Derrick Edwards's Chicago Bears fan blog

   After observing The Vikings-Packers game on Monday night I came to a very surprising conclusion.

   No I knew that Rodgers would be a good quarterback. Look back on my previous blog on why I was glad that the Bears didn't get Favre.

   Instead I realized that the Pack is still the team to beat on the NFC North but the arch rivals may be the next best contender for the crown.

     Da Bears!!!  Yep. A bit premature to say that after one game hunh? Not really. Last season the Bears beat the Packers twice though the Pack were a far superior team. The Bears have consistently beat the Packers since Lovie has been coach. I don't expect the Pack to get sweep by the Bears again this season, but I could see a split between the two teams. 

Continue reading "The Bears Have a chance to be Players in NFC North race"

   I had to let two or three days settle in for the effect of Chicago's opening day victory over Indy to settle in. 

    Now that they're up I can say that its going to be a pleasant surprise of a season.

    Nothing feels better than to open up someone else's building with a shiny new loss!!!

    What feel better is to see that we may have a very good running back in the making with Matt Forte, a good tight ends in Greg Olsen and Desmond Clarke and more maturation in Kyle Orton. 

    Last year from week I throughout the season I saw nothing but trouble on the horizon. Cedric "Bust"sen couldn't hit a hole or find his way through one. Everytime Grossman dropped back with a little bit of pressure he looked like a scared teenage girl in a horror movie.  The O-line couldn't keep a VIP's in line at a club. We just weren't good.

Continue reading "A lot to be excited for this season for once on offense"

    The U.S. Spain final may be one of the most pivotal games in basketball history. 

    No, its not just cause the U.S. won. We often mouth the words, "It means more to do it for the country," without it really meaning anything. Its liking saying, "Yea I really care for you girl,"to a girl he just met 1 hour ago in a noisy bar. As long as the guy gets a chance to go for a roll in the hay, (That's the horizontal limbo for others) its okay to stretch the truth some as long as it results in victory.

    However since the U.S. has not won in 3 straight international basketball tournaments the public was eagerly awaiting a gold medal. Equally so too was the core of this U.S. men's team, Lebron James, Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Carlos Boozer, have been through the disappointments of the 2004 and 2006 bronze medal teams.  Now winning a gold medal seems as pivotal as winning a NBA championship. That has never previously been felt by any U.S. team. The jubilition they showed at the end really sealed that they truly wanted to win in the worst way and it was anything but a joke for the team.

Continue reading "U.S.-Spain Final Really will attract international audience to game of basketball"

   The U.S. enters the elimination round looking like the overwhelming favorites to win a medal. People think that this was because of the addition of Kobe Bryant but the truth was it started all the way back in 2004.

    With the embarassing loss to Puerto Rico, (We're supposed to lose beauty contests to them not Basketball!!), Lithuania, and spanking by Argentina that lead to the Bronze medal in Athens, Team USA got the cold shower after a bad hangover effect. There was no hiding that they *ish did stank. Team USA realized that it was going to need long term committments from players and better organizational approach to get the U.S. back to supremacy over the rest of the world. 

    So after cajoling and pleading to the young players that egotist Larry Brown didn't want to play, (

Continue reading "U.S. Basketball steered in right direction"

  So Kyle Orton is the new Bears starter. Or as I like to say the same Bears starter for the last 20 years. He'll look good for 2-3 series in a game. Mediocre for 7-8 series, and look downright DIV III College bound a couple times a game.

    I like Orton as a player. I like his mental toughness and mindset. I just don't think he has a lot of tools to work with. Doesn't possess a standout mind for the position and doesn't have a great arm or quick release either. That though seems to be the things that Chicago management likes out of their qb's hence the last 20 years of history at that position. Sure they have great spirit but can they have big talent too?

   One thing that's not going to help Orton is the fact the Bears have awful receivers. I plan to try out for the team next year if they have receivers this bad again!  Hell everyone else is living their NFL fantasy why not me?!?!?!!!

Continue reading "Orton is the Starter....For Now"

   WHEW!!!! The U.S. is beating the Greeks like they owe them not only rent money, but gas, electric, and a car note too!!!!

     I personally did not believe the Dream Team would just blow them away like that. This is the best they've looked defensively. They've stepped out on and switched on their screens. They've found a happy medium where they pressure ballhandlers but not over exert themselves to give up easy scores.

     Dwayne Wade has been outstanding. That lob he threw while heading out of bounds to Kobe will be on every NBC Olympic highlight show tonight. It will also be in every Greek player nightmare tonight.

    After this game the Greek players may want to check their pockets to see if their wallet and pride are still intact. The U.S. has taken nearly everything else. I would recommend some neck massages. Their necks have to hurt from the sheer number of times they've been dunked on or spinning in amazement as yet another turnover is turn into another U.S. fast break.

Continue reading "U.S. serving up Revenge Pie in First Half"

    There's more than just Redeem Team pride on line today as the U.S. Men's basketball team plays Greece.

    This whole tournament is a test to see whose style is more conducive to winning international tournaments. Is it the NBA's collection of supreme individual talent that utilizes occasional defensive pressure on the ballhandler and freestyle offensive play or Europe's team orientated schemes abd defense that allows them to bump cutters and set up zone defenses? 

    My guess is that it will be Europe that wins. I've watched several of the U.S. games now and they have simply not look very impressive. I know they have beaten several opponents by 30 points in early qualiyfing and exhibitions. They have showed poor ball movement, almost no ability to hit outside shots, and shotty defense. They give team swide open shots from the perimeter. Offensively the U.S. doesn't catch and shoot well. With all that said it still will be no easy task to beat the U.S. Well its game time so I'll re-post at Halftime of the game with more thoughts.

Continue reading "More than Redeem Team Pride On-Line Today"

  Well the U.S. got their Solo back in Goal. They didn't expect a plural of repeat mistakes though.

     The U.S. women's soccer team lost 2-0 in Norway not because they didn't have star striker Amy Wambach. (Though I don't pick them to win gold partly  because of this)  They lost because they made a bevy of defensive errors. One's that could cost any team a game.

    I just recently saw the game on-line on replay. It looked worse than described!!! The first goal was scored because the goaltender and defender got crossed up and let a cross sail by them to an attacker for an easy score. It looked like they had never played with one another before.

   Gee that seems eerily reminiscent on how Brianna Scurry and a attacker did the same thing in last year's World Cup semifinal against Brazil for the first goal.

Continue reading "Trouble for U.S. Women's Soccer"

   Brett Favre has been traded to the JETS!! Da Bears won't have to face Brett Favre or have him helming their team. Damn I wanted to see him stay a Packer for the most selfish of reasons.

   Its a bittersweet goodbye to Brett Favre in Green Bay. I actually wanted him to stay. The guy has thrown at least 2 interceptions per outing against the Bears since '05. The only time he did not was in the last game of the 2006 season when the Bears were wrapping up a 13-3 campaign en route to the Bowl and had nothing to play for.

   Brett's been quite a bit overrated for some time now. You ever see that still good looking middle age woman who hasn't quite figured out she don't have her 21 year old shape no more but still wears teeny-bopper clothes? That's Favre. He's forgotten he can't do the things he did when he was younger.  He's always trying to make those plays that were common place back in his hey days in the mid to late 90's. Even then he was a bit reckless gunslinger.

Continue reading "Glad Da Bears Passed on Favre"