there is a clear ceiling with him. Best case scenario is that he becomes a 14 points/game scorer and lock down defender. Which is still pretty good).
Overall Grade: B-
Interesting Link: http://www.thabosefolosha.com/

Chicago Bulls 2009 Season Preview: Larry Hughes

LARRY HUGHES: MR. IRRELEVANT. Why irrelevant you say? Because Larry Hughes doesn't make you a better basketball team and doesn't make you a worse team. He simply has no impact upon a game. Sure, he looks like a great shooter, shows flashes of defensive ability. He's tall, quick, can jump and can shoot. But for some reason, whatever he does, has no impact upon the outcome of a game. I don't think that its because he doesn't care about winning or is lazy. Its just that, he's missing some 6th element of basketball IQ. He's like Jerry Seinfeld. Neutral. He may lose a turnover here, but he'll get one back. He'll score a jumper, but on the next play let the guy he is guarding score a layup. He's Switzerland.

----
Mental: Unkown- (He's been in the league for several years and all I know is that his brother died and he has tattoo tears).
Physical: B (A little frail, but tall and is athletic).
Skill Set: B(Can shoot and pass and dribble. But doesn't do anything else really).
Will to win: Non-Existent
Potential: Neutral (See like Switzerland)
Overall Grade: B-
Interesting Link: http://heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com/

Tuesday Morning Thoughts

This week's theme... Do's and Don'ts.

1. Evidently, if you are going to pick up a baby you shouldn't pull the baby from the head. But instead, should cradle their back.

2. Do not watch a game with a fantasy football crazed addict next you. I've said this before. There is nothing more annoying than watching the Bears game with a Bear friend and then listen to him get excited when Michael Turner scores on the Bears, b/c he is on his fantasy team.

3. Do no watch a Bears game with family and extended family, especially when said family has several young children who constantly want to cry and/or play with you- usually both at the same time. This mixture of football (especially when Bears are losing) and family/baby time often results in you wanting to throw yourself from the balcony.

4. Do preemptively write stories/e-mails poking fun of your fantasy football team b/c they suck, in an effort to subside the bashing you will get from your league friends. This is very important. Do not defend your shitty fantasy football team. Do make fun of it. Its like the small kid in grade school. Become funny, or you will get beaten up.

5. Do not work out for 2 years and then play racquetball, thinking that you "still got it" and expect to not be sore tomorrow.

6. On that note, do not become old. I twisted by ankle by simply walking yesterday.

7. Do strike friend in ass with racquetball.

8. Do wear Chicago Bears blue or white jerseys in support of your team. DO NOT wear orange jerseys. Its a simple rule. Just follow it you mindless consumer.

9. Do not kick the ball to the 40 yard line on a kick off, repeatedly, when Devin Hester hasn't moved the ball on a kick off past 20 yards. Thanks Minnesota.

10. Lastly, Do figure out a way to end a gmail chat nicely. I am currently chatting an old friend from high-school and have no idea when to end this conversation. Can I just exit Gmail? Its not like I'm going to see them soon. How do you get out of this?

Chicago Bears vs. Minn. Vikings: Weird, Wacky Fun Time

My wife yesterday at about 9pm last night, "That was a weird Bears game today". Me, excited that we are now even connecting on a football level, "yeah, totally right?". The miffed punt snap, the miffed punt return, Corey Graham interception, Trumaine McBride int, Minn. putting up 400 plus yards on us, giving up 41 points, and scoring 48 points. Just a weird, wacky, and yes pretty fun time. Now on to the thoughts.

1. Kyle Orton is sure making me look bad. I've dissed Orton on this website more often than I-Truth getting dissed at a club. Its true, Orton has been fabulous. Granted teams are stacking the box to stop Matt Ascento Forte and leaving the passing game wide open. But, at least Orton's taking advantage of the advantage. He could just as easily be average. But instead, he is leading this team, mastering the no huddle, throwing with a lot of power, and has become increasingly accurate. So, props to Kyle.

2. What in god's green earth happened to the Marty Booker we knew on his long touchdown? He looked like DH, Devin Hester our Designated Hero. Just streaking past vikings defenders like a Ferrari out racing a Ford. That TD made up for this two dropped TD passes earlier.

