*The asterisk is for any literature bug but dedicated to Spongie.

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Everything that has been done so far looks good on paper. We got a solid receiver, we are returning a TE, we helped out special teams and we have shored up our backup quarterback and then some. I'm feeling optimistic. That's a rare feeling for this Bears fan. But barring a big name DE (who we probably won't get) the Bears need to sign Michael Bush. And here's why...

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So, you run a business. It's a conglomeration and is branched out into many venues. Last year you needed a new tractor/trailer so you went out and got yourself a good one. Unfortunately it got in an accident and spent some considerable time at the shop. So this year you and the CEO's are sitting down discussing your needs for the upcoming fiscal year and someone brings up the need for a new tractor/trailer. But wait, you think, aren't we getting that other new one back from the shop? Couldn't the business use something for picking up clients and entertaining potential investors? What you need is something impressive, something sporty. You need a Ferrari.

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Think you know what it takes to be an NFL scout? Neither do I. But I've been following the NFL for quite a while now. There were times when I thought I had all the answers and times where I knew I didn't have a clue. Usually the truth was somewhere in the nether regions. We all have an opinion on what position the Bears should draft in 2012. Several of you have the names you'd like to see on our roster. Some of those moves will be right, but more will be wrong. (How many wanted Mendenhall over Forte?) And that goes for every team in the NFL. Join me for a look at why I feel the draft is (almost) a complete crapshoot and always has been.

Editor note: Welcome back to the front page kid...

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I've been mulling this over in my head for quite some time now. The argument can (and has) been made that the Bears should take a wide receiver in the first round. Others would argue that we need to shore up our offensive line with our first round draft pick. My take? Draft the best damn player available regardless of position.

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Yes the man chose a career in law. And yes he was indeed an accountant prior to being hired by the Bears. So I suppose it would be fair to call him a "bean counter" or mock him for his lack of a football background. Until you consider this; Ted Phillips has been with this team since 1987. There's a decent chance Ted Phillips has been a Bear since before many of you were born.

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I'm not saying that the Bears are handling this job search the right way. In my opinion they should have fired Phillips and let the chips fall where they may. Maybe we would have a new GM and kept Lovie, maybe we would have the same GM and a new HC. But the new team president would have had decisions to make and could have made them his way. But that didn't happen.

So, I know this will go over about as well as last years post I had on why the Bears should draft a wide receiver in the first round. That one was resoundingly shouted down. But hear me out. Ruskell makes sense as the next GM for the Bears. The McCaskey's have already stated that both Lovie and Tim will remain in place regardless of who the next GM is. The brain trust of George and Ted have declared that whomever is named the next GM must be someone who completely backs Lovie. Short of naming Lovie both coach and GM (A job I believe Lovie can't handle because not many can) Ruskell fits the bill straight across the board.

The new GM has to be someone Lovie is comfortable with. Ruskell. The new GM has to be someone with experience and scouting credentials. Ruskell was the Tampa Bay's (Lovie connection anyone?) scouting director when they won the Super Bowl. The new GM will be limited by the success of the team next season. If they make the playoffs, he may keep his job. If they miss the playoffs? Maybe he gets to name the next new head coach but do you really want our new GM already eyeing other coaching candidates this year with Lovie already firmly entrenched for this next season?

Ruskell has a shaky draft history. That is true. But as my good friend Ed pointed out, the new GM will be limited by what he can do in a perceived "make or break" season for this entire team. Why mess with the chemistry that that perception comes with? In other words, why not have a GM who also gets just how much this next season means for the team moving forward? Ruskell. Plus Ruskell has had past successes. But he butted heads with Holmgren over some draft picks but he made some keen moves. You can read about them here.

Even if this years draft is a complete success what will that mean for the Bears? They get 2 or 3 picks that can actually start? And what will said picks actually contribute in one season? Probably very little. And free agency? Who knows how Ruskell will approach this compared to the other candidates available? But everyone sees the weaknesses and most NFL personnel know who's available so that comes down to money and contract negotiation and we still have Cliff Stein, one of the leagues best.

Bottom line is, whoever the Bears hire this year his tenure is tenuous at best. Why not grab the man who is already aware of that? The man who gets Lovie and poses no threat. If the Bears have a great season then we all play "wait and see" on the Ruskell moving forward. But if the seasons a disaster, or even a disappointment, clean house and start completely fresh. It isn't an ideal situation but since we screwed the pooch from the beginning why not see this through to the end?

