What confuses me about these legal wranglings is the status of the NFLPA.

They decertified as a union by vote, so individual players could bring an anti-trust class action lawsuit against the NFL. By implementing the injunction, Judge Nelson has pretty much ruled that the decertification is legit and that the NFL needs to get back to the business of football.

But there are no rules in place because of the expiration of the collective bargaining agreement. Who are the owners supposed to bargain with to get a new CBA in place if the union doesn't technically exist? If the union can be recreated at the drop of a hat, with the same leadership and the same membership - did it ever really not exist? And if it didn't ever not exist, shouldn't the injunction be lifted?

[Thanks to torch for today's game preview. Early start, 6pm, on The U -ed.]

Tonight's game pits two teams with new-look rosters coming off of big wins. The Bulls (17-9, 6-6 away) are entering Game 3 of the sans-Noah era and might miss Taj Gibson as well, who is day-to-day due to the concussion he suffered against the Clippers.  Likewise, the Wizards (7-19, 7-6 home) are entering their 3rd game PGA (Post Gilbert Arenas). Washington will also be incorporating forward Rashard Lewis, who was acquired during the recent Orlando fire sale, for the first time since the trade.

At first glance, this should be an easy win. We beat them earlier this year by 11, when they had both Arenas and John Wall playing. Wall is likely out tonight, due to a bone bruise beneath his kneecap that has kept him sidelined for some time now. The upside (for Washington) is that absent Arenas and Wall, Chicago's prodigal son Kirk Hinrich has played extremely well, not having to defer ball handling duties to the franchise's past or future star. [bonus link on that -ed.] Captain Kirk put up 18-6-11 Monday night in their blowout of Charlotte and 13-6-12 in their almost-upset of Miami last Saturday night. The Wizards seem to be enjoying a Ewing Theory boost, but now they have to work Lewis into their rotations. Will they play him as a stretch-4 to open up defenses or will they go big with a front court of Lewis/Blatche/McGee? How will Andray Blatche, Al Thornton, and Josh Howard handle reduced minutes due to Lewis playing? And can Nick Young keep pouring on the points when he's on the court with Lewis, who needs the ball to be effective beyond a corner-3 spot up shooter?

The Bulls are going through a roster transition of sorts themselves. In the two games since Joakim Noah had his surgery, this has seemed like two completely different teams. In Saturday night's loss to the Clippers, the Bulls looked like they took the Noah news as a sign of despair, playing a lot of turnstile defense in VDN's return to the United Center. Last night the Bulls looked like a championship caliber squad, destroying the surging 76ers in Kurt Thomas's dip in the fountain of youth. I would like to think we worked something out and have our feet beneath us going forward, but anything can happen on the road in the second night of a back-to-back.

I'll be enjoying this game from Section 202 at the Verizon Center, hoping to see Brian Scalabrine posterizing former Bulls' draft pick Kevin Seraphin in garbage time.

Blogging with the enemy:
Bullets Forever
Truth About It

Game time: 6:00 PM Central
TV Coverage: WCIU (Chicago), Comcast SportsNet (DC), NBATV (National)
Radio Coverage: ESPN Radio 1000 (Chicago), 106.7 The Fan (DC)

[Thanks to Torch (Wayne Larrivee reference?) for today's game preview -ed.]

Here we are again, the week after the trading deadline and paying our first visit to the Verizon Center this year, to take on the Washington Wizards (19-34).

Unlike our moves at the trading deadline that shuffled around some bench pieces, the Wizards are a completely different team than earlier this year - having traded away their three best players (Jamison, Haywood, & Butler) and having two more suspended for the rest of the season (Crittendon & Arenas). Despite the drastic move to completely rebuild the franchise, the Wizards have seen the same kind of post-trade surge that the Bulls have enjoyed, beating Denver in DC and taking Toronto to the wire north of the border.

Continue reading this post »

In a previous fan post, T.O.E. implied that the Bulls management is incompetent based on the number of our draft picks since '99 that are currently on our roster. In a vacuum, only having 4 players out of 15 picks ('99-'08) sounds like a low number. However if you look at the league as a whole, we compare favorably on the number of our own first rounf draft picks retained.

Continue reading this post »

These new ads that are appearing on every page - the streaming ones from Tinker (at least, that's who they seems to be) - are absolutely killing page load performance on the SB Nation web sites.

A page will load, but I will not be able to scroll up or down, or click through any links, etc unti after the Tinker streaming ad has received its streaming data from the its data source.

