superdad

After listening to the radio the last few days in Chicago everyone is trying to figure out, what happened last week?  I will say this even though Jay Cutler threw his interceptions again, we should not put total blame on him in the loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.

For one the Bears defense is full of inexperience in the secondary and linebacker spots and to say that “we are okay with what we have approach” is really a bad assessment.  I really have been shocked at the fact that Jerry Angelo did not make a stronger effort to replace Brian Urlacher in the middle.  Not knocking Nick Roach he is a fine player and has a lot of up side but this defense lacks that veteran leadership that many teams in the NFL take for granted.  No Tommie Harris is not the answer either as someone to take this defense on his back, he has become a  complete debacle and really has become more of a liability than an impact player he used to be early on his career.

My second reason for staying with Jay Cutler is at least he has a very short memory when it comes to having a bad game.  Jay Cutler likes to take chances and we as Bears fans need to learn to accept that even though we may have average at best defense right now.  You can hear in Jay’s voice whenever he talks to the media he is not someone that lacks confidence unlike prior quarterbacks of the past most memorable Rex Grossman who seemed flustered anytime he had a bad game and then would take that into the media discussions for the rest of the week.  Jay Cutler has more poise than most of his teammates and people need to understand that before throwing him under the bus he has jumped back from poor performances before if you look at his stay in Denver.

My last statement is this I put more blame on management this off season believing the theory “we are good with what we have approach” with not just the offense but with the defense lately as well.  Yes injuries occur in the NFL but to think that this team was going to stay injury free is a big mistake and other teams in the NFL do a better job than the Bears not just replacing players with average players but players that can make an impact on a game.  With Lovie Smith in the middle of all of this I still like him as a the coach of the Bears as he is a good player coach that players respond to but as far as Jerry Angelo he needs to stop believing his team can compete with anyone out there when you cannot even take care of the Cincinnati Bengals whom yes are 5 and 2 but it is only October and the Bengals are historically known for sinking their own ship with players that often do their best way to sabotage or create trouble within their own locker room.  Just wait till they have a bad game and see how fast they jump back from the loss is all I am saying.

 After 162 games and two rounds of playoffs we are left with the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees.  “Who said pitching wins and offense does not matter come post season.” If you look at these two teams both of these offenses are perhaps the best we have seen in years.  This World Series despite a sub par post season so far could be the best of many and perhaps significant enough to talk a little baseball history.

If the Phillies win this series they will be the first National League team since the “Big Red Machine” of the 1970’s to go back to back.  The last team that has eclipsed that from the American League was of course no other than the late ninety New York Yankees who won 4 out of 5 World Series in  the turn of the century, however this New York team has yet to taste the champagne since 2000 which in the Steinbrenner house is an eternity.

All the comparisons to the “Big Red Machine” of 75 and 76 Reds is very cool as both of these two teams might be able to give those teams of the past a run for their money but honestly we have not seen two offenses like the Phillies and the Yankees like this year in some time.  Normally the pitching and defense is what brings a championship but these two teams are doing it with the bat and no one can deny that especially if you look at all of the statistics these two teams have been producing all year round.

The main show of the World Series may be the Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriquez show down as both of these guys have been lighting up score boards all post season when we know that both of these guys have historically struggled in the post season. The show down will be interesting to see who comes out on top and who will still be told that they are not the clutch performer they should be and remembered again as just another one that slipped away.  Howard does have the ring of a year ago over Rodriquez but this is Alex Rodriguez the biggest story of the year in baseball and if he wins a World Series, Howard might as well take a back seat as Rodriguez will be the new king of baseball not only by his wallet size but a trophy that has eluded Rodriguez since coming to New York where he has been attacked and beat up the whole time as the richest man in baseball without a ring.

You want three for the price of one here is my take on a couple hot topics right now.

1.  The Chicago Blackhawks are being hyped as if they did win the Stanley Cup last year.  It is nice to hear high accolades about a team that was in the cellar a few years back.  However let’s just get the job done first and win games just as we did the other night coming back from a 5 to 0 deficit to win in overtime against the Calgary Flames.  I just hope early fame for this team does not put early pressure on a young Hawks team, but as of right now their talent is what is talking and not the hype.

2.  The Baseball Playoffs are in the League Championship Series as the final four of baseball is set.  Philadelphia looks to deter Los Angelas again as they meet for the second year in a row in the National League Championship Series.  Los Angelas can win this series as Philadelphia did not look dominant in the first round against the Rockies.  Sure the bats were cold in Denver and the Phillies did come back to really take the series in a dramatic Game 3 but they need their offense to click against a Los Angelas pitching staff that looked the best of all four remaining teams in the post season.  On the other side the Yankees meet the Angels as the Angels get the monkey off the back finally taking care of the Red Sox but when you want to be the best you got to beat the best and the Yankees have been the best team so far this year.  If the Angels can steal a game or even two in New York then the pressure will fall on a Yankee team that is known for playoff collapses this past decade.  We saw A Rod play very well in the ALDS, he needs to do it again in the ALCS if the Yankees want their 40th all-time American League pennant.

3. The Chicago Bears are through the bye week as “Yes I know a off week for the Bears seems like the longest two weeks of your life.” However we needed all the time we can get to prepare for an Atlanta Falcons team that is becoming one of  the newer elite teams in the NFL.  Although I will disagree for a moment this team does have a tendency to look beyond an opponent much like they looked beyond the Arizona Cardinals last year in the playoffs.  Atlanta might be laughing at a depleted defense the Bears are bringing into the Georgia Dome but who is to say that the Bears offense is not like the Atlanta offense of a year ago where they just were good enough to hang around and just as Ryan did last year winning close ball games, Jay Cutler is doing it for the Bears this year.  Look this game was a huge game last year in a bigger perspective and that game ended dramatically as Atlanta rallied late to win, Cutler could make the difference to put the Bears over that hump this year.

You want to see the comeback from the other night by the Blackhawks

Here is what is happening right now in Chicago Sports, well the cliff notes version.

Da Bears put up 27 points in the second half against the now 1 and 3 Lions.  The game was tied going to half time at 21 but then Johnny Knox started the second half with a 102 yard kick return in which Detroit never recouped afterwards.

The White Sox ended their season in Detroit but helped the Twins over the weekend to push a  one game playoff scheduled hours from now.  The Metrodome will be the host as Detroit entered the last month of the season 7 games ahead of the AL Central.  Now game 163 will determine for the second year in a row the AL Central Champs.

The Cubs ended their season a little stronger but still could never catch the freight train that was the St. Louis Cardinals.  Better luck next year.

The Blackhawks win their first game defeating the Panther 4 to 0 over seas in Europe.  Detroit is our next target as we re ignite the rivalry and opponent that sent the Hawks packing from the Western Conference Finals playoffs last year.

Tonight Brett Favre will face his old boss and teammates the Green Bay Packers.  Although “Revenge” is not the way Brett will say it but I will say it for him “Revenge” is the only reason this man has not gong away ever since Green Bay ran him out of town for current quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Oh and Chicago go eliminated form all Olympic talks as they get swept out of the running in the first round.  Get your bikini wax now as we all head to Rio De Jenero for the 2016 Olympics.

What was your favorite topic of the weekend?