Wednesday, February 19, 2025

RFK Jr Has Already Made Me Sick

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is a dangerous individual. I say this as someone who gets physically ill at the mere sight of this man. Why does the progeny of one of the country's most venerated politicians make me throw up? It's because he is the epitome of someone who is being handed something while he hasn't earned it. This man exists solely on vibes and gets the benefit of the doubt without any proof of any thing. Here's just a few of the reasons he sickens me. 

*He's wholly unqualified.

As I alluded to above, the man has a position currently that he is not qualified for in the slightest. He was by trade, an environmental lawyer, and while I can't speak to how good he was at this he was active in environmental spaces. Since 2005 this dingbat has however railed against childhood vaccines, claimed vaccines give you autism and has written books denying the connection between HIV and AIDS. And this is the man who is the main man on all health matters that reports to the president. Give me a break.

*He Has Directly Led To The Death of Children.

When I said he directly led to the death of children I do not believe this to be a damn exaggeration. This guy went to Samoa to peddle a conspiracy about 2 children dying due to a vaccine. This led to a climate of vaccine hesitancy, there was a measles outbreak and 83 people died, mostly children. The cause of the outbreak was decreased vaccination rates among newborns, from 74% in 2017 to 31–34% in 2018. Nearby islands had rates near 99% and guess what? Those islands didn't get a god damn measles outbreak. Instead of taking some form of responsibility for his misinformation he blamed the deaths on malnutrition. 

*He Has No Backbone.

This one is pretty straight forward. During his doomed run for the Democratic nomination this bastard warbled that he was a “threat to democracy,” a “bully,” and, as recently as July 2024, a “terrible president.” This guy got his ass handed to him and immediately went and kissed the ring and subsequently kissed a certain circus peanut hued ass. Show some god damn pride and stand on your words dip shit.

*He Is A Certified Weirdo.

This guy is in the most polite way I can put it, a fucking weirdo. How do I know this? Well let's see there is the story that he willingly told mind you of the time he say a bear cub get hit by a car. Instead of contacting officials, he put the body in his car and drove back to his home only to realize he didn't have time to go home so he put the body in Central Park and tried to stage it as a hit and run by a bike. His daughter told the story of the time he heard of a beached whale and took it upon himself to drive to the beach with a chainsaw and bring the skull of said whale home, forcing those inside the family minivan to cover themselves with trash bags. This guy is a certified weirdo.

*He IS Racist.

How do I know he is racist? Well when someone tells me who they are I tend to believe them. For years he has targeted black and brown communities with claims that vaccines were made in an effort to harm them. He even floated a conspiracy theory that Covid “ethnically targeted” white and Black people and spared Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese people. He believes that black people should be on a different vaccination schedule "We should not be giving Black people the same vaccine schedule that's given to Whites, because their immune system is better than ours." This man said this himself in his confirmation hearings not even a month ago.

So yeah, when it comes to the fallen son of the Kennedy clan I guess you could say I am not a fan. He is a man who peddles dangerous misinformation under the guise of making America Healthy. He is a fraud and a charlatan and more people will be hurt than helped with this roided up ding bat at the helm of an already flawed health system. 

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

The Season of Optimism Is Upon Us

With a very thorough and dominant beatdown of the Kansas City Chiefs by the Philadelphia Eagles the 2024-25 season has come to an end. And while I wasn't correct in well most of my picks I end this season on a high. That's right, a damn high. I guess this is the problem with being a fan of a team, any team is the never-ending spring of optimism is always right there at the end of every season. And for the Bears my cup runneth over. And for the first time in a long time, there is legit excitement going into this season. Why? Oh the reasons are many and since I got the time I'll tell you all about it. 

*The Bears Hired The Best Coordinator On The Market

I've seen people make the argument that we have hired the hot coordinator before and throw out names like Matt Nagy and Marc Trestman. To that I say bullshit. Marc Trestman was coaching in the CFL and seen as a terrible hire at the time while Matt Nagy was just Andy Reid's coordinator and hadn't been seen as a serious candidate but more as an attempt to replicate the success of the Rams who had hired Sean McVay. The Bears hiring Ben Johnson was the first time they not only paid up, they got the consensus top coaching candidate and he chose us. Now will it work? I don't know but this is a change from the Bears normal routine of hiring a safe candidate and assembling a staff around him with strong coaching backgrounds.