The Bears made two huge moves today in firing Jerry Angelo and (how would one word this) "not retaining" Mike Martz. They also established one of the more awkward and unusual chains of command in the NFL. See they want the President of Operations, Ted Phillips, to hire the new GM. But here's the kicker. It has to be someone who will keep Lovie on staff for at least one more year. Pause to consider that the Bears also have new ownership representation in George McCaskey. Now I don't know about you but I smell something fishy going on at Halas Hall. I mean, the new GM will be hired by the current President, with the approval of the CEO but it all hinges on the current HC being retained by his new "boss"? Who's running this show anyway. I'd say George. I'd say deals were cut. I'd say this is all speculation, but bear with me anyway and see if you can see any logic in my thesis here.

I think George was/is unsatisfied with the way this season played out. I think he's probably irritated by the poor draft picks, the botched trades and questionable moves made by Jerry and the general lack of consistency shown by this team. Who does he go to? Ted Phillips, naturally. I can see it now, a disgruntled owner goes to his team president and grumbles about the current state of the team. The team president points to the GM and says he's not doing his job. So then George goes to the GM and questions him and the GM says, "Hey buddy, look at the coaching staff." So the head McCaskey says to the HC, "What's going on here?" and the HC says, "Just look at the crappy job by the GM." We now have the classic "Catch 22" . With an angered CEO demanding answers. And here's what he has; A president who blames the GM, a GM who blames the coaches, and a coach who blames the GM. He also has contract considerations so he says to the team president someone needs to go and it might be you. The team president says, "Let's get rid of the GM." The first sacrificial lamb goes to the altar. But the CEO says, "We still need to hold the coaching staff culpable." The president approaches the HC and says "Heads need to roll and maybe one should be yours." The HC, with some money yet owed to him on his current contract declares he'll fire his OC but only if the president can guarantee him at least one more year as the HC. Deals are cut. The second sacrificial lamb is smoking on the altar and the CEO's been placated for one more season

Bottom line is this reeks of Chicago politics. Deals were made and people were sold out to save their superiors. I like what George McCaskey has set in motion here but I think he aimed low. I think he needed to begin by firing Ted Phillips and making it clear that everyone's job was on the line. New team presidents may, or may not want a new GM. But it will be entirely up to them. If they take on a new GM it will be entirely up to them if they wish to retain the current coaching staff. And if the new GM chooses to keep the HC it will be with the understanding that the coaching staff may need a shake up. Start from the top and work your way down. That's a real chain of command. But it starts like the Bears went in sideways and came out looking crooked. But that's just my take. What's yours?

So.  So, so, so...  We won.  Barely.  Cam Newton looks pretty good.  Awesome in fact.  What scared me the most was how bad our run defense looked.  Putrid.  Thankfully they quit running.  The move felt almost Martz like.  But a win is a win.  Gotta love that.  But we have a tough matchup on the horizon.  The Lions appear to be the talk of the town (don't believe me, ask any of their fans) and rightly so.  A great comeback against the vaunted Vikings, followed by an amazing finish against the Cowboys and next week sets up to be huge.  And it's played in their house.  Should be one hell of a game.  Let's get to the best of yours...

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Well the Chicago Bears took the field on Sunday.  Some stuff happened, and we lost.  Tell you what, if the Bears staff is any judge of talent (huge leap of faith, I know, but bear with me) we played without two starting offensive linemen, a depleted receiving corps, our #2 running back on the shelf and both of our starting safeties either out or really hurt.  That's a fact Jack.  We are far from %100 .  And we played last years defending Super Bowl Champs (gag).  Our best games are ahead of us.  I really believe that.  Get healthy. Get better.  Stay patient, have faith, don't give up on hope and we'll see.  That said, Sunday really, really sucked.  But enough of my crap.  Here's the best of your crap from the In Game Threads.....

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Well.  We lost.  Badly.  I don't care how or why.  It happened.  And we had injuries to several key players.  All I care about now is how the team responds.  Can the coaching staff make the adjustments they need to address injuries on the line and throughout the team?  Can the players have the kind of focus and intensity they need to execute the game plan?  Will the game plan be a balanced attack based on exposing Green Bay's weaknesses?  Will we make necessary adjustments during the game?  In short, screw last week, how will we do this week?  

That's my thoughts on the game.  But even in a loss you guys maintain your sense of humor.  Hell, some of you sharpen it.  So the comments were particularly  biting this week.  As much as I didn't enjoy the game I really enjoyed the thread.  No Academy Awards in a loss but every comment will still garner consideration at the end of the year for the contest (for those who care).  Enough of my crap.  Here's the best of your crap...

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I'm going to keep using that headline for as long as I can.  Let's hope it repeats for a while.  Great game by the Bears in every way imaginable.  But you guys know that, you were there.  And so was I, and so were the comments. So join me after the jump for the best of...  Replete with the Academy Awards section.  Today someone will take a step closer to the toaster....  Oh, and be sure to scroll over the caption and take the quiz!

