Today in 1954, R&B singer Johnny Ace had a concert at the City Auditorium in Houston. Between sets, Ace was playing with a revolver. When someone in the room said, “Be careful with that thing,” Ace replied, “It’s OK, the gun’s not loaded. See?” And pointed the gun at his head, and pulled the trigger. And found out he was wrong.
The number one album today in 1965 was the Beatles’ “Rubber Soul”:
Today in 1964, a group of would-be DJs launched the pirate radio station Radio London from a former U.S. minesweeper anchored 3½ miles off Frinton-on-the-Sea, England.
It’s probably unrelated, but on the same day Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys had a nervous breakdown on a flight from Los Angeles to Houston. Wilson left the band to focus on writing and producing, with Glen Campbell replacing him for concerts.
The pernicious influence of unions reared its ugly head today in 1966, when Britain’s ITV broadcast its final “Ready, Steady, Go!” because of a British musicians’ union’s ban on miming. The final show featured Mick Jagger, The Who, Eric Burdon, the Spencer Davis Group, Donovan and Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick and Tich.
Proving that there is no accounting for taste, I present the number one song today in 1958:
The number one single today in 1962 was by a group whose name was sort of a non sequitur given that the group came from a country that lacks the meteorological phenomenon of the group’s title:
The number one single today in 1963:
The official introduction of Gary Andersen as Wisconsin’s new football coach apparently was delayed by the snowpocalypse.
Assuming the Mayans weren’t right, let’s share some opinions about Andersen, the first UW coach with no previous UW ties (other than almost beating the Badgers in Madison this season) since Notre Dame defensive coordinator Barry Alvarez (who once played Wisconsin as a Nebraska linebacker) replaced Don Mor(t)on as the Badgers’ coach.
First, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel’s Jeff Potrykus:
When Bret Bielema took over as Wisconsin’s head coach in 2006, he inherited a veteran-laden team coming off a 10-victory season in 2005 under Barry Alvarez.
Bielema’s record in his first season: 12-1, with the lone loss at Michigan.
When Utah State’s Gary Andersen officially takes over, he will inherit a veteran-laden team that could make a run at another league title in 2013. Under Bielema, who left for Arkansas after the Big Ten Conference title game, the Badgers qualified for a third consecutive appearance in the Rose Bowl.
UW could lose as few as six starters after the Rose Bowl, including tailback Montee Ball and left tackle Rick Wagner, linebacker Mike Taylor and three starters in the secondary.
But how will the 48-year-old Andersen, who is set to be introduced as UW’s head coach Friday, fare on the field and the recruiting trail beyond 2013?
“Wisconsin . . . doesn’t have a history of recruiting Utah or junior-college guys,” Big Ten Network analyst Tom Dienhart said Wednesday, “which made up a great majority of the Aggies’ roster under Andersen.
“But I can counter with recruiting is recruiting. Recruiting is about developing relationships.”
Those who have watched Andersen and his staff battle for recruits note that after he took over the Utah State program, he gradually became able to beat state rivals Utah and Brigham Young for players.
That is a significant development because for years Utah State was a distant third in the state in terms of resources and perception.grams – Ohio State, Alabama, USC – that select and then there are the rest that have to recruit.
“And not just recruit, but they have to project the talent. He did so at Utah State.”
The Wisconsin State Journal’s Tom Mulhern points out something mentioned here in passing Wednesday:
One of the intriguing aspects of new University of Wisconsin football coach Gary Andersen’s background is his close relationship with Ohio State coach Urban Meyer. …
Andersen was the defensive line coach at Utah under Meyer in 2004 when the Utes went 12-0 and earned their first BCS bowl victory, topping Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl. …
Andersen’s background as a defensive coach and his keen knowledge of Meyer’s offense must have appealed to UW athletic coach Barry Alvarez during the coaching search.
The State Journal’s Tom Oates adds:
Andersen didn’t match all of the criteria used by UW athletic director Barry Alvarez during his search, but that doesn’t mean Alvarez failed.
Just the opposite, in fact. Although he comes from an alternate football universe, Andersen appears to fit many of the requirements Alvarez was looking for in a coach and his track record suggests he has the personality and adaptability to alleviate any concerns about the rest.
