Fixing the Bears: What's the biggest key?

Two days removed now from Jay Cutler's historic interception fest with DeAngelo Hall and things are starting to come out about what the Bears saw and why they went after the former Falcons and Raiders DB.
Mike Martz told WBBM Chicago Hall just "guessed" and they had planned on going after him all game coming in and he guessed right throughout the second half.
Well, that's all fine and dandy, but I guess Jay must have gotten shell shocked with what what going on after the first couple that he could not make the adjustments in his head and make better throws when the rush was around him.
Martz does not throw Cutler under the bus in the interview, and actually talks him up.
Things are pretty clear though heading into the bye week for the Bears. They are ranked No. 5 in total defense and No. 30 in offense. That's why they are 4-3 and still in first place of the NFC North.
Going forward, things need to get better. If there is a way to cinch up the offensive line, that needs to be done. Mike Tice (yes former Vikings coach) runs that unit and to be honest, he's kind of in the same boat as Brewers manager Ken Macha was with pitching. There isn't much help there to work with and guys are just being taken to task. It's not so much they are missing one or two fundamental keys they can work on, it's much more than that with this crew.
But I look back at the Carolina game when the Bears HAD to run the football to get ahead and rely on Matt Forte to get them where they wanted to go. Well, with Jay back from injury, they went right back to a 65-35 pass-run split and at time forgot they had he and Chester Taylor in the backfield. It's been rather disappointing at times. The line showed, if for just a little bit, they could run block. So maybe they need to build some confidence that way and it will lend itself to the pass blocking. I"m just thinking out loud here.
The schedule doesn't lend itself to much more time to figure this out and the losses could start to pile up if things continue to go south in the second half of the season.


Now to turn attention to my other favorite sports team, the Brewers. Word from my guy Tom Haudricourt, is that the Crew has narrowed its list of candidates from eight to four. Only two of the four finalists are known, at the moment, though with White Sox bench coach Joey Cora (above) among them. The other is former D-Backs manager and current Mets scout Bob Melvin (below).
Since we know just two guys, I'm going to talk about those two, one of which I'm pretty high on, the other I'm kind of lukewarm on.
Cora would be coming from Chicago where he has seen how Ozzie Guillen has handled the Sox the last few years. Say what you will about Ozzie, but I'd guess those guys in the clubhouse love him because he gets every single one of those guys as players and can relate to them (after they figure out what he's saying, of course). Cora likely plays a big role in that, too, just a few years removed from being a player himself. That might be the one thing missing with Macha. The guys didn't really get along with him in the clubhouse and didn't really have his back. Makes it rather hard for guys to get motivated after he says something they don't find much sense in.
On the Melvin side, he has been away from the game a bit and his last stint at manager ended with him getting fired into a season and did not really show much after some of his talent went away. I know a coach and manager is only as good as what is around him, but it kind of shows what he really meant for the team: not much.
I'd almost lean toward the fresh face to breathe some life into the position and let the young players flourish. We went the old manager and bringing them back into the game before and he didn't really sync up with Ryan and Prince and it ended badly here. The second interviews are going down as we speak in Milwaukee and GM Doug Melvin, Asst. GM Gord Ash and owner Mark Attanasio are working on the matter. I'm hoping they make the right decision.


Today is opening night in the NBA boys and girls. To be real, I'm not really that into the NBA (but I could go for a game of the new NBA Jam about now). There is one storyline I am watching though, and that is how LeBron James and the Heat will fair this season and how will they be perceived. Early on it looks like the "Evil Empire of the Association" has been born. But with Dwyane Wade and King James being two of the biggest names in the game and with big endorsers, Nike and Jordan can't sit back and let their names be tarnished for long. I'm sure you've seen the ads by now, but here they are for D3 and King James.


And now King James:


We're pretty ACTION PACKED today, but I have one more thing before we get to the Nussies. Today, Oct. 26, 2010, is the 25th anniversary to the date in the first Back to the Future that Doc Emmit Brown is at Twin Pines Mall and has a run in with some Pakistanis. I encourage you to watch it if you call yourself a fan. I know I will be! GREAT SCOTT!