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Ok, so I'm going to try to write this because I think it's the right thing to do but I've got to explain some things first.  I believe that it is our right, and even our duty to be critical of the team we follow.  We should expect the best team on the field and demand excellence from our coaching staff, our management, and ownership.  The team is there for us. It exists for our entertainment and we, in turn, give up our money for the profit of the team.  We have a right to be demanding.  That said, I'm placing myself in someone else's shoes today and I'm going to do my best to lay off the sarcasm.  This might be rough.

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Long title for a brief post.  This is the final posting of the preseason and the veterans of the in game thread were in fine form.  The Bears played decently too.  My final thoughts heading into this season?  Bout the same as last season.  Lots of question marks and a few exclamation points.  Like... is the offensive line ready?  Or... how about our starting receivers?  Followed by... Dang, Cutty looks sharp!  and... Finally Manu and Chester are gone!  One step forward, two steps... to the side.  I'm already looking forward to Sunday except my daughter gets her first bible at church so I'll probably miss the entire first quarter but what ya gonna do?  We'll either develop a #1 receiver (my bet is Hester) this season or really regret it this season and heads will roll (Angelo).  At least 2 rookies/UDFA's will step up and truly impress.  Briggs will play well, but be a huge distraction, Forte will simply play well.  At some point Lovie will have to address a divided locker room because of the contract issues.  Martz will revert to a pass happy coordinator during key games and frustrate us all.  Greg Olsen will shine for another team.  The in game threads will be a blast  and the Turtles were NOT a girl band Ed!!  That's what I got.  Here's your crap.....

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Well.  The Bears indeed played the Titans.  All I can really take from this is that Jay Cutler better stay healthy.  That, and that when I posted this I may not have been as far off the mark as many had me.  We played well.  We struggled.  He had highlights and we have question marks.  In short, we are the Chicago Bears.  That remains a constant at least.  But there was a game, there were comments, and several were funny.  Also, many provided lessons in grammar, proper phrasing of sentences, and general weirdness.  So join me after the jump for the best of the in-game thread.

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So.  We came, we saw, and we flew home to Chicago.  All three aspects of the game played questionably.  I loved Iwuh.  Jennings looked great and crappy.  Roy Williams has proven absolutely nothing to me.  Jay Cutler looked average playing behind an offensive line that may have pulled its play up to "slightly below" average.  But it certainly was a fun game to follow.  And what was even more fun was your in game comments. Here's some history for youse guys... Last season the preseason in game threads drew around a thousand posts a game.  Last week was well more than that and this week drew easily more than 1,500 posts.  We're growing WCG!  Let's keep it up.  

At the end of the threads this week I asked you all if you'd have anything to add to my opening. Here's what I got...

it ain't huntin season yet  -BOBdaBEAR

 

97 yard TD run gotta love it.  -Ed_brown

Join me after the jump for the best of the in game comments....

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Well, I'll say they played with effort.  Except for that one guy who didn't have "intensity".  The offensive line looked, well, offensive, so at least they live up to the billing.  The running game looked stellar after our #1 had exactly no carries, our #2 ran directly into the defenders instead of, I don't know, around or over them.  So basically we showed we have some pretty good depth because the starting two decided to take *the night off.   The defense certainly looked solid.  Love Okoye.  Juries out on Gholston.   Special teams looked, quite frankly, special, so they live up to the billing as well.  The overall theme of the night appeared to be.... "Why?"  As in "why can't we figure it out on the offensive line?"  This was followed by some lamenting that the season would be over if we didn't do something soon and others pointing out that this was just one preseason game and we should all just calm down.  Quite frankly, everybody's right on this one.  But you guys did manage some pretty funny stuff so let's get on to the Best of The In Game Thread.....

*One of them was actually (basically) given the night off.  The other may just suck....

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I dunno, how about a Best of the In Game Thread?!!  That's right, this Saturday the Bears play their first preseason game and, as always, that means an In Game Thread.  What's this, the rookies might be asking?  An in game thread?  What does that mean and why should I care?  Well join me after the jump for a thorough explanation and a to toast our regulars and newbies alike.

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As the preseason flies by, it seems like things change by the hour.  Free agent signings, trades, and players being released.  In short, football's back and life's good again.  But with the good comes some bad and as always around WCG there are topics up for debate.  What's caught your attention?  What moves did we make that have you raising an eyebrow? Are there move we should have made that we didn't?  I have a few concerns, but one that gets me in particular.  My thoughts on that after the jump.

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First of all let me say that the idea that Lovie Smith is a soft coach is merely a perception bandied about by the media.  I don't really want to debate this.  But Lovie Smith has been accused of being a "players coach" and some have called his training camps "too easy".  Having attended camp every year since long, long before the Bears had even heard of a Lovie Smith (Back when they were the Smiths and we were the Grabowskis)  I can say that Lovie definitely doesn't push players as hard as some of his predecessors.  