Based on the criteria he outlined two weeks ago and the things he looked for when he hired Bret Bielema seven years ago, Alvarez’s ideal candidate was this: A college head coach with a defensive orientation who understands the culture at UW and in the Big Ten. A coach who will maintain the status quo schematically and is an energetic recruiter who can bring in good kids and maintain a high-quality program.
On many levels, Andersen fits that description.
He is a proven success as a head coach, using his ability to recruit, relate to and develop players to author one of the nation’s more remarkable turnarounds at Utah State. The Aggies were 9-38 in the four years before he arrived and are 26-24 in the four years since, including an 11-2 record this year and a No. 18 national ranking.
His teams are known for being tough-minded and physical, a style that fits the Big Ten. UW fans found that out when Utah State threw a huge scare into the Badgers before dropping a 16-14 decision at Camp Randall Stadium in September.
And he has a long association with top-notch defenses. He was a key defensive assistant on Utah’s undefeated teams in 2004 and 2008, and his defenses at Utah State have improved dramatically every year he’s been there. This year, the Aggies rank 15th in the nation in total yards. …
Alvarez is adamant about maintaining UW’s power running game, as he should be. The Badgers’ one natural recruiting advantage is their ability to find huge linemen to run behind. To employ an offense that uses smaller, faster linemen would negate that advantage and could lead to disastrous results (See: Morton, Don).
Former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst had great success by layering an NFL-style passing attack over UW’s traditional running game. Can Andersen find a way to keep some of his spread concepts and yet utilize UW’s behemoths in a power running game?
His defensive track record suggests he’s a coach who is willing to adjust his schemes. Andersen coached a 4-3 defense at Utah and, until this season, at Utah State. He switched to a 3-4 this year because that’s what his talent dictated.
The good news is Utah State featured balance between running and passing. That meant Alvarez didn’t have to sell Andersen on the value of running the ball, only how best to do it given UW’s talent pool.
The Journal Sentinel’s Dave Heller interviewed three Utah State beat writers — Wade Denniston of the Logan (Utah) Herald Journal, Kevin Graham of KFAN in Salt Lake City, and Tim Olsen of the Cache Valley (Utah) Daily:
Q. How would you describe him as a coach?
Denniston: Energetic, passionate, dedicated. He’s definitely a players’ coach and the Badgers should love him. He’ll do things the right way and his teams will be tough-minded and physical. Coach A will definitely put an exciting product on the field. … Gary is a great guy. He was easy to work with. Wisconsin is getting a winner and it’ll be fun to see him and Urban Meyer battle it out now.
Graham: Everything you want in a head coach – attention to detail, motivator, disciplinarian yet players respect and love playing for him. He’s direct and honest. What you see is what you get.
Olsen: Coach Andersen is a very passionate and fiery coach. You can just see the glint in his eye, and when he sets a goal you believe he and his team can reach it. When he first arrived at Utah State, he said the Aggies would be competitive with the top in-state schools (Utah and BYU) and the top teams in the WAC (Boise State at the time). USU has not only competed with Utah and BYU during Andersen’s tenure, but has defeated each school. The Aggies also won the WAC title this season with a 6-0 conference record – USU’s first outright conference title since 1936. …
Q. What do you remember about Andersen’s reaction to playing at Wisconsin? …
Denniston: … After the game: “We played at a high level. That defense for Wisconsin wasn’t good, but a great defense. They are very well coached. They play football the right way. I was even more impressed after watching the tape twice yesterday. The kids reacted to the road very well. They handled the situation well. We came up a play short at the end. There’s no way, shape or form one play wins or loses a game like that. If the kick goes in, yeah it’s a game-winning kick, but it didn’t win the game alone. I feel the same way about it not going in. There are a lot of young men that you look at who could have made a game-winning play. That’s my big thing is to tell the team to do your job and worry about yourself.”
Graham: Outside of the disappointment of barely losing that game he was very impressed with the atmosphere there. I know he was frustrated with the fan support at Utah State. Despite producing a winner they barely got 17,000 fans to attend the games.
Olsen: One of Andersen’s favorite phrases (other than saying a player is tremendously tremendous) is to say “that is big time Division I football.” That’s exactly how he described the atmosphere at Wisconsin – big time Division I football. It’s no secret that Camp Randall is known as one of the best home venues for college football in the country. Following the game, Andersen said it lived up to its billing.
