Chip Shots: Bears Chief Adversary is Themselves

Chip Shots
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I'm Chip Ramsey a career broadcaster who has been a sports radio program director in Milwaukee and Nashville. I've covered everything from high school and college sports (including the SEC, Big Ten, MVC and OVC) to Major League Baseball, The NFL and the NHL. I have a few things to say, and when I want to say them, I say them here.

I mostly talk about my teams, which would be the White Sox, Bears, and Blackhawks, but I do talk about other things as well. Thanks for dropping by. I hope you will bookmark this site and visit often!

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Chip Shots: Bears Chief Adversary is Themselves

Bears Chief Adversary is Themselves

Here are my notes on the Bears and Chiefs: (3:15 CDT, CBS Jim Nantz, Phil Sims)

The Bears need to establish a ground game early. In light of the comments made by the Chargers and because it's a home game, Cedric Benson should come out fired up. He needs to get untracked early for the Bears to have a good day offensively.
I'm very curious to see the difference Greg Olsen will make in the lineup today. He represents a safety valve option that Rex Grossman has never had.
Rex just needs to ~~get his head out of his ass~~ keep it simple. Don't try to be a hero, just manage a good game and hit your targets.
I see crossing routes, crossing routes, crossing routes.
Defensively, Darwin Walker and Tommy Harris need to lay down the law to Larry Johnson. Since Johnson missed most of training camp, this should not be too hard.
The Bears secondary will be tested, especially Danieal Manning and Adam Archuleta. Given the fact that Kansas City has no decent quarterbacks to speak of, they should pass the test.
The Bears defensive ends need to spend a lot of time in the Chiefs backfield introducing themselves to the quarterbacks. This could be a huge game for both Alex Brown and Mark Anderson if they can shed some blocks.
The Bears may have punting game issues as Brad Maynard is bothered by a groin injury. The Bears may have to whip out the old (Dirk) Johnson, who used to play for Bears special teams coach Dave Taub when he was with the Eagles.
The Bears should win by 14-17 points in this game.

Lightning Round

Thanks to another unproductive night from the offense, the White Sox lost 2-1 to the Angels last night at US Commiskey Park. Jim Thome is still stuck on 499. The Sox are still ½ game behind the Royals who they will face starting Monday. Hard luck pitcher Mark Buehrle finishes off the homestand for the Sox against Joe Saunders who the Sox clobbered earlier this season.
Jon Garland expects to be traded and rightfully so. He's probably the only major bargaining chip the Sox have left at the major league level (besides Joe Crede and no one is sure how much value Crede has.) My thought on Garland has always been that he's got decent stuff, is probably a number three and is not as nasty a competitor as you would like to see. He also has a tendency to drown in his own mistakes. If they do trade Garland in the off season, I won't shed many tears provided they get something of value for him. ~~Pink~~ Gavin Floyd appears to be a younger Jon Garland.
In the wacky, wild NL Central, the Cubs split with the Cardinals and the Brewers beat the Reds, so the Cubs lose the opportunity to pick up ½ game and lead Milwaukee by 1 game. Interesting speculation about the future of the Genius. Somebody tell the Chairman you cannot undue mistakes you made 20 years ago. Just let it go, please. He's old, tired and burned out and needs a year off badly. You said your biggest mistake ever was hiring Hawk Harrelson to be the GM, don't try to rectify that mistake by making another huge one. Please. For once in your life, listen to me Jerry.
The most exciting college football game of the day was the shootout in Kentuckybetween formerly number ranked number 9 Louisville and Kentucky. Kentucky score with seconds to play, but a hail Mary stopped five yards short of winning the game for the Cardinals. It was a nice win for Kentucky, a program that hasn't had many over the years.
The second most exciting game of the day was Alabama beating Arkansas. After choking away a 31-10 lead, Coach Satan's team rallied to score the final ten points of the game to beat the Razorbacks 41-38. It should be noted that Arkansas played heavy minutes in the fourth quarter without star running back Darren McFarland, who had a hamstring issue. After watching McFarland run over, under and through Alabama for 3½ quarters yesterday, they should just send his name to the Heisman engraver right now. As of this writing, the new polls aren't out yet, but I would be shocked if Alabama didn't make it in ranked at least 23rd or higher.
Among the top ten, the only school that struggled was number six Texas, holding off an inspired UCF team. You wonder if George O'Leary will put that as a win on his resume.
The alphabet schools did very well yesterday with USC and LSU both winning. USC looked outstanding against Nebraska last night and while LSU played an exibition game.
Did Florida look really good or did Tennessee look really bad? Yesterday's lopsided loss to the Gators must have tongues wagging and rumors flying in Knoxville. But the truth is, Florida is that much better than UT.
Speaking of weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, you can imagine how tight the sphincters are at Auburn where the Tigers have lost back to back home games to USF (which is a decent team) and Mississippi State (which is not.) Bobby Lowderwas seen sharpening an ax behind the Auburn bench late in the fourth quarter while Tommy Tuberville hoped some NFL team would call and offer him a job. This could get really dicey, especially if Auburn doesn't make a respectable bowl game. Everyone love Tubs, but with Coach Satan at the capstone, this has become a high stakes poker game to the people on the plains.
One other SEC game to mention as Vanderbilt beats Ole Miss. I guarantee Coach O is a goner and maybe before the end of the season. Here's why. Ole Miss' only chance for a conference win comes against Mississippi State which just beat Auburn. They have to play Florida next week, then Georgia and then Alabama, Arkansas and Mississippi State. If Sly Croom's team is inspired after their big win against Auburn, it may not be a cakewalk for Ole Miss. In fact, the probability that they wind up in the cellar of the western conference is pretty secure. And if thse guys fired David Cuttcliffe for under performing, then Coach O has beaten him in spades. At least Cutcliffe could beat Vandy.
How about Boston College? Who would have thunk that Jeff Jagodzinsky would be this good a head coach? Think Tom O'Brien wants a do over on the move to NC State?
Hey, look. It's Michigan!
Gene Chizik's first win is a big one as the Cyclones top intrastate rival Iowa. This should help recruiting.
Some of your favorite major league stars may or may not be back next year. Here's a review of who might be retiring. Unfortunately for the White Sox, the list does not include Juan Uribe, Alex Cintron, Mike Meyers and Mike MacUseless.
Now that Bill Belichick is down, leave it to opportunists like Mike Lupica to kick the body a few times. Just wondering, if Belichick were Wade Phillips or Norv Turner or Mike Holmgren, somebody the media seems to like, would he still get this kind of treatment. Belichick hates the media and they hate him, but you know who always gets the last word: The guy with the ink.
I wonder what Merle Haggard would say about this. "We don't stop for car wrecks in Miskogee. . ."
Tonight is the annual Emmy awards for excellence in TV programming. Isn't that an oxymoron?
In honor of the Emmy's, today's list is Greatest Emmy Moments.