Tommie Harris is a BARGAIN!!!

I just thought I'd share with you guys this hysterical picture.

Jay Cutler: Pour the Haterade

I keep debating about going into a in depth post about this, but I feel like it has been well covered how the overactive S*** storm over Jay Cutler. Two non-main stream pieces that I thought were very well done can be found

http://youcantplayhere.blogspot.com/2011/01/when-lines-get-crossed.html

and

http://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2011/1/24/1952992/jay-cutler-injury-nfl-soap-opera


I think the best description of what happened was said by Cris Carter. He said, depending on how you felt about Jay Cutler before the game, is how you felt when you saw him on the sidelines.

Basically what he is saying, if you hated Jay, then you saw him standing on the sidelines as a sign of weakness, but you already felt that way about him

I am a Jay Cutler supporter. Is he what I expected when the Bears signed him 2 springs ago and I stayed up all night celebrating? No, he's not as good as I thought. The doesn't mean I think he's any less of a competitor as any other QB in the league.

Sports Guy Loves a Bull?

After calmly observing Bill Simmons' anti-Chicago bias for the last six to seven years, I pretty much expect everything that comes out of his mouth (err.. computer?) regarding my teams to make me just a little mad. I mean, I like the guy, but c'mon!

Anyway, it appears now that he has fallen in love with Derrick Rose. How can you not, right? Some great tidbits from his Q&A on All-Star Weekend, in which he calls Rose the best point guard in the NBA and the clear favorite for MVP:

• Backstage intrigue: As the story goes, Rose took it personally when Wade didn't return two of his phone calls during the two weeks leading up to The Decision, then immediately shifted into "I'll show those guys a decision!" mode and devoted the rest of his summer to destroying both of them. Even if this sounds like the makings of an Us Weekly cover -- "ROSE TO WADE: YOU'RE A SELFISH BITCH!" -- there were enough rumblings within NBA circles that I believe this one. So yeah, throwing Rose on the same team with LeBryane could be interesting -- maybe not as rocky as Isiah allegedly freezing out MJ in 1985, but still pretty interesting.

Q: Does the East team have too many bad chemistry subplots? Won't that affect how it plays together?

A: Not necessarily. Back in the 1980s, Parish, Bird and McHale (the original Big Three before Perry, Don and Mole) coexisted with Bill Laimbeer even though they probably would have run the Celtics' bus over him under any other circumstances. It's basketball -- these guys have spent their entire lives playing with people they didn't like. Does it look like an episode of "Bad Girls Club" on paper? Sure. You have bad blood with Rose and Wade/LeBron (covered earlier); Rose and Rondo (their rivalry started in the 2009 playoffs and festered over during the 2010 Team USA scrimmages, when it became so icily competitive that Coach K decided he couldn't keep both)

I like this killer instinct stuff! I like it a LOT!

New Hunt and Halas Trophies

I am not sure if anyone else has noticed that the NFL has come out with new branding this year.

This includes

New AFC and NFC Logos.

New Preseason Logos.

New Post Season Logos.

And finally new Lamar Hunt and George Halas trophies for the winners of the AFC and NFC Championship games.

So if the Bears win on Sunday, instead of seeing this





you will see this trophy.




I am not a huge fan. I am not going to miss the old trophies too much, but the new ones look kind of incomplete. I also don't think they are as timeless as these trophies should be. It looks like a flavor of the month design. Seem cool now, but we will change this in 5 years cuase then they will be dumb. The old trophies didn't have this problem.

Let me know what you think

Bears on SI Cover

Well it's official, the Bears will become the latest victim of the SI Cover Curse. I anticipate Jay Cutler and Devin Hester to run into each other on the first play of the game and have them both simultaneously tear their ACLs.

Houston Oiler's Fight Song

After hearing this, I feel like my entire life has been a lie.




WTF, Can T-Pain Remix this one too? Thank goodness they are extinct, cause how can two football teams have identical fight songs?

NFC Championship: Armageddon

This will be the first time the Bears and Packers have met in the postseason since 1941 (according to ESPN).

Good game today - could have been a little bit better if Tillman had come down with the late interception, but I'll take a comfortable win like this any day.

Much more to come later from your fabulous Armchair Superstar Writing Staff, which has to go to work now.

I don't much care who wins tonight. Since Chicago beat the Jets and got stomped by New England, it's kind of a mixed bag - on the one hand, a rematch and chance for revenge (a la the Giants a few years ago vs. the Pats), and on the other, an easier potential matchup. Whatever, one week at a time, let's get ready for the Pack, shall we?

BEAR DOWN.

Indiana Beats Michigan, Hoosier Fans Exhale

The boys finally got one tonight at Assembly Hall, taking down John Beilein's Wolverines 80-61 behind strong efforts from Verdell Jones III and Christian Watford.

Confession time. I played Starcraft2 instead of watching the game tonight. My deal was, until Indiana won a Big Ten game, I wasn't going to watch another death march like the past two years have turned into.

Well, now I can resume having my heart broken -- the next two games are on the road at Wisconsin and then at Iowa. You may recall Iowa for having been terrible last year, and STILL managing to beat Indiana.

The Cream and Crimson at least have decent metrics this year. I'll hawk kenpom.com every damn day, it's the best information site in the college basketball scene, and Pomeroy has Indiana at No. 78 right now. That's good for last in the Big Ten. Iowa is ranked one spot ahead.

For comparison's sake, last year's Indiana team finished the year 183rd. So this is something of an improvement. By the way, both of the freshmen are in Indiana's top five, efficiency-wise.