*Build The O-Line Through The Draft/Free Agency

The most important thing to do this off season now that the coaching staff has been set is to build in the trenches. The most successful teams always have a dominant line on both sides of the ball. As of now on the offensive side of the ball the Bears have 1 lineman that I would call a cornerstone piece. The problem is there are 5 spots on the offensive line. My hope is to add a lineman through the draft, preferably Will Campbell from LSU, sign Trey Smith, maybe add a Zach Martin or Kevin Zeitler and baby we might be cooking with gas. As for the defensive side of the ball possibly trading for a Trey Hendrickson who had success under Dennis Allen in New Orleans would be a great help to Montez Sweat. 

*Caleb Williams Going Into Year Two

I know he is going to always be compared to the other quarterbacks in his draft class but let's not pretend that Caleb is a bust by any means. I think that maybe, just maybe, both the Bears and the Commanders got their guy. Even with all of the turmoil in Chicago last year we got a young quarterback who in the face of getting scrutinized for everything, stood tall and was tough as shit behind a porous offensive line and inept play caller. Given that he has shown himself to be extremely coachable, getting him with an innovative play caller like Ben Johnson and weapons like DJ Moore, Cole Kmet and Rome Odunze the future is very bright for this young man with just some half way stable coaching.

*Ownership Appears To Be Getting Out The Way

Since the hiring of Ben Johnson it seems like the Bears were moving away from the model of having football decisions made or approved by George McCaskey grandson of the great George Halas. He does not appear to have the same acumen as say his brother who ran the team prior to him. So now that falls to Kevin Warren and Ryan Poles who appear to have the confidence of Ben Johnson that the team will be built in his vision and the owners will not meddle. Poles has made a lot of good moves such as fleecing the Panthers for the #1 pick, DJ Moore and other picks but he has had some blunders such as the Nate Davis signing and rolling with Matt Eberflus for one more season. Rumor has it that decision was not his but now there are no excuses. 

Well there we have it, we are only a few days into the official offseason and I am already giddily looking up mock drafts, free agent lists and schedules for next season. This is the best and worst 

Wednesday, February 5, 2025

On The Kansas City Chiefs And Greatness

 When it comes to the Kansas City Chiefs I get very annoyed. And why do I get annoyed? It's because of the constant bitching and moaning about them. Like it's absolutely insane to me that we are in the midst of a great team run and people are bitching and moaning and yelling "oh I'm boycotting the Super Bowl" I immediately get in a bad mood. And before people try to say I'm a Chiefs fan, I am a Bears fan who can admit when he sees some hateration in this dancerie. And I am okay with a little hating, I have hated the Packers my whole damn life, doesn't mean they are cheating. They've just been better. It is what it is. On to what grinds my gears!

*The Refs Cheat For The Chiefs.

Look I get it, calls always seem to break their way but when you look at the numbers it just doesn't match up. Since Mahomes became the starter for the Chiefs, they have actually been penalized more than their opponents in the regular season and a total of 21 times less than their opponents in the playoffs for an average of 3 fewer calls than their opponents per playoff run. 

You may not like it, but that  there is a defensive holding.

Since 2018 they have been called for 43 more pass interference penalties. I know what you're gonna say, "they just wait till the game is on the line to make a bad call." Ok, why would they wait? If their is a massive conspiracy then why wait and put more scrutiny on themselves? In a league where quarterbacks are coddled, anyone is going to get hit with a roughing penalty (looking at you Joseph Ossai). Per a report by the Ringer: "Mahomes ranks below Josh Allen, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins in career roughing penalties, roughing penalties per game, and roughing penalties per 100 passing attempts. Mahomes is fourth in the sample size in roughing penalties per sack, but he’s wedged between Goff and Jimmy Garoppolo, hardly indicating he’s getting particularly special treatment."

*Poor Josh Allen

Before I start let me say that I am a huge fan of Josh Allen. My problem when it comes to him is not even Josh Allen, it's the people defending him. The person most honest about Josh Allen is usually the man himself. That being said the lengths people will leap to defend his playoff shortcomings is astounding. 