Q. Utah State ran a spread, which won’t fly at Wisconsin. I know Andersen is more defensive-minded, but what are his theories on offense?
Denniston: He loves having a dual-threat quarterback, which is all he’s had at USU. While the Aggies are a spread offense, they are pretty balanced. They like to take shots down the field with their speedy receivers, then grind it out on teams, as well.
Graham: He implemented the spread based on the personnel he felt he could recruit at Utah State giving the program the best opportunity to be successful. He has a sharp football mind and will adapt to an offense that will best fit his players at Wisconsin.
Olsen: Andersen is a defensive minded guy, but offensively he will try and match the strengths of his players or team. In 2011, Utah State had a loaded backfield. The Aggies had two running backs in Robert Turbin (Seattle Seahawks) and Michael Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) who were drafted into the NFL. This year’s starter, Kerwynn Williams was also in the mix. That team finished the season at the No. 6 team in the country rushing the football with nearly 283 yards per game on the ground. He will be able to similarly match his offense to his players at Wisconsin.
Q. What kind of defense does Andersen run? Aggressive? Blitz a lot? Press corners?
Graham: Andersen prefers an aggressive style of defense. He wants corners with speed and the ability to play man press coverage. He likes to confuse offenses with a variety of looks and pressure packages.
Olsen: Andersen loves an aggressive style defense where he can blitz a lot and leave his corners out on an island to cover. The Aggies had a game earlier this season where they recorded a school-record 13 sacks against San Jose State. Another great example of Andersen’s defensive style is Utah’s win over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl a few years back. He likes to use speed and different formations to attack and confuse opposing offenses.
All interesting observations. The points about defense might be worth more attention than what’s been noted about offense. Obviously Wisconsin has emphasized defense under Alvarez and Bielema, but I wouldn’t call the Badger defense especially aggressive. Particularly in Alvarez’s early years, it would have been better described as bend-but-don’t-break — don’t let the offense get behind you, give up yards, but don’t give up points or big plays. They were more aggressive when they had high-quality defensive backs, such as Troy Vincent, Jamar Fletcher and Scott Starks, but for the most part UW played a 4–3 with not much blitzing. And obviously it worked.
As for the spread, the State Journal’s Jim Polzin reports:
The lifeblood of UW’s successful program under Alvarez and Bielema, who left for Arkansas earlier this month, has been mammoth offensive linemen — many of them state products — opening holes for a series of talented running backs.
But some think a form of the spread offense could be successful at UW if that’s the direction Andersen chooses to go.
“The big road graders are still athletes,” longtime Mequon Homestead coach Dave Keel said. “You think of the best UW linemen, they pull. A good college lineman is a good college lineman, regardless of the offense.
“The challenging part of the spread is the four wideouts or five guys who can run like the wind and a quarterback who can also run. … It’ll be a challenge to get that right quarterback in there. And if you decide to run your quarterback, you better have two or maybe even three. If he chooses to stay with the spread, he’s going to have to adjust his recruiting just a tad, but not with the linemen.”
How do you know Keel is right? By looking at how many UW offensive linemen are, or were, NFL offensive linemen. Mark Tauscher played for run-oriented Badger teams and pass-oriented Packer teams, and did just fine.
The number one album today in 1968:
Today in 1969, the Supremes made their last TV appearance together on CBS-TV’s Ed Sullivan Shew, with a somewhat ironic selection:
Today in 1970, Army veteran Elvis Presley volunteered himself as a soldier in the war on drugs, delivering a letter to the White House. Earlier that day, the head of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had declined Presley’s request to volunteer, saying that only the president could overrule him.
I’m sure you’ll agree this blog requires visual aids:
Seeing the National Weather Service use the phrase “Life-threatening impacts” makes one think that exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
As of Wednesday night, in our corner of southwest Wisconsin 14 to 18 inches of snow were predicted, along with winds of 20 to 30 mph and gusts to 40 mph. That is certainly something one would not choose to drive in, and, yes, if you got stranded in that weather — in, say, snow deep enough to cover the exhaust pipe of your car, or wind chills below zero that could be potentially life-threatening.
