Stop Animal Cruelty!

I am all for stopping animal cruelty, but this post is about Michael Vick's inability to bring harm to a certain group large mammals that inhabit the Lake Michigan area... da Bearsss.  Vick may have been a dogkiller, but he's had trouble against the Bears during his career.  This Monday Nighter was no exception. 

Last night's game was, from my perspective, the best game I've watched all year.  It was prime time, my team was involved, it was close, there was a lot of back and forth, excellent plays on both sides, horrible mistakes on both sides, and in the end the Bears came out with a win.  On the Jay Cutler Smirk-O-Meter, I give it a:

This is an excellent rating.

As a Bears fan, I am tickled pink (not in the Penn State way) that they were able to come up with such a huge win under the lights and on the road.  They may have a somewhat ugly style, but I believe the public can recognize that they are a good football team (whatever that  means.)  Am I stating that they are now the class of the NFC?  No.  Am I saying they will beat the Lions at home next week?  I hope so, but we'll have to see on that one.  Am I guaranteeing a playoff berth?  No necessarily, but I am now leaning toward three NFC North teams getting into the playoffs. 

Oh!  Also- a big shout out to DeSean Jackson!  He put up zero points to get Murder Panties a nice win in the MSFL.  What a piece of shit that guy is!  His attitude stinks worse my farts after a full night brats and German beer.  Even better than the Fantasy Football result, was DeSean's huge fumble on a punt that set the Bears up for a score.  Special teams (and average Michael Vick) lost the Eagles that game and I enjoyed every second. 

Unfortunately, the Peppermill High Rollers were not able to overcome the deficit.  Matt Forte's fumbles were huge during the game, and absolutely affected the result of this Fantasy match up.  His first fumble led to an Eagles touchdown which, since I had the Bears D also, was a 5 point swing.  Ugly.  I'm worried that the contract talk is getting to him... I hope I'm wrong, but you can see it start to creep in. 

Last, I'd like to commend the Bears Offensive Line.  They have been awful at times this year.  Just putrid.  However, last night, they allowed ZERO sacks to a stout Philly rush.  That deserves some serious props.  Keep that up fellas!

What a great game... FUCK YEAH!

NFL Week 5

In a raspy voice, "The Raiders... the Raiders will win!"

And they did.  This win was surely dedicated to this man who meant so much to a proud franchise:

"Commitment to BRAAAAAAINS!"

It's an odd thing.  For YEARS I've heard friends of mine who are Raider fans (I only allow a maximum of 3 Raider fans a time to be my friends) say, "We just have to wait until Al Davis dies- then we will be good again!"  Then oddly, the Raiders finish 8-8 last year and look decent this year, and all of a sudden, it is a tragedy when Big Al dies.  I suppose it makes sense.  Death usually gives the deceased a bump in public opinion.  I will say that the Raiders came up HUGE with a win in Texas this weekend, so that is definitely a positive boost for the mourning fan base. 

Let's look at some other highlights/lowlights before getting to the weekly fantasy football update:

- Holy 49ers, Batman!  As my friend and occasional commenter Dick Tracy said, "That was a dick-stomping!"  And he's right.  The Niners looked as good as I've seen in years.  I am a huge Josh Freeman and Bucs hater (though that came back to bite me last week in fantasy) so I'm not going to sit here and say the Niners are "elite."  However, they looked damn good on offense and defense, not to mention they have Ted Ginn, Jr. returning kicks/punts.  Jim Harbaugh is building his team correctly. 

- Tim Te-boner got in the game to replace the bearded Kyle Orton.  He ran around in circles only to lead a comeback against the Chargers.  While the Broncos ultimately fell short, I can't imagine that John Fox does not stick with Tebow for the rest of the year.  He allowed fan chants to get Tebow in the game, so he has to stick with Football Jesus.  Orton weakly clapping on the sideline after Tebow led a touchdown drive shows that Orton knows he's finished in Denver (and probably as a starter in the NFL.)  At least he can make money holding a clip board.  I'd do it, if they'd let me. 