People so badly want Josh to get over the hump has them overlooking that the very same thing that they accuse the Chiefs of is happening for Buffalo. And it still isn't enough. The NFL changed overtime rules because Josh couldn't beat them in the playoffs. The last 2 times in the playoffs, he has had the ball in his hands with the game on the line and he has not been the reason the Bills won. I guess it's easier to blame the Chiefs and create a conspiracy when it could be that Josh Allen is Patrick Ewing to Mahomes Jordan. 

*This is All The Bills Fault Anyway

Now before I get out of here, I will say that none of this happens without the Bills trading the pick to the Chiefs that would become the possible greatest quarterback of all time. That's right, the biggest blunder of that draft wasn't the Bears passing on Mahomes, it was the Bills giving that player to a great play caller like Andy Reid. 

And then to make it worse, just last year they traded the pick that became Xavier Worthy to the Chiefs. Yeah, Xavier Worthy who ran the fastest 40 time in combine history. There's making shrewd moves and then there is giving the roadblock in front of you more ammunition to stop you. If I'm running the Bills if the Chiefs call me I am blocking the number.

Well that's all I have for now perhaps I will give my predictions on who will win the Super Bowl a little later this week.

Monday, February 3, 2025

The Wildest NBA Trade I've Ever Seen.

I was going to wait until the trade deadline was here, but certain moves have forced my hand to dedicate one entire post to this move. And no, I am not referring to the Thomas Bryant to Indiana Pacers trade. No, I refer to the seismic trade that has delighted Lakers fans, infuriated Mavericks fans and frankly confused the rest of us.

On Saturday night the Dallas Mavericks traded their future Hall of Fame guard who is only 25 years old for Anthony Davis of the Lakers. Make no mistake about it, Anthony Davis is no bum, is no consolation prize and is an All-NBA performer. The trade is shocking simply because we have never seen a player of Luka’s pedigree get traded right as he is preparing to enter his prime and has made no requests to be traded.

For the Lakers, this is the biggest duh ever. Rob Pelinka was sitting back looking out the window and he got a call asking him if he wanted to trade for a 5-time first team All-NBA and he had to ask are you serious? Like there are four, maybe five guys who are untradeable and I thought Luka was one of them.

I’m literally sitting here, and I have concluded that this is what happens when people who don’t use their eyes and only use formulas to decide what is good basketball. That’s gotta be it. He sees a guy who isn’t a good defender and may come into the season “out of shape” and not use your damn eyes and see oh this dude is a damn killer.

And again, Anthony Davis isn’t the issue here but he is an oft injured center on the wrong side of 30.

You must include him in any trade but you also gotta get more. You don’t give up Jalen Hood Schifino and 1 first round pick along with Davis to get a guy who at his WORST is the fifth best player in the league. You at least open the offers to more than one team so you can get more in return. If you trade a Luka Doncic you absolutely have to get a franchise altering amount of picks and players back. Hell the Jazz got damn near a decade worth of picks and a solid center in Walker Kessler for Rudy Gobert and no one likes Rudy Gobert!

I do not care if there are “conditioning” concerns, open your damn eyes and take your head out the damn spreadsheets. Short of Luka slapping my wife and or mother the idea to trade him would not even cross my mind. 

What we have now done is I fear, activate a basketball sociopath who trained with Kobe as a teenager. A guy who as he is getting dogged for "not being ready" averaging 28, 8, and 8. If this is him not ready then what the hell are we about to see out of a motivated Slovenian who dragged Dallas to the Finals last year? 

Thanks a lot Dallas. You certainly made the rest of this season much more interesting. 

Wednesday, January 8, 2025

2024 NFL Postmortem

Well the 2024 NFL season is over and before I jump into the dumpster fire that was the 2024 Chicago Bears I'll give a few thoughts on the regular season that was. 

*Lamar Jackson somehow got better and should be MVP...again.

Last season Lamar was great, but this season? Oh Lamar has been historically great. How so? Oh he just casually threw for over 4,100 yards, 40 touchdown passes, completed 66% of his passes and then added in 915 yards and 4 more touchdowns on the ground. So he literally became impossible to scheme against this season.

*Josh Allen will be named MVP.

