Cliff Stein and company had a busy day at Halas Hall on Friday closing a lot of deals and tying up some loose ends as the calendar turns from May to June.
First came a tweet from agent  Drew Rosenhaus about the contract extension for versatile defensive lineman Israel Idonije.  Izzy has been a valuable, jack-of-all-trades lineman who has been a key contributor for the Bears on Special Teams  and has served as a valuable backup along the defensive line in recent years.  The deal he inked keeps him in Chicago through 2011 with $3 million in guaranteed money on a [...]

Mayor Richard Daley is defending the City of Chicago’s amusement tax as this issue is starting to heat up.  His honor has some distorted view of fans flipping their PSL’s and turning big profits.
“They’re flipping it,” Daley said of the owners who sold the licenses that give fans the right to then purchase season tickets.
“They start selling these licenses. . . . In other words, I bought it for $1,000. I sold it for $5,000. That’s all they’re doing. So, we caught ’em. . . . Some of ’em are just trying not to pay the tax.”
Hey Mr. Mayor, if [...]

The Bears started their OTA’s on Wednesday and the Jay Cutler media circus has officially begun!!!  Organized Training Activities are voluntary, but really, are pretty much mandatory.  It was the first practice for the first franchise quarterback in nearly two decades (or ever, depending on who you ask).
Expectations for Cutler and the Bears offense are sky high.  Wide Receiver Rashied Davis summed up the expectations for new addition Cutler thusly:
”He’s expected to [crap] gold, excuse my language,” Davis said.
Well said, ‘Shied.  He was among many of the Bears receivers that had a tough time hanging on to Cutler’s laser beams.  [...]

The Chicago Tribune is reporting that some Chicago Bears season ticket holders may owe additional taxes on the Personal Seat Licenses that they purchased years ago.   Isn’t it bad enough that lifelong season ticket holders had to pay a licensing fee for the right to retain their own seats, which were often passed down from generation to generation when Soldier Field was renovated back in 2003, but now to go back and try to collect an amusement tax?  Are you kidding me?
Robert Shelist, a Chicago resident and longtime season ticket-holder, said he received a certified letter from the city on [...]

Former Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was released from federal prison overnight, so lock up your dogs.  I just can’t get the image of Fly Guy getting out of the slammer from the classic 80’s ‘blacksploitation’ flick I’m Gonna Get You Sucka out of my head.  Luckily, YouTube had a clip for me to share.

Fox Sports had an interesting round panel discussion about where Vick might end up, and most signs seem to point to a 2010 comeback, although Alex Marvez thought Vick might be an interesting fit in Seattle:
I think Vick would be an intriguing fit in Seattle. Starting quarterback Matt [...]

Bear Goggles On is proud to announce that the mother ship, Fansided.com, recently got a facelift.  Check out the new look along with the other blogs on the finest blog network around.  Nice job Adam and Zach!!!

Congrats go out to Chicago Bears second year running back Matt Forte, who returned to Tulane this weekend to graduate.  Nice job Matt!!! Unlike most kids graduating this year, Forte has a great job lined up.  You’ve got to admire a kid that goes back to get his degree despite a sensational rookie season.  It just goes to show the type of quality person he is.
You can follow Forte on Twitter at http://twitter.com/chitownforte22.  Here is a Twitpic of the happy graduate posing with friends.

Peter King recently put together his “Tick Off Half The Football Fans In America Post-Free-Agency, Post-Draft NFL Power Rankings” and the Bears rank #4 on his list.  Here is what the NFL scribe had to say about the Beloved:
I may not like how Jay Cutler babied his way out of Denver, but by Labor Day, the football world will have forgotten, and by Thanksgiving, the most popular baby name in Chicagoland will be Jay. (Unless it’s Jerry, as in Angelo, the man who stuck his neck out and made this deal.) Cutler’s a big-time player, and I suspect we’ll find [...]