- I love Drew Brees.  The Saints look so-so and still pull out the win against Cam Newton and the Panthers.  Not only that, the Saints even tried to start a fight!  I agree that Steve Smith was dogging it into the end zone to rub it in, but Roman Harper should know better than to hit Smith in the end zone well after Smith crossed the goal line.  There are plenty of basketball players I wish I could've laid a cheap shot on in high school, however, I was smart enough to do it legally during game action while the refs weren't watching. 

- The Eagles are falling apart worse than Al Davis' corpse.  I have no idea how or why, but the Eagles are inexplicably 1-4.  Michael Vick is still dangerous, but he is prone to injury and stupidity.  His O-Line is certainly not helping him out.  The Nightmare Team needs to figure some shit out quickly.  Hopefully they don't because they play the Bears in a month. 

- The Packers are scary.  Just when you think a decent Falcons team has them in a bad spot at 14-0, their defense cracks down and Aaron Rodgers leads a comeback.  I hate the Packers.  To me, they are the AIDS of the NFL.  However, Aaron Rodgers is probably the best QB in the game. 

Ok, fantasy time... let's go in reverse order of quality:

Family and Friends:

CORE 71.90 - BossHogg 74.16

My team is terrible.  Phillip Rivers probably lives under the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore.  The only way I win is at the expense of the Bears.  I have Javid Best left and he has Matt Forte and Bears D.  I hope I lose by a wide margin. 

MSFL:

Murder Panties 146 - The Million Dollar Men 114

This is quickly becoming my favorite league.  I really care about beating a group of people that I either don't know, or haven't seen in over 20 years.  The exception, of course, is my opponent this week- G$.  Previously undefeated, G$ put up a good fight with a great Kevin Walters pick up, but the Bye Week was too much to overcome (he only had MJD as an active RB from his normal roster.)  The Bye Week even swung things to my advantage because I started Pierre Garcon instead of my normal play of Santana Moss.  30 points for a Colt!  Unheard of this year. The match is over, but I still have Robbie Gould tonight. 

Not Cali Keepers:

Peppermill High Rollers 83 - Indy Bound 76

I remained dominant this week.  He has no one left and I have Forte, Best, and the Lions or Bears D to go tonight.  I highly doubt his team name prediction will come true.  He started Mark Sanchez this week, so I'm going to predict that that move disqualifies him right there.  I'll probably start the Bears D, since I have Forte and Best to pad the lead if the game goes in a bad direction. I will listen to advice if I should just bench both defenses though. 

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I'm so ready for tonight.  This should be a fun game.  I'm happy for the Lions to be getting back to respectability, but they are only a few weeks (or possibly hours) away from me hating their guts.  Go Bears!

NFL Week 4

That was quite the interesting week of football (but aren't they all?)  A few impressions before moving on to the Fantasy Football update:

- This site always starts with the Bears.  What a frustrating game.  Granted, I didn't watch any of it besides highlights and internet updates, but I followed the updates play by play.  At one point, I was scared shitless that the Bears were going to get an INT for a TD, a punt return for a TD, AND well over 100 yards of rushing from Matt Forte and still lose.  Luckily, Forte's grand finale of earning over 200 yards sealed the game away.  However, Cam Newton embarrassed the Bears' D.  He sliced them up like a hot knife through a street whore.  That garbage TD to Greg Olsen at the end of the game was murder fantasy-wise.  Ugh.  At least they got the win, though.  With the Packers and Lions both advancing to 4-0, the season was pretty much over right there if they had blown this game.

- The San Francisco 49ers!!!  WTF?!  They certainly do not win pretty, but their defense buckled down, held off the Eagles and the Niners were able to muster enough offense to win.  Someone in one of my fantasy leagues started Alex Smith!  He is going to win and I believe that no one should be rewarded for such idiocy.  Anyway, the two-headed beast of Gore and Hunter have put the Niners in first place of the NFC West by 2 games!  They also sent the "Dream Team" to 1-3.  [Insert Nelson's laugh from "The Simpsons."]