Can we get this fixed some how? I am willing to deal with ads on the sites, but not when they lock up my browser window.

Two Free Tickets!!!

Thought I would throw this out there for everyone - if anyone here is on Twitter, the team's has an account there - it is @NHLBlackhawks. They are giving away two tickets for Game 5 to a Twitter follower who comes up with the funniest prediction for Game 5 that will not come true on Saturday.  Check out their Twitter feed for more info.

And if anyone cares (not expected) - @Torch02 is my username at Twitter

[Note by your friendly BullsBlogger, 03/24/09 2:00 PM CDT : Thanks to torch for today's game preview -ed.]

After last night's near loss to the Least of the East, it is hard to rustle up any optomism for our game tonight against the Pistons. However we can take solace in tow things: 1) A win is a win, and 2) the Pistons might be more beat up than Boston was a week ago.

Tonight begins Operation Toyota, our quest to pass Detroit and acquire the 7th seed in the playoffs.  Hollinger currently has us in the 8th seed in the East, with the same record as Detroit (40-42).  We currently sit two games behind them in the standings, having played two more games than they have.  More importantly, we play them tonight and again in three weeks. The only tough game we have remaining on our schedule is against Miami this Thursday at home and we only have two road games left. Detroit has a home game against the Lakers on Thursday, while also traveling to both Cleveland and Miami later this season and they have seven games away from Auburn Hills remaining.  If we take care of business tonight and on April 13th, we will be percentage points ahead of Detroit in the standings while holding the head-to-head tie breaker.  From there, we only need to win one more game than they do over our remaining schedule.  As far fetched as it may seem, this is reasonably within our reach

On to tonight's game: According to the Detroit Free Press, Rasheed Wallace and Allen Iverson are out for tonight, with Rip Hamilton being very doubtful. Besides the depth issues this poses Detroit, it also benefits us on the defensive end, as our guards won't have to chase Rip around and our bigs can stay closer to the paint, not having to guard Sheed at the time line. This makes tonight's extremely winnable, especially at home. Accuscore has us as a 3:1 favorite tonight.  Let's prove the computers right!

Blogging with the Enemy:

Piston Powered
Pistons Nation Blog

Game time: 7:00 PM CDT
Coverage: TNT, ESPN Radio 1000

[Thanks to torch for today's game preview. I was briefly invigorated after the trade deadline, but now I look to games with a bit of dread thinking of what VDN is going to do. He's benching Derrick Rose! -ed.]

With the tragedies of yesterday, it will be hard as a fan to focus on a simple game that's getting played tonight in our nation's capitol. But I think we can say with some certainty that both Johnny and Norm would want nothing more than the boys to play basketball tonight.

To the game - it's hard to predict how this game will turn out. We should beat a team like Washington, but expectations have been turned on their heads with wins against Denver and Orlando followed by losses to Indiana and New Jersey over the past week. The Wizards are currently fighting Oklahoma City for the second most ping pong balls in the lottery this summer.

Position by position we match up well - Rose/Deng/Noah easily out-class James/McGuire/Songaila.  I'll give them PF with Jamison (their only consistent weapon) over Thomas.  I'll leave it up to the reader to debate Bulter versus Gordon.  When it comes to bench depth, we easily win the battle.  The Washington bench has combined for only 60 points over their last three games.  A lot of that has to do with injury (Arenas and Haywood out, Butler and Songaila missing time), but it is that injured team we are playing tonight.

We always seem to have rough battles with Washington, so this one will likely come down to who wants it more.  Let's hope that the post-game discussion is talking about how we bounced back from those disappointing losses this week, rather than debating whether Vinny has gone crazy with his new toys.  Accuscore has us as a 2:1 favorite. We may even get some support from the President on this one.

Blogging with the Enemy:
Bullets Forever
Washington Wizards Blog
Wizards Talk

Game time: 6:05 PM Central
Coverage: Comcast SportsNet, ESPN Radio 1000

Hopefully tonight will be the third time in a row that I've watched the Bulls win in the Verizon Center.
I'll be the guy in the 1984 red Jordan jersey just a few rows behind the Bulls bench. Enjoy the game!

Hopefully this is an easy to fix suggestion.  Every time I log into an SBNation site, I click the "Log In" button on the far right hand side of the screen, then have to click in the user name box on the far left hand side of the screen.

Could we get these buttons/boxes located on the same side of the screen.  Or at least place the active cursor in the username box when someone clicks "Log In"?

It's just a minor thing, but I think it would go a long way for ease of use of the sites.

