Commissioner Roger Goodell did his “state of the union” leading up to Super Bowl XLVII.  Covering a myriad of topics including an emphasis on player safety.  Goodell alluded to changes that could have an impact on the Chicago Bears and Soldier Field:

The Competition Committee’s agenda will include looking at eliminating certain dangerous low blocks; further taking the head out of the game and expanding the standards for the quality of our playing fields.

This is clearly in response to the knee injury that Washington Redskins quarterback RGIII suffered in the opening round of the playoffs, where poor field conditions may have contributed to his injury.

It’s no secret that the quality of the  Soldier Field turf has been questionable from time to time.  Numerous Bears players have ripped the poor condition of the field, including kicker Robbie Gould earlier this season.  The Bears had to cancel a family night practice at Soldier Field in the 2011 preseason, an embarrassment to the team and the Chicago Park District alike.

There are two problems with the Soldier Field situation.  The first is that the Bears don’t own Soldier Field; they’re just the most high profile tenant of the Chicago Part District.   The Bears have an influence over the field, but they don’t have final say.  The City of Chicago allows various high school and college games, concerts, soccer games and other special events that tear up the field.

The other factor is that the Bears don’t want artificial turf.  Ted Phillips has pointed to studies that indicate that lower leg injuries, like the one that RGIII suffered, occur more frequently on artificial turf as compared to natural grass.  Here’s a snippet from a Tribune article that touched on this back in 2010:

The Park District was interested in changing the surface — despite a busy summer schedule at the stadium that includes five concerts - but the Bears indicated they aren’t.

One of the complicating factors is the Bears still are awaiting results of a league study on injuries incurred on infill playing surfaces. They are concerned because preliminary findings have suggested lower leg injuries occur at a higher rate on infill.

“The Chicago Bears will always put a premium on player safety,” Phillips said in a statement to the Tribune. “Each year we will continue to discuss the pros and cons of grass and infill surfaces, and then make a decision.”

I’ll be really interested to see what the Competition Committee finds and how it will affect the Bears.   Could the RGIII rule change the face of Soldier Field?

Oct 30, 2011; Denver, CO, USA; Detroit Lions defensive tackle Corey Williams (99) before the start of the game against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field. The Lions defeated the Broncos 45-10. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-US PRESSWIRE

The arrest gets credited to 2011, but the court case gets a summer 2012 credit!  Another Detroit Lion got his day in court Wednesday and it wasn’t any of the previous announced offenders.  This time it was DT Corey Williams in an Arkansas Court room on Wednesday for a DWI charge after being arrested on June 18, 2011.

Coach Schwartz and the Lions organization must be really enjoying reading the newspaper every day.  Roger Goodell could soon be taking up permanent residence in Detroit for his upcoming suspension extravaganza!

Williams reportedly blew a .10 which is over the legal limit of .08 in Arkansas. Williams attorney is trying to say that they were racially profiled the night of the incident because there were no white passengers in the car.  The judge said he would take all the information “Under Advisement” and should make a ruling in the next week.

It is interesting that this arrest had never become public until this weeks court hearing.  How many more arrests have the NFL and Lions covered up in the past year? Williams didn’t let team officials know about the arrest at the time, because it was during the NFL offseason work stoppage last summer.  Hopefully all this distraction leads to a decline in wins for the leagues biggest “up and coming young teams”.   The Chicago Bears first look at the undiscplined Lions is October 22 in Chicago on Monday Night Football.

What do you think? Has Schwartz and the Lions management lost total control of the organization?

It was BEARly worth mentioning, but they are our rivals!!!

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell is trying to open the schedule up to 18 regular season games. (Photo courtesy of Neil Hayes/Sun Times)

Neil Hayes does a weekly mailbag segment on the Sun Times’ Inside the Bears blog.  Yours truly felt compelled to ask a question.  Neil felt compelled to answer and even included the spiffy picture of the Commish in his repsonse:

Q: The current 16 game schedule is very structured. You play six games vs. your division opponents, four versus an NFC division (NFC East for Bears), four versus an AFC division (AFC East for Bears) and then the same-place finishers in the other conference divisions (3rd place in NFC West and NFC South for the Bears this season). If the regular season is expanded to 18 games, how will the last two games get filled out? Any word or speculation out there? Bear Goggles Boomer (<–that’s me!)

A: I spoke with someone at the league office who hadn’t heard anything about this point, either. The earliest there could be an enhanced season is 2012, and any changes would have to be agreed upon by both owners and the NFL Players Association. Personally, I’d prefer if one of the dates encouraged regional rivalries. How cool would it be if the Raiders and 49ers, Jets and Giants, Dolphins and Buccaneers, Texans and Cowboys and Chiefs and Rams played every season? As for the Bears, it could mean an annual date with the Colts or Browns. Not every team has an out-of-conference geographical rival, but it would sure be fun for those who do. The union might like the idea, as well, because it would make for shorter road trips.

