[CBFF] Calling Bears cheap is right on the money

[Tom Shannon]

I only read the headline and then I closed it as fast as I could with my...
uh... machine... pointing thingy..?

Crap.  Too late.

Tom S.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: cbff-bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com [mailto:cbff-
> bounces at chicagobearsfanforum.com] On Behalf Of mom2iancal
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 10:24 AM
> To: post at chicagobearsfanforum.com
> Subject: Re: [CBFF] Calling Bears cheap is right on the money
> 
> LOL!!!  I thought I was feeling a bit different
> 
> teri
> 
> ~A Morning  Without Coffee is Sleep~
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Kenny Claxton" <kenny.claxton at gmail.com>
> To: <post at chicagobearsfanforum.com>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 9:58 AM
> Subject: Re: [CBFF] Calling Bears cheap is right on the money
> 
> 
> > Reading Jay Mariotti lowers your I.Q.
> >
> > On 2/27/07, mom2iancal <senzigx4 at charter.net> wrote:
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Calling Bears cheap is right on the money
> >>
> >> February 27, 2007
> >>
> >> BY JAY MARIOTTI Sun-Times Columnist
> >>
> >> What's next at Halas Hall, a shaved head and a ratty wig? I don't
> want to
> >> describe the Bears as the Britney Spears of the 2007 sports year,
> but
> >> they're
> >> perfectly capable of blowing all their credibility and couth with
> >> dizbrain
> >> thinking. A quality organization would have rewarded Lovie Smith
> long
> >> ago,
> >> paid
> >> Lance Briggs, pacified Thomas Jones and not made another silly
> blanket
> >> commitment to Rex Grossman, whose raggedy reputation was further
> singed
> >> by
> >> an
> >> indicting Indianapolis sound bite during the Super Bowl debacle.
> >>
> >> ''He's scared to death,'' noted Colts defensive line coach John
> >> Teerlinck,
> >> echoing the world's thoughts on a waterlogged evening when Prince
> showed
> >> more
> >> poise then Rexy.
> >>
> >> But the Bears are not a quality organization. At a time when stable
> >> leadership is critical to mending wounds and keeping eyeballs on
> another
> >> NFC title,
> >> they are proving to be cheap, petty, shortsighted and all those
> nasty
> >> things
> >> we've always said about the McCaskeys and the former tax accountant
> who
> >> serves
> >> as their financial henchman, Ted Phillips. Oh, and might I add
> deceptive?
> >> When the Bears demanded public financing for the Soldier Field
> >> renovation,
> >> then
> >> asked fans to buy seat licenses, they did so because they needed to
> >> ''compete'' in the modern NFL. Subsequently, the franchise value
> ($945
> >> million, Forbes
> >> magazine says) soared as quickly as earnings ($51.5 million in
> 2005).
> >>
> >> So where are the profits going? As yet, not to Smith, whose status
> as the
> >> league's lowest-paid head coach is more an embarrassment to Halas
> Hall
> >> than to
> >> him. No more a Teddy Bear at the negotiating table than George Halas
> was
> >> a
> >> Papa Bear, Phillips is setting the tone for a possible sour encore
> season
> >> by
> >> making Smith sweat through an absurd taffy pull. In virtually any
> other
> >> pro
> >> franchise, a coach who returns a team to the big game for the first
> time
> >> in 21
> >> years is merrily handed a market-value deal. In Smith's case, that
> should
> >> be
> >> at least $5 million a season, if not more, seeing how a rookie head
> >> coach,
> >> Atlanta's Bobby Petrino, just received $4.8 million a year, and two
> other
> >> coaches who took teams to Super Bowls and lost, Carolina's John Fox
> and
> >> Tennessee's
> >> Jeff Fisher, have cracked the $5 million mark.
> >>
> >> Tightwad Ted doesn't subscribe to this fairness doctrine. Despite
> the
> >> presence of the George S. Halas Trophy at Halas Hall -- the hardware
> >> Smith
> >> vowed to
> >> win for Virginia McCaskey, whose father bought the franchise for
> $100 --
> >> Phillips prefers to lowball Smith with an offer below $3.5 million a
> >> year.
> >> That
> >> is about the amount offered to Nick Saban three years ago when he
> was
> >> still a
> >> college coach, a deal he fortunately turned down, making way for
> Smith's
> >> hire. I inject this because Phillips keeps referring to Smith's
> original
> >> contract as ''fair'' for a first-time NFL coach, which is bunk when
> he
> >> offered Saban
> >> nearly three times as much to become, um, a first-time NFL coach.
> Imagine
> >> being Lovie and knowing he's just now getting a similar offer to
> Saban's
> >> in
> >> 2004, even though he reached a Super Bowl while Saban bombed out
> with the
