Lucky Luciano

in most instances i would agree. but with players that are that hard to come by in my opinion it's flat out stupid. would we draft a QB in the first round and put him on special teams? if not then i question their policy with this high of a pick of a player that is this scarce to find quality in. one knee injury on special teams and you have virtually wasted a top flight corner for no reason. and peanut on special teams? he has NO business in there especially considering his quality and age unless it is in a superbowl and you are going all out with the possibility to still win that particular game. EDIT: leslie fraser comes to mind where we virtually destroyed our best corner on special teams play (although being in a superbowl game it is SOMEWHAT understandable though i still believe it was a mistake).

i guess for the same STUPID reason peanut was. i understand you want rookies to get some game experience and a feel for the NFL but.... why put your premium players at risk in a high impact, high risk squad? cornerback is one of the premium positions and next to QB the hardest to replace, or even FIND in the draft, with a high quality starting player.

you may have your offensive tackles flipped?

you are quite welcome:) seriously... as i have stated numerous times i have no problem with infighting on this site. THAT is the instance when anyone can bypass it and if a woman or child reads it it certainly is not crudely or graphically offensive. i don't either unless you want to insist that some of that type of graphic language in your post was called for. you can never convince me that it is acceptable language to use around a woman or a child. actually i just don't care who won or lost. i think with the tone of the language used this SITE lost. and yet again with the censorship BS. what the hell is the matter with all you people?? you think freedom of speech or your non-censorship agenda is some mantra from heaven allowing you free rein to do or say anything you please anywhere you want to say it? if you REALLY don't get it why don't you give your grandmother, mother or your minister a call and repeat to them the same message using them as the point of reference. or maybe if you go to class with your kids stand up before the 3rd grade and start talking like that. see how that goes. i really have no problem with you striking back at all. it was just in the type of content in the message i personally have a problem with. WHY you ask? again... because i do NOT believe it appropriate to speak such in front of women and children. call me old fashioned, in fact call me anything you want to just do it reasonably cleanly. we can banter that back and forth just like this one. as far as YOU or anyone else on this board knowing the age or sex of a person coming to this site to read about the bears is ludicrous. so what does that tell you? you behave or you SHOULD behave, in my opinion, as if the lowest denominator that COULD be on this site is HERE!!! yet nobody seems to understand this. yes let's.

hmmmm.... the real fans. yea, tell me about the "real" fans. describe them for me so i too know the difference between the "real" fan and the fake(?) one like you obviously can. please enlighten me. only from birth and not conception? does that make you a "real" fan or a faux fan in your estimation? your pardon. i didn't realize i was talking to the ruler of the earth. please enlighten your subjects in great detail as to when it is correct to not be politically correct. do i understand those who feel the "need" to use profanity? i guess that is a new concept for me to feel the "need" to use it. is it physical like a drug dependency? is it psychological and can be cured through therapy? is it a vitamin deficiency? and being from rockford and living in great britain gives you this insight to "know the real Chicago"? explain the "real" chicago to me in great detail and how all chicagoans have developed this "need" to use profanity at all times in all situations from cradle to grave. can i assume the cause of this to be through the process of evolution? alien spores? do i understand? yea i understand. here is a GREAT freedom of speech concept for you to do. the next time you take some small children to a *L,SC,V PG movie, stand up halfway through the film and yell FIRE as loud as you can. it's your right to do so and they would be "DISCRIMINATING" against you if they lock you up in a padded cell. you should have no problem getting released and winning that case in court. do it for us and the cause for freedom of speech. and you know this how? you personally can determine the age and sex of every person that not only posts on this site but visits it 24 hours a day to read about the chicago bears? wow! you should join the circus (or have you?). says the great and powerful OZ you need to settle down beavis you'll stroke out. actually i think you may have mispoken. isn't it... children should be seen and not heard? and keep the little woman barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen? but in reality you may be right. what kind of a negligent parent would think their children would be safe on a sports site reading about the chicago bears? so THAT's what a "Masters Degree" means? you graduated from the 6th grade. i'm truly impressed. i only went through the 4th grade myself but i still feel my overall comprehension level is beyond your 6th grade education do to reaching down to pull myself up by my own bootstaps and self taught lerning. so i feel like i trumped ya on that one hyuk hyuk hyuk. "Making the world lily white is artificial...and the Bears are not artificial. And neither are the guys around here." - your quote. well, lets see... ex·trap·o·late - to infer (an unknown) from something that is known; conjecture. conjecture - the formation or expression of an opinion or theory without sufficient evidence for proof. how do you know that everyone on this site is a 'guy'? are you omnipotent? ahhhhhh finally.... the old love or leave it line of crap when you don't have the guts or brains to evaluate both sides of an argument along with the merits and detriments of either or both. you are stuck in your macho manly-man world that flew high and fast 50 + years ago. enjoy it and tip another one for me at the pub, a toast to your "Masters Degree" and what it's really worth.

