LET’S BE FORMIDBLE, NOT COMBUSTIBLE.

Walter Brzeski, Bears Superfan

The Bears seem set on three-quarters of their starting offensive line (center Olin Kreutz, right guard Roberto Garza, and one tackle John Tait) heading into the NFL draft And, the other tackle (Virginia’s Brendan Albert or Vanderbilt’s Mike Williams) figures to get drafted with Tait moving to the tackle of need for the Bears

But, there are a lot of questions about who’ll battle for the open guard spot and backup positions? Are Josh Beekman and Tyler Reed ready to challenge Terrance Metcalf and John St. Clair for the open guard spot? And, will the Bears sign any veteran free agent lineman to make the offensive line ‘more formidable’? Are there any other guards and tackles on the Bears roster worthy of competing for the open spot and playing time?

Hopefully, both days of the draft will work to the Bears advantage and help answer a lot of questions, especially the need in the offensive line (Albert or Williams), wide receiver (Indiana’s James Hardy, Kanas State’s Jordy Nelson), running back (Rutgers’ Ray Rice, Michigan’s Mike Hart ), quarterback (San Diego’s Josh Johnson, Tennessee’s Erik Ainge), and safety (Miami’s Kenny Phillips, Notre Dame’s Tom Zbikowski),

If the Bears are able to fill three of their most pressing needs and use their eight other picks to provide depth and competition, I believe this may be Jerry Angelo’s best draft and the Bears could be back in the playoffs.

Here’s some information regarding Bears Expo in June, 2008

Susan Rhein, Bears Superfan

Here’s an email that a friend of a friend received from Matt Black, a Chicago Bears representative, with regards to the Bears Expo in June.

Thank you for your email and questions regarding the all new Bears Expo, set to be held this coming June 7th and 8th at Soldier Field. I have read your email and will be happy to answer all your questions regarding this year’s event.

While we do have rooms set aside at a special Bears Expo rate at the Hilton, we will not have (2) tickets included with the weekend reservation as in years past, because the event is not being held at the hotel, it will be at Soldier Field. There will be shuttles running from the hotel to the stadium all day on both Saturday and Sunday. There will be no seminars or autograph sessions at the Hilton, they will all be taking place at Soldier Field. We have yet to set an exact time for the event to open, but anticipate all day on Saturday similar to years past, and possibly closing a few hours earlier on Sunday, most likely around 3 or 4pm.

Parking will be available in the parking lots located around Soldier Field, at an event rate, that is still yet TBD, in the past they have ranged from $15-$20/per day. The shuttle will hopefully alleviate any cost concerns in terms of the daily rate in the lots.

While the cost for Family Night was only $5, there really are no other activities inside the stadium that are similar to what will be taking place during the Expo. The operational costs to put on the seminars, vendor booths, autographs areas, kids activities, merchandise locations, general staffing, security, public safety services, and so on, will be substantially higher, and we will not be selling nearly the same amount of tickets to the event. This will in turn not allow us to have the same ticket rate as Family Night for the event. We have yet to finalize that info, but we will do our best and are fairly confident that it will be consistent with ticket values from past conventions. And the Bears Expo is not replacing Family Night, we will be hosting this during Training Camp 2008.

Each ticket for the event will grant fans access to all areas of the Expo, (outside of Kids only activities, or any VIP type gatherings or parties). We are still finalizing all of the programming information, but it will be fairly similar to conventions of years past. We will do are best to enhance each seminar, and do plan on having Rusty speak about his duties with the team like last year.

Thanks again for the email, we really appreciate you taking the time to do so. There is no set date for when tickets will be going on sale, but I would imagine that will take place in early-mid March 2008. In the meantime, if you do have any additional questions, do not hesitate to contact us, we will be more than happy to talk about anything that comes up. And as always you can get all the latest info about the new Bears Expo on our website at www.chicagobears.com/events.

All the best,

Matt Black

Words alone cannot express my greatfulness for friends like you

Susan Rhein, Bears Superfan

Hello fellow bloggers,

I wanted to write and say thank you for your wonderful words of encouragement, thoughts and prayers. We as a family are trying to do our best to stay focused and to muddle forward one day at a time as best we can. We have two other children to care for, Christian who is three and sitting upon my shoulders in this picture and Anthony who just turned one on the 28th of December, he was at home with my Sister Donna the day this picture was taken at Bears Training Camp 2007.

