Chicago Bears address

[ACamp1900]

No sympathy from me.

Sincerely,

Cleveland Browns Fan

 

[Cackalacky]

C'mon man, you should've seen this coming when you guys hired Lovie. There was a least some hope for Trestman.

I simply meant that other than the Lions, the Bucs organization is the definition of losers. So you have a long time of losing to catch up with the pathetic levels of absurd softness that are the Bucs.

 

[pumpdog20]

Coming from a big Lovie fan, Trestman sucks. Hated the fire, hated the hire. Hated the trade for Cutler too. Oh he's got a big arm, he also only has 1 more playoff win than me.

 

[Crazy Balki]

I simply meant that other than the Lions, the Bucs organization is the definition of losers. So you have a long time of losing to catch up with the pathetic levels of absurd softness that are the Bucs.

At least your team has won a Super Bowl this millennium.

 

[nlroma1o]

I simply meant that other than the Lions, the Bucs organization is the definition of losers. So you have a long time of losing to catch up with the pathetic levels of absurd softness that are the Bucs.

With all do respect, you're forgetting the most pathetic franchise in the league... My New York Jets.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

Lovie is a solid coordinator. Trestman may be as well. He's a very fine offensive mind. But the defense was running on fumes for Lovie's last few years. It got very old very quickly.

Another year of drafting 6-7 defensive guys and things may change. But...then again...maybe not.

 

[Cackalacky]

The Bucs all time winning percentage is a hair over 39% and they had a 26- game losing streak encompassing their entire inaugural season and the next 12 games of the following season.

 

[Cackalacky]

This. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I haven't watched an NFL game in years. I find it hopelessly boring. I actually thought my brothers and I were the only ones who felt this way. Good to know we're not alone.

Not sure if you're going to get the responses you want. Isn't there a Bears board somewhere? Personally, kinda wish the NFL didn't exist.

Just feel that the NFL contributes nothing. It sucks tax dollars into boondoggle stadiums with no purpose, holding people hostage over "their team" leaving. It has one of the highest bankruptcy rates of any professional field, resulting in more hidden costs. It has no loyalty, as almost any player or team can depart from "their fans" at any time. Without loyalty, fandom doesn't really mean anything. The players aren't playing for anything but their exorbitant salaries.

The NFL is one social ill after another, and that's not even getting into the painful boredom it exudes with every meaningless play.

Totally agree. Also, imagine how different CFB would be without the NFL. Players would have to get meaningful degrees and graduate since they wouldn't have the NFL as a possible career. It also would probably lead to less corruption in CFB, too.

I dont have a problem with the NFL other than the fact they are the only professional sports league that uses the NCAA as its own private development league and the NCAA is in total lockstep with it. That, to me is the worst injustice and encompasses all the ills you both point out.

 

[FightingIrishLover7]

As a Colts fan.





It still feels nice beating you in the Super Bowl.

 

[Wild Bill]

Watch them fire trestman and put a full court press on Kelly.

 

[Rhode Irish]

I was at the game today, and I have to say I think Cutler is an easy target but not a terrible football player. He makes a lot of great throws. His fumble was pretty bad and hurt them, but his INT was on a meaningless hail mary to end the first half. The problem I see with the Bears is on the other side of the ball. They were completely shredded today (and also ran into what seems like a buzz saw right now in a Patriots QB and TE in full F-you mode). There wasn't anything realistically that the offense was going to do today to win that game.

 

[BobD]

Same one you're from.

Just feel that the NFL contributes nothing. It sucks tax dollars into boondoggle stadiums with no purpose, holding people hostage over "their team" leaving. It has one of the highest bankruptcy rates of any professional field, resulting in more hidden costs. It has no loyalty, as almost any player or team can depart from "their fans" at any time. Without loyalty, fandom doesn't really mean anything. The players aren't playing for anything but their exorbitant salaries.

The NFL is one social ill after another, and that's not even getting into the painful boredom it exudes with every meaningless play.

Born and raised in the USA. Grew up being indoctrinated with ND football. I used to follow MLB, but over the years I've grown to dislike professional sports.

I was just kidding you guys. I know there are folks who don't care for NFL football.