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So I'm now up to the plate.  We here at WCG have a pretty stringent order when it comes to posts.  My weekly post is on Wednesdays at 1:00 CT.  I occasionally fill in at other times.  As does every writer on staff.  But this week I'm going on vacation.  So if something wonderful (like a new CBA) has been reached by the time this post reaches you fine readers, I apologize for not discussing it here.  I'm writing this post before I leave for my trip.  As a matter of fact, I'm writing this post several days before I leave.  It's something called "being organized" and it's rather new to me.  But I had a thought recently.  It concerned the pro-bowl and what I'd like to see changed.  That got me to thinking about changes I'd like to see in the NFL period.  So I came up with my top 10 list of suggestions random number of things that I would change about the NFL if I were Roger Goodell.

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I spent more time coming up with that title than I did writing this entire article.  Just sayin'.  That aside I've really been running out of ideas for stories.  But as with the title, I often turn to the television for ideas.  Tonight I stumbled across the Mediocre Popular Players Exhibition All Star Game and it got me to thinking about how lame the entire Pro Bowl/All Star exhibition game has become. To the point that not even the players care about it any more.  It's bad in every sport.  But I only really care about football so I thought we could revisit an oldie but a goodie (not talking about you Ed) and discuss ways to make the Pro Bowl better.  I have a few ideas and I'm looking forward to yours after the jump.

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I've noticed the commentary has been dropping off.  WCG hasn't been getting the hits it once received.  But I'm willing to bet ESPN and NFL.com have probably experienced similar woes.  It's hard to follow the Bears when the latest news is that Robbie Gould sang the 7th inning stretch and the Cubs/Sox game.  Kinda hard to get psyched up over that.  As my buddy Ed would say, "Can't we just talk football around here once and for all!".  No Ed, we can't.  Sorry but there is really no football to discuss.  At least not yet.  

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First of all I should preface this by saying I'm assuming we have a season.  And you know what they say about people who assume things?  That's right, they're flipping idiots.  However, since the alternative is far too unpalatable I'm going to stay on this side of the optimistic scale.  Secondly, anyone who watched the Bears last season got a real "Jeckyll and Hyde" show.  Several key components on this team were inconsistent at best.  Take our own controversial quarterback, Mr. Cutler.  On one play the guy would look brilliant and everyone would be thinking he's the next great Bear and then on another play everyone would be wondering what he was possibly thinking when he made that play.  Not consistent.  But I believe the key for this team lies in being consistent next season.  The same team needs to show up every week and play at the same high level and for that to happen, one man needs to decide if he wants to be Dr. Jeckyll or Mr. Hyde. 

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I love this site.  I truly do.  My day begins with a quick glance over the threads.  It progresses with periodic checks on my threads (1 to 2 daily) and finishes with a glance at my e-mails and one last look at WCG.  In other words, I eat, breathe, and, well, let's just say I eat and breathe it.  I've been around for a few years.  Not as long as some, but longer than most.  I've begun to notice a few trends.  Since I don't tend to see the cup as half full (I actually think the cup's not adequate) I've decided I'd comprise my list of the top 10 things I don't think I'll ever see on WCG.  This is intended to amuse and not offend.  So if you find yourself offended, please check your sense of humor and ("joke you!" if you can't take a.... "joke")

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The new CBA proposal calls for many changes in the NFL moving forward.  With a tip of the helmet to MidWayMonster54, a look at that list can be found here.  One in particular caught my eye.  It may seem minor at first glance, but I think the implications may go a bit deeper than that.  Always one for a good conspiracy, I found a tad bit more evidence in this new CBA to back something I've suspected all along.  The NFL is trying to become a monopoly.  In every sense of the word.  Join me after the jump for a look at my crack pot idea.

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Ok.  Sorry for the misleading title.  My English teacher always told me to grab the reader with your first sentence.  We all know that Brett Favre's (nod, nod, wink, wink) "retired".  It has been reported by many media outlets as well as speculated upon by several writers on WCG.   Tip of the helmet to lmsilva's comments in a previous post for this one.  For those of you who aren't quite sure the drama queen of Kiln?, Kill, Kilm? (Oh we'll just call it Butt Hole) Mississippi isn't ready to give up the lime light this post is just what the doctor ordered.  Hit me with your best shots after the break. 

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First off, a somewhat reluctant tip of the helmet to PSDB's for the idea for this post.  Just doing my job.  Secondly, the link to the story this is based on can be found here.  Thirdest, if you think the Bears will look to free agency to pick up a guard you're probably not alone.  There is talent available.  But guard could be a high demand, high price position. Take a look at why after the jump.

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