HEY CHICAGO....THE BLACKHAWKS ARE GOOD THIS YEAR!!! NOTICED YET??

A secret has been making its way around the Chicago sports landscape, and I'm not sure if you know about it yet. So, put your eyes on this and read it carefully...it may shock you...it may confuse you....hell, it could kill you to think that....

"The Blackhawks Are Good This Year"

HOLY SHIT!!!!

No kidding!!! The Hawks currently are the 7th seed in the Western Conference and quite frankly have just gotten back off a very successful west coast road trip. But does anyone notice? I doubt it.

From the front pages of our sports sections....nope.

From the little attention paid to them with bad bulls basketball and a mediocre bears team....nope.

Does anyone care about the fact the once "WORST ORGANIZATION IN PROFESSIONAL SPORTS" finally has something going in this town??

Apparently not...but why?

Is it the fact that it's hockey and little to none of the Chicago sports fans in this town follow hockey like they do the other major sports.

Is it the fact that the media for the longest time has put the Hawks on the preverbial back burner since the "IRON FIST" of Bill Wuertz was around.

Or is it the fact that Chicago is Cubs/Sox/Bears and nothing else.

The Bulls are even begging for attention......CAN WE GET SOME INSIDE SCORING PLEASE!!!!

The story of this winter may be some big move made by the Cubs or Sox in the free agent/trade market. It may be that the Bears somehow someway find a place in the NFC playoffs and maybe make some noise. It may be that we see the progression of Derrick Rose and watch a young 20 year old kid blossom into an NBA superstar.

But for now....people should start paying attention to the Chicago Blackhawks, because there is a quiet noise that come April could be a loud ringing BANG!!!

Chicago....say it with me.....GO HAWKS!!!!

-RoCk

The NFC North Doesn't Deserve A Playoff Spot....Here's Why

So if you look at the playoff possibilities as a whole at this moment.....this is how it would look.

EAST: New York Giants 10-1
SOUTH: Tampa Bay 8-3
WEST: Arizona Cardinals 7-5
NORTH: Chicago Bears 6-5
Wild Card Possibilities:
Carolina Panthers 8-3
-Dallas Cowboys 8-4
-Washington Redskins - 7-4
-Atlanta Falcons - 7-4
-Minnesota Vikings 6-5
-New Orleans Saints 6-5

Here's what is wrong with this picture....The Bears have a worse record than 4 teams bidding for a wild card birth and yet if the Bears were to get in to the playoffs with a worse record than the 2 teams that make the wild card....the game would be at Soldier Field.

The NFC North doesn't deserve a team in the playoffs this season, between a horrible team in Detroit, a Green Bay team that doesn't know how to play against anyone except their own division, and a Minnesota franchise that hasn't had a real QB since the Randall Cunningham days....the Bears certainly shouldn't be the answer to represent the division.

Can't the NFC North just vote present rather than represent a bad division in the postseason of the league. There is a possibility that 3 teams from the NFC East (best division in NFL) could have a better finishing record than the winner of the North. All sports should look at the example this year shown by the NFL and the NFC North of how not to have your playoff standings run.

I suggest this.....have the top 6 records in the league be represented in the playoffs. Period. Is it that hard to put the best against the best? I don't think so...that way you'll have the best talent in the best part of your overall season....the postseason. Here's another great idea.....you have a 16 week schedule in the NFL....and you have 32 teams in the league....why not have one team play the other 15 teams in the conference once and then have a "rivalry" week in the middle of the season where each team plays it "arch rival"....so that way you'll still get the whole rivalry thing going with Bears/Packers....Raiders/Chiefs.....Cowboys/Eagles.....etc.

Am I totally off base here with my thoughts?? I don't think so. That way instead of a guaranteed 2 wins against Detroit...you're playing everyone in the conference. Kinda like AL/NL in baseball. I like the idea and think the NFL should look into it. That way....you have the best of the best from your conference represented in the Super Bowl.

This year however is a blemish on how playoffs should run if the winner of the North has a worse record than the 2 wild card teams. It shouldn't be allowed and in the end, it's not the best the NFL can provide to it's fan base. It'll be disappointing.

-Rock

Charlie Weis: Big Bust or Just Big

I'm not one to sit down on a beautiful Saturday afternoon and plop my fat ass on the couch with a subway sandwich and turn on the good ol NBC and watch Notre Dame football. I didn't go to a major university nor do I root for an inparticular 4 year school.

OK...so I root for the Longhorns and any team from TX if they're playing for a major championship. Sue me!!!

I however am fascinated with the whole Charlie Weis debate the past couple of weeks. For those that don't know, aparently after 3 full seasons, 2 bowl appearances, and an overall winning career record of 28-20....that's all ND fans can take. Who can remember 3 years ago following a 9-3 debut season and a Fiesta Bowl loss to Ohio State....ND thought it'd be a great idea to lock up Charlie for 10 years and a grand total of 30-40 million dollars.

Now keep in mind this contract followed a season where not one player was recruited by the new head coach, and he basically implemented his system of offense and applied it to the talent that already had because of former head coach Ty Willingham.

People always bring up the history and tradition of the "Domers" and from an outsider to the sport....I can't remember the last time I said....Notre Dame, that's a winner!!! This is a program that hasn't won a bowl game since 1994, won only 2 national titiles in the last 30 years and have gone through 6 head coaches since their last bowl win. However everytime I hear someone talk about the "disappointment" that Charlie Weis has been....I look at those stats I just provided and don't understand exactly why the bitching.