I've heard there are even people who watch soccer.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

I was at the game today, and I have to say I think Cutler is an easy target but not a terrible football player. He makes a lot of great throws. His fumble was pretty bad and hurt them, but his INT was on a meaningless hail mary to end the first half. The problem I see with the Bears is on the other side of the ball. They were completely shredded today (and also ran into what seems like a buzz saw right now in a Patriots QB and TE in full F-you mode). There wasn't anything realistically that the offense was going to do today to win that game.

I agree with pretty much all of this post.

 

[DillonHall]

Lovie is a solid coordinator. Trestman may be as well. He's a very fine offensive mind. But the defense was running on fumes for Lovie's last few years. It got very old very quickly.

Another year of drafting 6-7 defensive guys and things may change. But...then again...maybe not.

The defense was hardly the problem in Lovie's last year in Chicago. It was the offense under Martz that faltered at the end of the season. Since Lovie left, this team has gotten soft and doesn't play Chicago Bears football.

 

[ND4LIFE]

I am a Bears fine tried and true but, I am absolutely disgusted with this football team. I couldn't believe they hired Mel Tucker after Marinelli (sp?) left! Tucker has no idea how to coach players at the NFL level. I was blown away when they didn't can his ****ing ass at the end of last year. He can't develop players to save his ass and his scheme is random and ineffective at absolute best! Conte is a chode who couldn't tackle me 7 out of ten times and i'm white as a mf'er! Whatever!!!

 

[GBdomer]

I am a Bears fine tried and true but, I am absolutely disgusted with this football team. I couldn't believe they hired Mel Tucker after Marinelli (sp?) left! Tucker has no idea how to coach players at the NFL level. I was blown away when they didn't can his ****ing ass at the end of last year. He can't develop players to save his ass and his scheme is random and ineffective at absolute best! Conte is a chode who couldn't tackle me 7 out of ten times and i'm white as a mf'er! Whatever!!!

keep talking, I like you

 

[NDinL.A.]

Just feel that the NFL contributes nothing. It sucks tax dollars into boondoggle stadiums with no purpose, holding people hostage over "their team" leaving. It has one of the highest bankruptcy rates of any professional field, resulting in more hidden costs. It has no loyalty, as almost any player or team can depart from "their fans" at any time. Without loyalty, fandom doesn't really mean anything. The players aren't playing for anything but their exorbitant salaries.

The NFL is one social ill after another, and that's not even getting into the painful boredom it exudes with every meaningless play.

Loyalty - you mean like in college football where players commit to schools and then decommit ALL THE TIME, forcing other schools to scramble for new commits, thereby stealing commits from other schools? Loyalty, like when a recruit is 'committed' to a school for over a year and then suddenly flips at the last possible moment on NSD? Loyalty, like when a player actually signs on the dotted line and STILL tries to get out of his contract? Loyalty, like when a player transfers when he doesn't get to start as a freshman or soph?

Social ills - you mean like a college football player that rapes a girl, causes extensive damage during a BB gun fight, gets paid for autographs as an amateur, screams extremely insensitive things multiple times throughout campus, steals from a market, and STILL plays on as if nothing happened? Social ills, like grown men illegally paying teenagers to choose their school? Social ills, like grand theft auto, rape, assault, domestic violence, all kinds of theft at gunpoint, illegal drugs, etc etc etc...all things college football players have been caught doing?

I get not liking the NFL (not a huge fan myself), but many of those reasons you stated above can be pinned on our favorite sport as well. You just choose to ignore them and gloss over them...

 

[MNIrishman]

Loyalty - you mean like in college football where players commit to schools and then decommit ALL THE TIME, forcing other schools to scramble for new commits, thereby stealing commits from other schools? Loyalty, like when a recruit is 'committed' to a school for over a year and then suddenly flips at the last possible moment on NSD? Loyalty, like when a player actually signs on the dotted line and STILL tries to get out of his contract? Loyalty, like when a player transfers when he doesn't get to start as a freshman or soph?

