The Bears firing Lovie Smith is like a Husband divorcing his wife and marrying the secretary. (UPDATE)

The woman you don’t have is always more appealing than the one you do have. How many times  have you seen some poor smuck going through midlife crisis, trade in his wife of 20 plus years for a newer, younger, sexier model? Never works, ask them, most of them would kill to go back to their wives.

The Bears fired Lovie Smith today, despite a Super bowl appearance and a career 56% winning percentage. The Bears fell into the same snare men across the ages have. The grass is not greener.

 But… But... everyone else is firing there coach..... we could get Nick Saban, or Chip Kelly, what about the Broncos coordinator? Odds are the Bears won't get any of those gentlemen; even if they do there’s no guarantee any of them will be successful in the league. Saban was mediocre, Kelly is a college coach and their success rate in the pros is a coin flip and the newest batches of offensive geniuses are all unproven.

In his 9 years with the Bears, Lovie finished with a record of 81-63, 18 games over 500.  Lovie’s distractors and no doubt the Bear brass would point to his failing to make the playoffs 5 out of the last 6 years. Good point but there are several mitigating factors at play.
Lovie Smith is a defensive coach; the Bears defense has always been among the best in the NFL during his tenure, the offense not so much.

The Chicago Tribune offers this helpful nugget:

 "Since Smith took over in 2004, the Bears have ranked higher than 23rd in offense only once. They have ranked 28th or lower four times"

From 04-08 the best Qb to take a snap from center was Rex grossman. The Bears have gone through four offensive coordinators since Smith arrived in the Windy city.  The Culter and Marshall signings are a step in the right direction but from a personnel standpoint the Bears are not a Super Bowl caliber team, especially on offense.

As far as I know, Lovie Smith had very little say in the bears personnel decisions, offensively the Bears have never had the weapons to become a legitimate super bowl contender.

Here is a list of the leading receivers for the Bears over the last six years.
 2012: Marshall
2011: Matt Forte
2010: Forte & Jonny Knox (tie)
2009: Greg Olsen
2008: Matt Forte
2007: Bernard Berriman

Hardly a murders row of great receivers, and when your running back leads your team in receptions 3 out of 6 years there's a systemic problem with your team’s offense.

Now let's take a look at Lovie with Cutler under center. Since Cutler arrived in 09, Smith is 36-28. Including 2010 where Culter was injured for a significant portion of the season.

If today is Black Monday then there will undoubtedly be a Black Friday where owners and GM’s going on a shopping spree hiring the hottest offensive coordinators and college coaches on the market.  The Bears already appear ready to pounce on Denver Broncos offensive coordinator Mike Mcoy.

 Is he the answer?  He coached Tim Tebow up to a trip to the playoffs and a win but if Tebow doesn't get credit for that why does Mcoy? He also coached Peyton Manning this year, but does anyone really “coach” Peyton?

NFL teams constantly trade in the devil that they know for one they don't. Mcoy is unproven as a head coach while Lovie has proven that he's a competent to above average NFL head coach. Never forget that the Cleveland Browns fired Bill Bellicheck. There are many reasons coaches don’t succeed. Sometimes they aren’t given the freedom or the tools to succeed, sometimes they aren’t up to the job, sometimes it’s just bad luck. In Lovie’s case he wasn’t given the tools to work with and when he was given them, the Bears were contenders.

Is Mccoy going to stop Cutler from forcing the ball into double coverage and throwing picks? Is he going to keep Forte, Alshon Jeffery and Brian Urlacher healthy? Lovie isn't perfect but I'd take him any day of the week over these flavor of the month types, at least I know what I'm getting.


Bears GM Phil Emery hosted a press conference today explaining his decision to give Lovie the boot.

“Our No. 1 goal always has to be to win championships, and to win championships we have to be in contention on a consistent basis, and to be in contention we have to make the playoffs on a consistent basis. We’ve had defensive excellence, but during the course of coach Smith’s years here we’ve had one offense that was ranked in the top 15.”

If he doesn't have a good offense that's on the GM, not Lovie.

Charles Barkley Makes a Slavery Joke....no one cares

Poor Ernie Johnson. We all get to laugh at Charles Barkley's jokes but many times Ernie can't.(or shouldn't)He's the straight man to Chuck's Richard Pyror light act. At this point Barkley can say whatever he wants and this isn't a big deal anyway, but I bet if Chuck said the N-word on the air he'd probably get a pass.

P.S: Shaq is still horrible.

Jacoby Jones endzone dance didn't count but this celebration is forever

Jacoby Jones won the award for the best endzone dance long ago, but today he took a victory lap of sorts. Unfortunately for Jones the touchdown was reviewed and taken off the board.(shouldn't have been)

Cam Newton bumps an official

Cam Newton has been fantastic in the last few weeks. Although he couldn't salvage the Panthers season he certainly salvaged some fantasy ones.

Today Cam exploded after what seemed to be a routine tackle by the Raiders Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly. Cam seemed like he was kicking Kelly then he jumped up and confronted the ref, bumping him.

Cam can expect some coal in his stocking and a fine from the league.

After the game tried to redeem the situation. 

"Nothing good happens when you're at the bottom of a pile. With me looking at the replay I realize it looked like I kicked him but I was just trying to get up as fast as I could and get to the next play. He fell a certain type of way, then he put his hands in my face."

In Cam's defense the game was out of control and Kelly admitted to trying to take Newton out as revenge for Palmer being injured earlier.

You take our guy out, we're going to go and try to take your guy out," Kelly told the Associated Press. "We're not out to hurt someone, but when that happens ...''

No doubt Kelly will be fined as well for simply stating the obvious but the NFL still likes to pretend that they aren't Gladiators with pads.

