Pixote

Here is an interesting article from the Sun-Times I did not realize the Bears even considered trading for a Backup, I guess they were more concerned about this issue than many of us thought.

I like the move. Is he a great QB, obviously not. BUT, he sure is a lot better than what we have to back up Hanie at this point and certainly has experience. The Bears did try for some other "bigger names" for backup, but let's face it, those guys did not want to be 2nd or 3rd string and we would have had to pay too much for a backup position to a very highly paid starter.

And a link showing the Bears signed Aaron Webster, Safety Aaron Webster is signed by Bears

Here is the link to the YouTube he wanted you to see YouTube Video Link

Most of what I have read does not refer to a bigger OL but instead centers on an OL that is far more aggressive and playing with much more tenacity and fire than OLs of the past few years. This is where Tice is so damn good, IMHO. Our previous OLC wanted guys to take the first step back into the bucket and then establish their block. Tice wants them to fire off the line "forward" and take the initiative away from the rusher. Tice loves mean and nasty aggressive OLmen. He also has a very low tolerance for OLmen who make stupid mistakes. He is going to pull a guy quickly and replace him if he doesn't like what he is seeing. He knows his rep is on the line and he will do everything possible to get 100% from our players. It should be interesting to see the final product once the season starts. I am sure there will be more changes made before then. It is certainly what one would call a work in progress.

From Bears' Twitter: #Bears have placed RB Harvey Unga on injured reserve with a pulled hamstring. Looks like a "redshirt" season for him.

Unfortunately, for years, that required a QB that could get them the ball on target. The jury is still out on Cutler, IMO, but hopefully Cutler with a new OC will be the answer.

Mike Tice, when he was a HC in MIN, was an asshole if you ask me. Maybe it was just because he was HC of a rival, but I pure and simple did not like him. As a OLC I absolutely love what I am seeing. First off, after years and years of OLCs for the Bears insisting on "steping back into the bucket" and "zone blocking" Tice appears to be on the same page as I am, aggressive smash mough football on the OL. Pancake blocks, kick the guys ass. Move forward on the snap and get the advantage. Secondly, he seems to actually evaluate players and develop them. In the past would we be seeing the emergence of Lance Louis and J Asiata? Both of these guys intrigue me. I do not know if they will wind up being starters or not but I bet you without the change of OLC this year we would not have heard their names being spoken except as possible backups or practice squad players. It seems like Tice does not take anything for granted and refuses to accept status quo. He is going to give everyone an equal chance and he is going to care less about draft position, salary, previous experience for the most part, he is going to put the best 5 guys out there on the OL no matter what and could give a rats ass about histrionics. I personally love it. Who knows what we have? I sure like what I am hearing from camp.

That was a cool video. Thanks for posting it.

LOL, I know I am not playing this year and maybe I should keep my mouth shut but this is looking more and more like last year where we drafted and played the season without really knowing what the keeper rules would be and ended the playoffs not even knowing how the prize money was going to be divided up.

I love JimmyMac, I think he is a good piece of Bear's history. However, he was NEVER more than an average QB on an average offense. If he deserves to be in the top 50 Bears of all time because he was the QB on the SB team, then what happens to the other 52 players (or whatever the roster limit was at that time) that was on the team? Does that mean they deserve the honor as well because they were on the SB team? I would argue that Matt Suhey was a better FB than JimmyMac was a QB. Does he deserve to be in the all-time top 50? No.

If he had not been the QB the last year we won the SB most would struggle to remember his name. Take away that one year and he would not be in the top 100 Bears in history. Does he deserve to be in the top 50 because he rode the tails of the greatest defense of all time to the SB? I do not think so, I agree with nfo.

I was too young to remember him as a player, LOL.

Halas was a damn good player in his time and held several all time records for quite some time. No, he would not have made it into the Hall of Fame on his playing alone. But then again, there were quite a few on the list who will never make it into the hall either.

Grange is a top 10 Bear. I am not sure McM even gets into my top 40.

You mean to tell me that Halas just barely squeaked into the top 50 with Butler ranked ahead of him? Something seems terribly wrong with the rankings. I agree with most, but Halas at #50?

Personally, I like hearing our DL is kicking ass. I am not concerned yet about our OL. I like hearing that Peppers, Harris, & Anderson were all putting pressure on Cutler at times. It sounds as if Cutler still had a good day. In a story in the Sun-Times Online News Site: Day 5 Camp Summary: D gets under Cutler's skin D Gets Under Cutler's Skin

It appears it was all bogus. I got an email from footballguys.com this morning with this information:

Are there any training camps that are run like they were 10-20 years ago? They all have gotten to the point where the number one priority it to get the player you are paying a king's ransom to the first game of the season healthy. Very seldom do teams allow aggressive "hits" and 2-a-days in pads is a thing for history books. If you watch film of the games 2 decades ago and apply the rules the NFL have imposed since then I think you will find that half the plays would be flagged. Unfortunately, the game has gotten soft when compared to the "good old days".