- The Buffalo Bills are still pretty badass.  They got caught in a trap game.  I hope they are able to rebound.  They are more likable than Wheelchair Cat.

"Give me the bag bitch, or I will cut you!"

- Drew Brees and New Orleans Saints got the win on Sunday.  However, they left far too many points on the field.  In Breesus I trust, but c'mon Drew!  Let's take the bull by the horns.

"It's a metaphor... but that actually happened."

- I want to fight the Ravens.  All of them.  The Jets got absolutely drilled on Sunday night.  Unfortunately, fantasy-wise, the Jets' D was able to score more fucking points than the Jets scored actual points.  Simply disgusting.  If I lose this week, I blame the Ravens for winning one of the most gutless performances I've ever seen for a team scoring 34 points and winning.

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MSFL:

Murder Panties 153 - Your Mom 141

My previous rant was about this exact sitch.  I'm now up 12, with no one left to go.  Money Shot commenter Li'l Strut still has Josh Freeman.  I am cheering for Dwight Freeney to give Josh Freeman two charlie horses, an Indian burn, a pink belly, and dislocated knee cap during the Bucs' first possession on MNF.  The over/under on highlights from that MNF game a few years ago where Peyton Manning engineered a re-donk-u-lous comeback to defeat a John Gruden-led Bucs team is at 547.  I'm sure Chucky will have plenty of stupid things to say about that game. 

Cali Not Keepers:

Peppermill High Rollers 119 - Balls On Chin 71

After a disappointing loss last week, the High Rollers rebound to turn another team's team name against them (that's right, my balls are on their chin!)  Unless Reggie Wayne scores 49 points, I will reclaim my seat atop the league.  Seriously, I have the best team in this league.

Family and Friends:

CORE 98.68 - Razzle Dazzle 142.12

I've pretty much given up in this league.  I made some poor drafting decisions.  I need to make some trades and see if anything pans out.  Phillip Rivers can put his own balls on his chin.  To add insult to injury, I have no one left and Razzle Dazzle still has Joseph Addai.  Aaron Rodgers is scary as fuck and I don't appreciate getting dominated like that.

---

Alright Josh Freeman- tank it for me.  Let your RB's take over.  Hell, score 11 points- that's cool.  But not 12.  Score 12 and you will get at least a fist wag from yours truly.  Also, a big shout out to my wife as it is our two-year anniversary.  It feels like we've been married FOREVER... in a good way!

NFL Week 1

I am so glad the NFL season has begun.  Between cheering on the Bears, Fantasy Football, and the rest of the drama that follows the NFL, it is just glad to have it back.  I spent the entire day Sunday watching the RedZone Channel, so I'll run through some of my favorite moments (good and bad) from the weekend.  I will hand out some awards as well. 

Bears 30, Falcons 12 - What a great way to kick off the season.  On Friday, I was listening to Keyshawn Johnson, Chris Mortensen, and Mike Tirico on the radio.  Mort picked the Falcons to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.  All of them talked about how they were not high on the Bears.  They agreed that the Falcons would win on Sunday. 

Well, well, well, well... This is one great example of the media getting on a team's jock hard, while not giving respect to a solid, yet potentially unsexy, team.  The Bears' D looked great and why wouldn't they?  They willed the Bears to the NFC title game last year.  They have most of the same piece back.  I'm extremely happy to see them hold a potentially efficient Falcons' offense to 6 points.  The Bears' offense actually gave up the one Falcons touchdown in the game.  The Bears' D on Sunday was a perfect example of Lovie Smith's "bend but not break" philosophy. 

Jay Cutler looked great besides one mistake (INT returned for a TD.)  That mistake was probably more on the O-Line, but it is still unacceptable.  Ultimately, though, it was meaningless.  Matt Forte is my hero- pay that man his money! 

