jason

Completely agree. And the owners can point to this as exhibit A when clarifying why they opted out of the extra years of the CBA.

I think the main two points the owners have are... 1) The rookie salaries are ridiculous, and need to be capped. There is no way in hell the Jamarcus Russells of the world should be able to hijack a franchise without ever playing a game, especially when there are solid veterans who get undervalued as a result. 2) There are not many businesses in the world that pay out 60% of their total revenues to employee salaries. Granted, the figures are speculation, and this is a business like no other, but it just seems high. And this doesn't even take into account several other aspects like the recent upswing in the "I need to restructure my contract halfway through the deal"-trend. I think the owners got it right on this one, and the players' salaries have gotten out of control.

The concept of trading Urlacher at this point is insane. While it's possible that the Bears may get a king's ransom for Urlacher, and the trade would pave the way towards fixing multiple problems on the team, it's just not the right thing to do. You don't get rid of the face of your franchise. You just don't do it. Now if this is several years down the line, and Urlacher is clearly holding beyond the point he should, then the idea is possible. But I just don't see that yet.

I've been telling friends this for years.

I disagree with this twofold. 1) The most obvious error in your statement is the comparison between Rex and Shoop. Whereas Rex has shown glimpses of competence, and possibly even all-pro play, Shoop pretty much sucked every day while he was with the Bears. At least when Rex messes up, it's because he's trying too hard, and attempting to make a play. When Shoop messed up - which was MUCH more often than Rex - it was more of the cower in fear variety. Until the defense starts to openly yell at Rex on the sideline for his errors, then there is no valid comparison. 2) I think the potential Rex has shown, and not the blind loyalty from JA, is what has given him the 1-year deal, and the potential for a long-term deal. When the Bears went to the Superbowl, Rex had several games where he looked like one of the top 5 QBs in the league. It's just that nobody remembers it, because the media would rather focus on the 3 or 4 games in which he looked like one of the worst QBs in the league.

Offense in shambles - true no QB - not true. Both Grossman and Orton have shown talent when given time and the support of a running game relying on a rookie LT - true, hopefully it doesn't kill the Bears relying on a rookie RB - not true, Benson will probably get the majority of the carries weak WR group - maybe. I think they have loads of potential, but... unproven OL - true, I think this is what kills the rest of the offensive production DL questions and injuries - true, unfortunately. Let's hope we have luck this year with the injuries

That's priceless. Also, FYI, I'm from hereforth referring to marijuana as "calming influence".

I'll take a shot... TD Passes - Grossman 22 (Turner has a over-cautious, firm grip on the offense all year) TD Runs - Benson 6 (Forte will be close) TD Receptions - Booker 6 (two or three others with 5 or 4) Rush Yards - Benson 950 (Forte will have 600-700) Rec. Yards - Bradley 750 (Hester, Booker, and Olsen all have 400-500) Pass Yards - Grossman 2500 (Orton only sees one game) Tackles - Briggs 125 (Less tackles because there are more healthy players) Interceptions - Brown 5 (Smack Brown is back!) Forced Fumbles - Urlacher 4 (Good year, stripping returns to Chicago) Sacks - Anderson 10 (Another solid year)

I'd love to see what Olsen could do with nearly all the catches as a primary TE (like all the other guys mentioned). It's not difficult to see a 1000 yard season in there, especially once he develops a better relationship with whoever the QB may be.

Right and wrong. Right I think you're right that we won't see him much this year...or ever. Of course, I think it's stupid. I was on record before the draft that I thought drafting a RB wasn't a priority. I think the dude has tons of potential. Wrong He's better than any RB on the team at making defensive players miss. He's better than any RB on the team in the passing game. He's arguably as good as the others blocking, since we don't really know how he can do blocking. Hell, if he's in the right spot, he's got a leg up on Benson most of the time.