you know, i actually find this offensive. you must have a really poor opinion of what the people of chicago (and their sport fans), as a whole, are actually like. to believe the people of chicago can't be a sports fan and communicate or make a verbal point without using the F word or other extremely crude language in a PUBLIC place is really mind boggling. that is not "not mincing words", it is having no concern or respect for other adults points of view or lifestyles, including their children's, by subjecting them to it for no apparent reason other than a lack of communication skills and good judgement. really? and how many underage children do you take to PG rated movies with the language used below? like a "Pepsi" ad? what exactly does that mean? just so i have this straight, in your opinion reading about the bears is boring unless the posters use vulgarity and crude language? is that what you are saying? really? you mean like this: EDITED "Yeah F - - - you. You DID edit a post of mine, you rewrote words and attributed them to me, as a power hungry admin. Crybaby? Nah, Id just kick your ass if you did it to my face. You're a contentious and arrogant little prick. If admins dont like this language, lets start with the guy who initiated it. Seriously, grow some F - - - ing hair on your b - - - - before you try to challenge me." or maybe: EDITED "Get your tongue out of the guy's r- - - - - for a few minutes and you might be able to see better." and you would have no problem reading this unedited to the children you are hired to protect and their parents? let me know how that goes. dude, you just stated you have a "Masters Degree" and this is the best you can extrapolate? lily white? artificial? did i ever say i was or anyone on this board had to be EVER, or that everyone had to act like they were wally cleaver? how simplistic can you get? look i'm not some holy roller damning everyone to the pits of hell. but as you stated you are an 'educated' man in the field of child protection. does that not mean you SHOULD realize when and where to impliment SOME restraint in a PUBLIC forum for the good of all? this isn't some 'good ole boy' site where we all come to get drunk and put the make on 'cyber chicks'. it's an information site for sports where women, young adults or kids should be able to participate if they see fit and have information on the chicago bears to share with EVERYONE. if TD was correct in his assessment of flea then we have lost a valued participant on this forum for no reason and we are all the poorer for it. doesn't it make you wonder how many others have we lost because of it?

well, i guess if you 'assume' it, it must be so. you are "never an opponent of catering to a select few"? then which of your multiple personalities made the statement below? i admire your broad minded approach as to who should or should not frequent this site. after all, i am sure nobody who is not a male over the age of 18 could possibly have anything worthwhile to contribute in discussing the chicago bears anyway. "I" seems to be a very large portion of your vocabulary. yup, 'love it or leave it' is always the best policy in my book. the point is this... every person that does or 'would' contribute to this site is a plus for EVERYONE involved. it expands the knowledge of what this site is all about and why people come here. so why limit it because you or someone else can't keep your fingers off of the F key? if you feel it is some kind of 'heat of the moment' thing and can't seem to control yourself, that is why they put an EDIT button below each individuals post. again, i am not trying to dictate policy here but maybe the site GOD should step in and let us ALL know just what the policies for this site really are and who it IS catering to. inquiring minds want to know.

i am not sure where your "we are all adults" comes from. this is an open forum to the public as far as i know. i have never seen any adult or men only ratings or references on this site. you have a wide variety of posters and readers on here and i can only assume that includes kids, young adults AND women trying to glean information about the chicago bears. believe me i am no prude and i can turn the air blue on occasions that would make a drunken sailor blush. but i try not to do it in public for obvious reasons (at least to me). occasional off color remarks i have no problem with but some of the graphic hard core references are a bit much in my opinion and quite frankly are embarrassing when i can only assume that some folks other than adult males are reading this. that said... i am not trying to dictate any policy or force anyone to adhere to my thoughts or opinions. i am not an admin on here and certainly don't own this site so 'those that be' can do as they wish on here. just my 2 cents worth.

