[CBFF] Bears need more than self-help (Couch)

[Steve Behrens]

Vic, come on.  It's obvious the writer didn't want to jump on the bandwagon
that Grossman was ill prepared and didn't put in 100%, so he went with
Grossman and the team tried as hard as they could but *had* to lie about it
because they just aren't a better team than what we saw. (Rather
than Grossman being honest to a fault, which I think most of us here would
agree with) Do you honestly believe that?  More importantly, do you think
this writer honestly believes that?  Or, more likely, do you believe it just
was an opportunity to rip along a new angle that no one has as yet?

You know how I feel.

-Behr


On 1/5/07, Victor Waldron <victor at 19net.org> wrote:
>
> This is an inquisitive piece. I don't really see it as "negative spin"
> as much as he's questioning whether the Bears can really turn it on when
> they want to. I have to agree, and it makes me nervous. It contrasts
> with the Ditka SB team that played at a high level throughout December
> even when the games were "meaningless" (the Miami game notwithstanding),
> then rolled through the playoffs.
>
> V
>
> Steve Behrens wrote:
> > It's like, 'what other negative spin do we have left??  Have we covered
> them
> > all?  Oh, here's one.... ok, we're all over it!!'  What galls me, and
> I've
> > said it before and I'll say it again, is that there's no accountability
> with
> > these guys when they write crap like this and get it wrong.  It's just
> > forgotten propaganda and ignored rhetoric, yet they have no problem
> pointing
> > out other's faults and mistakes, whether real or fabricated for
> convenience
> > sake to sell their newspapers.
> >
> > I'd call them what I really think they are, but as someone has pointed
> out
> > recently, the list needs to keep it's collective heads above the
> derogatory
> > name calling level...
> >
> > -Behr
> >
> >
> > On 1/5/07, Victor Waldron <victor19 at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Bears need more than self-help
> >> (http://www.suntimes.com/sports/couch/198291,CST-SPT-greg05.article)
> >>
> >> January 5, 2007
> >>
> >> BY GREG COUCH Sun-Times Columnist
> >>
> >> I would like to get worked up over Rex Grossman saying he wasn't
> >> trying hard enough against Green Bay. His head wasn't in it. The game
> >> was meaningless. He'll never do that again.
> >>
> >> And this is where I would start in on how a player, or team, can't
> >> just turn it off, then on. A true champion would never doze off. Stuff
> >> like that. But here's the problem:
> >>
> >> I don't believe a word of it.
> >>
> >> No way. This is too convenient a company line: Coach Lovie Smith said
> >> it was hard for the team to be focused for a game ''like that,'' and
> >> defensive coordinator Ron Rivera said the buzz is back in practice:
> >> ''I got a sense of it in the meetings.'' Last week, he said, practice
> >> was ''like pulling teeth.''
> >>
> >> This thing has been spun perfectly by the Bears, and yet it has led to
> >> national criticism and even ridicule of Grossman.
> >>
> >> It would be an insult to you if the Bears were actually trying to
> >> convince you of this. But actually, they're trying to convince
> >> themselves.
> >>
> >> It's not scary that the Bears weren't trying hard against Green Bay.
> >> They were trying as hard as they can.
> >>
> >> That's what's scary.
> >>
> >> Why blame focus? Think of the alternative. The Bears were challenged
> >> to a fight against Green Bay. The Packers kicked their butts. And what
> >> was left for the Bears to say?
> >>
> >> ''We're not that good anymore.''
> >>
> >> Or this: ''We weren't focused, but we've learned. Now we'll try
> harder.''
> >>
> >> I get it. I understand. It's about self-belief.
> >>
> >> And it's not just about Grossman. But he's the only one to publicly
> >> point fingers at himself. So he's getting the heat.
> >>
> >> Playing like a rookie
> >> The Bears are about to start the final steps of a supposed Super Bowl
> >> run, and another first-game loss is looking awfully realistic. And
> >> Grossman can either say that he hasn't improved or that he wasn't
> >> trying hard enough.
> >>
> >> Which would you choose?
> >>
> >> The truth is, Grossman doesn't know how to stop what's going wrong. He
> >> is just now completing his first full year, and he's making rookie
> >> mistakes. It seems that he has no instincts, that he's counting
> >> one-two-three, two-two-three, pull my arm back now, look this way now,
> >> throw ball now. It's not natural or comfortable, or fast enough.
> >>
> >> It's because he's still early in the learning process. Or, it's
> >> because he isn't any good. We don't know yet, and won't for another
> >> year.
> >>
> >> But for this week, if he can say it's about preparation, then it's
> >> just a simple switch to flip.
> >>
> >> ''I was going to play about a half, and it was the last game, it was
> >> New Year's Eve,'' he said, explaining his 0.0 rating against Green
> >> Bay. ''There were so many other factors that brought my focus away
> >> from what is actually important, and that's something that I am never
> >> going to do again.''
> >>
> >> Click, he'll be fine in the playoffs, right?
> >>
> >> He's not lying. He has been refreshingly honest about his faults all
> >> year. But this is a comfortable diversion for an athlete's psyche.
> >>
> >> At this point, Grossman is a disaster. He might be better next year,
> >> but with the playoffs just a week away, this is the only time that
> >> matters.
> >>
> >> Yet I have to say it: I'd still start him over Brian Griese.
> >>
> >> It's amazing what a mess a 13-3 team can be in. The defense hasn't
> >> stopped anyone in three weeks. Devin Hester is starting to look
> >> confused on returns. And at quarterback, we're still having the same
> >> argument we had in the preseason.
> >>
> >> None of that is from lack of effort.
> >>
> >> Good Rex the only hope
> >> Griese is the veteran who doesn't make many mistakes, and Grossman
> >> makes every mistake imaginable. Griese is businesslike, puts up decent
> >> numbers, will never have a 0.0 rating. But he also does not lead.
> >> During a dinner in a Broncos' training camp one year, Sports
> >> Illustrated reported, there were six empty chairs between him and the
> >> nearest teammate. He never took Denver to the playoffs. His worst
> >> moments came at the biggest times.
> >>
> >> Griese is a C-plus quarterback, Good Rex is an A and Bad Rex an F.
> >>
> >> That's the choice. To me, Griese isn't likely to win in the postseason
> >> -- as the defense isn't dominant enough anymore to win by itself --
> >> and Bad Rex absolutely won't. So the hope is in Good Rex.
> >>
> >> By the middle of the second quarter, Smith should know which Rex is
> >> playing. If it's Bad Rex, regardless of the score, then it's time to
> >> switch before he throws the game away.
> >>
> >> The only hopeful argument about the Bears is that their potential
> >> first-game opponents stink. It's like hoping you can win a beauty
> >> contest because the other contestants are uglier.
> >>
> >> But it doesn't help much to admit that, I guess. And this week, Smith
> >> made a change in the way the Bears practice, toughening it up more
> >> than he did before last year's playoffs. They went in full pads, which
> >> meant more hitting.
> >>
> >> ''We had the best practice we've had in a long time,'' he said
> Thursday.
> >>
> >> He's trying to force the life and effort back into the team.
> >>
> >> That can't hurt, for sure. But it's only a diversion.
> >>
> >> _______________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
> > _______________________________________________
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> >
> >
>
> --
> victor at 19net.org
> Mobile: (917) 842-9842
>
>
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