The Face of the Bears Franchise

At least that's how the Bears positioned it a few years ago when they took Ced with the number 4 pick overall. Mr. Benson is claiming that he wasn't drunk and the cops mistreated him (allegedly).

I have no idea what happened or didn't happen. My only point of view is this does not help a running back who has been viewed by team mates as a Prima Donna, viewed as soft by opponents and viewed as a huge disappointment by Bears fans. It will be interesting to watch over the coming days/weeks how Halas Hall responds. It might just be kick to the curb time.

"I'm Not Hubie Brown" and Other Weekend Observations

Brian Baldinger is not Hubie Brown, at least according to Baldinger. Coming back from a commercial break during the Bears-Eagles game, Baldinger was heard muttering "I'm not Hubie Brown." To what that was a reference to, one can only imagine. The way he said it was very creepy.

Andy Behrens of Yahoo! Sports summed it up best:

The comment had a "What's the frequency, Kenneth?" quality. Like Baldinger was about to assault Dick Stockton.

All in all a great weekend of sports for The Truth. Here's a synopsis:

COLLEGE FOOTBALL:

A great Saturday all around. The Kansas Jayhawks (my undergraduate Alma Mater) continued their unbelievable drive to stay undefeated by winning a huge road game against Colorado. I'm hoping they can stay undefeated for a final game showdown against Mizzou. That of course would lead to a drubbing in the Big 12 Championship against either OU or Texas who they don't play in the regular season.

And how about Vanderbilt (My grad school Alma Mater)? The Dores took it to Spurrier and the Gamecocks at South Carolina. It was the biggest victory for Vandy in 70 years. Two more wins and they are bowl elligible and they have Miami of Ohio up next.

Michigan (my adopted team since my wife went to school there and frankly, I needed a better team than KU and Vandy to root for during the college football season) stayed undefeated in the Big Ten by winning at Illinois. Let's hope they can continue this run in the Big Ten and end the season by beating Ohio State.

NFL:

I'm a Bears fan, and there hasn't been much to root for all year. The team has major problems on both sides of the ball. The game Sunday against the Eagles was a snooze fest until the last 6 minutes of the game. Some observations:

1) How can an NFL team (the Eagles) have a field in that poor of condition? And it's not even the midway point of the season. That was basically dirt painted green. When they had turf, it was the worst in the NFL. Glad to see they have continued the tradition now that they have grass. Embarrassing.

2) What was that "false snap" rule we saw when Kruentz put the ball 20 yards down the field? That isn't a live ball? But after seeing that field, it's a good rule. They should have allowed tees for the centers to put the ball on.

3) Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. Gould's final FG bounced off the left bar and in for 3. A huge break for the Bears.

4) Not only was it shocking that Brian Griese led the Bears on a 97 yard drive with no timeouts and under 2 minutes to win the game, but he did it calling all the plays himself. His headset in his helmet went out and he couldn't hear the plays. Maybe he should permanently remove the speaker.

5) I was somewhat surprised to see McNabb jumping around like he won the SuperBowl after the Eagles scored their touchdown in the 4th quarter. I assumed he had scored a touchdown before. But okay I get it, big play of the game to that point. But later when he scrambled for a first down he was thumping his chest like he was king of the world. Dude, relax. It was one play, and it wasn't one that sealed the game. That more than anything made the Chicago win even sweeter.

6) Finally, why have teams given up on running the ball. The Bears have been notorious for it this year. But why did the Eagles stop giving the ball to Westbrook? He should have ended up with 35-40 carries.

Take That Foot Out Of Your Mouth, Lance

Lance Briggs signed the one year franchise player offer from the Bears yesterday. This after he said he would never play for the Bears again.

From ESPN.com:

In an interview with ESPN.com in March, Briggs didn't mince words about Chicago, the Bears and his teammates.

"There's a difference between the Chicago Bears team and the Chicago Bears organization," Briggs said. "The Chicago Bears team? The coaches, players, city and fans? Yeah, I could stay there forever. I love it. But the Chicago Bears organization? I don't want to be there anymore. I won't play for them and I'll do everything in my power to keep from playing there."

"Whatever options are available to me, I'll take advantage of them. But going back and playing for the Bears again, no, I don't see that as an option. Not one more day. Not at all."

When Drew Rosenhaus is your agent and you take his advice, you usually end up regret taking it. Just ask TO.