free speech, where anything goes, is not an option on good post boards or forums in most instances for good reason. there has to be rules or you will drive out anyone who isn't a complete loony. most boards are put up by someone who has done the work and spent his/her coin to operate and maintain it and you live or die by their rules as it should be. the best you can hope for is that it is fair and safe for all who wish to participate without unwarranted editing or censoring board related topics or idea's. if there is a reason for an edit let the person know why and what rules were violated and if they continue to break the rules censure them after a warning. a good rule of thumb for all admins... NEVER allow race, religion or politics on a sports board. it's a disaster waiting to happen.

i agree with you that the admins really do need to start cleaning this up before the site turns into a mess. i also agree on the foul language aspect and maybe even some of the avatar's that get too far off base. there is no need for it and it was something that set this site apart from other flame sites with four letter derogatives thrown out with every other word typed by cretins with pubescency issues. i have no problems with infighting, serious arguments or even in-house flaming, but... maybe THINK before you type something you wouldn't want your 8 year old daughter reading would go a long way on this board.

you mean 'roid'-foot the misunderstood punter aka francis the talking mule?

at least the bears weren't stupid enough to draft a punter in the second round. oh wait.... wanny DID that. traded a 10 sack-a-year LEFT defensive end in his prime for a 2nd round pick and drafted a PUNTER!! seriously though, a punter in the 6th is NO big deal especially if he has the qualifications this guy has. this is where you fill you needs on special teams so instead of a guy who probably doesn't make the cut we get a possible high quality punter which we desperately needed.

i give the bears draft a solid B+ to A- fuller - a high quality cover corner we have needed.... forever. trumps a safety or DT any day of the week. ferguson - i like this pick. this appears to be a SOLID tackle to shore up the worst run defense in our entire history. whether he turns out to be a top pass rusher is unimportant to me. i want someone who does NOT end up 5 yards downfield after the snap of the ball or end up, like paea, standing in front of the RT after a guard shoves him down the entire line. here is what USA Today Sports pre-draft edition says about him: "PRO's: Does a good job of exploding and extending low and crossing the face of a blocker. Good lateral quickness. Naturally strong at holding his ground. Played in a rotation his first two years for the Tigers where his main job was to help secure the middle of the defense. Plays with leverage on blocks and is rarely sealed. Finishes pursuit on plays to the outside. When rushing the passer, has good hand strength to control movement. CONS: Needs technique work as an inside pass rusher. sutton - another DT who is more of a pass rusher type tackle. makes up for our loss and trumps all who wanted donald. carey - to me a superb pick. THIS is the guy we need in short yardage. like an ironhead hayward type of back who can still start if needed. the value was there and not in a safety at this point in the draft. again we build strength upon strength for the future. vereen - THIS was the time to move up and pick a player with some real potential and at a position of need. giving up a 5th rounder next season is no big deal. to me anything after the 4th is reasonable to trade out of. sometimes even the 4th unless you are moving up big in the first 3 rounds for a very special player. finally... the last 2 years drafts are the first time since jim finks and jerry vanesie (sp?) were in charge that i am not angry on draft day. his scouting department seems light years ahead of what we had pre trestman and post finks (time will tell over the next few years as these drafted players develop or fail). PLUS: emery held to our position in the first 3 rounds instead of the idiotic trading down we saw from angie compiling a hundred 7th round draft picks we usually cut during camp or picking second quality players that looked like angies scouting departments main concern was how much free beer was served during their evaluations. in my opinion his drafts are geared to win superbowls by picking players who do NOT need to necessarily be the "most ready to start player" and "win it now" nonsense we have heard bear management, draft anylizers and fans spout for decades. PLUS: he is using stop gap veterans in many instances to give potential primo players he drafts a chance to become aclimated into the NFL. especially given what angelo left us on this depleted, talentless, aging roster he has moved this team forward as much as any GM possible given the restrictions. PLUS: he focuses on key players and positions needed to WIN superbowls. 1. quarterback - first and foremost surrounding him FINALLY with at least SOME quality talent on the offensive line to keep him off of the IR. another aspect of your QB is receivers - marshall and jeffrie - a stroke of genius bringing in marshall to work with cutler and young draft talent until they reach an NFL level. finally someone sees a need for high quality talent in this important aspect of todays game. 2. defensive ends - no more hanging on to an aging player who is not producing anymore (or ever) but setting up the future with time to find replacements for aging or depleted players with still hungry veterans or veteran prospects. this gives us time to groom future draft picks that we hopefully won't be able to draft in a top 10 environment because of our record. 3. cornerbacks - to me this is the key every GM since finks has failed at and a major component in winning multiple superbowls. all that TRIPE about not needing very good to excellent CB's because we run a zone/cover nobody defense is ludicrous and always has been. you need to draft these guys high in the first round generally because everyone wants one. this draft was the time to go for that position while we still had a pick that high. since the 1990's the NFL has become do to rule changes a passing league and if anyone thinks that a high end safety or a pass rush exempts this need for a high quality cover CB is in my opinion delusional. know the importance of key positions and draft them well. this is how you build dynasties and win multiple superbowls.