Green Eggs and Cam

There have been few number one overall draft picks as polarizing as Cam Newton. Newton’s supporters believed that his physical skills outweighed any misgivings about his lack of experience and character concerns. His detractors questioned how well Cam would transition from a college offense to a more complex pro-style. After last year’s dazzling rookie season it seemed that Cam had put all criticisms to rest.


Cam looks the part, 6’5 245 with a body chiseled from granite and a smile that would make any move star jealous. Cam’s abilities and charm have caused many to overlook inconvenient truths about the young quarterback.

Humans have a tendency to be blinded by amazing talent. We loved Tiger, Bill Clinton and Michael Jackson despite their very deep character flaws, the more talent a person has the more we are willing to ignore their shortcomings and celebrate their gifts. If we look very closely the signs with Cam were always there, he was thrown out of the University of Florida for stealing a laptop. At the University of Auburn he was involved in a pay for play scandal that still leave some wondering how he remained eligible. Some blame Cam’s father for the later offense and even if that’s true, if Cam was raised by a man with questionable character is it possible that some of that rubbed off on him?

During draft time Cam’s defenders shooed away all criticism of their boy wonder by accusing them of racism. Former Houston Oilers Quarterback Warren Moon led the charge “"A lot of the criticism he's receiving is unfortunate and racially based.”

During a now infamous segment of John Gruden’s Qb camp Cam revealed that he did not call plays in the huddle, instead he relied on a less complex numbering system. Add this to the fact that he wasn’t accustomed to taking snaps under center or reading complex defenses and there were many legitimate reasons for NFL personnel people to be concerned. Instead of turning his critics into his counselors, team Cam decided to play the race card (also known as the hater card)

Fast forward to yesterday’s presser where Cam had another meltdown after a Panther loss. Where young Cameron was quoted as saying that he was going to bring in a “suggestion box” because he was out of ideas, basically throwing his Offensive coordinator under the bus. Combine that with Cam celebrating in the end zone via his superman dance while trailing by two touchdowns and his constant Eeyoring(The opposite of Tebowing, think Winnie the Pooh) during and after games. The same beast that catapulted Cam’s meteoric rise to stardom is the same one that’s yanking him back down to earth.

In reality none of these are a big deal. The quarterback in the NFL is more than just another position on the team. He’s the flagship, a team spokesman the tangible face of the organization. Everything he does, says, yes even his facial expressions are scrutinized analyzed and criticized. Newton has to understand that. On the field and often off the field the position must be played with nerves of steel.

A look into Cam’s recent past shows that he’s always been able to shed off any adversity with the same easy that he does oncoming defenders. Steal a laptop? Get off with a slap on the wrist, transfer to a community college, win a national championship and become the most sought after JUCOS in the country. Dad takes money during the recruiting process? The NCAA absolves you of all blame and go on to win another national championship.

Now Newton faces a challenge that his talent alone can’t overcome. In the National Football league, no player no matter how gifted can get by on talent alone. It’s a league of constant calibration and recalibration, Darwin’s theory of evolution on steroids. Every player must learn to adapt, it’s either evolve or die. The history of the league is filled with players of immense talent that weren’t able to do so. In the league it’s not so much how talented you are, but how you respond to adversity but how you adapt and survive and ultimately thrive.

I hope Cam can turn things around, I truly do. Cam still has time to mature. A very non flattering narrative is forming. Once our 24 hour sports obsessed media finishes shoving a narrative down our throats it’s almost impossible for any athlete to overcome. Cam Newton must evolve very quickly or he will find himself added to the long list of talented players who couldn’t cut it in the National Football League.

Nashville

What you need to know: Hayden Panettiere and Connie Brriton star in this drama about an ascending and descending country stars.

What you'll love

• Strong Writing: This could have been a really cheesy soap operay kind of show but instead it's written with a depth and realism that no other newbie show has matched.
• Connie Britton: Perhaps I'm not very impartial as Friday Night Lights is one of my all time favorite shows but Connie Britton simple knows how to potray a modern non stertypical woman. She's fantastic.
• Charactertizaon:  Each character is plausible and their motivations are organic without many of the contrivances that poorly written shows rely on.
• Acting: Even with a strong lead or leads many new shows struggle casting second tier characers. Not so with nashville, every actor cast is strong and right for the parts they play.
• Complex: I've noticed a trend with pilots, it's very hard to tell what's going on. Nashville is complex with many characters and subplots but also easy to follow. The show seemlessly flows in and out of the stories it presents

What you won't

•  Parenting subplot: There really isn't much to complain about from this pilot, but if we're going to get nitpicky. Hayden Panettiere's character has a drug addicted mom who attempts to hit her up for money. This storyline could become tedious very quickly.

• Bottom Line: Best new show of the season so far. I hope it doesn't disappoint us or worse get canceled. Strong show I highly recommend it.

          Grade: A

Raiders DT Tommy Kelly Caught On Camera Saying Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb Is 'Scared'

Source: Sports Illustrated

Kevin Kolb already appeared on his way to losing the Arizona Cardinals starting quarterback job to John Skelton, and what microphones caught on the sidelines during Friday’s exhibition game against the Oakland Raiders won’t help matters. After Kolb was taken down by multiple Raiders defenders early in the second quarter, the audio of the Raiders TV broadcast caught defensive tackle Tommy Kelly saying of Kolb, “That boy’s scared.” Earlier in the game, near the end of the first quarter, Kolb took an intentional grounding penalty at his own 1-yard line and then was sacked for a safety on the next play.

Kolb has been nothing short of awful this preseason. I watched him in the first preseason game and he sees pressure when it's not there. Where a normal Qb would simply step up in the pocket Kolb's instinct is to flee the pocket, completely breaking down the play. Skeleton looks to be a MUCH better option at this point.