What can I say, they must be really hard-up for guests because the kind folks at ChicagoNow Radio invited me back to talk about what happened (or didn’t happen) this past week up at Halas Hall.

I joined Bill Leff to talk about my ChicagoNow blog FIRE LOVIE SMITH and general Bears conversation.  We took a few calls and had some fun at the Bears‘ expense.  Check out the podcast from the show below:

Be sure to check back often here at Bear Goggles On and at FIRE LOVIE SMITH.  Even though the regular season is over and the Bears didn’t fire Lovie, we’ll be on top of all things Chicago Bears all offseason.

BEAR DOWN!!!

Bates was the offensive play-caller (weird, I know, but it’s southern Cal) under Pete Carroll at USC last season and before that, he was the OC and QB coach in Denver under Mike Shanahan.  See the connection to our golden boy?

When I first heard about him, I was all for the hire.  A young, high energy guy who is buddy-buddy with Cutler?  What could possibly go wrong?

After listening to this interview, I heard some things that raised a red flag or two.  Have a listen and let’s discuss after the jump:

OK, now for my red flags:

Although he held the OC title in Denver, he was little more than a Shanahan yes man while with the Broncos.

• If we had an offensive-minded head coach, I’d say let’s give it a whirl with an inexperienced coordinator, but Lovie knows even less about offense than he does defense.  Is it a good idea to bring in a relative newbie?  More important, would Lovie risk his career on it?

He doesn’t deal with the media very well.

• We already have guys who don’t know how to deal with the media.  Tuesday’s Presser was a perfect example.

USC had their worst offense in a decade with Bates as the play-caller, with their QB throwing tons of INT’s.

• I can kind of dismiss this one due to starting a true freshman at QB, but it still makes you wonder.

He runs bubble screens.

• ARGHHH!!! If I die tomorrow and go to hell, I’m afraid that I’ll get there via a bubble screen.

They never established an offensive identity when he was at USC.

• Sound familiar?  Weren’t we crying all season about the Bears’ lost offensive identity?

Besides, do we really want to let Jay pick his own coach?  Would it be better to have a more established guy that can mentor Jay and actual coach him up rather than a pal to put his arm around him after his 5th pick of the game? After a startlingly bad first season, should the Bears take a different approach with their franchise QB?  You know what they say, “spare the rod, spoil the child.”

With all of that said, let’s keep some perspective.  This is just one guy’s (Papadakis’) point of view on Bates.  And he’s a bitter USC alum/insider sulking on the day when his Trojans have nothing to do with the National Championship game to be played later in the day.  Is he blaming Bates for USC’s down season?   Maybe it’s just sour grapes.

But Petros brings up some points that Lovie and Jerry should consider before they hand the keys to the franchise (and their jobs) over to a 33-year old “whiz kid.”

BEAR DOWN!!!

It was a fun segment, especially when caller Dave chimed in.  You’d better have your act together before you call next time, buddy!

Here’s the audio from the segment:

BEAR DOWN!!!

BEAR DOWN!!!

In the spirit of the season, The Score’s Dan McNeil and Santa’s little helper Matt Spiegel have created the 12 Days of Bearsmas.  It’s juicy, delightful Holiday fun.  Have a listen.

And in case you’re wondering what Mac thinks about the 7th day, here’s his submission:

I think they really hit the nail on the head.  What did they miss?  Feel free to put your Day of Bearsmas and I’ll be sure Danny Mac gets it.

Happy Holidays and…

BEAR DOWN!!!

Next, Dougie goes off about the Bears’ purpose (or lack thereof):

This show is absolute appointment radio, especially after a Bears loss.  The good news for you, is that you can download the podcasts of hour 1 and hour 2 of the show.

Lovie Smith addressed the media and here are some of his big revelations after starting his Halloween week by watching a horror flick that was the Bengals game tape.

“Can you learn something from it? Yes,” Smith said, almost wistfully, like he wasn’t necessarily convinced in this case. “You learn something every time you go out and play.

“There were several things we did wrong. We weren’t aligned properly at times. Making tackles. We will continue talking about getting takeaways. Our third-downs were still up. There were a lot of things we need to improve on and we will.”

Smith’s most interesting comments came when addressing Tommie Harris’ playing time:

“There isn’t anything wrong with Tommie,” Smith said. “It was more a coach’s decision as much as anything. I thought we had better options.

“Could Tommie have played if I wanted him to? Yes, but I thought we could get a better Tommie if we let him rest.”

Well at least now we know that Jerry Angelo wasn’t totally full of it last week.  I hope this sends the right message to Harris – get your ass on the field and practice.  The special treatment is over.

While many people have been calling for Lovie’s head, the Tribune’s David Haugh believes Lovie Smith’s job is safe – as it should be.

… please remember that Lovie Smith has two years and about $11 million left on his contract after this season.

So unless Virginia McCaskey adopts Daniel Snyder into the family, the Bears aren’t likely to pay Smith a fortune to go away and open the vault for a $6 million-a-year replacement such as Bill Cowher or either of the two Mikes, Holmgren or Shanahan.

Let’s separate what will happen with what should happen.  The fact that the McCaskey’s are too damn cheap to do the right thing shouldn’t blunt the notion that Lovie’s team has been grossly unprepared for two weeks running coming off a bye.  Sure, they were tough road games and the defense is decimated by injuries, but this is a bottom line business and the bottom line is that Lovie’s defense has been exposed and his team is floundering.  Win or go home.  It’s that simple.

Not everyone at the Tribune is clueless.  Steve Rosenbloom provides a different view of Lovie’s scheme.