3. Ummmm, our defense kind of, like...... sucks. One thing I've been right on since the 1st game is our lack of pass rush. We just can't get pressure on the QB. Gus Ferrotte, I repeat, Gus Ferrotte lit us up yesterday. We actually made Berrian look like a 50 Million dollar WR. Worse, we also gave up big gains to the Real Adrien Peterson. Some of that falls on having Graham, McBride, and Bowman playing instead of Vash and Tillman. However, injuries happen and well coached teams figure out away to stop the opposing team. And unfortunately, we couldn't stop a below average Minnesota offense from tearing us up. What happens when we play Green Bay?

4. At some point, teams are going to stop putting extra men in the box and invite Kyle Orton to beat them with a full coverage scheme. I think Orton's proved that he can handle that. However, what's happened to our running game? I still love Forte. But, that offensive line just isn't getting it done. There are simply no holes. Zero. If Tennessee can run for 300 plus yards when everyone knows they are going to run the ball, well, the Bears should at least muster up 100 plus rushing yards. The offense looked great yesterday, but we got to run the ball. When winter hits, we better get off the train, bus, airplane, L-Train, or car running.

5. Tommie Harris made some plays yesterday. I've always been a fan and haven't understood the criticism of him lately. Shouldn't we also criticize Ogunleye, Dusty and Brown for their lack of pressure? This is especially valid when you consider that Tommie is the one getting double teamed almost every play. Yesterday, was a bit different in that it seemed they weren't doubling him as much. But, he made them pay for it. But, when teams double Tommie, like they have been, someone else needs to make them pay. The media and the Bears need to stop pointing the finger at the guy, when no one else is really doing anything (Although Alex Brown, and Dusty to a certain extent, have been great against the run). Harris is getting paid the big bucks, but aren't Ogunleye, Dusty, Adams, Brown and Anderson also getting paid to play?

On to the bye week.

Chicago Bulls 2009 Preview: Ben Gordon

BEN GORDON: Some of you may ask how I can give a preview of a guy whose been injured during the preseason. Its a fair critique. But, its Ben Gordon. Its not like he's going to all of the sudden become Chris Paul. No with Ben its simple. He can shoot. Boy, can he shoot. He can't play defense. I'll use my favorite new line, Ben Gordon could not play defense if he had the National Guard at his side. Mysteriously, Ben Gordon really can't dribble. Well, he could dribble circles around me. But, relative to NBA players, he's sort of like Shaq dribbling on a fast break. Worse yet, he's not too good of a passer. So basically, Ben Gordon is an undersized shooting guard, who can't play defense, can't create offense through the passing game, and isn't that great of a dribbler. But, he can shoot. Damm can he shoot. Unfortunately, he's never heard the phrase, "that was a bad shot". Lets be honest, when BG is on, he's unstopable. But when he's off, he is a liability. Lately, he's been more off than on.

----
Mental: A- (He's probaby the only guy on the team who wants the ball with the game on the line.)
Physical: B (Strong, but undersized).
Skill Set: B+ (Great shooter, but poor passing and dribbling/penetration skills)
Will to win: ? (I don't if Ben wants to win, or whether he just wants to score a bunch of points. Maybe its the same difference.)
Potential: Avg. (He's already met his ceiling).
Overall Grade: B

Roy Williams to Dallas: The Chicago Bears would never have done this.

Roy Williams prays and gets his wish.

Roy Williams is now a Dallas Cowboy. I sat down to a killer gmail chat session with our resident Detroit Lions fan and contributor Saginasty. Enjoy the exchange.

Saginasty: apparently you and I are reading the same things about Roy Williams to Dallas.

DaChiFan: It’s great for Detroit. Roy's a cancer, he's gone after the season and they already have a #1 WR in Calvin Johnson. Dallas? Stupid, stupid move I think. It might pay off for one year, but I just can't see it being good in long run.

Saginasty: I do, Roy likes to win. He has stated many times over that if the team was winning, he did not care about his stats. I like him and hope he does well in Dallas.

DaChiFan: Seriously?

Saginasty: yup

DaChiFan: Everyone likes winning. The question is whether you ARE a winner. Roy isn't a winner.

Saginasty: I disagree. He is going to thrive in Dallas.

DaChiFan: Liking him I could see. He's talented. But, he hasn't proven he's a winner.

Saginasty: That is because he was on the lions. The Lions without Roy and Kitna are going 1-15.

