[CBFF] Time's running out on Rex waiting game (Mariotti)

[Kenny Claxton]

Seriously, please don't post another story from Marriotti. He's
beneath this list.


K-

On 8/15/06, Ryan Dietzenbach <ryandietzenbach at gmail.com> wrote:
> Ah, Mariotti.  Making a story where there isn't based on one preseason
> game.  Some things never change.
>
> RD
>
> On 8/15/06, Victor Waldron <victor at 19net.org> wrote:
> >
> >    Time's running out on Rex waiting game
> >
> > /August 15, 2006/
> >
> > *BY JAY MARIOTTI <mailto:jmariotti at suntimes.com> SUN-TIMES COLUMNIST *
> >
> > Iwaited for Rex Grossman in 2005, when his left ankle was reduced to a
> > scrambled egg. I waited for Rex Grossman in 2004, when his right knee
> > was swallowed up by the Metrodome turf. I waited for Rex Grossman in
> > 2003, when the Bears dealt down from the No. 4 position to draft him --
> > and, yikes, Michael Haynes -- and missed out on such football delicacies
> > as Troy Polamalu, Larry Johnson and Anquan Boldin.
> >
> > So, sure, I can wait for Rex Grossman in 2006.
> >
> > For exactly one game, four Sundays from now at Lambeau Field.
> >
> > Should he flop in the season opener or injure another body part
> > necessary to play quarterback in the NFL, then I'm through waiting.
> > Sorry, but in a league that has seen 20 different teams reach Super
> > Bowls since the Bears won their one and only, asking for continued
> > patience is an insult to a city's intelligence. You don't waste a
> > defense as good as this, nor do you tempt fate in a division as easy as
> > this. If Grossman isn't ready to rumble and shake his Rex The Hex tag,
> > we'll just have to accept the concept of Brian Griese, late of Denver
> > and Tampa Bay and a past that includes a drunken-driving bust and a
> > stairway tumble supposedly caused by his golden retriever, as the Bears'
> > 12th starting quarterback this decade.
> >
> > *It's Grossman's job to lose*
> >
> > Don't call it a quarterback controversy; call it a Rex controversy. The
> > issue is entirely up to him to decide. The men in charge, from Lovie
> > Smith to offensive coordinator Ron Turner to quarterbacks coach Wade
> > Wilson, continue to say with emphasis that the job belongs to Grossman.
> > They want him to succeed not only because they've waited for him to have
> > full health, but because their boss, the hit-and-miss Jerry Angelo, has
> > so much riding on the matter. If Grossman succeeds, the trade-down
> > gamble will have worked. If he fails, Angelo will have become the latest
> > Bears general manager fooled by the City of Weak Shoulders bugaboo,
> > which rivals the Billy Goat as a Chicago curse.
> >
> > The Bears never have maximized their futility enough to have Peyton
> > Manning fall into their laps, nor have they shown the wisdom to land,
> > say, a Ben Roethlisberger with the 11th pick in a draft. They're always
> > reaching, guessing and straining for an answer at the most important
> > position on a football field.
> >
> > It's not as if we're waiting on John Elway or Dan Marino here. We're
> > looking at a guy who, at best, will stretch defenses with his mad-bomber
> > daring and move chains with his accuracy. But if Friday night in San
> > Francisco was a hint of how Grossman will respond to his latest and last
> > chance to seize an opportunity, there's no need to push the debate
> > beyond the first week. Everyone knows what Griese can do as a veteran
> > technician, and while he was working against the second-string defense
> > of an NFL weakling, his high-efficiency preseason debut looked
> > particularly impressive when juxtaposed against Grossman's struggles.
> >
> > The best thing I can say about Rex right now is that he grasps the
> > gathering urgency. Rather than shrug off his 3-for-11 clunker as
> > meaningless, he openly acknowledges he has to play better starting
> > Friday night on the lakefront against the Chargers, whose young
> > quarterback, Philip Rivers, is drawing raves. Grossman's poise and
> > maturity always have belied his years, yet can he channel those
> > qualities into instant success for a potential championship contender
> > when he has started only eight NFL games?
> >
> > *He knows what's at stake*
> >
> > Hell, when you think about it, he's still a rookie.
> >
> > ''I totally understand the questions right now, especially with Brian
> > playing so well,'' Grossman told the media.
> >
> > So doesn't he have four weeks to prove that Angelo wasn't a dope for
> > drafting him? ''It's just a matter of me going out and proving I am the
> > guy to do that, to take us to the Super Bowl, and that I have progressed
> > and gotten better,'' he said. ''If you go out and perform like I did
> > Friday night, it just makes them scratch their heads a little bit.
> > Hopefully, in the next couple of weeks I'll be able to prove it was a
> > fluke. If Brett Favre goes out and plays like that, everybody laughs.
> > But when you haven't had consistency at that position as a player,
> > you're going to have to deal with this stuff. I am in a battle to get
> > established in this league so that when I do have a bad quarter, it's
> > not like the sky is falling.''
> >
> > In the City of Weak Shoulders, the sky falls quickly. Faith is fleeting
> > when the Bears have made 29 changes at the quarterback position since
> > 1999, which might qualify as the wildest revolving door in sports.
> > People want to believe Grossman can be the Rex the Wonder Bear,
> > recalling the frigid night last December when he mercifully replaced
> > overmatched Kyle Orton and warmed the city's collective tush with a
> > zinger to Muhsin Muhammad. But he started slowly against the Carolina
> > Panthers in the playoff debacle, and by the time he settled down in the
> > second half, Steve Smith already had buried the cause. His body of work
> > is too shallow to trust.
> >
> > He has looked good. He has looked bad.
> >
> > He has won four starts. He has lost four starts.
> >
> > I like him. I don't like him.
> >
> > Which makes him Jim Miller. Maybe he should get rid of the No. 8, last
> > worn here by pariah Cade McNown, who'd win first prize in any ''Where
> > Have You Gone?'' contest.
> >
> > Meanwhile, Griese isn't hiding his desire to emerge as the starter in a
> > mercurial career that might have legs. By most accounts, he is all grown
> > up at 31 after struggling with personal issues in Denver. The talent is
> > there, as he showed during a 2000 season when he made the Pro Bowl and
> > signed a big contract. The question is whether a guy who once sought
> > help from a Dalai Lama book, //The Art of Happiness//, can deal with the
> > pressures of playing quarterback in Chicago -- especially when the
> > stakes are so high this season. He does recognize the first rule of
> > thumb: Avoid all questions about quarterback controversies.
> >
> > *Griese trying to stay focused*
> >
> > ''I know how those things work,'' Griese said. ''To be honest, I'm not
> > even thinking about that. I'm thinking about trying to get better as a
> > player, learning this offense, getting used to [Turner] and the way he
> > calls plays and really proving myself to the guys on the team.''
> >
> > Angelo might have helped both quarterbacks had he drafted a receiver in
> > the first round. Predictably, the slot opposite Muhammad remains a
> > mystery -- and a possible problem spot for an offense that has enough
> > issues. Which makes it even more vital that the quarterback situation
> > settles instead of flaking out again. Right now, the idea of change is
> > starting to blow hard in the summer wind.
> >
> > I can't believe I'm writing this. But we're //still// waiting, Rex.
> >
> > --
> > victor at 19net.org
> > Mobile: (917) 842-9842
> >
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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> > www.chicagobearsfanforum.com
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
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>


-- 
"He may look like an idiot and talk like an idiot but don't let that
fool you. He really is an idiot."

 Groucho Marx