Alright, time for the Nussie Hunter portion of the broadcast. I was on the subject of Jay Cutler earlier and it's well known now that he is dating former The Hills star Kristin Cavallari. Well, she posted on her Twitter the other day that the two of them carved pumpkins. Be sure to check out the photo here (Shouts to BearsGoggleson.com).
I figure since we put one side of the couple at the top of the page, why not put the side you and me would rather look at, here. Then check out more pics of her, here.

A year of Wilber's Way: Of course we back MJ!

It's been a year since I went from standard sports nerd who would bicker to anyone who listened to a sports nerd with his own .com. It's hard to believe, but I have a couple special treats and thank-yous for you the fans that have made this space both a success and a blast for me to pen when I've gotten a chance in the past year.


I have to start the day with a discussion on Michael Jordan's comments regarding LeBron James and the trio that has formed in Miami. If you haven't read the comments, be sure to check them out, here.
Now before everybody jumps and asks what does MJ have to do with any of this, let me say he's one of the greats, of course some guy with a microphone on NBC is going to ask.
But I want to look at what he's saying for a minute. Michael is one of the fiercest competitors out there. And as he said he would have never called up Larry or Magic to join forces. And while it wasn't just him that won those six NBA titles, when the game was on the line, everyone, including Scottie, deferred to him to deliver. Then when MJ gave it up to Paxson, B.J. or Steve Kerr, they delivered.
I know you're thinking that Michael didn't speak up when Karl Malone and Gary Payton went to play for the Lakers. But look where they were in their careers. Both were in the twilights of it all and came on as role players to help Kobe. You almost wanted to see them win it.
And what about KG, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce in Boston? KG had suffered for years in Minnesota, getting one real legit run with Sam Cassel and Latrell Spreewell. And Ray made noise in Milwaukee with the Bucks in 2001, but nothing before getting dealt to the Sonics and was looking for something big. It made sense and you felt for all three guys. Especially after the Celtics lost out on the No. 1 pick in the draft months prior to Danny Ainge making the trades to get that team together.
This Heat team is different, LeBron is coming off back-to-back MVP seasons and Dwyane Wade carried the team to an NBA title a couple years back. He just needed help. So he goes and gets Chris Bosh, who has not even played in a playoff game, as an inside presence, and said two-time MVP. It seems to me like LeBron doesn't want to be "the guy" when it matters and will defer to Wade in the crunch time. Now Bosh is no Magic or Bird, but Wade and James are two of the top three players in the NBA right now. Some compare it to the AAU mentality that a lot of the guys have in the league today, and I see it. Most of the top teams have ridiculous names on the same team because they are friends. It's not something we've seen in the NBA, EVER.
I guess we'll just have to wait and see if it's the move that will get the Heat many titles, not just one.

OK, moving on to some fun stuff as part of the year-celebration, I found this picture of Carl Pavano growing his mustache.


Now I'm all about a guy growing his mustache out as part of the team, but Jimmy Traina at SI.com's Hot Clicks does not even mention John Axford, who saved yet another game tonight for the Brewers after taking over for the all-time saves leader, Trevor Hoffman.


Decide for yourself which is better, but I'm going with the Ax!

Alright, now for the REALLY good stuff as part of the year celebration, the Nussie Hunter has not one, but two Nussies for your enjoyment.
The first is Anna Kournikova, who threw out the first pitch at a Cardinals game a couple days ago. I'm the farthest thing from a Cards fan, but she looks great in pig tails and the jersey, if I must say so. You can see more here.


Alright, now the second Nussie of the day has been all over the dude sites the past couple weeks and next month with grace the pages the Playboy. If you don't know her yet in America, you need to. Her name is Kelly Brook and she really hasn't done anything than be a WAG, but she looks damn good in a bikini, as you can see below. And check out a ton more, here!