Cedric Benson: Who got the tequila?

The Cincinati Bengals have picked up ex-Bear, and current draft bust, Cedric Benson.   Cedric Benson will be 2nd in the depth chart for the Bengals, but first in line for bail bonds.  Marvin Lewis and the Bengals staff have constantly overlooked character to get talent, but we have seen with the 0-4 Bengals that team chemistry is important.  A team in such disarray needs some stability, and adding a player who probably  will not successfully remove himself from the problems that followed him around in Chicago, won’t help the team in the long run.

I like Marvin Lewis at a coach, but his tenure at Cincinati has gone so terribly wrong.  On paper, they have a great wide receiver combination with Chad Ocho Cinco and TJ Who’syourmomma.  Carson Palmer should be one of the top 5 QBs in the league.  However, the offensive line can’t block together, and the defense couldn’t stop the Cleveland Browns; A Cleveland Browns team that has a QB controversy brewing and under acheiving offensive playmakers with over exaggerated sense of worth.

Side Note:  The Browns and Bengals are killing so many fantasy owners who thought the Browns could reproduce last years scoring magic, or that the Bengals lose their share of games, still put up big fantasy numbers.  I was one of the sad owners who took Carson Palmer early.  sigh.  now I scramble for a QB every week.

I’m not against giving people a second chance, but I think it has to be done in a particular way.  The Dallas Cowboys are known for successfully reviving troubled players careers.  They set up a support system and take a personal interest in the life of the player.  The Cincinnati Bengals don’t seem to structure their organization in that way.  The continually bring in players with known personal issues and have not been able to keep some of these players from bad situations.

oh well.  good luck cincinnati.  Chicago is happy with Mr. Forte.

Mark Twain once said, “History doesn’t repeat himself, but it does rhyme.” How true this was for the Jets.

Last week, against New England, the Jets had the ball on what I think was the 1 or 2 yard line and a first down. They called 3 straight run-up-the-gut plays and were forced to settle for a field goal. The media and fans slammed the play calling. They didn’t understand why, with “the great” Brett Favre, they didn’t just throw it in. Well, Jets fans, you got your answer on Monday night.

With 3:41 remaining the game, the Jets just scored on a Favre pass to bring the score to 29-45. Down by 16, the Jets need to go for 2, (although this game is pretty much over).

Attempt #1 from the 2 – Pass, incomplete. Pass interference try again.

Attempt #2 from the 1 – Pass, incomplete. Pass interference try again.

Attempt #3 from the 1/2 yd line – offsides.

Attempt #3 (again) from the 1/4 yd line – Pass, incomplete.

So in 3 tries, the Jets couldn’t throw it in either. “The great” Brett Favre couldn’t get the ball into the end zone either. The real question should be, “Why can’t the offensive line get the 2 yards in 3 tries?”

Perhaps the Mangini staff wanted to throw it in to work on short yardage pass plays since the game was likely over. However, from the 1/4 yd line, you should be able to punch that through on the ground.

To paraphrase a joke I read last year; How did the Jets keep the team away from the practice facility? They painted a goal line in front of the door.

The annoying thing about not posting my predictions is that a few of them have come to pass.  You don’t have to believe that I had these thoughts before yesterday’s events, but I want to get them down anyway.  These are from notes I jotted down last Wednesday.

1) There will be way to much talk about the green dot on the defensive players helmet.  Yes, go ahead and mention the rule change, but I think the announcers will take every opportunity to talk about it and point it out.

2) Tom Brady is due for an injury that will make him miss significant time this season.   Something is bound to happen that will cause him to miss at least a month of playing time.

3) The Browns will finish under .500 this year.  Much like the Chicago Bears after the 2001 season, the Browns were a complete surprise.  They aren’t going to sneak up on anyone this year, and by about week 9 there will be a QB controversy brewing out in Cleveland.

4) My 2 sleeper picks for the NFC/AFC this year are: NFC: Chicago Bears – AFC – Oakland Raiders.   The Bears seemed to have a competent offense that can put up 13-20 points a game, and I have faith that the defense will straighten out and play well come the beginning of the season.   The Raiders have a pretty solid defense and although the offense is young with JaMarcus Russell and Darren McFadden,  they have the ‘unknown factor’ working for them.  Lane Kiffin HAS to have a good season to keep his job and the AFC west looks weak with the top competiion being the San Diego Chargers.  The Raiders could get a wild card spot.

5)  Willie Parker will have his usual great season, but will not play all 16 games due to injury.   That will allow Rashard Mendenhall to get some good experience and playing time.

6) Although Aaron Rodgers will put up decent numbers and play okay, the Packers will end up losing some close games which will start a media frenzy on how Rodgers isn’t Favre.

7) Speaking of Favre, the Jets will do better this year, but with the Patriots and the Bills in their division they won’t make playoffs.

8. Pennington is an upgrade in Miami, but they will still be at the bottom of the AFC east.

9) Forget the QB situation in Minnisota.  The Offensive line is going to have trouble.

10) Division Standings by the end of the Year:

AFC East: Patriots, Bills, Jets, Miami

AFC North: Steelers, Bengals, Browns, Baltimore.

AFC South: Jaguars, Colts, Titans, Texans

AFC West: Chargers, Raiders, Broncos, Chiefs

NFC East: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Redskins (btw, OUCH for this division. All tough teams)

NFC North: Bears, Vikings, Packers, Lions (Honestly. Even thought I am a Bears fan, I honestly believe this)

NFC South: Saints, Bucs, Panthers, Falcons

NFC West: Seahawks, 49ers, Cardinals, Rams.