When you die on the vine
'Cause Mike D said goodbye
That's Amare
Then when Shaq clogs the paint
And the man, you sure ain't
That's Amare
Shot clocks tick, roll-pop-pick, roll-pop-pick
Drive and kick, Phoenix Sun-y
Max deals ring, cha-cha-ching, cha-cha-ching
As you sing "Where's my money?"


When your defensive play
Is a bullfighter's "Ole!"
That's Amare
And your locker room cheer
Is so quick to "endear"
That's Amare
When Steve Kerr will discuss
Trading you as a must
That's Amare
Now at the All Star break
Will we trade for trade's sake?
That's Amare
That's Amare

[Thanks to torch for today's game preview -ed.]

Game time: 7:30 PM Central
Coverage: Comcast SportsNet, NBATV, ESPN Radio 1000

Ah, the Washington Wizards - one of my favorite rivals to hate. Some of that comes from living in the DC area and some of it from Gilbert Arenas escorting us out of the playoffs in recent years.

But tonight, I hope Washington is just what the doctor ordered. The Wizards are off to their worst start (3-14) since they played up in Baltimore back in the sixties. Most of this can be excused by the absence of Brendan Haywood and the oft-injured Gilbert Arenas. But Washington is on a bit of an uptick, going 2-4 since interim head coach Ed Tapscott took over just before Thanksgiving.

As for tonight's game, we should be able to score a ton on these guys. We're playing at the league's 4th highest pace against a team with the league's 3rd worst defensive efficiency. The Wizards have let their last two opponents shoot 50% and 48% from the field, so hopefully we can recover from our recent poor shooting nights this week.  The United Center should also give us a boost, as we're playing much better as a home team (5-3) than they are as a road team (1-6)

Blogging with the Enemy:

Bullets Forever
Agent Zero (is this considered sideline reporting?)

Random subplots:

- Which former front office crony turned new head coach is better suited for stalking the sidelines?
- Many think we should try to pawn Hughes off to the Wizards, where he enjoyed his most productive years.  However, what do they have that we'd want back? An undersized center with heart issues? A center who doesn't start when his team is healthy? The second coming of Darius? Those are the major pieces in any deal with Washington that doesn't give us back 2010 salary...
- Will the Wizards have Stevenson guard Gordon (who scores the most) or Rose (who creates the most)?

Our Bulls have a chance to go on a run (that should have started in Milwaukee) hosting Washington, New York, New Jersey while visiting Memphis and Charlotte over the next ten days. Tonight is the starting point on our trip back above .500

Some thoughts about last night's game and the first 12% of the season in general:

1) Wow. Derrick Rose.

Continue reading this post »

As it is being widely reported, the Oakland Raiders have cut DeAngelo Hall and are just awaiting a press conference to make it official.

With the ravaging our DBs have taken (Bowman and McGowan on IR, Tillman, Vasher, and Manning all missing time), is it worth pursuing Hall?  He's got talent and he would require us to pay him much, but what kind of locker room presence would he be and can he operate well in a Cover-2 based scheme?

Given how often we seem to be wondering if we have enough healthy corners to run a nickel package, it might be worth looking into, if expectations are set properly by both parties.

Now that we have 8 games under our collective belts, I thought it would be a good opportunity to revisit the Ten Questions Heading into the Season:

10) Will the injury bug bite us again?

To this point, I would say no.  We've had people miss games, but I don't think it has cost us (yet).  The closest you can come would be to suggest our depleated secondary cost us the Atlanta game.  However, looking forward, Sunday's injuries could be far more significant in affecting future games.  Grossman and Steltz did fine replacing Orton and Brown, but it was against the Lions.  How those two fare over the next few games may be signifcantly different, given the competition we'll be facing the next two weeks.

9) Can Mike Brown stay healthy this season?

Through 29 quarters, we thought he struck gold.  Then we found out he wouldn't be returning.  Post-game reports from the man himself seem to indicate he'll be back soon, but his familiarity with the IR list makes a few weeks sound like "soon."

8) Will Hester's regular usage on offense affect his return game?

In a word, yes.  I don't know if he's tired, if he's trying to do too much, or if teams have figured him out - but he's not producing how he has in the past two years. We're 24th in average kickoff return and 26th in average punt returns, not the numbers you'd expect from the greatest returner ever.  Can you positively blame this on playing WR - no.  But it is likely a factor.

7) Will Ron Turner actually use the vaunted 2 Tight End formation this season?

