Cubby-Blue

Bears 35 Seahawks 24. Some photos from the game.

I am in a permanent state of goose-bumpsia, and it's not from standing outside in the snow all day yesterday.
Next Sunday at 2:00 Chicago time, the Bears will play the Packers in the NFC Championship here at Soldier Field.
The Black and Blue Division Collision will come true.
Try to think of something more worthy of looking forward to.

(Well, besides a Cubs World Series...)

To do it, the Bears had to beat the Seahawks yesterday, and that they did with ease.

It looks like they're peaking at the correct time, the same as the Packers.

I CANNOT WAIT FOR NEXT WEEKEND!

Anyway, here are some shots from yesterday's game, and if you like to take pictures (I do), the snow and cold and stark Bear uniforms are a hard subject matter to beat.

Here you go, and I'll see you tomorrow.

Lastly, please take a moment, on his day, to think about Martin Luther King Jr. 

Pete Carroll's got the Devin "Hester-Fester"

I read here that Pete Carroll thinks the best way to contain Devin Hester is to, well, to go ahead and kick to him and just, you know, do a better job on coverage.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

It's like the Bears have this license to cheat with Hester. They start the game right off showing that extra ace - they don't even have to hide it in their sleeve.

And you know that ever since Seattle beat New Orleans, Hester has been gnawing away at Pete Carroll's brain.
So I just thought I'd give that a name - the Hester Fester.

By the grace of the Football Gods, 2 tickets fell into my hands yesterday.
I emailed Carlson immediately, but he's already hosting a Bear's party.
Then I got ahold of Morgan.
The last time we went to a Bears playoff game?

That would be January 12th, 1986.
Bears 24, Rams nothin'.
Singletary and snow, and no place to go for Eric Dickerson.

Couple weeks later, they won The Bowl.

My eyes just rolled back into my own head.

 

Jay Cutler: The Most Hated Man In The NFL because... he won't talk?

Man, did you read the sports yesterday?
First I read Haugh on the Trib.
He is really really mad at Jay because Jay didn't answer any of his questions appropriately at a Halas Hall press conference.
The whole story is pretty silly.
Then, I went and read some stuff from some guy in Seattle.
Turns out he's pretty mad at Jay too, and the slant of his story is the Bears are boring.
The "snooze button" of the NFL.
I guess Jay wasn't in the mood to talk at this thing - I'm assuming all these writers were at the same, non-talking Jay press conference, and it is weird I guess because probably if it's a press conference you're supposed to talk. 

But then I read Rick Reilly, who must be SUPER MAD at Jay for not answering any of his questions in a manner Rick deems appropriate because Rick says, "If he's not The Most Hated Man in the NFL, he's in the running."

Because of a press conference. 
So Rick dug around and has a bunch of nasty stories about Jay the non-talker, dissing the likes of John Lynch, John Elway, and some reporter who asked what QB he looked up to as a kid ("Nobody," said Jay). 

So, it's weird but I guess I don't really care about Jay not answering questions, and I don't think anybody really thinks that means he's any less prepared for a big playoff game.
I mean... do you? 

Are you mad at Jay because he could own this town if only he'd give an answer to questions like who his favorite quarterback was when he was growing up? 

I really really doubt that the players care if he answers any questions. 

They probably just want to knock his teeth out anyway, right?

Anyway, it's playoff time in Chicago.

Glad Jay's not mooning any helicopters.

 

Reed Johnson is back!

This, of course, is the painting from 2008 when Reed Johnson made "The Catch" and achieved legendary status among us Cub Fan types.
And if you're gonna say "Reed's Back", this is a pretty good shot of that.

Anyway, I'm insanely busy and can't really hang around, but...

SUPER happy for Reed and for us, but a word of caution - Reed had a rotten time in LA (see numbers).
He agreed to a minor league deal and he's been invited to Spring Training.
So lets wish him the best and hope he does well.
Remember there's Alfonso, Byrd, Fukudome, and Colvin already - and that's a ton of talent. 

Still, wouldn't it be awesome to see Reed sprinting around like a crazy man in the outfield at Wrigley once again?

Go Reed! 

Greg Maddux is in the right position right now.

You know what's cool about Greg Maddux being in the position he's in right now?
He's exactly like a rich bachelor uncle who doesn't really have any responsibility except to show up once in awhile and spoil us with comments and advice like sparkly presents all wrapped up in a nice big bow, then he can haul ass outta here and disappear again for awhile.
But we know he's thinking about us, and he's gonna keep bringing us gifts.

I've seen and read some serious angst - ANGST - over this Matt Garza trade.
All of this Hot Stove League stuff - I like to compare it to if it happened before there were blogs, and if this trade happened back then it would have maybe been a paragraph in the back of the sports section.

Over at Bleed Cubbie Blue, they posted a tweet from Jim Hendry saying that Maddux was a "big proponent of the trade". 

And (I apologize because I don't remember what sports talk station or show it was, but) SOMEBODY on Monday attributed a quote from Maddux that went something like this: Chris Archer is sitting on his couch somewhere wishing he was Matt Garza, and Matt Garza already is Matt Garza, so what's the big deal?

Anyway, I hope Maddux makes you feel as good as he makes me feel about this trade.

Now for the important part of this post: tonight is CUBBIE BLUES - a benefit for the Ryan and Jenny Dempster Foundation at Buddy Guy's with the amazing Lil' Ed and the Blues Imperials, a silent auction and at least Cub pitcher Justin Berg.
Tickets are a measly $15 bucks and it starts at 6 and the show starts at 9.

BE THERE!

 

ps: the illustration above was done for Vine Line waaay back when Maddux was named Assistant GM.