It's official: Bears playing for pride from here out

OK, believers in "The Way" I know I haven't posted in, wow, six days, but I'm back and looking to reflect on what was a wild end to Thanksgiving Weekend.

First off, let me start on my Bears getting pummeled in Minneapolis yesterday at the hands of the Vikings. I made a Twitter post about this last night that pretty much ends what may be the most disappointing Bears season of my lifetime. I can't remember ever having such high expectations shattered like this in my years of following this team.
And again it came down to just being overpowered by the Vikings on both sides of the ball. There were some times when it looked like it could have been a closer game as the Bears defense forced a fumble early and helped keep the Vikings to just 7 points in the first quarter.
After that, missed chances proved too much and the Vikings just showed how good they were when they made it a 24-7 game at halftime. And it was another "here we go again" moment for this team.
Then the second half happened and pretty much slapped the Bears out of anything resembling a search for something positive to take out of the game. That's what 2 yards of total offense (YES TWO GODDAMN YARDS!) will get you in the second half.
This team is no where near where people thought it was at the beginning of the season, especially me, after picking them to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl in February.
I'll get to what could be an answer to fix this team in a minute in one of my other pressing issues later...



And watching the game with (GULP!) my favorite Vikings fan, Amanda, I can say I officially heard it from all angles. Well, she's too sweet to be mad at, so hey. She wins the bet we had and now I owe her a date. :D



Yep, Charlie Weis has officially been shown the door at Notre Dame. And I've been saying for a while after reading something by the Chicago Tribune's David Haugh that this was the guy I though the Bears should look at if he was available. I mean, let's be real, this is now Jay Cutler's team and General Manager Jerry Angelo needs to do everything in his power to give him the the tools to succeed. Bringing in Charlie as the offensive coordinator would be the first step to show he's committed. I mean, he's got a heck of a track record with quarterbacks (starting with Tom Brady) and would be a breath of fresh air in the Windy City.
I like this as the start to build around Jay and get him the pieces he needs. Plus, I'm sure with an OC like Weis and a QB like Jay, the Bears could draw the No. 1 receiver they are looking for. It is the one thing they are lacking from the skill players offensively. That's not mentioning the offensive line which needs to be reworked this offseason because it is been downright awful this year.

And yes, I can tell you that this is Jay's team. Even though my favorite Bear, Brian Urlacher, piled on the guy I go to bat for anytime someone bashes this team, Jay. I guess when a member of the media, in this case, Yahoo! Sports' Michael Silver, spends a day watching the Bears game with the All-World middle linebacker.
As David Haugh puts it in the Tribune today, the comments Brian made make it clear he indeed may have called the new quarterback a "Pussy" on the eve of training camp.
Take a look for yourself.



No this is not yet the "Nussie Hunter" portion of the broadcast, I have a good one planned for you today, that's the Sports Illustrated "Sportsman of the Year" Derek Jeter with "The Mrs." Minka Kelly in St. Bartz. (Yeah, she's hot!)
He did bring the trophy back to the Bronx this year and as I found out from spending a lot of time cheering with my boy Vaughan during the playoff run, the guy is a hero to NYC. So, hell why not. I'd say he deserves it.
Oh, and plus, I'm always looking for a reason to get Minka in this space in a bikini so when Jeter gives her the grand tour of St. Bartz, it's like gasoline on a fire! Ha!

Alright, we've now reached the Nussie Hunter portion of today's blog and I must say it's a special treat today. We're going to do a side-by-side comparison today for the first time in Wilber's Way history. Also, be sure to make your voice heard as to which one of the following women is the better choice by commenting below.
I'm sure by now you've heard of the situation involving Tiger Woods Thursday night around 2:30 a.m. when he wrecked his car. Well, I'm not going to re-hash the events, but I will show you both of the women he's "involved" with and you tell me which one you would rather have. I'm going to go on record as saying Elin Nordegren, the incumbent wife and mother of his two children is much hotter than this Rachel Uchital he is rumored to have had an affair with.