Social ills - you mean like a college football player that rapes a girl, causes extensive damage during a BB gun fight, gets paid for autographs as an amateur, screams extremely insensitive things multiple times throughout campus, steals from a market, and STILL plays on as if nothing happened? Social ills, like grown men illegally paying teenagers to choose their school? Social ills, like grand theft auto, rape, assault, domestic violence, all kinds of theft at gunpoint, illegal drugs, etc etc etc...all things college football players have been caught doing?

I get not liking the NFL (not a huge fan myself), but many of those reasons you stated above can be pinned on our favorite sport as well. You just choose to ignore them and gloss over them...

I deplore those examples and am saddened by the fact that they exist. Nevertheless, money generated by college football teams serves to benefit their universities and thus their communities. College football enables thousands of young men to gain an education that might otherwise be closed to them. College football gives alumni an excuse to network and reconvene on campus multiple times a year. In many cases, it teaches life lessons--teamwork, honor, discipline---that stay with young men long after they leave the football field. In college, I believe the good outweighs the bad. I cannot say the same for the pros.

Re: Loyalty--- I was mainly referring to the loyalty of the university to its alumni/region and the fact that players are usually stuck where they are once they start at a school. A major college will never threaten to leave its hometown if it doesn't get its stadium. Period. The very thought is ridiculous. Recruiting is something else entirely, but there is something to be said for the fact that you only get one undergraduate degree. I do hate the fact that student athletes ever entertain the notion of transferring for playing time, since I think that indicates misplaced priorities (or, at least, it would if it were my son attempting it).

 

[DillonHall]

I deplore those examples and am saddened by the fact that they exist. Nevertheless, money generated by college football teams serves to benefit their universities and thus their communities. College football enables thousands of young men to gain an education that might otherwise be closed to them. College football gives alumni an excuse to network and reconvene on campus multiple times a year. In many cases, it teaches life lessons--teamwork, honor, discipline---that stay with young men long after they leave the football field. In college, I believe the good outweighs the bad. I cannot say the same for the pros.

Re: Loyalty--- I was mainly referring to the loyalty of the university to its alumni/region and the fact that players are usually stuck where they are once they start at a school. A major college will never threaten to leave its hometown if it doesn't get its stadium. Period. The very thought is ridiculous. Recruiting is something else entirely, but there is something to be said for the fact that you only get one undergraduate degree. I do hate the fact that student athletes ever entertain the notion of transferring for playing time, since I think that indicates misplaced priorities (or, at least, it would if it were my son attempting it).

There are SO MANY NFL players, coaches, owners, etc. who use their money and influence to start foundations that have impacted countless lives. You should rethink your superficial opinions.

 

[MNIrishman]

There are SO MANY NFL players, coaches, owners, etc. who use their money and influence to start foundations that have impacted countless lives. You should rethink your superficial opinions.

They're not so superficial. I'd like to see a comparison of taxpayer subsidy of NFL activities (stadiums, police/parking deals, medical, special tax breaks, etc.) versus these donations/foundations. My guess would be that it's not close and that the expenditure on the NFL greatly exceeds its positive societal impact in financial terms.

Just three of the current NFL stadiums were built without public funds. Two of those three have been upgraded or improved with public funds. This is from an organization that has tax-exempt status (and I am aware of the nuances of that status).

With the Super Bowl (The NFL’s Super Bowl Con: Hosting the Big Game Isn’t an Economic Score For Cities - The Daily Beast) barely breaking even for local economies, what does that say?

Even the NFL's highly touted Pink October does not live up to promises (https://sports.vice.com/article/the-nfls-pink-october-does-not-raise-money-for-cancer-research).

If instead of financing the NFL, we used those tax dollars for something purposeful, we could accomplish a lot of good. Or you know, we could just keep listening to the NFL marketing machine that says that it's not a blight on society and ignore the economists who say differently.

 

[DillonHall]

So football stadiums owned/operated by public universities were not funded with taxpayer money? I find it incredulous how blind you are.

 

[blueNDgold44]

Bear Down.

 

[MNIrishman]

So football stadiums owned/operated by public universities were not funded with taxpayer money? I find it incredulous how blind you are.

