Cato June lands in Chicago

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN as posted on Mike Florio’s blog on MSNBC.com, former Tampa Bay linebacker Cato June has been signed by the Bears to help shore up a bad defense.

June won a Super Bowl with the Colts in the weakside position of the Tampa Two defense, a stats-friendly assignment that puts the player in position to make a ton of tackles.

After capturing a championship, June signed a so-so deal with the Bucs, who included him in an offseason purge of veterans. June then signed with the Texans, and he eventually landed on injured reserve with a broken forearm.

I've Been in Denial...

Well, I haven't posted in a while. I’d like to say that it’s because I’ve just bee too busy. While that is true, I’ve also been in denial about the Bears’ season.

Sunday afternoon’s game against Favre and the Vikings made me face reality. It was the first time in years that I turned off the game early. I chose to watch a TIVOed episode of CBS’ Numbers instead. Lame? Yes, the Bears are lame this season (but I still love them!).

It's a Train Wreck!

AGGGHHHH! This game is a complete train wreck! It's actually almost unBEARable to watch. Cincy scored on every possession--EVERY POSSESSION--of the first half.

For all the talk that wussy boy Benson did all week about how the Bears hit him too hard in practices, you'd have thought the Bears would have come out more fired up. This is pathetic!

The only good news if that at least this isn't a shut out... the Bears have actually managed to score 10 whole points.

Cut a Cutler Jay-O-Lantern

Just what every Bear fan needs for Halloween... a Jay Cutler "Jay-O-Lantern." It's perfect for your Browns tailgating/party festivities since that game is the day after Halloween. Visit the Chicago Tribune for a downloadable/printable PDF version.

What the *&$@?!

Boy, oh boy, did the Bears screw up last night’s game against the Atlanta Dirty Birds. It was terribly painful to watch them self destruct.

The domino effect of poor play, bad moods (did you see Hester’s face from the sidelines throughout the game?) and stupid penalties cost the Bears the game. I’m not even sure where to begin…

• Forte not being able to run the ball, not to mention his two back-to-back fumbles FROM THE 1 YRD LINE!
• Cutler’s interceptions (although his 30 year run was nice to see)
• The Bears’ inability to score ANY points in the red zone. Maybe the Bears think the red zone means STOP and DON’T score. On the Mix 101.9 this morning, Maynard said we should begin to call it the Green Zone, as in GO…
• Orlando Pace’s penalty in the final drive at 4th and 1. I know he’s a Pro Bowler and all, but he sure does get beaten on the outside a lot, and that penalty was COSTLY, as in GAME COSTLY!

Clearly I haven’t settled down yet. Insult to injury, the Vikes squeaked one out, or more accurately, Baltimore blew their chance to win the game with a field goal.

So, next week the Bears are in Cincinnati and face former teammates, Cedric Benson and Tank Johnson. I want (hope) to see a much improved Bears team and a pounding of Benson.

One City. Two Teams. Several Goals.

The Blackhawks approached the Bears with a pretty unique marketing campaign… one that team up players from the Bears with player from the ‘Hawks to promote both franchises.

The campaign called "Crosstown Supporters" was created by Hawks agency Ogilvy & Mather, and is separate from the Bears' "One City, One Team" campaign and the Hawks' "One Goal" campaign.

Some of the ads include:

• Bears QB Jay Cutler and Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews trade tips on passing accuracy
• Bears linebacker Lance Briggs and Hawks defenseman Brent Seabrook compare notes on how big hits can lead to big turnovers.
• Bears kicker Robbie Gould, with the Blackhawks' Patrick Sharp holding, tries to boot a field goal into a hockey net strapped to the uprights
• Hawks' Patrick Kane shooting footballs for the Bears' Devin Hester to return
• Hawks' Brian Campbell helping out Bears tight end Greg Olsen

The first spot will begin airing in a few weeks, with the Hawks, who paid to produce the ads, buying time and placing the spots, while the Bears donate airtime on programs they own. I can’t wait to see the finished products!

Read more in the Phil Rosenthal's column in the Tribune.

Knox Wins NFC Special Teams Player of the Week

Congratulations to Johnny Knox who was chosen as the NFC special teams player of the week following his performance in last Sunday’s 48-24 victory over the Lions. The fifth-round draft pick returned the second-half kickoff 102 yards for a touchdown—the second longest kickoff return in franchise history—to give the Bears a 28-21 lead they would not relinquish.

According to "Write now ... at Halas Hall Wednesday blog", Knox said that “It feels good that I won the award because there are other good players in this league. I’m humbled and blessed to win that award.”