For the NWS to say that, though, invites people to assume hyperbole, similar to the tornado warnings without actual tornadoes. Last March, we in Wisconsin were on the northern end of a huge storm system that caused a two-day 70-tornado outbreak that killed 40 people farther to the south. What we did get? Several inches of wet, heavy snow. Less than two weeks later, our weather was almost summer-like. That’s Wisconsin for you, the state where the term “normal weather” is an oxymoron.
When you’re young, forecasts of snow lead to one question: Is school called off? (The answer here: Yes.) School was rarely called off in Madison — if I remember correctly, once for a day and a half in 1973, once due to an ice storm in 1976 (the same year as the Madison teachers’ strike, which wiped out two weeks of school), once in 1979 because our middle school had flat roofs of the same kind that caved in at my soon-to-be-alma mater, and once in high school, with a few early closings and late openings added. The cliché was that you’d listen to the radio in the morning and hear every area school district except Madison had closed for the day.
When I got to Grant County, school seemed to be called off all the time, with the added strange feature of no school, but that night’s sporting event still going on as scheduled. (They don’t do that anymore.) Obviously rural Wisconsin has more roads that take longer for snow to be removed, but the additional reason, a school district administrator told me, was the fear of lawsuits should school go on as scheduled and a school bus crash causes injuries or deaths.
My mother will tell anyone who asks about the day school was called off right after lunch and she intercepted me walking home in a blizzard. The worst storm I recall, however, wasn’t in Wisconsin; it was on our (attempted) trip to Florida in the middle of, yes, a blizzard. (Some people would take the early morning phone call from their neighbor the meteorologist as a hint to not go. Not us.) Things seemed fine until we got into Illinois and I saw, for the first time in my life, a whiteout — we couldn’t see past the hood of the car. We got to Chicago without hitting anything (despite having to get the car jump-started due to a battery problem unrelated to the weather — hint number two ignored by us), and decided to press on regardless, channeling our Viking ancestors.
We stopped channeling our Viking ancestors between Portage and Merrillville, Ind., because Interstate 65 in Indiana was worse than Interstate 90 in Illinois. A tractor–trailer materialized in front of us, and we decided where he was going, we were going. And that turned out to be a Phillips 66 truck stop, where we slept on the floor that night. The next day, we got to a hotel … back in Portage, because that morning an Indiana state police officer got on the PA system at the truck stop and announced that anyone who tried to go farther south would be arrested.
We did get to Florida a day late, where it was about 45 degrees at Disney World. The only reason we got to Disney World at all was that Dad decided to take the long way around — the Indiana Toll Road to South Bend, and two-lane U.S. 31 to Indianapolis, a long bypass around closed I–65.
The worst snow I’ve ever driven in was the fault of WFRV-TV (channel 5), where I was making appearances promoting Marketplace Magazine on WFRV’s First News program … at 6:15 a.m. My paranoia about missing my live shot usually meant I was out the door from Ripon around 4:30 a.m., making me a good half-hour early at the studio. One particular day, with a foot of snow predicted (and nearly every school district in WFRV’s viewing area closed for the day), I was out the door at 3:30 a.m., driving through a foot of unplowed snow between Ripon and Oshkosh, followed by weaving on 41 where only one lane at a time was open. Yes, I had my all-wheel-drive Subaru Outback, but an all-wheel-drive station wagon is not a four-wheel-drive pickup truck with a foot of ground clearance.
The irony is that if the Mayans are right, we don’t have to shovel this snowfall, because, you know, their predicted apocalypse is, depending on whom you believe, today, Friday or Saturday.
I’ve noted before here my skepticism about end-of-the-world predictions, using as my reference guide Matthew 24:36, Mark 13:32, and Acts 1:7, all of which say, quoting Mark, “But of that day and that hour knows no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.”
The song at the beginning is the most obvious (at least for those from the ’80s), but not only apocalyptic-themed song; Ultimate Classic Rock suggests others:
In case the Mayans are wrong, A Brief History of the Apocalypse helpfully lists the next predicted ends of days, including the pope that follows Benedict XVI, 2017, 2020, 4,500,000, etc. (I particularly like Nov. 13, 2026, the day the Earth’s population will reach infinity, according to a 1960 Science magazine prediction.)