I recently saw this article and became slightly irritated: "Expert" rankings I just don't see it. I think the "experts" forget the following: 1) The Bears were in the Super Bowl year before last with essentially the same team 2) The Bears had a ton of defensive injuries during the year 3) The Bears had a bad offensive line last year 4) The Bears had Pro Bowlers who were injured on each level of defense (Harris, Url, Brown) 5) The Bears lost the heart of the defense, Brown, on a freak accident 6) The Bears can't rely on Rex Grossman every game, but he sure has blown it up in some games...and Orton definitely has skills 7) The Bears had a ton of bad breaks in close games last year 8) The Bears have gotten stronger via the draft in just about every lacking position 9) The Bears have players coming off of the forced "IR"/"Redshirt" program that should contribute (Dusty/Bazuin/Okwo) 10) The Bears have not even touched upon the potential of Hester, Olsen, Wolfe, Benson, Orton, or Bradley yet. I really think the Bears are going to shock people this year. All the supposed experts will look dumb as hell if the Bears don't suffer through an injury-plagued year. I can easily see a 3 or 4 loss year. Call it koolaid if you want, but I really see a stockpile of talent and potential on this team.

Anyone have the content to the ESPN Insider article mentioning Olsen? Olsen Article

Bingo. I don't see why the athletes don't see this. It's not an equal two way street. If it were, not only would the owners be allowed to cut them, but they'd also be allowed to take a hefty portion of the signing bonus back.

C'mon dude! You can't be serious. That's like saying, "You know, I think that TJ Duckett guy sucks because his runs around the edge aren't productive." Wolfe can only do what he is permitted to do, and if the dumbass coaches put him in and call plays into the gut of an already stout run-defense, then there's not a lot he can do. Also, don't forget the fact that even the bigger RBs had trouble running between the tackles for the Bears last year. What I'm trying to say is, the guy did well with what he had to work with. He broke off a handful of decent runs in very limited opportunities, and he looked like he had explosive possibilities in the passing game.

Great wrap-up. I enjoyed it quite a bit. As for the above thoughts, I can only hope you mean that the light needs to come on in the mind of Turner and the rest of the Bears' coaching staff, and not the little guy Wolfe, who did well every time he was put in the game last year.

BWAAAHAHAHAHA.... Water Skiing while intoxicated?!

I've suddenly been distracted by this Benson thing...remind me who he is and what happened?

If that really happened, he must have run into the biggest stiff in the history of the police force. I have several friends who are cops, in small towns as well as in big cities, and you can guaran-damn-tee that if someone starts arguing getting an attitude, they're going to find something with which to charge them. On the other hand, if a friend of mine told me this story, I'd probably call BS. Like you, I'd just take the ticket and be on my way. There are very, very few people who will mouth-off to a cop.

That's a much better comparison, and I've agreed with this idea in the past. The big charges will get dropped, and they'll end up playing in the gray area to get him on some little things.

Reread his original statement. With that as the precursor for the rest of the post, the rest of his personal experience(s), however valid and/or true they may be, become something that should be ignored.

As soon as you posted the following, you lost credibility: That's the conspiracy theory, painting the picture as if every black man is just free game for widespread police abuse. Racism exists from all races, but your opening statement is ignorant.

I see Williams playing the entire year. Forte will get carries, but not significant carries. Bennett will play sparingly, fighting a log-jam at WR to get PT. All others will play ST or ride the pine.

I'm not saying he was asleep. My point was that he was in the boat, and according to the cops, had alcohol in his system. There are gray areas here, and I don't claim to know them all. However, your flat statement of "drinking on the deck of a parked boat is not illegal" does not even allow for gray areas. It's not illegal to drink at a bar, but if you walk outside and act stupid, you sure as hell can get a public intox. Gray areas. I suspect that in the end, that is what it will all come down to.

I think where you comparison fails is that Benson is the owner of the boat, and he was on the boat at the time. I believe my comparison to be much more realistic. In the car, in the boat...it's fairly similar. As for whether a driver gets charged with possession or anything like that, my main purpose was to show that it's very likely to get in trouble in the driving world if someone is simply in their vehicle while drunk, and the keys are in the ignition. Or, similarly, if there are open containers in the car at a passenger's feet. IF the laws between DUI and BUI are similar, simply because the boat was anchored does preclude someone on that boat from the problems related to BUI.

Hass? C'mon, man. I like the idea of us finding a steal, too, but there is no way in hell the guy starts. I could give you a hundred reasons why it's not going to happen.