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.

Brewers bullpen taking shape with Hawkins in fold

Forget for a minute that LaTroy Hawkins is wearing an Astros jersey in that photo will you? If you listen to Brewers General Manager Doug Melvin and what he's had to say about the 37-year-old Hawkins, Melvin and manager Ken Macha have sights on making Hawkins one of Trevor Hoffman's set up men for the seventh and eighth innings with Todd "I sing a mad tune and drink lots of Jaeger" Coffey.
He's also a back up plan in case - heaven forbid - something were to happen with Hoffman and he has to miss time as the closer.
He's a little old for me to belive, but I'm on board with Melvin who introduced Randy Wolf on Monday and could be bringing in the pieces to revamp the pitching staff and get this team back in the playoffs.
Of course, to end games there's "Trevor Time" and Hawkins, Stetter and Coffey will set it up. The Brewers also signed another lefty from the Rule 5 draft from the Indians and are filling out the bullpen. He's got the back-end of it about filled out.
That leaves likely three spots toward the 25-man roster heading into Spring Training that will likely get decided at camp. I'm saying Jeff Suppan is in that mix with Chris Smith, Tim Dillard, Josh Butler and John Axford. I'm leaving Chris Narveson off that list because I'm actually going to give him the No. 5 starter spot, giving the Brewers three southpaws in their starting rotation. Just think about how awesome that would be? Yeah, pitching will not be a problem for the Crew in 2010. Let's just hope all the youth around Ryan and Prince will be able to hit! That's the only thing that can send this season into a tail spin. The opposite problem as last year.
It looks like Corey Hart is going to stay and Melvin is going to give him one more year to bust out of his slump in right field. I'd say Jody "Fucking" Gerut - I Know it's not your middle name, I just like saying it! - is going to get plenty of looks in right and maybe in center if Carlos Gomez struggles, but Melvin is putting the onus on the offense to come through, now.

OK, now I got some non sports bits for you. This first one is pretty straightforward. Just tell me what you think. Bizarre or disturbing?



Next up is Alicia Keyes on the Colbert Report. Yeah, she's smoking, but she's not today's Nussie Hunter feature. This is more of a funny clip because Colbert is on point with this from last night. Love him doing the "Empire State of Mind" bit. I tried embedding it, but the code is bunk. So just click the link and take the first video.

Alright, now it's time for the Nussie Hunter. Pretty sure that just got you ready for this. I used to watch "Laguna Beach" on MTV back in the day and was pretty pumped to hear she Ms. Kristin Cavalarri was on "The Hills" last year. Now she's doing Rolling Stone and has an amazing photo shoot to show for it. Umm, I'm gonna say she is still as hot as she was in high school! Haha.