DaChiFan: I don't know. Do you think they could thrive with both TO and Roy? The second Dallas loses a game, TO and Roy are going to go crazy. At least TO. What I don’t get is that Dallas could have gotten him for nothing at the end of the year instead of giving up a 1st rounder

Saginasty: And DET would have slapped the franchise tag on him and then traded.
TO is old, anyways. But, the other factor to consider is that Roy is a Texas guy. This is a dream come true for him. You are going to see some sick numbers.

DaChiFan: Yeah, like how Eddy Curry was so great in Chicago

Saginasty: apples and oranges

DaChiFan: I guess. I could see it being good in short-term, but not long term.

Saginasty: It is also just about time for TO to wear out his welcome.

DaChiFan : He's way better than Roy, though.

Saginasty: Roy is about ready to explode. Roy is insurance.

DaChiFan: True. They might have brought him in b/c they are going to dump TO in offseason. I'm starting to hate the Cowboys. Why doesn't any other team do anything like this? You know take a chance on a good player? Bears would never have done that.

Saginasty: And you are right, the bears would never have taken a chance like this
neither would the lions, unless it is giving up their own good players
they would never make a move for a Drew Brees, Asante Samuel. In fact, I do not think that the lions have made a significant move for a non-offensive lineman game changer since Scott fuckin Mitchell
the good teams are always doing something like this.

DaChiFan: depressing but true. Its like the only teams trying to get better are the Patriots and Cowboys every year. How do the Pats get Randy Moss for nothing? No one else could make a play for Roy? Worse, the Bears cut players like Ricky MAnning, Benson, Mark Bradley, Moose, etc., and get nothing in return AND never go out and make a trade or make a big signing happen.

Saginasty: there was talk of the eagles getting him, which would have been pretty cool (for roy). I also heard that the NYG and philly were trying to trade for Tony Gonzalez. The Giants with Gonzo? Sick

DaChiFan: The NFL might be turning into the Premier League futbol where there are only 4 good teams getting players each year.

Saginasty: Well, that is a stretch. Is there a cap in soccer?

DaChiFan: Yeah, but I'm frustrated. There is no cap in futbol. But evidently there isn't one for Dallas or New England either.

Saginasty: oh, I don't know, NE looked pretty mortal the other night their secondary has no names but Harrison.

DaChiFan: Yeah, until they make a deal to get Bret Favre.

Saginasty: You need to settle down.

Tuesday Morning Thoughts: Media Day

This week's TMTs theme? Media. A Google images search revealed the above photo. Evidently they have something called the Youth Media Awards, which is sponsored by the American Library Association. This person (can't tell if its a boy or girl) has likely been shoved in a locker about 50 times in his young life. But, "congrats here is your YMA award with a statute of a librarian and book on it". You're going places kid! Alright, to the TMTs.

1. I'm starting to like Chris Carter as an analyst. (Note: I hate him as a player, always beating the Bears). He's quickly becoming the Charles Barkley of NFL commentators. He says what's on his mind, sometimes funny, and even thoughtful. He can get a little annoying however and says some shock journalism comments every once in a while, but he's getting better.

2. You know who is not getting any better? Michael Strahan and Tiki Barber. I won't go back into why I think it makes no sense that a former football player should automatically become a great commentator again. But, suffice to say, these guys annoy the hell out of me.

3. In this Sunday's tribune a writer wrote about why Mark Bradley was cut from the Bears. Great article, except that Mark Bradley was cut from the Bears two weeks ago. Honestly. Its Sunday morning I got my coffee and pastry in hand and my paper. Please write something relevant. You don't see Fox News talking about 9-11 after the recent market collapse do you? Oh wait, they do that too.

4. Enough with the f'n fluff pieces. Great, Anthony Adams met his Dad outside of prison for the first time. Ohh, such a cuddly moment. You know ex-prisoner for 20 years and big mean football player. The only thing interesting is that Adam's dad looks like a great 70's TV cop personality.

5. Credit to David Haugh of the Trib. and some random ex-NFL player on the Sun-times dissecting how the final play of the game was Marcus Hamilton's fault and not Mike Brown's (Hamilton is some corner they brought in from the stands on Sunday). Hamilton played up to cover the 5 yard dumb off play, leaving the WR wide open 15 yards behind him. I still think they shouldn't have run the Cover 2 there, but its clear the fault isn't all on Babich.

