It would be very easy this frustrating Monday morning, to fill the poison pen with ink and blow darts all day at Bears quarterback Rex Grossman.  But that would be way too easy and as everyone knows, I like to do things the hard way.

True, Re x was pretty horrible last night, doing all the things that endear Bear fans to him: Getting sacked, throwing into triple coverage, missing open receivers, not properly executing his check offs, etc.  But come on, there isn't a Bear fan on the planet that doesn't expect that to happen during the course of a game.  So, while rex doesn't get a pass for last night, he does become the devil we know.  It was the devil we didn't know that killed the Bears all night long:

• Devin Hester, lauded on the pre-game show, must have put silicon spray on his gloves.  That's the only explanation I can come up with for him fumbling the ball twice, deep in Bears territory on potential kick returns.  If Hester was reacting to the pressure that the Cowboys kick unit put on him, it will only get worse, not better.  Devin, you are no longer a secret weapon.
• Cedric Benson had a key second half fumble which led to a Cowboy score.  Jerry Angelo, are you sure you traded the right running back?  And after Benson, where do you go?  Adrian Peterson is a shirt yardage back who specializes in pass catching, not running while Garrett Wolfe isn't tall enough to get on half the rides at Great America.
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  Injuries plagued the Bears all night long. First Lance Briggs.  Then Ruben Brown.  Then Nathan Vasher.  Then Tommy Harris. And when your replacement for an all-pro like Vasher is Kevin Payne, you know it's going to be a long, long night.  Kevin Payne couldn't cover a chair with a drop cloth.
  
• Bernard Barrien, anytime you want to catch a pass while you are wide open, fine with me.  Try using your hands and not your shoulder pads next time.  And Moose Muhammad.  Anytime you want to continue running your route instead of breaking it off early, fine with me as well.
  
• Charles Tillman, if you think T.O. burned you on crossing routes last night, imagine how much fun you'll have with Donald Driver on October 7th.
• Bears defense: Did Tony Romo's mobility and ability to throw on the run remind you of anybody?  Yeah, if you can't slow him down, good luck with #4 on October 7th.  Brian Urlacher, even you missed tackles last night.

Okay, so let's review.  We know Rex is bad.  We know Benson can't gain more than 3 or 4 yards a pop, limiting the running game.  We know the receivers, even when they are wide open are having problems catching.  We know the special teams played their worst game in two years last night.  And we know that because the offense was horrible and special teams couldn't give the Bears field position, the defense was on the field forever and wound up getting exhausted.

This is not Bears football.  The offense needs to pound the ball and control the clock.  The special teams need give the offense good field position so when they don't produce, the opponent has a long way to go.  The defense needs to rest once in awhile.

Somewhere, on the frozen tundra, an aging hillbilly smiles and  begins to sharpen his knives for October 7.  In the meantime, the Bears will try to right the ship Sunday against the defenseless Lions.

Lightning Round

• Pink Gavin Floyd runs out of gas in the sixth and the White Sox winning streak ends at two.  They are still ½ game ahead of the Royals with the showdown beginning Tuesday night at US Commiskey Park.  For once this year, will you guys play with a sense of urgency.
• The Cubs continue to take care of business while the close to eliminated Brewers blame others.  Memo to Ned Yost:  The umpires are not the issue. 
  
• Welcome to the playoffs Angels and Indians.   I have a friend who is a big time minor league baseball announcer who once told me Mike Scioscia (who was managing Albuquerque the time)  was a lousy manager.  Boy, was he wrong. 
  
• Is A-Rod making a play to someday own the Cubs or is this a non-story?  If he went to the Cubs, where would you play him?  And, does this story really have legs or is this just Scott Boras greasing the skids for A-Rod to land in a place of his choosing?  Don't forget, when it comes to snakes, Boras is King Cobra.
  
• Donovan McNabb can rest easy that no one will criticize him this week.
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  The aging hillbilly ties a record as the Fudge Packers open a serious can of whoop ass on the Chargers.    One thing is for sure, L.T. is confused.  I wonder if A.J. Smith has buyer's remorse over hiring Norv Turner as much as Charger fans regret Turner being hired? Outside of Butch Davis' run at Miami, no Jimmy Johnson assistant has ever accomplished anything.  Okay, maybe Tommy Tuberville. Maybe.
  
• Your top 25 polls from AP and USA Today.  I agree, despite playing inferior competition, Oklahoma deserved to leap frog Florida after the Gators barely survived a terrible Ole Miss team. Wisconsin should have dropped.after struggling against Iowa.  Bottom line, someone will knock off OU and the game for the other spot in the national championship game (the first going to USC) will be the winner of the LSU-Florida game.
• Carl Edwards wins a crash filled race at Dover, then gets busted for a post race height violation. Meanwhile, Kyle Petty and Denny Hamlin please get out your check books and report to the big red trailer.
• Here's a follow-up story on Abner and Gladys Kravitz, next door neighbors to hockey legend Gordie Howe, who wwere so convinced Mr. Hockey was running a business out of his house, they snapped 17 pictures a minute and had several web cams trained on his house.  Gordie's son Mark has a great line about this whole thing.
  
• I hope if Darth Visor's new quarterback makes the NFL someday, he signs an endorsement contract with Right Guard and they use the tag line "Because I like being Smelly in name only"
• Leave it to Cub fans to brand a kid for life.  This poor kid is going to get in a lot of fights and get hung up on a lot.
• A former NYPD officer, banished from the force for being corrupt, wins a one million dollar lotto prize.  Now, about that living a good and decent life and everything will go your way myth.
• When it comes to vanity plates, the state of Oregon has no sense of humor.  This is the fundemental problem with liberals; they think they need to decide what might embarrass you as opposed to the fact it's your freakin' name and you can live with it.
• I have enjoyed reading and interviewing Dennis Dodd over the years, but I will politely agree to disagree with his comments on Oklahoma State football coach Mike Gundy's meltdown.  He was sticking up for one of his players against the evil media, which coaches like to do.  Could this have been handled privately, absolutely.  But by doing it after a game, Gundy (and you know it wasn't intentional because, well, he's not that smart) drew national attention to himself as a guy who defends his kids, even his panty waste quarterback.  Here's the rant if you haven't seen it: