Thursday Trash Talk

I’m not sure what the bigger Chicago sports travesty is: The Cubs or the Bears. Chicago fans still reeling about the Bulls’ controversial loss to the Denver Nuggets Tuesday night can at least find solace in Mark Buehrle winning an AL Gold Glove. Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich missed layups and jumpers as the Bulls were 0-15 from the floor in the final six minutes Wednesday night. The raging Bulls dropped another game last night, falling 99-89 to the Raptors at the Air Canada Centre. The Chicago basketball season is just unfolding, and the Bulls are bound to pick up the pieces and fall into place as a team. The same cannot be said for the 4-4 Bears, although they do share an identical record as the Bulls. Lovie Smith’s peak as a head coach was a trip to Superbowl XLI. The organization traded for Jay Cutler during the off-season. Cutler’s capabilities are exceptional, but the team around him is underdeveloped. The inordinately stubborn Bears defense of years ago is missing. The players on offense don’t fit the system and Smith’s schemes seem somewhat outdated by today’s NFL standards. Smith chose not to retain his defensive coordinator, Ron Rivera, this off-season. The move hasn’t made the mediocre team a playoff contender. Chicago plays Thursday night football against losers of four straight, the San Francisco 49ers. This could be a coming out party for Cutler if things go well. The Bears’ three year playoff drought is getting old in a city that adores their sports teams. It’s customary to root for losing teams in Chicago. The Cubs up-and-down 2009 was just another reminder to Chicago baseball aficionados why they are the so-called “Lovable Losers”. The name is very befitting. Now, with the Bears being declawed week in and week out, maybe “Lovie’s Losers” will become the new mocking moniker.
All things football is the focus of Cleveland outside LeBron James and the Cavs. The picture isn’t any prettier in for Cleveland football fans than it is for Chicago. That’s where Browns head coach, Eric Mangini, continues his quarterback shuffling. Mangini named former Notre Dame signal caller, Brady Quinn, his starter this Monday against the Baltimore Ravens. Quinn hasn’t started since facing the same demoralizing defense in week three. He was yanked from the game and benched after falling behind 20-0 in the first half. Derek Anderson replaced Quinn, but is coming off a November 1st game in which he threw a pair of picks against the Bears. Anderson completed just six of seventeen passes in the defeat. Considering what I just said about the Bears, Anderson probably deserves to sit this one out on Monday. This afternoon, captain Jamal Lewis, called out Mangini for his rigid practice regime. The running back expressed disappointment and frustration in his head coach’s three-hour practices not producing results. The lack of winning combined with the coach’s approach in Cleveland is wearing out the players according to Lewis. It’s time to change thing that 1-7 record into something acceptable. Perhaps inserting Quinn will change the karma in Cleveland.
The ugliness continues in this next segment- a soccer saga. Elizabeth Lambert’s infamous and violent hair-pulling incident during a semifinal soccer game between BYU and New Mexico screams of filthiness. The Lobo defender was suspended for her aggressive, shocking play against the Cougars. Lambert apologized for her disgraceful acts on the field. She was way out of line and her story is receiving national media attention. Her uncalled for actions are making Lambert a celebrity for the wrong reasons. Lambert physical and appalling punch to the back of a BYU player was followed by a kick and shove of another player. Then, she had the audacity to pull Kassidy Shumway’s ponytail braid hard enough to land them face-first on the grass. Where in the NCAA soccer rule book is this type of unsportsmanlike treatment of an opponent deemed acceptable? Lambert received a yellow card from the officials when she deliberately kicked a ball into a defenseless opponent’s face. Does that make it okay for athletes to adopt these behaviors if it merely means an in-game penalty? I’ve never donned the zebra stripes or called a college soccer game, but I am almost certain Lambert’s behavior deserved more than that. An indefinite suspension was well in order and overdue.
News today about an incident involving three Tennessee Volunteers freshman football players is unnerving. The distressing story involves an armed robbery at the edge of campus this morning. The men were dressed in hooded jackets and armed with handguns. Nu’Keese Richardson is a highly touted wide receiver recruited by Lane Kiffin. Cleveland native, Mike Edwards, was also charged with attempted robbery. The 18 year old defensive back has played in eight games for the Vols this year and registered five tackles. Safety Janzen Jackson is a seven game starter who was named SEC freshman of the week earlier in the year. Another black eye for college sports.

Parting Points: The New Jersey Devils skate for their seventh straight win tonight against the beat-up Pittsburgh Penguins.
Byron Scott is out in Charlotte. GM Jeff Bower will take over for the Hornets.