A resounding YES! I have never been so ecstatic in praising Ron Turner, but you have to admit he's gotten this one right.  Both Clark and Olsen see the field a ton at the same time.  They are lined up all over the place - the backfield, on the line, in the slot, and split far wide - and we're running a ton of different plays from each formation.  Hopefully Rex will find the same amount of confidence in out TE corps that Kyle has shown to date.

6) Does our collection of "ehh"-inspiring wide receivers suffice?

I think we chalk this one up in the Yes column as well.  We're not sending anyone to the pro bowl from our WR corps, but haven't seemed to lack production from the edges. Before his injury, Lloyd looked to return to his U of I form. Davis has outperformed any arena league expectations.  We have 6 guys averaging over 11  ypc and are one reception away from having 6 guys with over 200 yards receiving.

5) Has Tommie Harris completely healed from last year's injury?

He's probably healthy.  The question is, does that matter?  Occasionally, we've seen his name pop up after a big play.  But normally he's been part of of a defensive line that seems to do just enough to not get everyone pissed about their lack of production.  Our lack of pressure from the front four has been a large reason why we've had the defensive issues that have cost us 3 late game leads.

4) Can a Matt Forte/Kevin Jones backfield produce?

Yes.  Forte has performed above everyone's expectation and has made most people ever forget the word "Mendenhall."  He's averaging 108.5 total yards per game, just behind Chris Johnson for rookie production this season and fourth overall behind Johnson, Gore, and Westbrook.

3) Will Chris Williams's back let him start this year?

Will it let him start - probably.  Will we start him - who knows.  He finally dressed last week and will likely get worked in at some point, but St. Clair and Beekman have been a pleasant surprise.  Enough to keep Williams off the field?  That remains to be seen...

2) Can Devin Hester develop into a #1 Wide Receiver?

I don't think anyone would say that Devin has made the leap, but he is certainly on his way.  He doesn't seem lost after the huddle or even during the hurry-up.  Devin isn't putting up #1 numbers, but he's pulling his weight in out wide receiver by committee plan.

1) Will a real Bears quarterback please stand up?

 I think everyone would agree that we have our quarterback, once his leg heals up.  Orton has created something we haven't had since Erik Kramer wore the blue and orange - a passing game that opponents have to game plan against.  If Rex Grossman fails to perform well these next few weeks, Kyle Orton will never have known the love he'll receive longing for his return.

I think the big reason we're sitting in first place is because of the positive ways most of these questions hav ebeen answered to this point.  Here's to hoping the second half goes even better.

One nice thing that came out of last night's win was our ability to produce when going small at the PF position.

Last year (after the trade), we spent a ton of time with either Noc or [gasp] Deng at the 4 and suffered horribly from a +/- standpoint.  This is even more dumbfounding when you realize that we have three guys (Thomas, Noah, Gooden) who can easily eat up the 96 front court minutes between them - especially if you are giving any minutes to Gray.

Despite this depth, we had over 6 minutes last night (over 13% of the game) playing "small" in the frontcourt.  Unlike last year, however, we managed to be +10 during those minutes last night.  I think a lot of that has to do with the match-ups during this "small" time.  Most of Noc's time at PF was when Bogut and Villanueva were on Milwaukee's bench, meaning we were facing a frontcourt of the likes of Allen and Gadzuric.  Against these types of lines, we can stomach being small upfront - but only with these types of matchups.

Some final thoughts on us going small upfront: I noticed while writing this that Noc's time at the 4 last night pretty much accounts for Tyrus's time onthe bench.  That's awesome, because it means Tyrus played over 41 minutes! 

The other thing I noticed is that Noc's minutes at PF came around the change in quarters, after Thomas/Gooden had played extended stretches to start each half.  Noah could only come in for one of them, so it was often Noc in for the other shortly thereafter.  If we are going to run our starting front court for long durations like this, then seeing Noc at the 4 is inevitable.  But I don't like it, because I keep thinking there's got to be a way to rotate Noah-Thomas-Gooden in such a way that two of them are on the floor at all times.  I'd even prefer Gray/Noah or Gray/Gooden over Noah/Noc or Gooden/Noc for the times we need to spell Thomas and one of Noah/Gooden.  With Gooden playing 28 minutes and Noah getting only 19, there's got to be a way to play one of them during those times.

Don't take this as a rip against Andres; I love what he does for this team.  I just think he should be doing it at the 3, not at the 4...

Last year the Hawks only game against the Capitals was in Chicago, but this year the schedule favors this expatriate as the Hawks play in DC.