The Daily Journal took this picture on opening day of Training Camp 2007 while Christian was sitting upon my shoulders and as you can see, Cindy was trying her darnedest to get into that picture as well because, she was jealous that Christian was on my shoulders. Cindy didn’t quite understand why Auntie Susie couldn’t put both her and Christian on her shoulders at the same time. What you don’t see in this picture is my other Niece, Samantha, she was attempting to hold Cindy but, Cindy wanted to be with me.

Yes, I spoiled those kids rotten and was bringing them up properly as true Bears Fans. I had Tony & Christina with me in 2006 at training camp when Cindy was just a baby and Tony was having the players autograph Cindy’s butt after practice. It was a fun family outing.

Thanks again for being a shoulder to lean on.

GO BEARS

Last Blog for 2007 Season

Susan Rhein, Bears Superfan

Hello one and all, I’m sorry I have been away for quite awhile and missed a lot of blogging at the end of the season. I’m truly sorry for that but, my life has been nothing short of a living hell since December 13th when the little girl who is in this picture with me, my Great Niece, Cindy, died in my home on her 2nd birthday.

We, her parents and I, are still unable to comprehend as to why she is no longer with us. The autopsy that was performed showed that there was no “foul play” and that she died of “natural causes.” I’m having a real rough time with accepting that as the reson for her death. A toxicology and neurology tests are being done but, we probably wont hear anything with regards to those test results until March the earliest and May the latest according to the detective who is on the case.

All I ask for is prayers that we as a family get through this very rough period of time that we are going through and that the ME’s Office (Medical Examiner) can provide us with a better explanation of why a very happy, healthy and full of life two year old child is no longer with her family.

GO BEARS

The End of the Season

Gail Freund, Bears Superfan
Looks like this is it for the Bears Superfan Blog this season. At least the team ended on a high note. Devin shined. Offense had some tricks up their sleeves like Adrian’s td pass to Bernard. Even Devin had his attempt at a pass. Kyle, Brian, the Defense…everyone played a part in the win over the Saints. As Jeff Joniak would say it’s kind of bittersweet. Everyone knows there will probably be significant changes during the off-season. Some for the better…and some, not.

Happy New Year to Marcus, and the Superfans…those who wrote, and those who didn’t. And a Happy New Year to the Bears and their families, too.

GO BEARS!

WANTED: Pro Football Players Willing to Work Hard and Not Complain

Walter Brzeski, Bears Superfan

The season is almost officially over; many might say the season was over before it started. I really thought with the Bears playing the second easiest schedule (Arizona had the easiest and Oakland the toughest)… </a
(www.jdragon.org)

…and, after going to the Super Bowl with the easiest schedule in 2006, things were in place for a repeat run at the Super Bowl. But, it seemed as Lovie Smith was agreeing to anything his assistant coaches wanted to do and didn’t put his foot down.
(www.packerspalace.com)

But, a long list of ‘REASONS WHY THEY DIDN’T’ is in place now; ranging from trading Thomas Jones and Chris Harris to injuries on defense to the inability of any of the quarterbacks to take charge to poor play by the offensive line to Ron Turner’s failure to judge talent, make gameday adjustments, and find an identity for the offense.

THINGS TO DO FOR 2008:

#1
(www.glassgiant.com/wanted)
Revamp the offensive line. Say goodbye to Fred Miller, Ruben Brown, and Terrence Metcalf. Keep John Tait, Olin Kreutz, and John St. Clair, Roberto Garza. Acquire mobile and athletic lineman and create competition for RT, LG, and backup spots.

#2 Dump the contracts of Adam Archuleta ($5M), Ricky Manning, Jr. ($3.3M), Miller ($4.7M), Mushin Muhammad ($3.1M), Brian Griese ($2.5M), Ruben Brown ($2.2M), John Gilmore ($870K), and Metcalf ($1.486M). The total amount of these salaries is $22.3M and enough to resign Lance Briggs and get help on the O-line (Pittsburgh OG John Faneca, below), QB, and S.
(www.sportsecyclopedia.com)

#3 Resign Rex Grossman and Mike Brown to lower, incentive-laden contracts and let them compete for their positions.
(www.bearsqb.blogspot.com)

#4 Keep Devin Hester happy and rework his contract. Maybe, another car?
(www.thebiglead.com)

#5 Draft an OG, OT, or QB (Louisville’s Brian Brohm, below, or Kentucky’s Andre Woodson) in the first round. Currently, the Bears are at #12. Though, with a loss, they could move up to #8. And, a win, can drop them down to #17.
(www.foxsports.com)

#6 Make players accountable for their actions both on/off the field and have them represent the Bears organization more professionally than Brian Urlacher, Lance Briggs, and Tank Johnson did.
(www.foulballs.net)

#7 Get rid of players unwilling to make a sacrifice for the team and not complain or mope. A perfect example is Alex Brown ($2M) speaking on the SCORE (WSCR 670AM)radio station and complaining about getting only 25% of the reps prior to Mark Anderson ($403K) going down with an injury.