Please don't make this ad hominem. There's no need for that. Public university stadiums provide money and facilities to publicly-owned universities and contribute directly to their educational mission. If Minnesota owned the Vikings (sharing in the profits directly, deciding to place the team in TCF Bank Stadium as their permanent home, and keeping LA completely off the table) I would be much more favorable in my opinion of the NFL.

 

[connect the dots]

It's odd, because despite getting pasted, Cutler had good numbers. He was 20/30 with 3 TD's and just 1 pick. Even Forte had one of his best games ever, so how in the blue hell did they lose by 28?

Sorry, you can blame a lot of things on Cutler, but he was hardly the reason the Bears lost today. When your defense is giving up 51 points, it's a little easier to pinpoint the issues.

My complaint is not with a particular game, but with the Cutler trade itself, and the priorities and misdirection of the Bears management team. Look at the abysmal Bear performance since the 2008 trade.

 

[Rhode Irish]

MNIrishman, I am a big fan of your posts and also a big fan of pro football. I actually do share some of your hatred for the NFL as an institution, but the actual on-field product is too good to ignore for me as a football fan. I think a lot of the way you feel can be traced back to the fact that you're from Minnesota (bit of an assumption there but I feel good about it), and the Minnesota pro football franchise and its relationship with its fans and city are a complete mess. Your perspective might be different if you lived somewhere else.

 

[MNIrishman]

I'm actually from Columbus, so I'm a product of a combination of extreme college football culture combined with the Browns moving to Baltimore and the Bengals getting a bad deal. I moved to Minnesota several years ago, hoping to finally like an NFL team and then the Vikings stadium happened. So I readily admit I come from a very biased perspective.

 

[IrishJayhawk]

The defense was hardly the problem in Lovie's last year in Chicago. It was the offense under Martz that faltered at the end of the season. Since Lovie left, this team has gotten soft and doesn't play Chicago Bears football.

But the defense was very old in Lovie's last year. It was hanging on by a thread. Urlacher retired, Peanut can't stay on the field, Briggs isn't what he used to be, Peppers regressed, etc.

I think that "bad" often looks like "soft." They aren't very good. That doesn't mean they're soft. I just don't think they're a very skilled defense.

 

[RDU Irish]

I don't get the Lovie hate, he did just fine IMO. Culter trade absolutely cost too much and did not make much sense to me (defense first team buys a gunslinger) especially when you consider they had ZERO weapons for him until recently. Jeffry and Marshall are legit, just injured right now. They finally have an offense worth a shit but the defense fell off the map (got old as many have pointed out).

For over a generation the Bears have wasted tons of offensive draft picks (high ones at that) and turned late round defensive picks into pro bowlers more often than not. I thought they might finally be on the right track of buying offense and drafting defense.

And blaming a loss on your offense when the defense gives up a half a hundred? C'mon man.

I will give Forte and Cutler credit - they are helping me be the highest scoring team in my fantasy league. Liking my chances in the playoffs.

 

[GBdomer]

Rhode I do agree with what you are saying but it was one game and IMO Cutler has been part of the problem ever since he has been brought here. Has beaten Aaron Rodgers once and he tries to be way to fucking cute all the time. He will make some throws that not many people on this planet can make and then he will have a throw where it's like WTF. Way to may WTF moments. Look at the offensive talent around him man? Forte, Bennett, Jeffery and Marshall all those guys are all pros and just mismatches for every defense. This team is so bipolar it's ridiculous, I am not saying it's the offenses fault so far this year because it really hasn't been. Defense won't give them a chance but it lands on your QB and head coach, It's not fair but it always has and always will. in the football world. There are way to many dominate personality's on this team and it seems like Trestman is starting to lose the locker room. I think he is in way over his head. Mel Tucker can get fucked and I really kow it sounds crazy but I hope we offer Jim Harbaugh whatever he wants. He would be the best thing to ever happen to Jay Cutler and it would bring some attitude to this team that it needs. It won't happen though because Jimmy is going to Kansas.

 

[woolybug25]

Harbaugh would be most excellent. Great Chicago fit as well.

I didn't like the Trestman hire when it happened, and it has been all down hill from that day. Too bad we wasted the most talented roster we have had in a very long time on a guy that had no business coaching a premier NFL franchise.