I was able to attend a Caps game late in the regular season last year and I can tell you the Verizon Center was rocking.  With the success the Caps had running to the playoffs last year, this town became a a reinvigorated hockey fanbase.

This will be the second game of the season for both teams, but will be the home opener for Washington.

Despite being the away team, I'll proudly be wearing my Blackhawks jersey.  I'm really looking forward to seeing them live for the first time. Any other expatriates in the DC area?

With tonight's game being our first real contact competition, I've put together a list of the big question marks hovering over out team as we enter the '08 season -

10) Will the injury bug bite us again?
Brown, Dvoracek, Harris, Vasher, Tillman, Archuleta - and that was just the list of significant injuries on defense last year.  There are some positions where we appear to have depth, but only because the starters are on the list.  If Urlacher or Briggs goes down, we're looking at starting guys who we've heard are (will be?) very good, but have seen little playing time so far. Kreutz just came back from Achilles trouble.  Chris Williams has missed time.  Kevin Jones still hasn't suited up.  Injuries are the one thing you can't plan for, and last year we saw the affect they can have on a team.

9) Can Mike Brown stay healthy this season?
When he is healthy, Brown is someone offenses have to scheme against - a safety who scores TDs as a matter of course.  With Mike on the active roster, we seem deep at the safety position.  Without him, John Lynch's phone will likely be ringing. Brown is an incredible talent and a field general on defense, to go along with being a fan favorite, but he can't make the impact we need from him if he's back on injured reserve.

8) Will Hester's regular usage on offense affect his return game?
Devin only saw a small percentage of plays with the offense last season, but if Lovie and Jerry's words are to be trusted, he'll play a in a huge percentage of the snaps this year.  Will the wear and tear of being an (almost) every down receiver tire him to the point of affecting his kick return abilities?  Will corners and safeties take shots at him down the field in hopes of taking him out of the return game?

7) Will Ron Turner actually use the vaunted 2 Tight End formation this season?
When we drafted Greg Olsen, a lot of the buzz involved seeing both he and Desmond Clark out on the field at the same time. The 2TE set is one of Simmons's unstoppable Madden formations, so a lot of Bears fans were hoping to see our QB take snaps behind a seven man front.  Unfortunately, Turner seemed to have other plans and rarely did the two share the field.  This year we have renewed hope for the formation, as Kellen Davis appears to be surpassing expectations and developing into an all-around TE. Ron seems more open to getting multiple TE sets in on game day, but I'll believe it when I see it.

6) Does our collection of "ehh"-inspiring wide receivers suffice?
Bennett, Booker, Bradley, Davis, Hass, Hester, Lloyd, and Monk - Attorneys at Law? Nope, our current WR roster.  The big question is - who will step up?  By most accounts it is a list of second or third options with lots of "potential" or "up-side" but lacking in consistent production (save Booker).  Can Hester develop (see #2)? Will returning to Chicago rejuvenate Booker? Can Davis or Bradley stand out now that the depth chart is completely up for grabs?  Will Lloyd overcome his history of underachieving?  Can any of the young kids distinguish themselves? Traditionally a wide receiver for the Bears just has to be enough of a threat to keep defenses honest (and our TEs should help with that) and catch what gets thrown their way.  Who will stand up to be that threat this year?

5) Has Tommie Harris completely healed from last year's injury?
Before getting hurt, Harris was doing amazing things like jumping snaps to cause fumbles at the goalline and is one of the premier defensive tackles in the NFL.  However, some of the games last year showed that if he's not 100%, his performance can drop off significantly.  The Bears seemed convinced enough of his health to make him the richest DT in NFL history.  If our training staff is right in that regard, we should have little issue controlling the line of scrimmage on defense.

4) Can a Matt Forte/Kevin Jones backfield produce?
It has been an interesting road for Matt Forte from draft day to training camp, especially when the rockiness of that road has little to do with him.  He was drafted early in the second round when everyone (and their mother) thought we should have drafted a "QB of the future" with the pick.  Then he transitions from "adds depth" and "possible future starter" to "thrust into the role" and "he better produce" after the much maligned Benson was cut.  While he appears to be up to the challenge, being the starting RB in Chicago - with its history partially defined by HOFers at that position - is a pair of large shoes to fill. The oft (and still currently) injured Kevin Jones is at worst a cheap insurance policy, but at best could be a half of a great two-back tandem.  He showed flashes of that ability in Detroit and would likely still be starting there if he stayed on the field.  Will splitting reps keep him fresh enough?  Can Forte translate 2000+ yards at Tulane into 1000+ in the NFL? Will the offensive line open any holes for these two?  For a franchise married to the running game, these are serious questions.