Reform your lives; the end is near … someday.
The number one British album today in 1969 was the Rolling Stones’ “Let It Bleed”:
The number one British single today in 1980 came 12 days after its singer’s death:
The number one song today in 1986:
The number one album today in 1975 for the second consecutive week was “Chicago IX,” which was actually “Chicago’s Greatest Hits”:
The Wisconsin State Journal reported last night:
The University of Wisconsin is set to hire Utah State’s Gary Andersen as the Badgers’ next football coach.
A source close to the football program told the State Journal on Tuesday night it is a done deal: Andersen is UW athletic director Barry Alvarez’s choice to succeed Bret Bielema, who left to become the head coach at Arkansas.
Multiple sources earlier in the day pointed to Andersen as the leading candidate and indicated a final decision could come quickly.
This is interesting because Andersen was nowhere to be found on the list of early coaching favorites.
Perhaps he should have been on the list, though. Andersen led the Aggies to what would have been a monumental upset of Wisconsin in Madison in September had it not been for a missed 37-yard field goal that preserved UW’s 16–14 win. Then again, maybe it wouldn’t have been an upset:
Utah State, currently No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, finished the season 11-2 overall. That included a 6-0 record and first-place finish in the Western Athletic Conference. …
Andersen was named Utah State’s head coach on Dec. 4, 2008, after five seasons as the assistant head coach, defensive coordinator and defensive line coach at Utah. He helped guide the Utes to a 13-0 record in 2008, when they finished No. 2 in the Associated Press poll after beating Alabama 31-17 in the Sugar Bowl.
In his four years at Utah State, Andersen, 48, has a 26-24 overall record. He took over a program that was a combined 9-38 the previous four seasons.
He was reported to be a candidate for several coaching openings, with his name coming up at Colorado, Kentucky and California.
Truth be told, Andersen’s got an impressive résumé, with experience on both sides of the ball.
This part is interesting, and gives the lie to a comment Alvarez made about, of all things, UW’s football uniforms, when he said of coach Bret Bielema, “It’s his program”:
Andersen’s hiring is a surprise, because his name has not come up in the coaching search prior to this and his team runs a spread offense. Alvarez has made it clear he doesn’t want to convert to a spread offense.
“I don’t have any problem with our scheme,” Alvarez said recently. “I don’t perceive us as a spread them out, fast pace, no huddle, one back, five wides. I don’t see us doing that because that’s not the type of kid we can consistently recruit and we have to remember that.
“You know what the plan is. It starts with those big palookas up front.”
But Andersen came up mostly as a defensive coach — specifically, the defensive line.
He would likely have no problem changing his offensive style to suit UW, if that’s what Alvarez wanted.
Utah State ranks No. 33 nationally in scoring offense, averaging 34.9 points per game, and No. 23 in total offense, averaging 469.1 yards per game.
The Aggies have been even better on defense, ranking eighth in scoring, allowing an average of 15.4 points per game, and 15th in yards, giving up 322.1 per game.
If Andersen is the best possible candidate, why would Alvarez hamstring him by telling him what kind of offensive style Alvarez wants? Or is this speculation on the part of the State Journal? Alvarez could have hired Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Mel Tucker or Seattle Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell (both former players for Alvarez) if he wanted to be that dictatorial about football style.
Football in the West, particularly the past and present iterations of the Western Athletic Conference, is wide open, to say the least. (Except at Air Force, which runs the wishbone.) Utah ran the spread at the behest of former coach Urban Meyer, who went undefeated one season. Nontraditional offenses such as the spread (well, it used to be nontraditional) often are the choice at schools whose football fortunes have been moribund for a long time. The theory is that putting up lots of yards and points attracts fans and generates excitement in the program.
That is not the issue at Wisconsin, of course. Two reasons the 2013 Badgers may look a lot like the 2012 Badgers on offense is that (1) even without Montee Ball they have a lot of good running backs, and (2) based on this season they have exactly one receiver on the roster, Jared Abbrederis. I would like to see UW equally proficient at running or passing, which they were under former offensive coordinator Paul Chryst. (In previous ground-bound seasons, I don’t know why a defensive coordinator would not simply line up everyone between the tackles, no more than five yards behind the line of scrimmage, and dare UW to throw.) Interestingly, Utah State this season was ranked exactly the same nationally in rushing offense and passing offense — 37th — and they were 26th in offensive yardage and 36th in scoring offense.