Knox leads the NFL with a 35.8-yard average on nine kickoff returns and has now scored a touchdown in each of his last three games. The 22-year-old caught 7-yard TD passes from quarterback Jay Cutler in back-to-back wins over the Steelers and Seahawks before going the distance against the Lions.

This is great and all, but the real question is, did Know drop the ball before crossing into the end zone? There's be a lot of discussion (see here and here), but the general consensus is that it was too close to call. Next time Johnny, hold on to the ball a smidge longer, just to be safe.

Bears Home Record at New Stadium

According to Larry Mayer on ChicagoBears.com, since the new Soldier Field opened in 2003, the Bears are 32-17 in the stadium, tied for the second-most home wins in the NFC and tied for the fifth-most in the NFL during that span. That includes a record of 12-6 against NFC North rivals, including 4-2 versus the Lions.

http://www.chicagobears.com/news/NewsStory.asp?story_id=6166

The Home Opener!

While I'm still grieving over the Packer loss, Cutlers play and Urlacher being out for the season, I’m moving on and focusing on happier things, i.e. tailgating.

This Sunday’s game is going to be fun. The usual crew—E*, J* and C*—will be at the 31st lot at 7am. Any and all are welcome to join us. We’ll kick off the tailgating festivities with Mimosa/chocolate wax donuts toasts (It’s a tradition, and as with all traditions, I have no idea why we do it). From there we’ll move on to hot, gooey cinnamon bread on the grill, Bloody Marys, beer, etc. The remainder of the day we stick to more traditional tailgating foods while riding the cooler and playing bags. Should be a great day and a W (I hope)!


Actually, the only thing I’m worried about is the potential new restrictions in the lot. Now that Standard Parking is taking over the security, no one can seem to figure out what time the lots opens. Is it the normal 5am or will the 31st join the likes of the other lots and only open up 4 hours before the game. LAME! There are rumors on the Bears message board that the lot will no longer allow tents and will not allow random parking, but instead park cars in formation based on the way they pulled in to the lot. If that the case, it really messes things up if you are trying to tailgate with other people who arrived before or after you.

Well, here’s to our first victory of the season and a speedy recovery for Tinoisamoa, Des Clark, Urlacher and the others.

Anthony Adams Starting

According to ChicagoBears.com, Anthony Adams is slated to start at defensive tackle on Sunday agaist the Packers.

It's Packer Week!

Last night officially kicked off the 2009 football season. What started out as a dull game sure ended up as a good one. Too bad for the Steelers though... costly win losing Polamalu for 3-6 weeks. The good news fellow Bears fans, is that Palamalu will not be playing next Sunday against the Bears!

I'm so excited for Sunday night! It's can't get here fast enough. Most of the pundits I've seen have picked the Pack to win. Clearly they are stupid. The Bears are going to march into Lambeau and take charge of the game and come out with a VICTORY!

All bias aside, with a division that's expected to be a tight race (except for Detroit) every conference game becomes even more important. I do not want to miss the playoffs this season.

Passing the Ball...What a Novel Concept

The Bears were looking good against the Giants in the second pre-season game of the season.

I loved the passing game. During our first possession, we were facing third and long (familiar territory for the Rex/Orton days). I joked to the guy next to me, "Do you think we will run or will we run?" To my surprise, we actually passed the ball, and for a completion and a first down!

My next comment was, "Now, I've read rules of football and I'm pretty sure that's what some teams call a pass." The guy behind me joked that it was a forward pass and that teams are allowed to do that any time they want. What a novel concept.

I'll post pics from the game soon.

Looking forward to next week against Denver/Orton on Sunday night...

Bears Training Camp

Ok, so I'm new to blogging and decided that I'd begin today seeing as tomorrow is the first some pre-season game. I probably should have started two weeks ago after attending Training Camp in Bearbonnais, but I didn't... oh well. Shamelessly, I must admit that I had never been to Camp before. What a great time. I loved watching the efficiency of practice. The fast pace at which they work to get a complete workout done in two hours with hundreds of people is impressive.

As Ellen and I were leaving, we got our picture taken with Pisa Tinoisamoa (#59). He was great; he probably spent 15-20 or so signing autographs and taking pictures with the kids (and us).

We also got pictures of Staley. He totally hammed it up while wearing our feather boas.

Tomorrow's game should be fun. The NY Giants, with highly paid Eli at the helm, will be tough, but hopefully the Bears will play better than we did last week against the Bills. Cutler looked a little jittery for the few plays he was on the field. Clearly, we would have won had it not been for the interceptions by the third string QB. D'oh!

I'll report back this weekend about tomorrow victory.