I doubt anyone would be unhappy in Chicago getting paid $2M for standing around doing nothing for 3/4 of their day.
BYE ALEX, DON’T LET THE DOOR HIT YOU WHERE THE GOOD LORD SPLIT YOU!
(www.austinche.name)

PREDICTION TIME……….
(www.buycostumes.com)

The Game……Bears 24 Saints 10 (No McAllister, No Bush, No Stecker, No chance)

Ron Turner….stays

Offensive Assistant Coaches Tim Spencer & Darryl Drake…… will be let go.

Rex Grossman….signs with Miami

Lance Briggs….signs with Washington or Arizona

Bernard Berrian…resigns with the Bears

Muhsin Muhammad…….lands on the NFL Network

2008 Roster will have 15 new faces which will include ex-NIU RB Michael Turner (SD), OG John Faneca (PIT), OT Jordan Gross (CAR), and WR Andre Davis (HOU)

The 2008 NFL Draft….Bears will draft 12th and pick USC OT Sam Baker

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Gail Freund, Bears Superfan
I seemed to have missed a week. It was good to see Nathan playing in Minnesota. It was certainly apparent how much he has been missed. What would the season been like if The Interceptor had played the past ten weeks? There was a lot of criticism (as usual) over the Bears loss to the Vikings, but I thought they looked pretty good.

The win against Green Bay was fantastic. Sure, the weather and punter Ryan were a big help, but Kyle and the Offense did a great job. Defense played like the old days. Brian has really turned his game around the past few weeks. The young kids are looking good. Jamar Williams may have just ended Lance’s days as a Bear since he showed he could handle the job. For once the entire team was instrumental in the win instead of relying on Devin to carry them.

Congrats to the Bears four Pro Bowlers: Brendon, Devin, Lance and Tommie. Also, as Marcus has noted, thanks to all the players and other professional athletes who do so much for the communities. As everyone knows, bad news always makes the headlines quicker than good news.

One more win to go….let’s send those Saints marchin’ back to Nor’lens with a loss.

GO BEARS!

TIME TO TURN(ER) THE CORNER

Walter Brzeski, Bears Superfan

I have hard time understanding why people have been coming to Ron Turner’s defense this past week and I believe he must go. Hopefully, he’ll go back into the college game and take a job out west. Thus, saving Lovie Smith from having to fire him and his assistants.

Maybe, Turner could join his brother, Norv in SD and kill their running game like he did here. Bears offense ranks #25 overall (#32 rushing “LAST in the NFL”, #14 passing) and SD #20 (#7 rushing and #22 passing)

And, if UCLA names Ron Turner their next head coach, the UCLA will stand for U-Could-Lose-Again

Another possibility could be Turner going to Dallas as the offensive coordinator if Bill Parcells fires Cam Cameron in Miami and names Jason Garrett head coach. The Turner brothers have a good relationship with Dallas owner Jerry Jones. Plus, Turner could be re-united with Wade ‘Deer in the Headlights’ Wilson.

If Turner stays on with the Bears and no offensive assistants are fired or take jobs elsewhere, I highly suggest bringing in a top tier offensive consultant. Possibilities could be Joe Bugel, Russ Grimm, Howard Mudd, Alex Gibbs, or recently fired Michigan Offensive Coordinator Mike DeBord.

Alex Gibbs would be a steal for the Bears. Here’s a link to article explaining his philosophy (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G1-53877912.html)

Hey, another good fit would be former Bear Tom Thayer.> (www.beckett.com/item/51804032)
He seems to know what he’s talking about, but, can he judge talent and be an NFL coach? VERY INTERESTING!!
————————————————————————————
(www.packerssuck.com)

BTW: Why does everyone think Brett Favre is so great? Do women want to have his babies and do the rest of the hill-billies have a man-crush’ on him?

Favre has won ONE Super Bowl as the starting QB in his 16 year career. The same number as Jim McMahon, Trent Dilfer, Jeff Hostetler, Mark Rypien, Kurt Warner, and Brad Johnson.
————————————————————————————-

EXTRA, EXTRA, READ ALL ABOUT IT………………………

(www.fotosearch.com)

Here’s a letter I had published about my thoughts on Ron Turner in Saturday’s (12/22) Chicago Tribune Sports ‘OTHER VIEWS: THE READERS HAVE THEIR SAY’:
> (www.redkid.net/generator/alpha)

Turner must go

CHICAGO — The sign of a good offensive football team is when any quarterback can step in and the offense doesn’t miss a beat. But each Bears quarterback was progressively worse this year.