6. John Madden won't be calling Sunday Night Football next week because he doesn't want to travel cross country in his bus for next week's game (Madden is scared of flying). The guy is over 70 years old and he tours the country like a rock star. How awesome would that be? Sorry honey, I need to travel in my sex bus for 10 weeks this year traveling the country with my homies to call NFL games where I speak a bunch of jibberish. With that being said, I'm happy they are putting Chris Collinsworth in to call the game. Not that it would make me watch it, but because I think he's good.

7. On the other hand, Brian Billick as a game commentator is awful. He has complete diarrhea of the mouth. He just can't stop talking. Its not that his analysis is terrible. Its okay. Its that he constantly talks. Just shut the f up. On that note, I really like the idea of having no commentators call games anymore. Just feed in the game sound (i.e. fan noise and the PA announcer at the game). I think that would be brilliant.

8. Do you also find it annoying that CBS and Fox aren't showing the fantasy stats of other games, during their broadcast of a game? Fox showed zero stats for other games during the Bears game. Why is this? Lets get back to fantasy football basics people. I need to know whether Edj. James is stinking it up another week for me.

9. Another typical story line. "{Insert player name here}, returning to his home town, Chicago, to face off against the Bears, {Player}, went to { X highschool} and has family and friends back home. They are all excited to see him play. {Player} is excited to come back home. He is looking forward to playing before his friends and family." Do sports writers have a template for stories like the one above, similar to the templates lawyers have for contracts?

10. Today on Mike and Mike they had Usi Umenyora (I tried) on the show. He's injured for the year. But, I would be annoyed if I was a Giants fan seeing Usi yapping it up and having a fun time when his team just got spanked last night. Go home and rehab or something. Or at least fake being upset. Worst part, Usi commented, "I think they will bounce back. They know they need to play better". I use "we" when discussing the Bears. Usi uses "they" when discussing the team he plays for. How loyal. I wonder if he only uses "we" when the Giants win.

I wonder if I'll get a Youth Media Award for this?

Chicago Bears vs. Atlanta Falcons: You can't coach this stupidity

This morning on Mike and Mike, Chris Carter made a great comment, "You can't teach heart, and you can't coach stupidity". At some point, there's only so much you can teach the Eddy Currys of this world (i.e. people without heart), and the Rex Grossman's of the world (players who consistently make stupid plays). Unfortunately, for the Bears, they have coaches who call stupid plays AND players who make stupid plays. On to the digestion of this terrible game.

1. Lets get this out of the way first. -Why the f' would you give the ball to Jason McKie on 3rd and 1, instead of Matt Forte. Forte is our entire offense. Kyle Orton and the passing game can't make plays until Forte bruises up the defense and sucks them into the running game. Give the kid the f'n rock. -The squib kick. The mother f'n, shitty, stupid squib kick. From now on, whenever one of your friends chokes or does something foolish the correct teasing comment should be, " Dude, you just squib kicked that one". If the Bears had just kicked the ball normally and Atlanta had still gotten the ball to the 40 yard line on the return, there wouldn't be enough time for them to complete the last pass. If Gould kicks it to say their 5 yard line and they return it to the 40, thats at least 6-7 seconds off the clock. Thus, instead of having the ball at the 40 with 6 seconds left, they only have 4 seconds left. Which you guessed, would have ended the game on the last pass. Finally, that f'n cover 2 shit comes back to haunt us. We gave them the one route that they needed by going into it. You can't leave your safety all alone to cover that play. Where was the corner? The Bears should have all stepped back and given them the short play. I still can't get over that.

2. With all that frustration being said. You can't totally blame the coaches last night for the play calling. First, sometimes that fullback hand off works. Secondly, Robbie stupid f'n gold didn't squib kick it. He lofted the ball 30 yards to the opposing team. A squib kick should be kicked low to the ground, bouncing and still make it to the opponents 5 yard line, not their 30 yard line. Lastly, on the last play, the corner shouldn't have left the space behind him. He should have dropped back and given up the short yardage play.

3. The worst thing about yesterday's game wasn't even the final series of events. Where were we for the entire 1st half? The Bears defense was atrocious. They made Matt Ryan look like Tom Brady. No pressure at all. Not even when they came with the blitz. Worse our corners were god awful. Tillman repeatedly allowed White 10 yard slant in or comeback plays in the first half. We failed to adjust and Mat Ryan beat us.

