You spelled most, moist. It was funny. Moist is a funny word.

I agree with Irish Boy. Crazy stuff.

I can't really argue with that, IB. I don't think Olin was as bad as many have made him out to be. I think he stil lhas two to three good years left in him if he has upgrades in the guard play. We will see soon enough who is right.
Tice is still the most important coach the Bears have. He is the one who is directly responsible for figuring out how to keep Cutler upright.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

OK. I got you. The i is right next to the o on the qwerty keyboard. That's why I also spelled Buckhead as Fuckhead, as far as you know.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

No matter what happens, Scorehead will be right about it next year.

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Fire Phil Emery

So are we all done with the hand-wringing for the Bears moving past Kreutz? Please?

Bbbbbbut he got people into position .... to do fucking what? Allow a sack on a different section of the field? Whipped shit .... so the O-line can do The French Mistake without Dom DeLuise for a change this year.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

Losing Kreutz, who is now an average Center, wouldn't be such a big deal if the rest of the OL didn't suck so bad. He was still the best OL on the Bear. Hell, Mike Tice can probably still outplay most of the OL stiffs on the Bear. I'm actually starting to get a little jacked up about the Bears Offense this year...I just wish they would upgrade the OL, otherwise Cutler will get killed. With all the ex Dallas player love at Halas hall, I'm surprised the Bear haven't signed Marc Colombo.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

You should be excited

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Kruetz was still a class guy even on the way out the door. It's clear that this was all Angelo and Ruskell. They believe they know better than all the coaches and players. Let's hope they're right.



By Brad Biggs, Chicago Tribune reporter

9:08 p.m. CDT, July 31, 2011
BOURBONNAIS — After 13 hard seasons and 183 career starts, one less than the great Walter Payton, no one knows the inner workings of the Bears organization better than Olin Kreutz.

That's why when he was given an ultimatum on Saturday — one hour to make up his mind on a $4 million, one-year contract — he knew it was time to walk away. It wasn't the money, it was the vibe. The veteran center and six-time Pro Bowl performer told the Tribune he is now considering retirement at 34, and expects to decide soon.

"I am sure I will have an opportunity," Kreutz said Sunday night, hours after the team announced it had agreed to terms on a two-year deal with Seahawks castoff Chris Spencer to replace him. "I am just not sure if I want to play for anyone else. Retirement is definitely an option."

Kreutz was eager to get to training camp, but the Bears didn't come to him with an offer — one year, $3 million — until Thursday. That was quickly rejected and Kreutz introduced comparables for veterans Matt Birk and Jeff Saturday, who average between $4 million and $4.5 million annually. Kreutz wanted to be in that vicinity. He wanted to sign that day. Heck, $4 million right then and there probably would have done it.

In the meantime, agent Mark Bartelstein told the Tribune coach Lovie Smith ensured him Friday the team would not be signing another center. When Kreutz finally heard from the team again Saturday, it was take-it-or-leave it. Kreutz left it.

General manager Jerry Angelo explained things were so fast-paced in this unprecedented free-agent period that the club needed to move. If it was so fast-paced, why no deal for Kreutz on Thursday? Or Friday?

"Jerry has been good to me too," Kreutz said. "It felt like maybe it was time to move on. I just got that feeling. I have enough money. So the offer wasn't a big hurdle for me. It was a feel I had, just maybe they wanted to move on no matter what the offer was.

"I don't want to taint anyone. Both sides have won since I've been here. They've treated me good and I think I've played my ass off for them. I know negotiations are never pretty. Things are said and you can't take them personal, but you do get kind of a feel for where people stand and I just didn't get the right feel for it."

Angelo disputed the notion the split will create a divide between the front office and coaches who lobbied so hard for Kreutz.

"That's a lie and it's fabricated and I resented that when I read that," Angelo said. "That to me was dirty pool. We did the best. We had an offer. We bumped our offer. We did the very best we could. So now we're going to just let the chips fall where they may and we're going to move forward.

"This isn't a wake. Nobody died."

Kreutz is moving on too. He had braced himself during the offseason for the possibility.

"Everybody leaves and misses their teammates and misses the fun, but to leave on your own terms is something I'd like to do," he said. "I don't want anyone getting railroaded for why I left. I don't want any of my old teammates feeling horrible that I am not there. This was always going to come to an end at some time.

"Upset isn't the word. Surprised it happened. Surprised it went down that way. We all have to make decisions."

bmbiggs@tribune.com

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This. The Bears also upped their offer to almost what Kruetz was asking for, so I can't see why people are getting pissed at the Bears. Kruetz is not going to get $4million anywhere else. The decision has been made and thats that. I have no issues with it.

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Yea Hova, how can you blame the Bears? They made a very very fair offer. An offer that is more than would get on the free market and more than he deserved. Kruetz chose not to accept it.

Mark Bartlestein (sp?) is just on M&H and says that old saw "With Olin, it was never about the money".

Really? Really?!?

