[CBFF] Calling Bears cheap is right on the money

[mom2iancal]

That's okay...have a drink later and refortify the IQ

teri
~A Morning  Without Coffee is Sleep~
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Tom Shannon" <tshanno at gmail.com>
To: <post at chicagobearsfanforum.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2007 11:23 AM
Subject: Re: [CBFF] Calling Bears cheap is right on the money


>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
>> offers
>> >> 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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