4. You can't play the Cover 2 defense if you can't get pressure on the QB with your 4 rushers. We couldn't get pressure, so we should have stopped playing the Cover 2. Either bring the house or rush three and pull everyone else into man on man with safety help over the top. I believe the later defense would have ended a lot of their 3rd and long plays they made in the first half.

5. The Bears offense was equally terrible the first half. Atlanta, just like every other defense you've played this year, was committed on stopping the run. We had to open it up a little more in the 1st half.

6. I give a lot of credit to Kyle Orton, especially in the 2nd half. Honestly, I never felt he had the ability to lead a team to a come from behind win. But, he did just that (except the win thing). With less then 3 minutes to go and one time out, he drove the team to a scoring drive, a drive that should have won the game. I'm starting to realize that Orton's best trait is his brain. He's just a smart football player. He was calm running the two minute offense. He normally knows where to throw the ball. Plus, he's great at calling audibles. This is likely what separates Grossman from being an elite QB. Grossman never put together the kind of poise and smarts you need to lead a team. I just wish Orton also had Grossman's arm and quick release.

7. Where's Brian Urlacher. Calling Brian Urlacher! Urlacher, Urlacher (think Beuler, Beuler). Seriously, where is our "franchise" middle linebacker. They gave you your money, now do something. I admit you've been solid. But, we already have Mr. Sold in Hunter Hillenmeyer. We need greatness. We need Singletary and Butkus, not Larry Minter. Urlacher's just not doing anything special. I hate to say it because I'm a huge fan of Urlacher, but he looks like an old man out there.

8. Who on god's green earth is Hamilton? Where did we get this corner-back? When Tillman went down they replaced him with some guy in the stands. Not sure, but this may have been the reason the BEars were reluctant to blitz and leave Graham and Hamilton one on one. As I-Truth said last night, " It sure would have been nice if we had an experienced corner who could step in and play well. You know someone like Ricky Manning". No, wait we cut him in the pre-season.

9. That's another thing that annoys me about the Bears, how come whenever one of our corners or safety's get hurt, the guy filling in can't get the job done? It seems that every other team has a guy who could step in and make plays. Not us.

10. I still love Matt Forte or Ascento as I like to call him. Imagine if he had holes to run through!

Finally, I -truth woke me up last night to share that the clock failed to start on the last kick off return for the Falcons and the last play of the game (the clock stuck at 6 seconds for about 2 seconds on the final play). I don't know if its true, but that would be B.S.

Lastly, (sorry a lot of venting this morning). Did anyone else realize that the officials, after reviewing the Tommie Harris fumble for about 10 minutes, gave the ball to the Falcons on the 12 yard line, when they actually recovered the fumble on their own 23 yard line? Now that was some B.S.

Chicago Bulls 2009 Preview: Kirk Hinrich

Kirk Hinrich: Captain Kirk they call him. Sorry, more like Captain Kangaroo (I don't know, I was just watching Pulp Fiction again for 1000th time last night). I used to be the most loyal Kirk Hinrich supporter. I was the guy arguing how his impact on the team couldn't be adequately shown by his stat sheet. He was the guy doing the little things: tough defense, rebounding, leadership, etc. You know all those things that either make one sound like Scottie Pippen (one of the best all around basketball players of all time) or Randy Brown (a poor basketball player whose claim to fame is that he played with "heart"). Unfortunately, Kirk's more Randy Brown than Scottie Pippen. Heck, I would take Steve Kerr right now, instead of Kirk's recent basketball display.

After several years, here is what we know about Kirk. 1. He reached his potential in year 2 and hasn't improved since then. If anything, he's regressed. 2. He's constantly getting called for small tacky fouls not because he plays great defense, but because he's constantly getting beat of the dribble causing him to pick up silly fouls. This second point is the biggest urban myth with Hinrich. Contrary to what Johny Red Kerr might say, Kirk's not a good defender. He plays hard, but constantly gets beat by quicker guards and can't handle the bigger ones. 3. Worse, he's not that good of a shooter. True, he has a great looking shooting form. The kind that makes you think every shot he takes should go in. But here's the thing, they usually don't. I can't recount how many times I've yelled at the screen after Kirk misses a wide open jumper or three. Seriously, you are a slow white point guard, you need to at least consistently hit the three pointer. 4. I'm sick of his whining. He cries like a baby after everyone one of his stupid fouls. 5. Finally, he's tooooo small. Not height wise, but strength wise. Have you noticed that he looks the same as he did when he entered the league? This is your f'n job, lift some weights and get bigger so you can play the bigger guards. Steve Nash looks ripped. Kirk looks like a high-school marching band drummer.