And the blame for this year’s dismal offensive scheme falls on Ron Turner and his inability to make adjustments in his game plans, utilize his players’ abilities to fit his system or vice versa, make necessary personnel changes and create depth.

It’s time for the Bears to fire Turner and the rest of the offensive assistants. Turner was supposed to be an upgrade over the two previous offensive coordinators, John Shoop and Terry Shea. If Turner was an upgrade, how bad do those two coordinators look now?

And if Turner stays, I would suggest drawing up plays to give the ball to the offensive line, as they seem to know how to avoid defenders.

Walter Brzeski

(http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/printedition/cs-views22dec22,1,134935,print.story?coll=cs-sports-print)

*************************************************************************************
JOKE OF THE WEEK:

The Smart Packer Fan

The boy came running home from school one day.
“Mommy, Mommy, ” he yelled, “we were counting today,
and all the other kids could only count to four but I
counted to 10. See? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10!”

“Very good,” said his mother.

“Is it because I’m a Packer fan, Mommy?”

“Yes, it’s because you’re a Packer fan.”

The next day the boy came running home from school.
“Mommy, Mommy,” he yelled, “we were saying the
alphabet today, and all the other kids could only say
it to D, but I said it to G. See? A, b, c, d, e, f,
g!”

“Very good,” said his mother.

“Is it because I’m a Packer fan, Mommy?”

“Yes, it’s because you’re a Packer fan.”

The next day the boy came running home from school.
“Mommy, Mommy,” she yelled, “we were in gym class
today, and when we showered, none of the other boys
had this, but I did!” And he dropped his pants to
expose his pubic hair.

“Very good,” said his embarrassed mother.

“Is it because I’m a Packer fan, mommy?”

“No sweetheart, it’s because you’re 25.”

PREDICTION: Full Moon on Sunday with all the Packers fans in town, YUCK!! I wish I could find Ralphy’s Red Rider rifle and shoot my eyes out. Only one saving grace is the game will not have Favre’s #1 fan in John Madden calling the game and salivating on everything Favre does. (www.packerssuck.com)

****An anagram of Brett Favre is ‘BEER, TV, FART”. The only things Packers fans know about. And, that’s just the women. (www.packerssuck.com)

PACKERS 28 BEARS 10

Lance Briggs Helps Host Shopping Spree

Marcus Riley, NBC5 Street Team (video)

So I glanced at the front page of the Sun Times Monday morning to see a cover story about Lance Briggs’ baby’s mama talking about how he’s not living up to his responsibilities as a father. Something about an “open pants policy toward parenting.” Ouch.

Despite the obvious salacious nature of the story, I was taken aback because I covered a story exactly a week before involving Briggs and 50 deserving kids who were treated to a shopping spree at Target. I knew I’d be posting the story this week for NudeHippo.tv, and the irony would be — well, I guess you can just insert your own joke here.

---

Slideshow: Lance Briggs Helps Host Shopping Spree

---

So anyway, the kids were selected for the shopping spree based on their grades, good citizenship, school attendance or merits received from Corps assistance and/or attendance. Ruben Brown is also a part of this project, but wasn’t present that night. His participation is an even better story, because Brown grew up poor and benefited from Salvation Army as a kid.

No matter what you think of pro athletes and their behavior in their private lives — and whether it’s even any of our business anyway — they do have the ability to bring attention to causes that may otherwise be neglected. Let’s face it, if the shopping spree had taken place but no Chicago Bears players were supposed to be there, would as many media members have showed up? Probably not. So as you’re busy spending way too much money on presents and gorging yourself with food this season, take a second to think about those who don’t have the luxury of taking those things for granted. Happy Holidays!

Super Bowl to top 10 draft pick

Dan Wise, Bears Superfan
Who would have thought we would be rooting for a better draft pick at this point in the year. Will Orton have more passing yards than A.P. will have rushing? Or did the defense watch the 49er tape and learn how to tackle this week? It should be fun to see some young players come out and get some playing time. This is the time for these players to win jobs for next year. I hope people don’t expect Orton to look better than Griese or Grossman. He has the same offense out there with him that the other two QBs. So as long as he keeps away from turnovers of his doing we should be OK for him as a backup (or starter) next year. The Bears cannot come back with the same personnel on offense next year and it is not clear who needs to be changed out since nobody is being singled out.