Bear Down Chicago Bears...

If you haven't heard this story you may not be a Bears fan...or you just may be avoiding good news in this day and age.

Turns out that Cliff Forrest, age 10, of New York City has reached out to former Bears player William "the refrigerator" Perry in a rather unique way.  He has gift the ex-nfl star his own Super Bowl Championship ring.

According to numerous news reports, Perry had to sell the ring when he ran into hard financial times dealing with Guillain-Barre syndrome, an autoimmune disease that can lead to weakened muscles.

The ring found it's way to Mickey Mantle's Restaurant in NYC...where Forrest spied it. Seems this ten year old really likes his sports collectibles. So he bought it using $8.500 of his college fund (wish I had that kind of money to blow). But, after researching Perry on the Internet he decided that Perry could use the ring more than him.

According to NBC sports, "Cliff was able to add to his collection on Saturday. Although he wasn’t looking for anything in return, Cliff received two autographed Bears jerseys and some cards from an appreciative Perry, who was conducting an autograph-signing session. “It was exciting,” Cliff Jr. said. “He looked really happy. He said, ‘Thanks.’ “It’s what I wanted to do. When I Googled Mr. Perry after I got the ring, I saw he had the disease and went through rough times. And I thought he needed it more than I did."

My favorite part of the story was the last line when it was pointed out that Forrest isn't even a Bears fan.... he's a Steelers fan.  Either way I say good on ya kid!

App addiction

I am always amazed at the price of apps in the iTunes app store! There is always that one app that is like $999 and does essentially nothing. But, somehow got approved by the Apple App deptartment. I always see those as the great in joke around the Apple office.

Employee 1: "Let's see what the most over priced piece of crap is that we can push out and actually have someone buy."
Employee 2: "Yeah, useless and at a price point that people will have to believe it's awesome. How about just under $1000...let's say $999!!"
#1: "Awesome, I just made the first one!!"

That's the only way I can justify some of the crappy apps I have seen in the past. Essentially my phone is filled with a ton of free apps and only a handful of things that I have paid for. There is a large grouping of games that were all purchased for $.99 with the most expensive one being the $4.99 I spent on Press Your Luck.

Year in and year out though there is one app that is worth it's weight in gold, MLB's  "At Bat" app is a steal at $14.99

For the year you will get every home and away radio broadcast, news, video highlights, the occasional free MLB.TV game. Every displaced home fan should look into this app. The only down side is that if you listten to multiple games a week or if you watch one of the free games/videos then you can chew through your data plan pretty quick!

Pretty damn awesome though if you have unlimited data and a need to listen to every Cubs radio broadcast during the regular season and spring training.

Final thoughts on the Bears Season....

The season is over, the Bears are once again not playing for the Super Bowl and I have yet another gambling wager slip that is now worth nothing!

When the Bears lost to the Packers it was the end of a great season. But, a season with a lot of ups and downs.

A real low point (other than the NFC Championship game loss) was during the October 3rd game when the Giants found a way to sack Jay Cutler 9 times...in the first half. That game also saw the Bears rack up a total of 110yards of offense for the game. Thanks to the crappy play of the other teams in the division the Bears were still okay at this point. But, the nay-sayers were out in force. Jay Cutler would miss time with a concussion and the bears would go on to lose three of their next four games including a pair of three of three point defeats at the hands of the Seahawks and Redskins (two of the worst teams in the league)

After a reshuffle of the offensive line that saw Jay Cutler better protected the Bears would win seven of their last eight games. The only blemish on the last half of the season being a whooping a the hands of the red hot New England Patriots two weeks before Christmas.

With a playoff win against the "Division Champion" Seattle Seahawks the team fell flat against the Packers. A team they had the chance to keep out of the playoffs during the last week of the regular season.

While the NFC Championship game was hard to watch I don't fault Jay Cutler for not playing the second half. Turns out he had a torn MCL which is not an easy thing to play with. So all the Twitter and Facebook haters can take a step back. There were a few points that I did question the coaching staff.

Late in the third (or fourth) it seemed we had a Chicago timeout called just as we were getting ready to snap the ball and the result of the play was going to be a long first down pickup. Not the first time that has happened. Also, what the hell was the coaching staff thinking in the fourth quarter calling an end around on 3rd and 3?