Anyway, as I argued here before, you do not want a coach whose success is predicated on a scheme. Don Mor(t)on claimed the veer would lead to victory, and it did — to be precise, six victories in three seasons. Alvarez wasn’t a system coach — he wasn’t known for a defensive system such as, to use NFL example, Buddy Ryan’s 46 Defense or the various Cover-2 disciples, such as Chicago’s Lovie Smith. Systems eventually get figured out, wherever they’re played.
If the reports are correct, take a look at Andersen’s assistant coaches. Many of them may well be coming to Wisconsin. (Except Mike Sanford, named head coach at Indiana State.)
The biggest thing that happened today wasn’t in music, it was in movies, today in 1968:
The number one British single today in 1958:
Today in 1961, Elvis Presley got a dubious Christmas gift in the mail — his draft notice:
One day late, StevePrestegard.com brings you our great tradition of dumping on Da Bears after yet another defeat at the hands of the NFC North (repeat) champion Packers.
(“Our”? Is your dog writing columns now? you ask. Answer: No, because fat chihuahuas don’t have opposable thumbs.)
The Chicago Sun–Times’ Sean Jensen thinks this is indeed a representative game for Da Bears:
In the most pivotal of regular season games, against the rival Green Bay Packers, the Bears many maladies in recent years under Lovie Smith were on full display.
The unforced errors, like Jay Cutler’s interception near midfield with 96 seconds remaining in the first half of a 7-7 game. The repeated failure to convert short-yardage runs. And the inability to prevent Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers from making the clutch plays to extend drives and toss touchdowns.
Even when the Packers handed them a couple of gifts – a fumble and a botched lateral on a punt return – the Bears could only muster a pair of field goals.
The Chicago Tribune’s Brad Biggs quotes wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who shot off his mouth last week:
“It’s the same every single game,” said Marshall, who stirred things up during the week with his passionate anti-Packers news conference. “We need to be held accountable. What I have to do is try my best to keep it together and not let this affect me because it’s starting to affect me more than it should.”
There is no guarantee general manager Phil Emery, who gambled in trading for Marshall, will shake things up at the end of the season and fire coach Lovie Smith, who is signed through 2013. The Bears close out the season at Arizona and at Detroit, and with 10 victories, they would have a reasonable chance at reaching the postseason.
Things are slipping for Smith when it comes to battling Green Bay, the opponent he made such a big deal of in his introductory news conference. This game was made closer by two missed field goals from Mason Crosby, whose job status is now tenuous, at best. Smith is 2-9 against quarterback Aaron Rodgers after ending Brett Favre’s mastery of the Bears.
On his third offensive coordinator in four seasons and fourth overall, it’s fair to wonder if the team will ever get that side of the ball right under Smith. It’s also worth wondering if chairman of the board George McCaskey will play a central role in end-of-season decisions. It may come down to candid discussions about whether Smith and his staff or a flawed roster are more to blame for a painful free fall.
Consider this: If you add up the records of Brett Favre as a Packer and Rodgers against the Bears, you get 29 wins and 12 losses. That’s the record of two quarterbacks against Jay Cutler, and before him in reverse order, Jason Campbell, Caleb Hanie, Josh McCown, Todd Collins, Kyle Orton, Rex Grossman, Brian Griese, Jonathan Quinn, Chad Hutchinson, Craig Krenzel, Chris Chandler, Kordell Stewart, Henry Burris, Jim Miller, Shane Matthews, Cade McNown (not to be confused with the aforementioned Josh McCown), Moses Moreno, Steve Stenstrom, Erik Kramer, Rick Mirer, Dave Krieg, Steve Walsh, Peter Tom Willis, Will Furrer and Jim Harbaugh — the complete list of Bears starting quarterbacks since Favre’s first start against Da Bears Oct. 25, 1992.
This piece from the Sun–Times’ Rick Morrissey fits in the circular firing squad category:
‘Two of the people I don’t care about: fans or media.’’ — Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, Dec. 16, 2012
That might be the quote of the year, not just for its Yogi Berra clumsiness, but because it perfectly represents the disdain the Bears have for the people who follow them.