> >> Dolphins. Most people won't weep for Lovie or start a salary fund,
> but if
> >> you're
> >> interested in the well-being of the Bears, this is distressing
> stuff.
> >>
> >> Lovie has all the leverage
> >>
> >> Already, management has sucked any redeeming joy from the season by
> >> making
> >> us wonder again about priorities. Is the aim to win a championship
> or
> >> have
> >> the
> >> highest profit margin? The last thing the Bears want to do is send a
> >> negative message to their players, but that's exactly what they've
> done
> >> in
> >> the Lovie
> >> saga. As it is, the vibes are bad in the case of Briggs, who should
> be
> >> locked up long-term via a lucrative deal under a cushy salary cap.
> Now
> >> they have
> >> to watch their coach and his agent, Frank Bauer, turn the squabble
> into a
> >> public brawl, which isn't Smith's style but certainly is necessary.
> >>
> >> ''Ted can't bring himself to do what I think is right,'' Bauer told
> the
> >> Sun-Times. ''It's a situation where we're not close, and I feel it
> is
> >> going to
> >> take a miracle to get this thing broken open.''
> >>
> >> I would urge Smith not to budge until his price is met. He has all
> the
> >> leverage, with even NFL people condemning the Bears for their Misers
> of
> >> the Midway
> >> approach. Should Phillips be crazy enough to let Smith enter the
> season
> >> as
> >> a
> >> lame duck, the Bears would be lampooned nationally for wrecking a
> great
> >> thing, just as they were lampooned when Michael McCaskey's
> buffoonery
> >> cost
> >> them
> >> Dave McGinnis. Anything less than a return to the Super Bowl would
> turn
> >> the
> >> town angrily against management and prompt another lame search for a
> >> cheap
> >> candidate. The season would be a miserable, nonstop Lovie watch. And
> not
> >> a
> >> soul
> >> would blame the coach, though general manager Jerry Angelo will
> blame the
> >> media.
> >>
> >> ''It's big because you're making it big,'' said Angelo, who is about
> to
> >> sign
> >> his extension. ''You were having a dormant offseason. It gives you
> >> something
> >> to write about, something to talk about. You can get your conspiracy
> >> theories going.''
> >>
> >> Truth be known, Jerry, the media would prefer to discuss how the
> Bears
> >> are
> >> committed to a championship after coming so close. They'd prefer to
> write
> >> that
> >> Smith is locked in, Briggs is happy and Jones won't be traded, a bad
> idea
> >> that Angelo is courting even though Cedric Benson is an injury
> liability,
> >> still
> >> unproven as a starting back and always a potential distraction. Most
> >> media
> >> preferred to see continuity within the coaching staff and a new,
> >> deserving
> >> deal for Ron Rivera, not a Smith-led purge of Rivera and other
> assistants
> >> that
> >> smacks of finger-pointing. They might like an open competition at
> >> quarterback,
> >> not the latest endorsement of Grossman.
> >>
> >> Bears figure to follow Seahawks
> >>
> >> But Halas Hall is stubborn this way. Never mind that memories are
> still
> >> fresh of the Dolphin Stadium interview room, where Muhsin Muhammad
> was
> >> dissing
> >> Grossman at a podium while Rex, a few feet away, wondered why
> Muhammad --
> >> no
> >> world-class leaper -- couldn't soar for one of his misguided quails.
> >> Never
> >> mind
> >> that Grossman has been chided by media and fans nationwide, all
> convinced
> >> he
> >> isn't championship material. All together now: Rex is still the guy.
> And
> >> if
> >> Wade Wilson couldn't help tutor him, someone named Pep Hamilton
> will,
> >> dammit.
> >>
> >> Hate to break the news, but five of the last six Super Bowl losers
> didn't
> >> make the playoffs. Don't be shocked if the Bears fare like the
> exception
> >> to
> >> that trend, the Seattle Seahawks, as second-round losers. Last
> season was
> >> about
> >> Lovie Love, about a united team defending Rex and Tank Johnson when
> the
> >> masses were piling on.
> >>
> >> The love, I'm afraid, has been overwhelmed by dysfunction.
> >>
> >> Jay Mariotti is a regular on ''Around the Horn'' at 4 p.m. on ESPN.
> Send
> >> e-mail to _inbox at suntimes.com_ (mailto:inbox at suntimes.com) with
> name,
> >> hometown
> >> and daytime phone number (letters run Sunday).
> >>
> >> <BR><BR><BR>**************************************<BR> AOL now
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> >> free
> >> email to everyone. Find out more about what's free from AOL at
> >> http://www.aol.com.
> >>
> >> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> __._,_.___ .
> >> __,_._,___
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