3) Will Chris Williams's back let him start this year?
Williams bears the heavy burden of being a rookie left tackle drafted in the first round - someone who is expected to shore up an offensive line immediately.  His selection has moved John Tait back over to right tackle, seemingly permanently.  Unfortunately Williams has missed virtually all of training camp.  He is now going on two weeks without having practiced - missing valuable reps with the first team offensive line and throwing more than just the LT depth chart in flux.  If healthy (and Lovie says he is getting better day-by-day), the desired o-line would be Williams, St Clair, Kreutz, Garza, and Tait.  But currently the left side isn't getting any reps in that configuration.  I don't think anyone wants to start the season St Clair/Oakley, St Clair/Beekman, or St Clair/Metcalf - and certainly none of those lineups are in our long term plans.  A left tackle doesn't improve from holding a clipboard like quarterbacks do, so it's urgent that we get Williams on the field as soon as possible.

2) Can Devin Hester develop into a #1 Wide Receiver?
A large part of the rationale for letting Bernard Berrian walk as a free agent and sign with the Vikings was Lovie and Jerry's belief that Devin can become an every down, #1 wide receiver in the NFL. Last year he showed glimmers of hope with 5 catches for over 20 yards, including his two TDs of 51 and 81 yards each.  However, there were times when he looked lost on offense and the rumor was his lack of involvement was due to his lack of depth in the playbook.  If he is able to perform, everyone is happy and the Bears look like geniuses; if not, I refer you back to question #6.

1) Will a real Bears quarterback please stand up?
Grossman? Orton? Hanie? Pennington? Simms? No one has started a greater number of quarterbacks over the past 15 years than the Bears. Only twice in that time frame have the Bears had one QB start all 16 games - in 2006 with Rex Grossman and in 1995 with Erik Kramer. Last year Grossman started the most games with 7 starts.  In '04 Krenzel and Hutchison tied for the most starts with 5! Some of this carousel is due to injuries, but a lot of it is due to Chicago playing crappy quarterbacks. Kramer was the last quarterback Chicago had that was no doubt, the starter if healthy. Whoever the starter ends up being - whether that's GoodRex, Neckbeard, or someone else - he needs to play consistently well enough to not worry about getting yanked of the field for every city's favorite son, the backup QB.

OK, I must be missing something here.  As I understand it, Gilbert is planning on opting out of his contract this summer.  Doesn't that make him a free agent of some sort?

If so, can't a team just offer him a contract? Why does everyone continue to post about trading for him?

One-line diaries are prohibited on Blog a Bull. Give your diary a bit more thought, then give it another shot. If you have nothing to add to your proposed diary, then it probably belongs as a comment under another appropriate thread.

ESPN.com is reporting that Seattle has signed RB Julius Jones to a four year deal.

I wasn't particularly excited at the idea of getting Jones, but he's just another known name that the Bears have failed to pick up, in a position where they need help.

One-line diaries are prohibited on McCovey Chronicles. Give your diary a bit more thought, then give it another shot. If you have nothing to add to your proposed diary, then it probably belongs as a comment under another appropriate thread.

After yesterday, I've come to the first difficult decision of my young marriage.

My wife is a great sports fan.  She wants to watch games, go to games, go to sports bars to see our teams.  When she doesn't understand what just happened, she asked highly intelligent questions that get the approving "Did she just ask about that" looks from other guys.

However, every time she has had to work on Sunday this season, the Bears have won.  She has suggested that she shouldn't watch the Bears anymore.

The superstitious part of me agrees that she's not allowed to watch anymore, but the husband in me doesn't want to alienate the wife that every sports fan dreams of.

What am I to do?

Apparently Philadelphia decided to take TMQ's advice and used the short and high kickoff all game long to keep the ball out of Hester's hands.  I have this terrible feeling that many teams are going to copy this "trend," taking away a major weapon for us.

Hat tip to Akers for being able to consistently make those kicks.  I know that can't be easy to pop it up high and short isn't easy.

The solution I came up with while watching the games this week - move Hester up in the kickoff formation.  Manning was a good returner for us before we unleashed the 23 beast last year.  Why not drop Manning deep and move Hester up in the formation?

The first time we do this, we might be able to hookwink the team.  After that, the kicker has to start identifying which returner we have deep - a process likely to be difficult enough to get some kicks booted directly to Hester.

We can't allow directional or short kick to eliminate one of our best weapons.  Time to shake up the formation to get 23 the ball.