I would be remiss in not explaining what I've been doing with my free time lately. As mentioned above, Starcraft 2 has eaten my life. You may be familiar with the original SC, which spawned professional leagues and a rabid fan base... in Korea. Can we cover eSports here? Meh. Why not? Check out some pro coverage, from one of my favorite commentators. And go Hoosiers.

New Alex Ovechkin "This Is SportsCenter" Commercial

Ranking Host Cities for the Next Winter Classic

SI.com’s Dan Shaughnessy wrote an article today saying the NHL should get rid of the Winter Classic. I do agree this year’s game was unfortunate with the rain, but the Winter Classic is a great idea and should be continued. Now that this year’s game is over, it’s time to start thinking of future sites. Below is my rankings for possible sites of next year’s (and future years) Winter Classic.

First off, I want to spread around who gets to play in the Winter Classic. So sorry Montreal, Edmonton, Chicago, Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburg, Washington, Boston and Philadelphia. If you played in the game before, then you are out of consideration (Montreal played Edmonton in the 2003 Heritage Classic which was the predecessor to the Winter Classic). The next issue becomes warm weather cities? I am not suggesting the game be played outside in the 70s (although apparently they have the technology for this) but what about teams with Dome’s nearby? The Stars playing in Cowboy Stadium sounds cool, but what about the Lightning in Tropicana Field (Rays)? I decided since Detroit hosted the Frozen Four in a dome to include domes. I know this will lose some of the appeal of having the game played in cold and snow and my ratings will reflect that.

Ohio Stadium (Columbus):

My number one choice would be to see a hockey game played in the Horseshoe. The Blue Jackets have had a great following since they arrived in Columbus and I could see 100,000 people coming out to see them play in the cities most beloved stadium. Just last month, Michigan played Michigan State in the Big House which was a huge success. So we know the game could work in a large college stadium. The issue I see though is the success of the team. They have only made it to the playoffs once (lost in Round 1) and do not have many household names. The NHL wants to promote this event and needs stars or good teams to do that.

Rogers Center (Toronto):


Obviously the Roof of the Stadium would be open for this. Toronto is a hockey crazed town and they would embrace this game. The stadium has already hosted games for North America’s 3 other major sports (MLB, NFL/CFL and NBA) so getting Hockey would be a nice way to round it off. Toronto is Canada’s biggest city and the Maple Leafs are Canada’s favorite team. Maple Leafs are an original 6 team. I see no reason why this game wouldn’t work.


BC Place (Vancouver):














Vancouver has been lobbying to get the Winter Classic played there. We know the city is capable of handling big events after hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics. The game being played inside the inflatable dome wouldn’t be as exciting but getting the game into Canada for the first time would be a plus.


Cowboy Stadium (Dallas):


Jerry Jones has wasted no time getting large events to come to his palace of a stadium. Cowboys stadium has been open for just two years already will have hosted the Super Bowl, NBA All-Star game and annually hosts the Cotton Bowl and a College Football Kickoff game. The stadium can host big events and would have enough time between the Hockey Game and the Cotton Bowl (played on January 7th this year).


McMahon Stadium (Calgary):


McMahon Stadium is home the CFL’s Calgary Stampeders and is located on the University of Calgary. Even though it only holds approximately 46,000 (with temporary seating) it is Canada’s 5th largest stadium. The stadium has hosted the Largest Grey Cup game ever (2009) so should be more then capable of hosting an event like the Winter Classic.

Target Field (Minneapolis/St Paul):














Target Field is the new home of Minnesota Twins. Getting Minnesota the Winter Classic would be great and hosting it either in Target Field or TCF Bank Stadium (University of Minnesota Football) would work. I picked Target Field because it was designed better to handle the cold then TCF was as we found out this NFL season.


Yankee Stadium (New York):

I was thinking this would be one of the top choices for next year. It’s North America’s biggest market, home of an Original 6 team playing in a brand new stadium. However, until they move the day the Pinstripe Bowl is played, there won’t be time to set up the field for another game. So would they move it to the New Meadowlands or Citi Field? I don’t think so, I think the NHL would prefer Yankee Stadium. Until they move the date of the bowl game or the Winter Classic, Yankee Stadium will be low on this list.


University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale/Phoenix):



The University of Phoenix Stadium has hosted a Super Bowl and a NCAA National Championship games. It has also hosted Wrestlemania proving it can be used for more than just Football games. Having hockey’s biggest regular season event played in the dessert would be a little odd. Also, there is a chance the Coyotes could move back to Winnipeg. If they move back, then they can play in the CFL’s Winnipeg Blue Bombers new stadium expected to be complete in 2012

Frank Clair Stadium (Ottawa):


Frank Clair Stadium is the former home of the CFL’s Ottawa Rough Riders, Ottawa Renegades and most likely home for an expansion Ottawa team in 2013. The stadium only seats 26,000 which is only five thousand more than Montreal’s regular stadium.

Tropicana Field (St. Petersburg/Tampa Bay) :














I am as a big of a fan of this stadium as you will find. But I do not see this as a likely place for the game. The main reason is the Lightning played in the stadium regularly from 1993-1996 (see picture) which would eliminate the novelty of the event. The stadium does have the NHL Attendance with approximately 28,000.

Radio Show

I haven't posted any of the radio shows in awhile, and some are probably a touch outdated due to the nature of the shows, however if you wanted to download any of the shows here are all of them from what we are calling season 1.

Show 1
Show 2
Show 3
Show 4
Show 5
Show 6
Show 7
Show 8
Show 9
Enjoy!