"Kid's got alligator blood..."

In the end, the Bears just upped the expectations on this season.  They have a tough challenge in the Saints next week- the blood is already flowing toward my genitals in excitement. 

Coach Tellian Award - In high school I was a basketball player.  I have never played a game of football in pads.  One reason for this was that our high school football program was wretched.  My senior year, the entire program went 0-30.  That's right- the Freshmen, JV, and Varsity squads went 0-10 a piece.  Ouch.  Midseason, Coach Tellian, the mastermind of this program, offered me the starting Tight End position in passing while I was walking to my next class.  What a tool. 

He literally looked like this.

This award goes to the worst coaching decision of the week:

Sean Payton - His decision to run Mark Ingram with no time remaining while down by 8 to the defending Super Bowl champs is inexcusable.  When you have one of the best QBs in the NFL, and said QB has over 400 yards passing and 3 TDs, you should put the ball in elite QB's hands rather than a rookie.  The Saints deserved to lose that game due to such a poor decision. 

Matthew Berry Award -  I admit I watch ESPN's Fantasy Football show each Sunday morning.  The Talented Mr. Roto has occasional good advice.  He also occasionally spews out the worst liquid diarrhea of fantasy tips.  This award is in honor of the poor side of Berry's advice.

Me - I benched Steve Smith (CAR) at 9:30am Sunday.  He sat active all week, and I psyched myself out and put in Ronnie Brown.  I figured Cam Newton would be inaccurate and throw mostly to his TEs, while Ronnie Brown might get some touches to steal points away from LeSean McCoy (the guy I was going against had Vick and McCoy in his lineup.)  It was a terrible gamble that lost me the week.  What I do know now is that if Arian Foster comes back healthy, my team is pretty damn good.  This makes me feel good. 

Steve Smith reminding me who scored the most points on my team... even though he was on the motherfuckin' bench.

Jim Harbaugh Award - I love that Harbaugh once ran up the score on USC while coaching at Stanford.  This prompted Pete Carroll to ask him, "What's your deal?" during the post-game handshake.  Hilarious!  Now they get to play each other twice a year! 

Jim Harbaugh!  His San Francisco 49ers took care of business against the Carroll's Seahawks.  Alex Smith showed some grit and Ted Ginn returned a punt and a kick!  If nothing else, congrats to my friends that cheer for the Niners.  This game has to give you at least a little hope. 

Munson Award - The movie "Kingpin" is hilarious.  Woody Harrelson played Roy Munson- a bowler who constantly looks like he has the world at his fingertips, only to make a bad decision or two and get the crap beat out of him (or in one case, his hand cut off!)  During the movie, people start using the saying "they really munson'ed that" to describe someone screwing up.  This team really "munson'ed" their game this week. 

The look of a champion.

Dallas Cowboys - I'm watching the game as I write this post.  The Cowboys had total control over this game.  There is no way they should have lost this game.  Tony Romo fumbled near the goal line.  They had a punt blocked for a Jets TD.  With 8 seconds left, the center snapped the ball to Romo when he was unprepared.  The Cowboys are garbage and it will be a LOOOONG season if they continue to make these type of dumb decisions.  Yikes. 

Bad News Bears Award - This award goes to the team that played the worst, but still won. 

San Diego Chargers - Wow.  I started the Chargers D in one fantasy league on the premise that they have a good defense and that their massive weakness on special teams was worked on and fixed.  A solid 12 seconds into their opening game against the Vikings and I'm convinced that Norv Turner allowed the Chargers' special teams to complete all their drills on Madden rather than on an actual field.  Despite the Chargers' best efforts to lose the game, they ended up beating Donovan McNabb's Vikings.  I'm happy with the end result, but the game was fucking awful.

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This season looks to be pret-ay, pret-ay, pretty good.  The Lions, Bills, Bengals, and Redskins should be awfully proud of themselves.  All of those teams came up with big wins that will help excite their fan-bases.  It is just great to have football back. 