(more…)

In an effort to draw more interest and legitimize the Pro Bowl, the NFL, in it’s infinite wisdom, has decided to move the game to the weekend before the Super Bowl and play the game at the Super Bowl site.  I’ve got a few problems with this new arrangement.

First of all, if you play the Pro Bowl before the Super Bowl, you assure that you won’t have any players from the Super Bowl teams participating in the Pro Bowl.  Now what sense does it make that the best players from arguably the best teams not participate in the Pro Bowl?  How is that adding any legitimacy to the game?

Secondly, you move the game out of Hawaii to the site of the Super Bowl.  Most, if not all players selected to the Pro Bowl, see the trip to Hawaii as a reward; a kind of a bonus.  They take their families or take teammates or coaches as a thanks for the their hard work throughout the season.  From ESPN’s article citing the players’ desire to keep the game in Hawaii:

One thing is clear, many of the NFL’s top stars are unsure about the Pro Bowl being shipped to the mainland.

“I just think you take away from everything the Pro Bowl means,” Lewis said Tuesday. “I don’t understand it all.”

The Baltimore Ravens linebacker, who played college football at the University of Miami, said he would “probably not” play next year’s game if selected.

Lewis, making his 10th Pro Bowl trip, said many players live or visit Florida often, so playing there wouldn’t necessarily be a reward.

“That’s no vacation,” he said. “That’s what we regularly do. You don’t want to go to the Pro Bowl and do what you regularly do. You want to come over and do something different. You want to tour the islands and bring the kids over here to see something different.”

Of course it’s an honor to be selected by the fans, coaches and peers to be considered among the best at what you do and that acknowledgment should be reward enough.  But I get it.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not crying for the millionaires who won’t get a free trip to Hawaii, but it seems like players won’t participate if it’s in a regular NFL city.  Are we really going to get a better game if the best of the best don’t play?

Next season, Miami will host the Pro Bowl and Super Bowl.  That’s not too bad I guess.  But what happens in 2012 when Indianapolis hosts the festivities?  Not much of a treat pack up the family, as many Pro Bowlers do, and head to Indy in late January, is it?  Where would you rather go?

Indianapolis, host of the 2012 Super Bowl or Hawaii???

Normally, the network that televises the Super Bowl gets the option to buy the rights to televise the Pro Bowl.  CBS, which will be broadcasting the 2010 Super Bowl, apparently declined the option.   ESPN has bought the rights to televise the game next year and will be hyping it endlessly throughout the season.

Do you think the move to the week prior to the Super Bowl has anything to do with the fact that ESPN will be televising the 2010 game?  I hate to throw conspiracy theories out there, but virtually no one watches the Pro Bowl when it’s played after the Super Bowl.  I agree with Commissioner Roger Goodell who called it “anticlimactic.”  By moving it to the week before, it is certain to get more hype and attention since everyone is still is full-blown football mode, but at what expense?  You won’t have the best players from the best teams playing.  You’ll have even more players turning down the right to play.

Hey NFL and Commissioner Goodell, stop trying to turn the Pro Bowl into something that it’s not and give everyone their all expense paid trip to Hawaii.  Aloha!

BOOM!!!

The significance of 5 spots could be huge for a Bears team that will likely look to the third round to draft a running back, wide receiver, or quarterback. In almost every draft there is a player who unexpectedly drops to the second round. If a potential first round quarterback or running back is available in the second round, the Bears have the luxury to grab him knowing they have high picks in the third round to fill other need positions.

The NFL still has to decide want round to award a draft pick the Bears for losing Bernard Berrian. The league makes decisions on later round draft picks based upon the size of contracts signed by leaving free agents with other teams. The size of the contract Berrian signed with the Minnesota Vikings could potentially reward the Bears with at least an additional 5th round pick and could potentially be a 4th or even 3rd round pick depending on how the NFL weighs the move.

This comes on the heels of reports the Bears are holding private luncheons with Arkansas running backs Darren McFadden and Felix Jones. McFadden is a top draft pick and Jones will likely be available much later in the draft. If the NFL awards additional draft picks to the Bears they may try to package several picks together to trade up and grab McFadden or trade down and count on getting Jones. Either way it presents an interesting move for Halas Hall to find an immediate fix at running back and could possibly signal that Cedric Benson has suddenly given the Bears reason to believe he is not ready to be the starting running back. Benson has spent a lot of time on the injured list and his rehabilitation from his latest injury may be giving the Bears concerns.

I still believe the Bears feel offensive tackle is a top priority, but with a deep talent pool at tackle they may be willing to either trade up and grab a huge talent at running back or trade down to grab a quality lineman and running back. The next few weeks could prove crucial for the franchise.