Sure seems like that $500k gap between offers sure had a shitload to do with his departure, no?

WYC, Thursdays at 5.

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Power is always in the hands of the masses of men. What oppresses the masses is their own ignorance, their own short-sighted selfishness.
- Henry George

From a strictly meatball position I will miss Kreutz. There was never a question who was going to stand up for the quarterback, running back, lineman or receiver. Kreutz was always there getting in someone's face and talking shit. Early on, he cost the team with his antics and I still liked him. I also got the feeling that both the team and the coaches understood that Kreutz was judge and jury (random Aggravated Sox Fan Bob shoutout inserted here) that kept everyone in line in the locker room. You didn't cross him or you were libel to take a 10 lb weight to the side of the head. Having that guy in your locker room is a huge crutch for the coaches and to some degree teammates. Someone else can do the same, but he was still my team guy.

I thought his worst year was 2009. He was beginning to falter. Last year was really more of a function of the system and linemates assisting him in occasionally looking a complete fool. In the beginning, there will be a small step back in center play simply because Spencer won't be as familiar with the offense, and maybe won't be as good at working with his linemates. But by mid season Kreutz being gone will be a non issue.

One thing I noticed is all of Kreutz's qbs had problems with the fumble. Coinkidink? But Orton, Grossman and Cutler all did.

This is obviously an exaggeration for effect, but I wonder how can you tell he's doing other people's jobs?

Can you actually see that when you watch the games? That seems like the kind of thing only someone who watches eye in the sky game tapes would be able to see (and even then it would be difficult without knowing specifically what all the blocking assignments were)

He was barely above average last year. I can think of a bunch of flags he caused too.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

Similar to his stance with Jim Miller and others it was clear Angelo wanted to do his own thing. He knew how the players and coaches felt but he wanted his guy. A day after Lovie (who has some communication with Angelo) told Kruetz the Bears weren't going to sign another center they did. Angelo told arguably the best center in the organization's history to take it or leave it. That would be fine if you had a Neal Anderson type of replacement. The Bears don't. They all pretty much said Spencer isn't better than Kruetz right now. From the reporting it sounds like Kruetz would have taken the deal he just wanted some loyalty in return. Angelo said fuck you.

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Well, no. He offered him $4 MILLION dollars. And Kreutz said no. So no.

He told Kruetz he had and hour to take it or leave it. I think that caught him by surprise. It was no secret that Kruetz wanted to be a Bear so Angelo knew he was going to keep him one way or another. I think Kruetz made a huge mistake here too. He let his emotions get the best of him and he made a decision he knew he didn't believe in. Angelo's way of doing business is not going to get him many more discounts. That's not good for the Bears. Angelo said a few years ago that Kruetz gave the Bears a hometown discount and when the time comes he would make sure Olin was taken care of. So much for that.

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We are finding out Angelo is kind of a slimy bastard. Not just for the Kruetz thing, but also for the botched trade with the Ravens and for not drafting of the running back a couple years ago he gave his word he would.

I don't think Jerry is well thought of around the league.

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We all have private ails. The troublemakers are they who need public cures for their private ails.- Eric Hoffer

Kreutz had an entire off-season to make up his mind. He should have accepted the $4MM with 59 minutes left on the deadline.

And the Bears had a timeline for a reason. They needed to make a decision on Spencer. Worth case, they are left with no one.

They knew Kruetz wasn't leaving. He just wanted to feel wanted. Neither player would be able to practice until Thursday. Angelo was just being a dick and Kruetz was sensitive.

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It has been said many times over the years by coaches and announcers. Watching some of the replays you can see him anticipating a guy getting beat or focusing more on helping someone else than doing his job. For many years this wasn't a problem. It got to the point where he wasn't good enough to do it at the level he needed to in order to patch up the O-line.

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You can't say they didn't want him. They offered him $4 million. If they didn't want him, they would have never even made an offer.

If they wanted him they would have immediately offered $4.5 million once the hour deadline ended.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Madden made the myth and the legend Kruetz became. John fawned over him almost as much as Farve

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I'm going to bounce from the spot for awhile but I will be back at some point to argue with you about this hoops stuff again. Playoffs have been great this season. See ya up the road.

I'm out.

If they wanted him at that price, yes, they could have.

They wanted him at $4 million. You can't argue that. They made that offer.

It's also a fact that the Bears let Olin Kruetz walk for $500k. I think that's more telling than anything. $500k is nothing for a captain of the team.

You aren't letting a guy you really want leave over the salary of an average special teams player.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Kreutz quit football over $500k.

Maybe Angelo was wrong,somebody did die!
I can't beleive how this story has dominated sportstalk. I think it's because a lot of "talking heads" were telling us how the Bears MUST sign Kreutz.
Like I said before,too short,too stubby,too past his prime. As far as the O-Line goes,they haven't been passable since John Tait retired.

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favrefan said:"Chris Coghlan isn't gonna pay your rent, Jimmy."