Friday Rant

Wow- I have been distracted by Fantasy Football this week!  It is funny to think about how many times I'd ever been to HoustonTexans.com before I drafted Arian Foster in two leagues (0), vs. how many times I've been there now (how do I make the infinity sign with my keyboard?)  Needless to say, I am concerned.  However, I'm thinking he will be ok in the end.  If he misses a week or two, I can weather the storm... no longer than that though!

It is sad to say, but Fantasy Football has been my reality this week so I'm not sure what else I have to talk about.  The only cure for this writer's block is a horrible bulleted list.

- Carlos Zambrano will start getting paid again on September 11.  Coincidence?  I think not.  However, he will not pitch again for the Cubs this season.  And really, what would be the point in letting him?  Maybe he gets closer to earning contract bonuses or worse- activating an extra year built into his contract?  Yeah- there is no way the Cubs should allow his fat fucking lard ass to touch the dirt at Wrigley Field again (well, unless he's a member of the Astros or something.)  Continuing to cheer on Zambrano would be ignorant and I will not participate any longer.  I gave him more than a fair shot to win me over and he has failed epically.

Poor Big Z, he only gets $19 million a year to pitch on a bad team.

- Lance Briggs has "demanded that the Bears trade" him.  Wow.  Haven't we seen this move before?  Didn't he say he would "never play for the Bears again" back in 2007?  My boy from Sacramento is making it harder to cheer for him as well.  If you are unhappy about the fact the Bears were nice enough to front-load your contract, then 1) you shouldn't have agreed to it and 2) you should've brought this up to the team the SECOND the lockout ended.  You will find no sympathy here, Lance.  Matt Forte has beef- he was going to get paid less than $1 million to be the feature back on a team that just went to the NFC Championship game.  You have already made millions, agreed to a 6 year deal, and are trying to create leverage when you have none.  Don't do it... you might join Ced Benson on the Bungles.

"Two snaps in Z formation." -- Men On Football, In Living Color

- Colin Cowherd is a moron.  Why in the world do I listen to this guy, ever?  It is probably because I don't have internet radio in my car and cannot continue to listen to Waddle and Silvy on ESPN 1000 in Chicago while I drive to work.  This guy claimed that all the East Coast teams are good because crazy fans demand it.  He generalized across all sports and even though, time after time, he tells people to be rational, he encouraged fans to be crazy lunatics because owners and GM's will hear them on sports talk radio and improve the team.  Sure...

1) The San Francisco Giants just won the World Series.  They followed that up by going out and getting the best offensive acquisition they could find (Carlos Beltran) and they still can't score runs to save their lives (just like last year.)  I have never heard more venom on sports talk radio than I hear about the current state of the Giants.  PS- you just won a World Series.  Chill out.  I don't think people irrationally complaining has helped the Giants, nor do I think they try harder just because fans complain.  Brandon Belt would've come up earlier if that was the case.

2) The San Francisco 49ers were the dominant team in the 80s.  People out here are nuts about the Niners.  They are dying inside that the Niners continue to suck.  The franchise was healthy when they had an innovative head coach (Bill Walsh), followed him with competent coach (Seifert and Mooch) and guess what?  Putting Dennis Erickson in as head coach cripple the organization into making a series of bad coaching hires.  Do crazy fans have anything to do with this?  No.

3) If crazy fans helped teams on the East Coast, the Buffalo Bills would be good.

My point is that Cowherd is an idiot (you knew that) and that geographic quality of franchises have less to do with crazy fans, and more to do with good organizational infrastructure.  Sure, fans buying merchandise and tickets help keep teams healthy financially, but there is no coordination between passionate (read as: crazy) fans and success.  If that were the case, the Cubs would've won a World Series years ago. 

So there is my Friday rant.  Have a great Labor Day and I'll see you back here on Tuesday.

It's Just Preseason... It's Just Preseason...