Last year he said the same thing at this point. Then the day after they broke camp he made a miraculous recovery and returned. They break camp on August 12th this year. I will give it until August 19th and if he is still retired then, I will begin to believe it. In the mean time both Harvin and Rice have had monor injuries already. Should be interesting. If AP gets injured, now that we stole C Taylor from their backfield, they are really out of luck.

I agree, when you practice against someone with the skill set that Peppers has, it has to make you a better player.

Hey, I am not apologizing for Lovie, or making excuses for him. I am just saying that the problem goes beyond Lovie and he can not be blamed for everything that happens. Despite denials, that is exactly what I am hearing on the forum. It's all Lovie's fault. Every decision made is questioned and Lovie is called out. Even the possible demotion of ALvalva (I know I spelled it wrong) was turned into a indictment of Lovie. As HC he obviously has to take a lot of the blame, granted. If the team fails this year he obviously has to be the first one out the door, assuming JA is retained. If JA gets canned also, then the new GM will start the rebuilding process by hiring a new HC. Simple as that. This topic is getting old. I rest my case. I have said all I care to about this.

I would strongly disagree with this assumption of yours. I am surprised, knowing you read most if not all the posts & threads, that you would even say this. I have no problem with posters not giving respect to Lovie, I am not sure he deserves any, but I do disagree for him getting the blame for everything from A to Z that happens on the field. I repeat what I said, you win as a team, you lose as a team, and there is plenty of blame to be assigned to many different people within the organization including players. IMO, assuming the labor contract is signed, if the Bears to not make a trip to the Super Bowl, then clean house. I am not a Lovie apologist. I am not trying to defend the mediocre product that we have had to endure. I just want to see accountability properly assigned and not all blamed on Lovie.

Percentages. Interesting thought. Totally conjecture for sure on the part of the observer. Who is to blame? You have Lovie HC, JA GM, Phillips, Team President, & Ownership Then you have OC & DC Then you have STC, OLC, DLC, DBC, etc... And of course you have the players themselves. There is plenty of people responsible. To say it is close to 100% on anyone would be an injustice. What is it said, the buck stops here, so I guess it is normal for the HC to get most of the blame. But is it really just the HC at fault? To me the obvious answer is no. To others it is all his fault. I will give one small example. Tommy Harris was an excellent draft choice based on talent. He kicked ass the first 3 years. Was given a big PayCheck. I can only assume JA did his job. He played well so I assume the coaches did ok by him. What has he done over the past few years? He has sucked ass. Why? I do not think it is the coaching or HC. It is not the fault of JA, Ted P., ownership. Harris IMO had more than injury problems. Injuries certainly played a part in it but his motivation was totally lacking. He talked about retiring early. To become a preacher. I honestly do not think he has shown any self motivation the past few years to overcome his injuries. He lacked "balls". (hopefully he has grown a pair in the off-season). Who's fault is that? Tommy Harris and only Tommy Harris. If Harris had played to his potential as he did the first 3 years the past few years how much would that have helped this team? How many more games would have been won? Would we be having this conversation? Who's fault was it Tank Johnson couldn't stay out of trouble? Who's fault was it the C Benson sucked so bad as far as attitude? Did the coaches pass the pipe to R Salaam? Did the coaching staff cause D Terrell to be an ass wipe? The players controlled this. God knows they were getting paid enough where they should not have needed a coach to be a babysitter or shrink. So back to the original question, what percentage of blame does each deserve for the results over the past 3 years? Impossible to answer. I will give it my best shot. I would say that 50% of the blame is SHARED, I will say it again, SHARED by LS, JA, TP, & Ownership. How you want to divide that 50% I will leave up to you. I would say 20% is to the assistant coaches & coordinators. Why only 20%. Because they do need to follow some direction from the 50% above. I would say the remaining 30% is totally on the players. Don't give me this shit about how they need to be given direction. These guys should have the skills and balls to produce on the field. IMO they are not getting paid more in one year than I made in a lifetime to do anything else but go out there and kick ass. There is not one piece of the puzzle that can be changed to make a significant difference. They are all intertwined. There is not one person anyone can lay all the blame on, it is a shared responsibility. There is a saying that there is no I in the word team. It takes everyone from the top down to win a SB. Well the same goes for failure, it is a team effort. To lay all the blame on Lovie, or even the majority of the blame, is blind judgment IMO. Losing is as much a team effort as winning.

To state it differently, Anything and everything that goes wrong is Lovie's fault Anything and everything that goes right is despite of Lovie Seems to me Lovie is in a no win situation