This man consistantly has had top 10 recruitment classes in his 4 years at the helm and yet fans want his pink slip. Weis has brought attention, money and endorsements than Notre Dame wouldn't have seen with Ty Willingham or any other possibile head coach. Weis bring in something that the college ranks hasn't seen.....NFL experience and super bowl success.

So, should Weis go?

I say no, because you've got to look at the overall picture rather than the last 2 years. The University said to it's fans/players/alumni that this guy is the answer to get Notre Dame back to that "greatness." Yes, it's alot of money and there is little reward to the program so far, but you have to believe that 3 super bowl rings means something. You have to believe that his presence demands respect in the recruiting ranks. You have to believe that his record on recruiting will continue and the top recruits will play for the Golden Dome. If there is anytime a University should stand behind it's investment....this is the time for Touchdown Jesus to stand behind (and believe me...it's easy) Charlie Weis.

So the real question is......does Notre Dame believe??

You gotta have faith.

-Rock

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

GET OFF LOVIE'S BACK.....

The best part of the NFL season for me isn't the last 3 weeks when teams position themselves for the playoffs. It isn't when the grandest stage is set for the biggest sporting event of the year takeing place in some southern city or a dome that doesn't have a rooting interest besides how much money the city will make from it. It isn't even the day when the top talent from college make way to the NFL at the draft. My favorite part of the season is when the 32 teams get their upcoming seasons schedules and you can go through and mark W or L next to the opponent and figure out how you believe your team will finish based off the previous season.

Let's face it, this past offseason....very few of us thought the Bears would win more than 6-8 games. I personally had the beloved finishing with a stellar record of 5-11 and thought for sure that Rex Grossman would be the starting quarterback and rookie Matt Forte would amount to nothing in his rookie year. I thought the Bears would start slow with their first two games on the road against Peyton Manning and the Colts and Jake Delhomme and the Panthers losing both of course. Then I thought they would return home to face Tampa Bay and win followed by a beatdown at the hands of Donovan McNabb and the Eagles.

To put it mildly, my first four game prediction.....wrong on 3 out of 4.

The Bears stunned a Sunday night football audience beating Indianapolis in their new home, went into Carolina and laid an egg. The went on and lost their homecoming against Tampa Bay and found some way to beat the hometown kid McNabb.

My predictions were wrong. Hell they've been wrong mainly all season long but yet there are alot of people who have been wrong about this team and for some reason won't admit it. So without any hesitation....I was wrong.

So, where does that leave this team. They're 6-5 with 5 to play and yet no one wants to give this team a shot at winning the NFC North and getting a home playoff game. Why? Are Bears fans so frustrated with the style of play they've been seeing all year to sorta hope in their heart of Bears' fan hearts that they find a way to screw it up? Do Bears fans relate to Lovie Smith and this coaching staff at all taking it at a one-game-at-a-time approach laid back, not too emotional, cliche driven demeanor.

Some Bears fans want the yelling, screaming, holding people accountable type of coach, but will that win football games or just please the fans for something they haven't had since a certain coach Ditka was around?

In 2006, I was praying for the Bears to win the Super Bowl like all Bears fans were....just to erase the notion that you need to be a hard nose tough guy coach in this town to win with the Bears. Erase that 1985 memory that so many former players/coaches have made a fortune on. The NFL is a different game now and the more and more fans look to the past to win todays' NFL game...the longer it will be before we have another championship for our beloved in this town.

Lovie Smith is a good coach in the NFL. Looking at his career record of 39-28 with 2 division titles and 1 super bowl appearance....why are some Bears fans enraged about the same things that they were complaining about in 2004? Granted never meeting the man, he's not a very energetic guy from what i've seen....but it works. You need to allow this man to work with the pieces he's been given rather than harp that Lovie needs to start yelling and screaming and show some fire and passion. What good would it do now to pull Devin Hester off punt returns and go all "Singletary" on him? Seriously.

This season has been anything but easy for Lovie and yet in the middle of a playoff push, people wanna bitch about his demeanor on the sidelines based on what they've seen on TV? You need to give Lovie a break and get behind this coach. The Bears may not be what you thought they would be this year.....but Lovie Smith more than anyone has proven that predictions are meaningless in the NFL. Get over it Bears fans!! You were wrong, just like I was wrong, just like your sister-in-law was wrong. With 5 games left and a real good shot at winning the division, let's concentrate on what really matters.

WHAT DO WE DO NOW!!!!????

FINALLY!!!!

THE BIG DAY HAS ARRIVED FOR GUNS AND ROSES FANS ON THE MID 90'S......G&R'S LONG AWAITED ALBUM "CHINESE DEMOCRACY" WILL BE RELEASED TOMORROW (SUNDAY).

SO THIS BEGS THE QUESTION.....WHAT IS THERE TO LOOK FORWARD TO NOW THAT DEMOCRACY WILL FINALLY SEE THE LIGHT OF DAY?


1. Will Heavy Metal Return To Mainstream Radio?

2. How Many More Ex-Athletes Will Become Bad Broadcasters?

3. Will I Ever Figure Out Who The Hell This Guy Is?

4. Will Devin Hester Ever Return Another Kick/Punt For A TD?
5. Will The Rock Report Ever Become A Source For Mass Readership?

We'll See!!!!

SARAH PALIN AINT NO TURKEY!!!