Usually we get only a glimpse of the team’s true feelings via a dirty look or good, old-fashioned condescension. But now it’s all on the table, in words, impossible to misconstrue. Urlacher, the Bears’ future Hall of Famer, made the above statement Sunday after Fox-32 sports anchor Lou Canellis asked him what he thought of the people calling for the firing of coach Lovie Smith.
“Those people don’t know what they’re talking about, obviously,’’ he added.
Urlacher doesn’t care about the fans. And neither do the Bears, who charge an average of $111 a ticket and laugh at you poor, witless slobs all the way to the bank.
It would be easy to say Urlacher was simply lashing out on an emotional issue, but if you’ve paid any attention to this franchise during the Smith era, you know that the Bears treat media members like nonpersons. It means that fans, by extension, get the same nonperson treatment, with all the eye-rolling contempt that goes with it. …
In his nine years as coach, Smith couldn’t have been more dismissive of the media. He has never cared that, by doing so, he was also deeming fans as unworthy of his valuable time and deep well of football knowledge. He has made a career out of saying nothing — not out of having nothing to say, but out of sheer disregard for his audience.
He’s not alone.
Phil Emery rarely talks with the media. He is the general manager of an NFL team. Amazing.
Virginia McCaskey, the owner of the team, makes herself available to reporters about as often as white smoke wafts from the Sistine Chapel.
You can count on one or two fingers the times chairman George McCaskey, her son, has sat down with the media as a group this year.
That’s how a player of Urlacher’s stature — a player whose jersey hundreds of people wear to Bears games — can say publicly that he doesn’t care about the fans. It’s shocking it came out of his mouth. It’s not so shocking an attitude like that would be allowed to take root and grow in Lake Forest. …
Holding to form, Smith said Monday he was unaware that the person most closely associated with the franchise had ripped the paying customers the night before. At least quarterback Jay Cutler admitted Bears fans had a reason to boo.
I’d like to tell you all this would change with Smith’s firing, but I’m not sure it would, not with the McCaskeys in charge, which, as far as I can tell, is for eternity.
I can’t tell you how many times over the years I’ve had people tell me that Bears ownership needs to change. It’s like saying a mountain needs to move. The McCaskeys aren’t going away. You don’t get to choose who owns your favorite football team. Life is unfair that way. In Chicago, life is cruel that way.
CBS Chicago’s Adam Hoge has little good to say either in his weekly grades:
190 total yards in the biggest game of the season. That just about says it all. The Bears actually got off to a decent start by committing to the run, but then the offensive line happened — again. Roberto Garza’s false start on the first drive was a killer. Still, the Bears managed to get off to a 7-0 lead in the second quarter by using creative formations to get Brandon Marshall open. But then the Packers scored and it was as if the Bears panicked.
Dom Capers deserves credit for having the Bears’ number, but let’s be honest, it’s as easy as stopping Brandon Marshall this season. In fact, it’s mind-boggling that the Packers and 49ers are the only two teams that have refused to play press coverage on Marshall, essentially taking him out of the game and daring others to step up.
This week’s blunders go deep into the week’s preparation and possibly even beyond the coaching staff. The inactive list was so packed that Michael Bush dressed even though he couldn’t play. How does that happen? Kahlil Bell was waived by the Jets last week — are you telling me you couldn’t cut Josh McCown for the weekend just to get a healthy body for the biggest game of the year?
Mike Tice no longer deserves a pass. Yes, the offensive line is horrible, but he’s partially to blame because he vouched for J’Marcus Webb and Gabe Carimi. He has an elite wide receiver, one of the best pass-catching running backs and a more than adequate quarterback. It’s now Week 16 and Tice hasn’t found a way to consistently score points.
Amazingly, Mike McCarthy made the biggest coaching blunder of the game (and maybe the season), yet the Bears couldn’t take advantage of it. The offense didn’t even gain a yard.
Yes, you don’t often see a four-play zero-yard scoring drive, which only happened because of the fumbled kickoff return. Since the Packers won despite that, to call that the biggest coaching blunder maybe of the season seems excessive. Then again, if I had to cover Da Bears, I wouldn’t be in a good mood either.
Steve Prestegard.com: The Presteblog 