The Beast

I’m fine with the deal as long as they continue to deal their other tradable assets. They need picks.

“Play ball!” - Porter from “The Sandlot”

Seems like it makes the most sense to campaign on it and forgive $10,000 a few months before the midterms to let it set in. I have no idea what they are going to do with gas prices and I am not sure why they wouldn’t try to get Mexico and Canada to pump out more oil unless they simply just can’t produce more. Seems strange to be trying to get more from Venezuela and Iran unless they need to diversify getting oil from different countries.

Out of curiosity, is anyone here donating to Ukrainian refugees or causes for Ukraine? I’d like to make a donation to help refugees but wondered where others are making donations.

Long but interesting interview with Fiona Hill. https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/28/world-war-iii-already-there-00012340

What would have to happen for NATO to so coordinated missile strikes on Russian military targets? This is what I was thinking of, even if it isn’t the same conflict at all. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/NATO_bombing_of_Yugoslavia

A similar conversation was had between a Russian war boat and the Ukrainian war boat. Unfortunately, those Ukrainians lost their lives. Putin is a thug and I hope his army gets neutralized in this war. I don’t know if the U.S. and allies would consider providing air cover, but my guess is the Ukrainian army is going alone with the weapons that were provided or they already had. Lastly, this statement is embarrassing. We should all be on Ukraine’s side if we believe in a democracy. I’m not surprised that he said it, but I do hope some in his party buck him on this. "I went in yesterday, and there was a television screen, and I said, 'This is genius.' Putin declares a big portion of the Ukraine — of Ukraine — Putin declares it as independent. Oh, that's wonderful. I said, 'How smart is that?' And he's going to go in and be a peacekeeper."

https://www.reddit.com/r/Damnthatsinteresting/comments/m1z8k1/bum_pinching_in_1971/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33270237/los-angeles-rams-coach-sean-mcvay-ponders-future-says-wants-prioritize-family

Good to see Sean McVay win a Super Bowl, hopefully he is able to retire when he wants to. Happy for Matt Stafford, Cooper Kupp and Andrew Whitworth. Joe Burrow will be back to the big stage and get a Super Bowl win in his career.

I saw that he passed away when I was reading last night, but ESPN didn’t mention it was a suicide. How tragic. RIP Jeremy.

So the long Bienemy interview went for nothing. Only one out of the nine HC positions went to a minority candidate. I see no issue with your proposal. It would be more of an incentive for teams to hire minority candidates.

If there wasn’t so much controversy surrounding Flores, he might have a good chance of getting hired by the Saints. I would hope the past charges against Bienemy would be viewed on an individual basis, that he would address them in interviews and Reid would vouch for him, but who knows. Leftwich or Bowles should have HC jobs although Bowles may get Arians’ job if he were to retire.

I don’t think we are, but he seemed to be the most human of the Wirtz family on the panel last night. I’m all for new ownership, but absent that, replace the old man with the young Wirtz and hope for the best. But what about a press conference to follow that town hall and do what they should have done last night?

If they were a good organization, they would have had a press conference that was transparent about the past, present and future in the organization. It would have provided transparency and a clear vision on what they will do differently. Reporters could write stories about the press conference, the Hawks could implement their changes and maybe do work for non-profits who support people who are abused. Wouldn’t it be better to take that route and any additional fines they will receive than have your owner go on a childish outburst? It wouldn’t replace Rocky Wirtz, but it would certainly be a step in the right direction. His son needs to take over soon.

I wouldn’t do it. If I remember correctly, NFL HC deals are guaranteed (unless there is cause like Urban Meyer, which I don’t fully know how that works), so they would have to pay that out if they fire Harbaugh. We will never know if Eberflus or Harbaugh would have been the better hire in terms of results because Harbaugh isn’t the Bears HC. But I’m satisfied with the moves they have taken, primarily because Pace got fired when Nagy was shown the door and their front office and coaching moves make modern football sense. I have always thought the way teams operated hiring within the Rooney Rule was somewhat unfair. They skirted the rules, bringing in a minority candidate just to satisfy the Rooney Rule requirement. There have been many minority hires, but there have been lots of snubs, like Eric Bienemy. Regardless of his legal issues since the early 2000s, he’s a good coordinator under Andy Reid. A team would be lucky to have him as their head coach. Lovie Smith was probably the best Bears head coach of my lifetime and he was a defensive coordinator from St. Louis. As for fixing the rule, incentivizing teams with a mid to late round pick to hire a certain percentage of minority and female coaches would be a good addition. High picks should continue to be awarded to teams who hire minorities as HCs and executive front office types. For head coaching interviews, try making it so a minimum amount of candidates of color have to be interviewed. If those candidates do not get the job, make it so all candidates who did not get the job get written and specific feedback for why they did not get the job. Consider a revenue stream from the league for minority owners. Significantly fine teams who don’t follow the new reformed protocols. Incentivize teams with either more salary cap room or more league revenue for hiring minorities for HC or executive front office employees.

So much fun and addicting! There is not a doubt in my mind that this white man’s owner’s club is widespread across the league. Some owners have taken some steps towards being equitable, like how McCaskey involves minorities in the hiring process and hired the first black GM. Others have not and have abused the Rooney rule with bringing in a minority candidate for a check the box interview. Given the amount of black players in the league there has to be a way for them to be able to own, coach and work for a team at the higher levels of an organization. Hopefully what Flores has brought forward will bring some meaningful reform. Agreed, especially the bolded.