Alright. Enough bashing. Kirk does play hard all the time. Its not that he's loafing around out there. In his defense, he's typically playing the other team's best guard because Ben Gordon couldn't play defense if he had the entire US National Guard at his disposal. But to me, heart alone isn't enough to win games in this league.
----
Mental: B (Always trying no matter the score, but I think his constant whining on foul calls messes up his game)
Physical: C- (too slender, not strong or quick enough to excel in the league).
Skill Set: B (Good dribbler, but too inconsistent of a shooter)
Will to win: Above average.
Potential: Poor (He reached his potential in year 2 and regressed).
Overall Grade: C+

Chicago Bulls: Tyrus Thomas Analysis

Its weird because I am totally in football mode right now, especially since the Bears are okay. So its hard to get into the Bulls this soon. But their season is coming up here in less than a month. Since I can't do a full team preview because any analysis would be completely useless right now, I am going to give player previews starting this week. This week....

TY THOMAS: If nothing more the song (and dunks) in the video will get you motivated for basketball. I have to admit I'm a sucker for Thomas. I love his athleticism, his insane hops, his quick twitch ability that allows him to jump 3 times in a row, before the opposing player can even land on his first jump. He's a freak. But, just like every project/potential player who has been hyped by the Bulls (Eddie Curry, Chandler), I just can't give him my seal of approval just yet. He's inconsistent, young, can't shoot past 10 feet, and a little too small to play PF. He also has no post moves. Seriously, NO POST MOVES. How do these college players keep on coming into the league as centers or PFs having no post moves? Do college coaches coach?

Alright, back to message. With the caveat's above, I'm still pretty exciting about Thomas. The Sun-Times's story today explained how he has beefed up and matured. I hope so, because he could be a real difference maker on a team void of real athletes. I get giddy just thinking about Rose to Thomas connections ending in great dunks.
----
Mental: C+ (he is still a kid who needs to mature)
Physical: A- (a little too small, lets hope reports on him getting bigger have come true).
Skill Set: C+ (hasn't found a consistent jumper or post moves)
Will to win: NA (we have no idea right now)
Potential: Great
Overall Grade: B

Tuesday Morning Thoughts.

What's up with this picture? Well, first I am sick of the regular TMT picture (see below). Its just too large for the page. Secondly, its really hard finding a good "thoughts" picture on google images. I tried search terms like "thoughts", "morning thoughts", "thinking", etc., but to no avail. However, what I did find were some ridiculous images. Like the one above. So from now on, Tuesday Morning Thoughts will feature some ridiculous, stupid, and/or funny image to start us off. So, this week's theme. Ridiculous, stupid and/or funny.

1. The photo above is just great. First, this guy has obviosly lost his manhood. How do you let your girl convince you to take this picture? "Honey, I have a great idea, lets pose with no tops on, while I'm pregnant". Answer should be: "Go F yourself! It ain't even my baby". Also, this dude, just seems like one of those guys whose Facebook profile picture is a photo of himself with no shirt on and posing on the beach by himself. P.S. I would bet $200 that these two people are from Indiana.

2. Evidently, the sky is falling, pigs are flying and hell has frozen over here in Chicago because the Cubs lost. Really? Honestly? You couldn't see this coming. What about the previous 100 years made you think they would win? If you want the real answer, it took Cubs' fans a Monday to get over it. When it happens every year, you just learn to cope with it.

3. In other funny news, the White Sox lost their first round playoff game. You know, the White Sox. Who? They play MLB Baseball. REally, where? In chicago. Seriously? Yeah, they won a World Series in 2005. Huh, never heard of them. Anyway, this is probably a stretch, but I think you could make a comparison between people who don't want to vote for Barak Obama and people who don't want to cheer on the White Sox. For Barak, they claim that they really don't like his policies, he's too inexperienced, he's going to raise taxes, etc. But really, they just don't like dark people. Same for the anti-Sox fan in Chicago. They claim they don't like the ballpark, the surroundings, etc. But really, they don't like dark people.