I have to remind myself of that fact over and over after last night's 41-13 drubbing the NY Giants put on the Chicago Bears.  I got home from work already having missed part of the game, then debated skipping the gym to watch the Bears.  The first play I saw was Jay Cutler hit Devin Hester on a nice long pass down the sideline.  The next play was a screen pass to Matt Forte who ran for 40+ yards.  Finally, I watched in horror as the Bears stalled and were forced to kick a field goal knotting the game at 3-3.  After this drive, I decided to go to the gym and not worry about the rest of the game.  I had seen a few very positive plays, but was disappointed at the lack of finishing. 

Of course, upon leaving the gym I threw on the AM radio and found that the Bears had been destroyed by Eli Manning and his butt-buddies.  I'm not sure how to feel about all of that.  In general, Jay Cutler looked OK from what I saw, and I can't imagine they played many of the starters in the second half.  Also, the Giants lost Terrell Thomas to a torn ACL, so at least the Bears didn't suffer a significant injury like that.  Last but not least, the Bears went 0-4 last year in the preseason and looked dreadful.  However, during the year they won the NFC North and advanced to the NFC Championship Game. 

Yes, Jay.  I know the feeling.

Do I expect the Bears to be as good as they were last year?  I don't think I do.  I am really not sure what to expect.  I do know their division should be more difficult and their schedule is fairly tough.  I also know they play one game in London.  I've seen terrible teams go 4-0 in preseason only to not win 4 games during the regular season, so it is hard to put stock into meaningless games.  It is nice to see the team you cheer for do well, though...

Here is my hope- that the Bears getting their ass kicked last night provides them with the proper motivation to get better.  I'm not sure why professional athletes need tangible let downs for extra motivation, but I suppose it works that way in the "real world" as well.  If you make a mistake big enough for your boss to get on your case, you'll put in that extra effort to prove that you are not as bad as the current status of the Bears' offensive line. 

The moral of this post is two-fold.  1) I cannot put too much stock into the preseason results.  If the Bears had won 41-13, that would have been cool, but it would not mean they were automatically Super Bowl bound.  Since they lost in a landslide, I cannot condemn them to drafting Andrew Luck, either (though... that's awfully tempting...)

2) I'm extremely glad I went to the gym instead of watching the entirety of the second game of the preseason.  It was a better decision than watching the Bears get their dicks stomped in a meaningless game.  I win! 

I may end up looking like the other Jay Cutler.

Last but not least, what is up with the Bay Area/California fans these days?  Bryan Stow is still in the hospital from the beating he took at Dodger Stadium, and now fools are getting shot at The Stick?  Guess who is not going to the O.Co Coliseum when the Bears visit the Raiders this year?  This fucking guy.  I'll watch the game on TV... wait- what's that?  The game will be Silver-And-Blacked out?  Fucking hell.  The Raiders are like a deadly virus that spreads making everything worse. 

"We've got to find that monkey!"

Terrell Pryor will fit right in down in Oakland. 

Thursday Hodge Podge

I'm not sure I have anything all that interesting to talk about today. I'm going to see the Damnwells tonight in San Francisco, so that will no doubt be fun. Other than that, I'm just keeping tabs on NFL player movement. My wish of Sidney Rice on the Bears has been dashed by his signing with the Seattle Seahawks. That's cool- I'm sure he and Tavaris Jackson will continue their same offensive dominance on the West Coast. Great choice, deek.

Sidney Rice will look good in a Seahawks uniform.

And what's this? The Cubs are trading Fukudome to the Indians? Finally, they are able to unload one player. Unfortunate that they still have to pay $3.9 million of his remaining salary. Yikes. The Cubs are as good at business as their team is at baseball. Hopefully they get some decent prospects in return. Hopefully...