agreed but that is always the risk in the draft. but... the only players that can compare to a CB in value are QB, LOT and DE. if the film shows out that gilbert can play and he truly looks like a man coverage player i would TAKE him.

first, i want to qualify that i do not watch much college ball anymore and i am not basing any decision on how the players actually performed, just on what is written in this article. that said... the most important and hard to fill position in the group from that article to me is hands down cornerback. that leads me to take a lightning fast 6-0' CB justin glbert over any other player in that list. we have not had a #1 shutdown, man-on-man CB in chicago since i can remember and it has hurt us for decades. the need is there especially in today's pass oriented NFL. peanut is all but done and even then he was never a #1 CB in my opinion. we need REAL talent to fill this position and not some flyer on a guy in later rounds. we will probably not be picking this high again for sometime and the talent requirements at that position demands you draft one high in the first for your BEST chance at finding gold. there is absolutely no possible way i would take any kind of safety OR a defensive tackle over a corner of that caliber.

if they determine he isn't mental a possible scenario would be sign him to a LOW 2 yr. contract and use him as trade bait as the season progresses if some teams qb goes down. let him play preseason to showcase his abilities under trestman and we might get a 3rd round pick or higher for him. similar to what the packers had done during the favre era. if he doesn't shine in preseason then cut him.

look, past your prime in professional sports means this... you are age-wise and/or talent wise on the decline from the very best you will be 95% of the time from that point on. does it always mean you won't have more success or even a good declining career from that point on? no. a prime example could be a QB. but it does usually mean that due to age or injury your body can never recover the ability to do the things it had prior to that point. your body does not heal or regenerate the elasticity and top end refined muscle mass it had at a younger age. thus your skills decline. this is especially true with anyone who uses their legs as a means of making a living in the high end sports arena. gravity is your worst enemy. but the point of this all is that hester HAS declined in his abilities. i have watched every game he has ever played in as a pro and he flat out has lost a step. in fact he has been deteriorating over the last 2+ years. he does NOT have that same burst of speed to get around the edge into an open field and even more importantly he can't generate enough top-end speed to outrun a fast defender. i have seen him be caught from behind more than once over this period. 4-7 years ago if he broke free there wasn't more than 1, maybe 2, players in the entire nfl who could possibly catch him. so this led to his release and in my opinion unless hester would have signed for a million dollars or less he is a liability to this franchises health. maybe even then as we would have to cull our roster by releasing a younger player who could have a contributing career in this franchise. in other words i don't believe hester has enough left to be any major difference in whether this franchise makes it to the playoffs or beyond. he is a one trick pony who will only get slower every season and to believe he would gain any mental advantage due to age and experience is ludicrous. in fact he actually may be getting worse in that respect because he does not have the physical ability to do what he has done in the past and it is proving to be a mental roadblock.

