My thoughts on Cedric Benson

I've heard the complaints - He's too soft, he's too whiny, he'll never be a leader, etc. It isn't like I can't see where those complaints are coming from, but let's sit back and look at this from another point of view.

A few years ago a team drafted a RB in the first round, but they already had a superstar on their team. So, this 1st round pick started sulking and complaining about playing time. He alienated his coaches, his teammates, the media.....it seemed like everyone was upset with him. They started doubting he could ever be a good running back in the NFL, heck, his coach even called him a cry-baby and told him to change his diapers. Yes, I'm talking about Larry Johnson of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Now, Larry and Cedric have many things in common. They both are tough runners, they both had to ride the pine for a while, and they both alienated everyone in the city that they play for. Now Cedric has the chance to have one more thing in common. The team is all his this year. No Thomas Jones starting in front of him, no real threat behind him either. Can he follow the road of LJ to stardom and finally show everyone why he was a top 5 pick?

Go get 'em Ced, show everyone what you are made of. Show everyone that all you ever wanted was to be on the field.

Going to be an exciting year.

Signing the Rooks

The Bears had 9 draft picks this year, and they have already signed 7 of them. The only unsigned players are 1st rounder TE Greg Olsen, and 2nd rounder DE Dan Buzuin.

Last year, the Bears were the first NFL team to get all their draft picks signed, and they are well on their way to accomplishing that again.

Olsen will be the toughest sign, not because he wants a lot of money, but 1st rounders are always tricky. Nobody wants to be the first one to sign and risk signing a contract for less than what they could have made had someone around them signed for more money. It's all about slotting for the first round draft picks. If pick 15 signs for x amount, then picks 14 and 16 almost have their contracts done becuase they are going to be right above and right below, respectively, what the 15th pick made.

The other rounds in the draft aren't exactly like this, as players drafted after the first round usually just try and get what's most important to them....upfront money. See, NFL contracts are not guaranteed, only the signing bonus us.

Getting players in on time, so they get to take part in all aspects of the training camp is very important. If they player can't be there to learn the playbooks and all the nuances of each play, they risk losing playing time and possibly injury.

So get in camp on time boys, we will need all of you this year.

The Bulls

Well, the Bulls keep creeping closer and closer each year to returning to the days of glory they once knew. Long gone are they Dynasty days of Jordan and Pippen. We struggled through the years afterward, almost wondering why they are even playing.

But now, we have a young nucleus. We have Hinrich, Deng, Gordon, Thomas, Sefelosha. These guys all have the potential to be great one day, and they took another step toward that this year. They had their best record post the Jordan Era, and they made it to within two games of the Eastern Finals.

They need a big man in the middle, someone that creates not only a scoring presence, but a defensive presence as well. Let's see what happens in Free Agency and the draft.

Aim for the eyes!

So I have been having gunfights with the kids all weekend....oh, I should probably tell you they are waterguns. It's one of the boys birthday today, and one of his presents was a pack of waterguns. After being the superior athlete in our waterfights (don't mind the fact that I am bigger and older than them!) the kids banded together and found out a way that they could get to me. "Aim for the eyes" was the last thing I heard before everything went black. Yep, they figured out that if they hit me in the face, it was all over if they could just blind me.

Kudos to the kiddos for finding a way to to defeat me.

What a fun time, running around getting wet, laughing.....good stuff.

Super Bowl Memories

So the Bears were in the Super Bowl this year, finally….my team made it back for the first time since I was a little boy. Take into account that the White Sox just won the World Series two years ago, plus my kids are at the age where they are playing sports and I get to coach them….my sporting world has been very kind over the last few years!

The last time the Bears were in the Super Bowl, they played New England, and absolutely crushed them, 46-10. I watched with my Dad, and I remember cheering when he did, yelling when he did, because I didn't fully understand it all like I do now. I remember him being upset that "The Fridge" got the touchdown instead of Walter Payton. He said, "Payton deserved that, Fridge hasn't earned anything yet". I didn't understand then, but I do now. See, Payton was the best RB of all time, and this was his first Super Bowl (and unfortunately, his last), so it would have been nice for him to get into the endzone at least once.

My Dad and I and my Grandfather were all Bear fans. My Grandfather was a Cubs fan, but we didn't hold that against him….the Cubs losing all the time was punishment enough for him! Of course, the Sox were always losing too. My Dad never saw a White Sox championship (He passed away when I was 15), but I knew he was smiling down two years ago when Harold Baines, (his favorite player, who was now the 1^st base coach of the Sox) was part of the first Sox World Series victory since 1918.

So leading up to the Super Bowl, I am all excited about it. Finally!! Even though my Dad isn't here to watch it with me, I know he is watching from above. I had a jersey on, I gave my Wife a Bears jersey to wear, and 3 of the four kids had on Bears jerseys (didn't have one for the littlest one!) We had some friends and some family over for the game, and the company was great, the food was great, but unfortunately, the Bears didn't win this time. During the Super Bowl I had a lot of flashbacks to the previous one, remembering the fun I had with my Dad. The loss was hard to watch, it's amazing how much a Sports team can make you feel pain or joy. But maybe it isn't the sports team, maybe it's the reason you root for them. See, I root for the Bears because my Dad did, he passed along all their history to me, and now they are "my" team.

My kids didn't really watch much of the Super Bowl, they are very young and don't really understand too much about it yet. I know they wanted the Bears to win (because I did!), which was nice to see and hear. They are all Bear fans and Sox fans….thanks to me. I just hope they get to see Championships and remember how good it feels to have "your" team win it all. But, it just makes me happy seeing them root for "their" team.