Blog Down Chicago Bears takes it a step further and wants to blame Jerry Angelo.  While the headline grabbed me, I disagree with some of his arguments, especially the idea about giving up on Benson.  If he hadn’t been cut by the Bears and hit his own personal rock bottom, he would still be a worthless piece of crap.

On a lighter note, my guy Matt over at Jay Cutler Superstar has a great piece on the Bears as Simpsons characters.  Great stuff!  I needed a laugh like that on a Miserable Monday.

BEAR DOWN!!!

Through the month of October, my usual BEAR DOWN signoff will be in pink to raise awareness for National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Tommie Harris was dominant against the Seahawks in 06. Will he ever regain that form?

The Bears announced on Friday that Tommie Harris was doubtful for Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals with knee soreness.

Jerry Angelo appeared on the Mully and Hanley Show on 670 The Score on Thursday.  We already talked about the slings and arrows Warren Sapp fired his way.

In the same interview, Jerry also addressed questions about Tommie Harris’ health.  Listen for yourself:

(Can you tell I got a new toy for the blog recently to pull in audio clips?  Me likey!)

So which is it Jerry?  Is he healthy or isn’t he?  Is it too much to ask to get some honesty from our Front Office?  At least if we knew he was hurt, we could lower our expectations a bit. 

The Sun Times’ Brad Biggs paints a gloomy picture for Harris’ future with the Bears:

Harris, who had arthroscopic surgery on the knee in March — about a month after he was paid a $6.67 million roster bonus — appears to be at a crossroads in his career. His knee can’t get better if he continues to play on it, but he can’t get better under the tutelage of line guru Rod Marinelli if he can’t practice. It’s still early in the season, but there’s a distinct possibility the Bears will have to consider his future with the organization after the season.

Harris is scheduled to receive a $2.5 million roster bonus for next season, but he can’t earn it until June, giving the Bears a chance to consider alternatives in free agency and the draft. Harris isn’t performing commensurate to the four-year, $40 million contract extension he received before the 2008 season.

It’s not good news for a defense decimated by injuries including 2 of the 3 opening day linebackers . It’s worse when you consider thatthe Bears head into the 2010 draft without any picks until the 3rd round.  Can Jay Cutler play the 3-technique?

BEAR DOWN!!!

Through the month of October, my usual BEAR DOWN signoff will be in pink to raise awareness for National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

Sapp appeared on his weekly Wednesday morning segment on the Mully and Hanley Show on 670 The Score.  Naturally, the subject of Jay Cutler’s contact came up and they innocently mentioned Jerry Angelo. Warren responded in typical Warren fashion.  Take a listen:

I heard that and I thought, “Talk about biting the hand that once fed you!”  But I left it alone and didn’t make a big deal about it.  Then on Thursday, they had Jerry Angelo on the show.   In advance of the interview, they even Tweeted Warren (@QBKILLA) to let him know.

When they told Jerry about Warren’s criticism during the interview, Angelo took the high road:

After the interview, Mully and Hanley posted this on their Twitter account: 

@mullyhanley: @QBKilla Just had Angelo on, he says you’re his best draft pick ever and would do it all over again. We’ll post the interview soon!

@QBKilla he didn’t Pick Me And Didn’t Want To!! Tim Ruskell and Mark D. Fought For Me!! I Wasn’t Ever His Guy!!! Period.

Warren quickly forgets that in that draft, he was dropping like a stone or stoner as the case may be.  Had it not been for Angelo and the Bucs, who knows what would’ve happened to Sapp?  I’ll be the first in line to be critical of Angelo, but he didn’t draft me.  Is it too much to ask for a little loyalty to the guy that gave you a chance?

BEAR DOWN!!!

Through the month of October, my usual BEAR DOWN signoff will be in pink to raise awareness for National Breast Cancer Awareness month.

UPDATED – Here is a clip of Bobby Wade on KFAN.  I listened to the entire podcast so you don’t have to.

Apparently now that the Brett Favre ship has sailed on the Minnesota Vikings, they have nothing better to do than stir stuff up for other teams.  Vikings (and former Chicago Bears) wide receiver Bobby Wade took to the airwaves this morning and made some waves.

“Jay Cutleris a good player,” Wade said. “Obviously, it’s a much different environment from going from Denver to play in Chicago. Chicago is a tough club to play for. What is so funny, I actually saw Brian Urlacher this past weekend in Las Vegas and we had a long conversation.

“I don’t want to get him in trouble, but it wasn’t what [the Bears] expected. Pretty much [Urlacher] said Jay Cutler was a [deleted] for the most part.”

What do I take from that?  First, Wade knows that Chicago is a tough place to play because he got run out of town when he continually muffed punts and couldn’t catch a cold as a receiver.  He was Rashied Davis before Rashied Davis.  Sounds a lot like sour grapes to me.

Second, Wade is obviously trying to create dissension among the Bears’ ranks. You don’t say, “I don’t want to get him in trouble” unless you want to get him in trouble.   Mission accomplished.

I can picture it now, Urlacher and Davis sitting around the blackjack table, a little sauced up and Urlacher spouts off about Cutler.  You know what?  When you’re Brian Urlacher, you call everybody a pussy.  “Hey Brian, what do you think of that new quarterback of yours?”  “Quarterbacks?  They’re all pussies!”

You can listen to the entire podcast here.   The good stuff starts at about the 18 minute mark, so check it out.

There are some other nuggets in there that should go nicely on the Bears bulletin board including talking smack about how Jared Allen is going to own Orlando Pace and the d-bag host cheering the vicious hit that Jason McKie took from EJ Henderson that knocked McKie out.  Camp is just over 48 hours away and I’m fired up already!

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