4. What does Peter King mean when he sings off each MMQB, with "Who I like tonight, and I mean Tony Kornheiser". Does he really like Kornheiser? So you want someone who makes bad jokes and doesn't know that much about football to call MNF? LAst night, he made the remark that the Saint's didn't know they were getting such a good pass catching RB in Bush when they drafted him. Uh, isn't that exactly what he did at USC? At least Jaws pointed out how stupid he was. Kornheiser is terrible. He's annoying, not funny, and worse doesn't know a lot about the game he is covering. This is all a recipe for failure. Just go with the two man booth. It will be better and cheaper (for ESPN).

5. You know what isn't funny? Little Britain that new show on HBO. Its disturbing and disgusting. I'll take my British humor in Extras, Gervais style only, thank you. Entourage is still pretty entertaining though. True Blood creeps me out. The Life and Times of Tim, seems mildly interesting. Anyway, just running out of thoughts here.

Bears vs. Lions: Maybe Kyle Orton isn't that Bad

If you read this post, and I'm talking to you (our sole reader), then you know that I haven't exactly been a huge fan of Kyle Orton. But even after yesterday's game, I'm still not a big fan. I've just gone from "I think he is terrible" to "maybe he isn't as bad as I think". That or the Detroit Lions are so terrible, that they even made Kyle Orton look great. On to my game thoughts.

1. For the first time this season, Orton actually threw NFL caliber passes. He threw several great 15 yard in and out plays that a starting NFL QB must be able to make. Before yesterday, he couldn't pass accurately past 10 yards. His long balls were often thrown short, asking the WR to make a great play on the ball. Moreover, we never saw him throw a quick 15 yard in and out. His balls were usually long floaters, a pass that even the most mediocre NFL QB should be able to make. Again, yesterday was different. Maybe he isn't that bad.

2. Ron Turner's offensive play calling has been pretty good this year. Unlike the Grossman years, where he asked Rexy to win games by himself in the passing game, this year, he's giving the ball to our # 1 threat, Ascento, Matt Forte. Then, after teams have concentrated on the run, he throws in a perfect play action pass to guys like Olsen (that huge play in the 1st half where he was left uncovered). I also like that he has given Orton the power to change plays at the line of scrimmage. Orton now can change from a pass to run based on the defense he sees. It works in Madden, it works for Peyton Manning, and it should be used by every NFL team.

3. Marty Booker's catch was absolutely amazing. I've ripped him a new one on this post several times, but he came up clutch yesterday. Besides, he is 10 times better than Rashid Davis. Oh yeah, for the 12th time, can we end the Rashid Davis experiment. The guy sucks. He's been given more opportunities to expose himself than Briana Banks.

4. The Detroit Lions are absolutely horrendous. My wife felt so sorry for the Lions that she applauded when Devin Hester fumbled the punt in the 4th quarter. If a team's fans root for their team's mistakes just because they feel pity for the opposing team, well you know that the opposing team is terrible. Seriously, I think they should be relegated to NCAA football and they should promote USC to the NFL.

5. Worse, there is no silver lining for the Lions. What could you see in that game that made you think your team could improve? Kitna is god awful. He hangs on to the ball longer than when Shaq travels with the ball. The defense is terrible, absent maybe Sims. The line can't block. They can't run. Your best WRs, who should be dominating every game, can't catch. Your coach is going to be fired when they hire the new GM. You lost the best coach you had in Martz and replaced him with a coach that made your offense even worse. Just terrible.

6. Devin Hester is turning into a good WR. His touchdown was great. He reminded me a little of Marvin Harrison. A small guy that can cut, stop and change direction on a dime. His KR/PR prowess will decline, but I would rather have him score 10 TDs on offense than run back two punts for TDs.

7. The defense is playing great. But, if a normal QB played for the Lions, he would have shredded that secondary a little bit. Still too much time in the pocket. Our pass rush needs to improve. What happened to Mark Anderson?

8. Roy Williams reminds me of TO, except that TO is a great WR. Williams is a head case. He's got bad hands and a bad attitude. At least TO, can make up for his craziness, with crazy, great plays like yesterday's; where he outran everyone for a TD that eventually won the game.

9. I like that they sat Forte for most of the 2nd half. You can't overuse your # 1 RB.

10. I found Brian Billick to be annoying, inaccurate, and desperate as a commentator.

Go BEARS!