If you're going to make that call don't you think you should at least put the ball in the hands of your fastest weapon in the person of Devin Hester? Just saying.

What I did see was the the Bears are in desperate need of some legit wide receivers. While the group of Hester, Knox, Davis, Bennett and Aromashodu all tried their best to be "the man" we don't have that one guy that other teams fear. We also need a third quarterback. Cutler is still the man, but Hanie showed me a lot of heart and skill with the way he played in a big game with little notice.

That interception by BJ Raji was just a fat man being in the right place at the right time. I mean really...how often is a 300+ pound lineman going to be dropping back into coverage like that? The Shields interception at the end was a bad throw and a crap way to end what was looking like a miracle comeback.

At least I have the Cubs starting soon! But, in true Chicago sports fan mode there's always next year...granted with the next season in doubt the phrase may actually be,. "There's always two years from now!"

Go Bears

Watching this Bears game I start imagining a world where I see a Bears team as Super Bowl Champions.

Then I have to temper my enthusiasm a little bit when I remember that we are playing a team that won the worst division in football. Granted they did knock off the defending champs in the Saints last week...but this team is awful!

The only mistake the Bears have made all day was an interception...thrown by Matt Forte. That was a bad play, but the Bears were up 28-3 at the time, that didn't hurt them.

So bring on the Cheese knobs and lets get this thing done next week so we can get to another Super Bowl!!

Go Bears!!

Give the Man a Donut (ring)

So, while it's not as bad as Felix Pie and his Twisted Testical....Kaz Matsui's injury reads a lot worse...

The Houston Chronicle reports that Kaz Matsui underwent surgery Monday to repair an anal fissure, and he's expected to open the season on the 15-day disabled list.

Thanks to Wikipedia: An anal fissure is an unnatural crack or tear in the anus skin. As a fissure, these tiny tears may show as bright red rectal bleeding and cause severe periodic pain after defecation. The tear usually extends from the anal opening and located posteriorly in the midline. This location is probably because of the relatively unsupported nature of the anal wall in that location.

So...Pie has his testicle sewn to the inner lining of his scrotum and he is going to miss five days. But, an "anal fissure" is two weeks! Now that I look back at the Wiki entry...gotta say...I still think I would rather have Testicular Torsion...

Sorry Man!

Televised Reality Curling? Really!!!

To quote the great Jim Rome, "Just because you are good at something doesn't make it a sport!"

I fall back on that phrase every time I see the sports of:

Competitive Eating
Cup Stacking
Double Dutch (granted I would die trying this one)
That one gymnastics event with the ribbons....just not sure about that one!
and my favorite CURLING

Now it seems that the demand for televised curling has risen so high that NBC is thinking of adding a Curling show to it's stable of "reality" shows.


I am trying to think of a time when curling was something I actually cared about? Is there actually a time during the year when there is no Football, Baseball, Basketball, or (god forbid) Hockey? I think it is safe to say that, since I am not Canadian (or retarded) curling is nothing more than Men with Brooms.



There you go....the only time I ever cared about Curling! The Paul Gross movie....Men With Brooms.

Proof that Canadians have humor! God I miss Due South!!

Now, back on topic...NBC is thinking of bringing a reality show to the masses about a sport that very few care about (in my opinion)! Who knows maybe there are teens in the slums and ghetto's of this great nation who are thinking to themselves, "If only I had a chance to show what a kick ass Curling Guy (sorry don't know the right term) I am....that's my chance to escape all this!"

According to the linked story about said show...NBC is banking on the draw of either Jon Bon Jovi or John Mellencamp to bring in the views. We all saw how well the Bon Jovi influence worked on the AFL tv ratings.

The other great idea here is Curling in HD..nothing like watching ice melt as you throw a...what the hell is that thing supposed to be anyway, down the track? lane? end?

Oh well! Curling is a strange "sport" I guess I have just never been so cold and bored that I ever thought about trying to do/watch it!

AD #9

I don't have a clue why it is that I find Peyton Manning so damn funny, but I do!