Carlos Beltran landed with the Giants before the trade deadline. One can't help but think that the Giants would be poised for a repeat if they also had Buster Posey. Instead, they have catchers that drop infield pop-ups and bat .180. I suppose you could also argue that the Giants may not have made the trade for Beltran had Posey still been healthy. I guess we'll never know. It is a good pick up for them and could really help them in the playoffs. Getting in is a certainty at this point as I don't think any other NL West team has the juice to compete with the Giants.

Where was this move in May?!

Albert Haynesworth to the Patriots!? Wha-what?! C'mon Hoodie! You are getting awfully cocky with your "I can make any player into a team-player" attitude. It is amazing that getting rid of such a good player will help the Redskins, and I'm not certain his acquisition will help New England in the long run. Once again, we'll find out. Damn, the NFL will be interesting this year!

Like I mentioned, I don't have much on to talk about today. I'm waiting for Haynesworth to cleat Tom Brady in the face during a Pats practice... then I'll have a lot to talk about.

NFL Is Back... It's Back!

The most dominant professional sports league in the US (possibly the world?- someone do some research and get back to me!) is back in business.  I've tried my very best to tune out football news these last few months because most of it revolved around the Lockout, which is dumb.  Like I give a flying fuck about the owners and players participating in a game of wits involving a CBA and iocaine powder. 

"Inconceivable!"

So now that the off-field nonsense is over, we can get back down to real business.  What in holy hell are the Bears going to do to get back to the playoffs?!  I know the Packers were a better team last year, but when your team gets to the NFC Championship game, you tend to get a little greedy... well, at least I do! 

Here are some smart moves the Bears can start with:

Offensive Line - I don't care who the actual names are, just get Jay Cutler some help.  Call him a pussy, he was certainly tough enough to last most of the season behind an offensive line that were less like a wall and more like a group of matadors.

B.J. Raji pictured getting through the Bears' O-Line.

Obviously, this has to be fixed immediately.  I can't help but think this would not only help Jay Cutler become a more effective QB, but it would also help Matt Forte immensely.  Forte is a dynamic back that has yet to put two great seasons together back-to-back.  He could do it this year if the O-Line is improved. 

Do not sleep on the Defense:

Just because the Bears' D was good last year, does not mean they will automatically be good this year.  Of course, Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, and Julius Peppers are back, but the Bears have quite a few unrestricted free agents that need to be re-signed or replaced.  I'm also interested to see Stephen Paea debut with the Bears.  He set the World Record of benching 225 lbs. 49 times at the combine and while this means nothing on the actual football field, it's still impressive and means he can probably move around some opponents' Offensive Linemen.  I'm not sure of the exact moves that need to be made, but the Bears must continue to back up their reputation as a hard-nosed Defensive team. 

Wide Receivers, pretty please:

My pick for the Bears is Sidney Rice.  The Vikings stole Bernard Berrian away from the Bears a few years ago and it's about time we return the favor by stealing one of theirs.  Rice is a big, strong receiver that can help Cutler by wrestling away potential INTs from opposing Defensive Backs or just reaching balls that smaller receivers could not.  If not Rice, then it would make sense to explore Plaxico Burris (maybe not a possibility for the Bears) or Santanio Holmes (also, probably a long shot.)  Do NOT get enticed by Randy Moss or T.O.  They are past their prime and will NOT mesh well with Cutler.  That scenario would go about as well as a dinner party where Larry David is invited. 

Even Larry David knows Moss or T.O. would be train wrecks.

Apparently the Bears have also gotten rid of Brad Maynard.  This is a horrible decision and I'd like to be the first Bear fan to say that this move will come back to them at some point during the season.  The Bears have been spoiled by Brad Maynard's magnificent punting- especially with to the Bears' ability to go three-and-out so often.  Find another good punter ASAP, fellas. 

That's really it.  I'm still grasping all the moves that need to be made, but that should give a solid base for what the Bears need.  How about your team?  If you're a Niner fan, you may need the team to go 1-15 in order to ensure acquiring Andrew Luck.  What say you? 

I'm just excited that NFL is back.