i'm not a hundred percent sure deacon was better than reggie white.... though maybe. i didn't really get a chance to watch a lot of rams games in the 60's for obvious reasons (although the *fearsome foursome got quite a bit of notoriety on the idiot box) but i did see some they televised. as good as jones was, even with the unheard of sack stat, reggie white did things i had never seen before. the power and leverage he used to blow off or absorb tackles, even in the open field, is something that was truly amazing. so i have to say to me, without seeing a lot of tape to compare, the overall "player" and not the sack statistic, reggie white certainly gives jones a run for his money. *the fearsome foursome of rosy grear, merlin olson, deacon jones and lamar lundy was a real treat to watch. they were devastating in their day. george allen, former bear defensive coach, became head coach of the rams in the mid 60's (the unit base was actually in place by the early 60's prior to allen). although he already had the horses he did turn this unit into superstars after he became the rams HC.

what exactly are you trying to do? convert an image to fit "X" dimensions for your banner? if the proportions of your image at 72 pixels per inch is smaller than the size of the final file dimensions for the finished image you will have pixelization no matter what you do. you can't add size beyond that point without affecting the image quality. if your image has a larger pixel count then you CAN convert it down and if the dimensions correspond with the width and height of your final target no problem. if they do NOT fit the final size then what you will have to do is create a new file the size you want and paste the image into it and size it to the best fit. if you can contact me through this site by email i can help you out a little more if you need it.

although peanut is one of my all-time favorite bears i just gotta disagree. peanut was never a lock down corner. he didn't and doesn't have close to the speed to be one. he was always a #2 corner since the day he was drafted (except lovie tried to make him a #1). angie drafted him as a counter to randy moss and the big green bay receivers. he did this very, very well. as time went by his ability to strip the ball became phenomenal but his speed is literally what held him back. i rate peanut as one of the best #2 corners to play the game. if they had moved him to free safety in his prime he could have possibly gone to the HOF.

dude, you HAVE to look at this as long term health of the franchise not just the immediate cap hits this season. we have NOTHING on the defensive side of the ball to hurt our cap for years. it's all nickle and dime salaries. with revis we get a big hit but it evens out over the next 3 years while the cap goes up, we get relief from the cutler bonus and our draft picks play for rookie contracts. that is true for any player in the NFL including rookies. it only stands to reason. if a qb has to wait for a pattern to develop it takes time (time for our DL to get to him). if we play bump and run man he has no quick dump outlet. this also increases the time he is holding the ball. these may only be fractions of seconds but in my opinion it DOES make a difference over a season.

well here's the thing... if someone doesn't trade with the bucs by this afternoon they cut him and get nothing. if the bears trade them briggs and a 7th round pick they get something for him. we get an elite player who doesn't touch the market this year (the pats are SERIOUSLY interested) and can work out a contract for the future to keep us inside of the cap.

this has been one of lovies greatest failures and why in my opinion he is a terrible coach that never learns from his mistakes. the cover 2 or the lovie 2 or whatever you want to call it DOES need a good + to very good CB who can cover man along with a very good safety to go with it. it is a proven fact if you look at the bucs of the sapp era. ronde barber was a very good corner that DID play a lot of bump and run off the LOS and was key to their success.

also, you seem to want to get rid of briggs. i personally don't (i have no problem with him at all) unless it would be in a trade deal with the bucs for revis. if this would work lovie gets a pro-bowl backer whom he loves and we get revis. i take a shut down corner any day of the week for an outside linebacker.

obstacles? this move helps out THREE areas of our defense in one shot!! 1. it makes our CB's elite with a shut down corner on one side and a good CB on the other. 2. it helps out our safeties tremendously. our strong safety can focus more on the run and short passing attack over the middle and our free safety can double up help with our weaker CB or cover a three receiver set. 3. it tremendously helps out our defensive line. right now we have just brought in DE who is not proficient at pressuring the qb but stout against the run. we have no good pass rushing end on this team and if we go to free agency like many want to get allen he is a stop gap with 1-2 years at best. there are NO defensive ends out there in their prime to choose from. so what happens is if our corners can cover longer it gives our DL time to make up for their lack of ability to pressure the qb. it stands to reason we can back load a big contract for revis and next season we get relief from cutlers 2nd year to bump onto revis's signing. the same holds true that we have NO high priced defensive players right now. we intend to draft the DL which gives us a 3-5 year window that they are not making the big bucks. by that time if they deserve top dollar revis's contract is on the downside. with a little thought by our franchises money man this is not any kind of detriment to our cap figures after this year.