[CBFF] Bear of a task for underdogs -- chicagotribune.com

[Tom Shannon]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Shannon [mailto:tshanno at gmail.com]
> Sent: Wednesday, January 30, 2008 3:50 PM
> To: tshannon at rush.edu
> Subject: Bear of a task for underdogs -- chicagotribune.com
> 
> Bear of a task for underdogs -- chicagotribune.com

Funny the things that come out only a year later.  For instance:

>  Instead of handing off to get the first down and keep momentum
> rolling, offensive coordinator Ron Turner called his third straight
> pass. Grossman was sacked for an 11-yard loss. On third down, a
> rattled Grossman fumbled the snap. The Bears eventually punted, and
> the Colts kicked another field goal on the ensuing possession.

Only now does he say that Grossman was "rattled".  Before it was a problem
with Kreutz or that the ball was too slick.  These might still also have
been factors but only now does Grossman's mental toughness get properly put
into the equation.

>  "I don't want to be a distraction," Rivera said.
> 
>  Inevitably, he was. And it was the next season, after Rivera was
> fired, before any player would acknowledge how much of a distraction
> Rivera had created.

More obvious.  Still not understandable.  If they were distracted, it should
have been reported at the time.  Not just now when the repercussions to the
reporter and the players are minimal.

>  For all but 30 seconds at the end of a long week, Grossman handled
> the Super Bowl hubbub with as much aplomb as counterpart Peyton
> Manning. But all anybody will remember about the pregame hype will be
> the time Grossman used "ignorant" to describe the media.
> 
>  Grossman didn't mean all the media, but it didn't matter. A tired
> pregame story line had been revived. A target on Grossman's back
> already big enough to be picked up on Doppler radar got even bigger.
> Any benefit of the doubt he might have received for, say, throwing an
> interception that was returned for a touchdown had been destroyed.

Once again, now we find out that the media did, in fact, have a vendetta
against Grossman because of things he said (which, like this slip up,
presumably weren't reported).  Only now we find out that was part of the
reason that he couldn't get a break from them. 

>  5. Realize that the definition of injury changes here
> 
>  You wonder if Cedric Benson had it to do all over again whether he
> would have willed his way back onto the field instead of leaving for
> good after a second-quarter knee injury. You wonder how much respect
> Benson would have built among teammates and peers seeing him test his
> bum knee going through a hole rather than jogging on the sidelines.

[head shake]  Only now does the criticism of Benson's toughness come from a
journalistic source.

I find the fact that at least a couple of these things weren't reported like
this at the time instead of a year later to be bad.  While I appreciate at
least hearing the truth now, shouldn't the press be tougher and more honest
than this?

Tom S.


Yes, we have to divide up our time like that, between our politics and our
equations. But to me our equations are far more important, for politics are
only a matter of present concern. A mathematical equation stands forever.
  - Albert Einstein
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