Sometimes, the only way I can find people who disagree with me is to go online. For example, I have to go online to find people or stories with people chiming in who disagree with me on Covid precautions/mandates/vaccines or how much fault Biden is for inflation. Sure, I should stop reading the comments, but for all of the stupid comments, there is some conversation to be had there. I went after many of them on Twitter during a Vikings Bears game just to see how many of them had anything more educated or interesting to say than “Fire Nagy.” Most were too thick headed to respond with anything intelligent enough for a discussion. Some actually raised thoughtful points. There has to be a better way to engage with the other side of a perspective, but sometimes the internet is where the debates are at, even if it isn’t the temperature of the entire fan base, base or electorate. I’m not really calling you a meatball and think you can be skeptical. I don’t really give a damn about George and Ted. I just think it is fair to give the newly hired HC and GM some consideration rather than writing them off as soon as they get here. (Which I can see you are open to.) That is better than just pointing out all of the problems and either rooting for them to fail to say I told you so or being a fickle Bears fan and joining the band wagon when they are doing well and shitting on them when they suck. At least your takes are reasonable. I have asked people for some time what they want to see out of the offense and they can’t give me a straight answer. I have offered up do they want Peyton Manning, Drew Brees or someone if that caliber and I get crickets. Probably because they can’t figure out what they want to see out of a Bears offense. Frankly, I would love to see the Steelers offense when Roethlisberger was at his best or competence like the Titans or the Bills. I wanted Daboll because of what he did with Allen and that offense, but they didn’t go that route.

The bolded is what fans who love to hate always threaten, but it rarely happens. They still watch and they always come back.

I see fans like these dominate the Facebook threads and hear them flood the Score incessantly. It’s definitely more than a few voices. I can get past the negativity, but I definitely think fans need to be more realistic with their expectations. Look at the Chiefs, even that squad failed this year and have an elite offense. One year going from mediocre to the super bowl isn’t plausible. I’ve been after meat balls for years trying to get them to actually think and stop with the lazy analysis they have. I understand McCaskey hasn’t had results, but you and I both know they won’t sell, despite people wanting them to. If they sell, it will be after they move to Arlington Heights and will be sold to a bidder that will help their family keep their wealth. I’m upset with mostly people who don’t consider more than just “McCaskey bad, therefore we b**** about everything the Bears do.” Or if a coach says something funny in a press conference that he’s Marc Trestman or something. Either way these same meatballs will still watch the Bears and follow them even if they b****. They’ll continue to be fans regardless. They weren’t going to go get Harbaugh and probably weren’t for the asking price he probably wanted. Given the lack of draft capital, Payton wasn’t realistic either. This class of coaches probably didn’t give them what they wanted. In terms of your last point, I am skeptical of the OC they hired, but the Bears hired a defensive coordinator who was one of their longest tenured head coaches in recent memory. He couldn’t figure out the offense, but I am hopeful that this OC will. I would also love to know what people’s expectations are of the offense. Top 5 or top 10? How about being in the top half of the league? That seems more realistic.

1. When have you ever heard anything specific from a football coach or GM in a press conference? Why would they give what they are going to do away? 2. Fans got what they wanted with the firings of Pace and Nagy. They can be negative all they want but they are such fucking babies. “We haven’t won anything since the Super Bowl!” “This guy said something funny in the press conference, he’s Trestman 2.0!” “The McCaskeys need to sell the team, they are too cheap and didn’t pony up to get Harbaugh or Payton!” “They hired Eberflus, more like Everloose hahahaha!” “George isn’t a talent evaluator, he’s a football fan. He’s admitted it himself. We need a new owner who doesn’t hire Ryan and Matt again hahaha!” I read all of these things and yet, they all still come back and watch and pay to support the team in some way. These fans can do whatever they want, but at least consider the possibility of these new hires and what could happen. I understand their perspective but they should consider their expectations. Next year could be a bad year and they need to consider that it might take a year to retool. Look at the Bengals. Did it take them one year to get to the super bowl after getting the quarterback in place? No, it took two. And several failed years before that. I guess I’m willing to see what these guys can do and the results they bring before they are written off completely.

I’ve seen a lot of negative reactions from fans over the press conference. To some people, they must have needed to hire someone like Payton or Harbaugh to meet their expectations. We have too many people in this town who have knee jerk reactions and just want to b**** about anything and everything Bears. Maybe take some hope in the fact that they cleaned house and brought in some new faces. It’s what people wanted, but I hope they also consider their expectations, given that they lack a first round pick, need many holes filled are going to have some new faces on the roster. If not, I hope they continue bitching and waste negative energy on something they wanted to happen, to see Nagy and Pace fired and replaced. Side note, aside from some cheesy things Coach Eberflus said at the press conference and some newness awkwardness from Poles, I saw nothing to be concerned with and instead found it to be refreshing. Can’t wait to see what happens with some hope for success.

I know what you meant. It’s very sad.

Lots of Score listeners (especially the clowns at Chicago Fanatics) hate Bernstein, but he’s actually one of my favorites. He’s got some good thoughts as it relates to baseball and analytics and I enjoy his Bears commentary. Rahimi was a welcome addition to the show, but Dan is definitely on his best behavior now. His best days were when he was with Terry though. I enjoyed John Mullin’s work when he was with the Tribune, but he’s shedding light on a tough disease. His podcasts are inspiring. Cancer sucks.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/33175284/minnesota-vikings-request-permission-interview-jim-harbaugh-head-coaching-vacancy If the Vikings got Harbaugh, I wonder how pissed Bears fans would be.