Josh Allen has had a good season but let's be real. He has not had the season Lamar Jackson has had. It was incredible, but he's thrown for 400 yards less, 13 less touchdowns, and 350 less rushing yards. We can talk about how his team had more wins but I'd counter with he played in a much worse division so it was an easier road to a division title. Again none of these are shots at Allen but this appears to be "voter fatigue" from voting for Lamar again.

*The Patriots are a joke.

The Patriots fired Jerod Mayo after one year and frankly I don't get it. Yes they had a season that was god awful but look at that roster and tell me who could have won with it. This is the thing that drives me insane especially when it comes to black coaches, they are given one chance, expect perfection with a shit roster and then fired. What has changed in one year that wasn't evident last year? Do I know if Mayo is a good coach? No. Do I think he will get to chance to actually improve and get another opportunity? Nope. Good job NFL and Bob Kraft.

Alright on to the shit show that was the Chicago Bears season. 

The Bad:

*Matt Eberflus was worse than even I thought he would be.

Coming into this season I thought even an average coach would have this team with 10 wins. Matt Eberflus was not that. A talented defensive play caller but literally every other decision made was a head scratcher. From the Fail Mary to the non timeout call in Detroit it was a master class in incompetency. 

*Shane Waldron was wholly incompetent from the get go.

Speaking of incompetent, given one of the most exciting quarterback prospects in recent history, a solid running back duo, talented receivers and tight end, and the play calling was some of the most unimaginative and predictable play calling I'd ever seen and as a Bears fan I have seen my fair share of offensive coordinators.

*Ryan Poles need to be jailed for his inaction in improving the Offensive line.

As a former offensive lineman you would think that Ryan Poles would build the team in the trenches. You would be wrong. He literally made no improvements to a poor offensive line and it somehow got worse. You take a quarterback number one and pay a running back in free agency and you put them behind that offensive line. It was and remains mind boggling.

*Thomas Brown was put in an impossible position.

I felt for Thomas Brown. He started the season as passing game coordinator. By December he was the head coach. It was awful timing as under him the offense actually began to get into a rhythm. However ascending to the top job was just too much too fast. 

The Good:

*You found your franchise quarterback.

As the president of the Justin Fields fan club I was reserved in my opinion of Caleb but then I saw him play. Certainly not a perfect player, he holds the ball too long at times, and has a penchant for trying to do too much. However his highs? Hot damn. You get this guy improvising in the pocket and it's a work of art. I was especially impressed with as the game went on he got better. In the 4th quarter he was 116/180 - 64.4% for 1,108 yards, 10 TD, 2 INT, a 95.3 passer rating and 28 carries for 135 yards. That's damn good for any quarterback, let alone a rookie. When the biggest criticism that can lobbied is he paints his nails then I would say you are in pretty good shape.

*Defense has a few more pieces than I thought.

While Montez Sweat and Jaylon Johnson get the headlines and rightfully so, there are a few bright spots that should make an incoming defensive coordinator very happy. Austin Booker, the rookie end has shown flashes, Gevon Dexter has been a force, and Tremaine Edmunds and TJ Edwards are a solid linebacking corp. With guys like Kyler Gordon, Jack Sanborn and hopefully a healthy Jaquan Brisker it could be quite enticing.

*Thomas Brown deserves a shot at another NFL job.

Given that he should have been allowed to grow as offensive coordinator but ended up as a head coach I think with more experience as a play caller, he could be a very effective head coach. He holds himself accountable, and most importantly his team seems to rally around him. If it was possible to keep him in some capacity I wouldn't be mad but someone should give him a chance. 

Well there we have it, I have grieved for what could have been with the Bears and moved on to lighting a candle and praying to the football gods we choose the correct coach this time. The pieces are there, those putting the puzzle together just need to get their shit together. 





Saturday, January 4, 2025

2024 We Hardly Knew Ye

Well folks here we are, 2024 is gone and 2025 has kicked the door in. Now while there is much fuckery on the horizon I think I'd be remiss if I didn't share with you, the unwitting public who did not request this in the slightest to give you some of my favorite things from the year that was. You might say that making lists is probably the least creative way to get a blog post in and you may be right but I submit to you that this is free content baby!

Albums of the year:

Now I am one who does not typically listen to new music as I am very set in my ways and I am more of a podcast listener. As I thought back on the past year I realized I listened to more music than I thought as I struggled to narrow it down so guess what? You're getting multiple selections baby! 