From Chalk Talk w/ Larry Mayer from Chicagobears.com

How many Bears rookie running backs have rushed for 1,000 yards?

Paul D.
Lake Bluff, Illinois

Three Bears rookie running backs have topped 1,000 yards: Beattie Feathers (1,004 in 1934), Rashaan Salaam (1,074 in 1995) and Anthony Thomas (1,183 in 2001). Interestingly, the top four career rushers in Bears history all failed to rush for 1,000 yards as rookies: Walter Payton, Neal Anderson, Rick Casares and Gale Sayers. Sayers came the closest with 867 yards in 1965.

———————————————————————————————————-

Football season is upon us and that means I spend days analyzing my fantasy leagues and longing for Sundays and Monday night (with the occassional Thursday).

From what I’ve read and briefly seen, I’m hoping Matt Forte becomes a solid back for the Bears for the next few years so draft picks can be used in other parts of the offense. It’s a interesting that the top rushers  for the Bears didn’t rush for 1000 yards their rookie year, even with the shorter schedules.  Mayer doesn’t indicate if  Payton, Sayers, Anderson, and Casares were starters (eg got the most rushing attempts) their rookie year.   However, look at the names that did rush over 1000 yards their rookie year: Rashaan Salaam. Anthony Thomas.  UGH.  If you’re wondering, Curtis Enis rushed for 133 yds his rookie year.

Since I’m on the topic of Chicago Bear draft busts, my college roommate Jim and I came across this poster in 2003.

This poster is funny and sad at the same time

Final score : Cubs 3, Cardinals 2.

In all honesty, I created this post just to put this picture up.

what calendar is this guy using?

Training Camp News is More Entertaining
No, I didn’t watch the hall of fame game. It’s a preseason NFL game. As much as I love football, I’m not going to go out of my way to watch the preseason games. I’ll probably try to catch some preseason games, but I had other things to do this past Sunday and the only update from the game was a text I got from my friend Marc: “Jared Lorenzen is terrible!” He couldn’t be that bad. I mean someone with colorful nicknames like “The Pillsbury Throwboy”, or “Lord of the Ring-Dings” has to be a model of athletic prowess, right?

After Instant Replay, MLB could use Doppler Radar

Can someone explain to me why the Cubs game was restarted after a 2 hour and 45 minute rain delay? Last night’s Cubs game was in the top of the 6th with the North Siders down 0-2. There was a down pour and a tornado warning issued. Almost 3 hours later, they decide to try to finish the game. They rattle off 2 more innings before the game is eventually when things like this kept happening. Lance Berkman had the right idea. (watch the big guy sprint!)

As much as I appreciate the umps trying to give the Cubbies a chance to come back in the game, if they just consulted a local meteorologist, they probably would have ended the game in the 6th. It was so crazy even the king gets arrested.

That Veggie Burger had my name on it!

Prince Fielder, or as I like to call him the Tubby Prince, got into a shoving match with Manny Parra in last night’s loss to the Reds. I think it was about the last Veggie Burger in the clubhouse.

No ire for Eyre

I’ve been critical of Scott Eyre, or as some “Sweet” manager’s call him, “Stevie”. He’s had a pretty rough year due to injury and with the some of our younger arms in the pen, Scott Eyre was squeezed off the bench. I didn’t really think much of it, as it was expected with Wood coming back. However, I felt bad for the guy after reading this article. He took the situation well and honorably. Good luck, Mr. Eyre. You seem to be a good guy.

hmmm I haven’t written much on football yet. Perhaps soon. I have to set up a few fantasy leagues anyway.

• Some are very focused and train all year round to keep themselves in top physical condition.
• Some take some classes and complete their college education.
• A few mull over their decisions.
• Others apparently just eat a lot of vegetables.
• A few can’t get away from competition.
• This guy raps about booty snacking.

Today, however, I came across one of the weirdest off-season activities; filming a video short. Due to the popularity of YouTube and video shorts, it seems professional athletes can’t help but try it out. Here’s a link to a video short of Baron Davis and Steve Nash teaming up to show the world…. something… . Step Brother

Baron seems to be taking the bait-and-switch that Elton Brand pulled on him well.

Note: I only was able to watch the video with no sound due to equipment restrictions at my current location.

I was shopping on Amazon the other day, purchasing a Chicago Bears Garden Gnome. During my browsing, I came across the above “Welcome” mat. Granted it’s quite humorous (they had other mats like Michigan/Ohio State, Yankees/Red Sox) but can you imagine the silent Sundays when the teams are playing each other? Also, who decides what game to watch when the games overlap with each other? Relationships are hard enough without having conflicting loyalties in the house.

What about the kids? Confusion of this magnitude could cause some mental truama that results in this. Give the kids a chance!

Fans ally themselves with certain teams for some reason or another; regional locality, family heritage, or fair-weather bandwagon hopping (boo!). Being a first generation American, my parents hadn’t instilled any team allegiances at birth (the same will not be said to my offspring, however). My teams would be left up to lady luck. Fortunately, I was born and raised in a near north suburb of Chicago. I was able to experience the euphoria of victory with the Bulls Dynasty of the 90s, and the recurring despair the Chicago Cubs normally instilled by September (or June, in some years).

Although I moved west to California in 2003, I still followed my teams from a far. I hope to make entertaining, sometimes informative posts about sporting news and events with an unabashed bias toward my team loyalties. I’d love feed back and interaction so feel free to comment and/or email me with praise or denouncement.

Do not expect the posts to be deep, researched, or even grammatically correct. I’m just doing this for the love the game.