Here we go:
Elin Nordegren:


Rachel Uchital

Cardinals or Seahwawks? Bird battle is on

We are headed to the Wild Wild West where the Arizona Cardinals of all teams won the division last year and made it all the way to the Super Bowl with a great run before playing in one of the greatest Super Bowls ever.
A lot of things have changed the landscape of the division this year and I'm not so sure the Cardinals and Kurt Warner can hold to their crown. Yeah, I've got my favorite here.

NFC West
Arizona Cardinals
Coming off what could be the most improbable run since the Amazin' Mets won the World Series in 1969, the Cardinals are hoping to follow it up. They certainly have the offensive firepower with Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin.
I'm going to give Ken Wisenhunt the benefit of the doubt that the defense will be better this year with another year in his system. The schedule does go in their favor with two games against the intra-division Rams plus the Lions (in back-to-back weeks no less in December).
Most important player: Edgerin James is gone and an again quarterback's best friend is a good running game. So Tim Hightower needs to at least run enough interference for Warner to get the ball to Fitzgerald and Boldin for this team to shine and for the first time defend a division and conference title.

San Francisco 49ers
The Michael Crabtree situation is just the tip of the iceberg here. I give coach Mike Singletary every chance that he's going to point this team in the right direction, but you can only get so far on coaching. There is no quarterback and Frank Gore can only do so much with nine guys consistently in the box. They'll have a shot at winning some games because of the schedule, it's a matter of finishing them off, though.
Most important player: It will come down to the defense giving the offense short fields and a chance to be in games. This is Singletary's strength and while it improved toward the end of last year, there's nothing saying it can continue to do so into 2009.

Seattle Seahawks
Mike Holmgren is out and Jim Mora, Jr. is in. It shouldn't make much of a difference who is the head coach here. Look for a marked improvement if the emergency room can see few visits. In comes Julius Jones to lead the running game, complimented by T.J. Duckett.
I really like this defense led by Lofa Tatupu. They should be OK in bringing back the luster in Seattle.
Most important player: It all comes down to Hasselbeck. If he can stay healthy, his targets like Houshmanzadeh and Nate Burleson. It was clear last year that without him, this offense can't run. It sounds like everything is going to be good with him, so be ready for some fire here.

St. Louis Rams
Can't get worse than it did last season for the Rams. Head coach Steve Spagnuolo revamped the defense and is trying to bring back that gold shine that came with the change from simple yellow on those helmets to gold a few years ago.
Stephen Jackson and Marc Bulger are still in town, but those are the only names that ring out on this team. There are no weapons on the outside for Bulger to throw to.
Most important player: As Jackson goes, so go the Rams. The first half of the schedule is not kind to the Rams as they play Minnesota, Green Bay and Indianapolis. Should get a little better in the second half with New Orleans, but not sure how much that is going to matter.

Here we go. Prediction time:
Seattle Seahawks 10-6 - Hasselbeck stays healthy and they win the division. Easy choice.
Arizona Cardinals 9-7 - Not much of a Super Bowl hangover, but not enough to get them back in the playoffs.
San Francisco 49ers 5-11 -- No real quarterback puts this team in a pickle.
St. Louis Rams 3-13 -- One game better in the standings, but much improved overall. Schedule just too much for them to overcome.

Here's a look back at each division we've done so far.
Sept. 1: AFC South
Sept 2: AFC West
Sept. 3: AFC East
Sept. 4: AFC North
Sept. 7: NFC South
Sept. 8: NFC West (Today)
Wednesday, Sept. 9: NFC East
Thursday, Sept. 10: NFC North
Friday, Sept. 11: Playoffs and Super Bowl XLIV picks

OK, now to some "real news." Ha! Well, not so much. Saw this today in my prep for the blog. I showed you Friday, the girls of the Lingerie Football League. Well, one such girl showed a little more of herself Friday night in Chicago. Watch this video here and enjoy the pic. I'd considering buying the PPV if I knew this was going to happen more often. Ha.



No that's not the Nussie Hunter pic of the day. Got a better one for you. This one is a WAG that you all will enjoy. It's a hat tip to "The Captain" for getting with another lady. I'm talking about Minka Kelly, the new lady of Derek Jeter. Who as Covino and Rich discussed is probably a better "playa" than a player for the Yanks. She was the topic of this NY Times story today which asks "Minka Who?" but if you're a fan of "Friday Night Lights" you already know her. I'm just helping the introduction process.