Chromakopia- Tyler the Creator

Hip hop's resident practitioner of not giving a fuck which leads to some pretty dope ass music I would say. Personal favorites from this album would be Sticky and Take Your Mask Off. 

GNX- Kendrick Lamar

Kendrick dropped this out of nowhere and it has dominated my Spotify rotation. It's so west coast that makes me want to get up and crip walk whenever I hear well anything on this album, other than Luther which makes me body roll. Personal favorites would be Turn The TV Off and Luther. 

Doechii- Alligator Bites Never Heal
Doechii may be my new favorite rapper and that's no hyperbole. Granted I only gave her mxtape a spin for the first time probably a month ago. I think the best way I can describe her is she is a rapping ass rapper. Look up rapper in the dictionary and you will find a picture of the 26 year old from Tampa. Personal Favorites from this would be Nissan Altima and Denial is a River. 

Favorite Song:
Euphoria- Kendrick Lamar
This kicked off the year of Kendrick. A 6 minute master class in systematically break down an opponent with humor, witty word play and multiple beat switches. I still have this song in heavy rotation.

Favorite Movie: Gladiator II
Ridley Scott came and did the damn thing with a sequel that doesn't rely too heavily on the nostalgia of the first movie. Everyone was excellently cast, but the star of the show was Denzel Washington. For 2 minutes it's funny that he doesn't use an accent but then you're drawn in because good lord he acted his ass off. 

TV Show of the Year: The Penguin
Usually live action DC properties don't move me but this right here? Amazing. Colin Farrell is an absolute monster as Oz (probably my only gripe with this is changing his name to Oz instead of Oswald Cobblepot but I digress). Cristin Milotti is the real star as Sofia Gigante nee Falcone. She is equal parts sympathetic and terrifying and the end of season one leaves you wanting more. 

Well folks I think I have waxed poetically enough about the year that was. I'll work on updating this more and hell I'll even listen to more music because you all deserve these unsolicited opinions. So here is to 2025...please be gentle.

Tuesday, December 3, 2024

Bear...Down.

As a father you always want the best for your child. You see this was a sentiment that I understood the concept of but didn't truly get until the birth of my son. My son Julian is a a sweet boy, intelligent, kind, and quite the little athlete. There is literally nothing I wouldn't do for the boy and wanting to see him succeed emotionally is extremely important to me. In this regard I feel I may have failed my boy. 

You see, it was me who introduced one of the most toxic things any father could have done. Know that my intentions were pure, but after much introspection, I feel I may have unintentionally harmed my pride and joy. How you may be asking at this point? Well you see, I am a lifelong Chicago Bears fan, and now because of me...my son has doomed himself to being a fan of a team that consistently plays in his face. And it's all my fault. 

It hasn't been all bad times.

While I have made it clear he is free to root for any team he pleases (except the Green Bay Packers, I have to put my foot down somewhere) he has seen the pain and angst that consumes me every Sunday, sometimes Mondays and a couple of Thursdays a year. And for reasons unbeknownst to me he said sign me up for that. 

In his first season of really watching this kid has gone through a gamut of emotions. We get the first pick, and we draft the best quarterback prospect in years. Things are looking up right? They immediately hire an offensive coordinator with a milquetoast reputation and retain a head coach who had a proven record of losing close games. What could possibly go wrong?

Washington, October 2024. After an improbably comeback and taking the lead against another team with a rookie qb, the Bears give up the first of many inexplicable losses by giving up a touchdown on a Hail Mary, while a defensive back was taunting the crowd, instead of calling a timeout to settle the team, Matt Eberflus did nothing. Losses to Arizona and New England both showed an uninspired and not well coached team. Then the last three losses occurred and while I am seasoned in the Murphy's Law ass existence of this team, seeing my boy get hardened by these Monty Python style losses has been disheartening.

Please God don't screw this up.

Perhaps I should use this as a teachable moment. You see son, this is what bad football is. And this is what it turns you into, a 40 soon to be 41 year old man begging. pleading and hoping for just some semblance of competency. Learn from my mistakes, don't let the sins of the father befall the son. 

As long as it's not Green Bay, your dad will look on you with tears of joy watching you break the cycle.