James Rouse wrote:
I've long been an advocate for Boers & Bernstein switching to an all-NBA format, because that is the only topic in which they know anything. All other topics are beyond them, and they only result in Bernstein getting upset at callers for no reason other than his own stupidity. And when Bernstein gets upset, its not like he raises his voice...he instead pulls a Hawk Harrelson and refuses to even discuss the issue. For a guy whose entire job is to discuss sports, I find it odd how he still maintains employment. Anyway, here were two issues brought up yesterday regarding the Bears...
1) Bears coaching staff developing players
This is a tough one, because its easy to use Jerry Angelo as the catch-all excuse and move on. I don't think its that simple. I also want to give Lovie credit, because I think this year we have seen some guys develop in the secondary and on the defensive line, which hasn't really happened in a long time. That said, I do think the young Bears players are never really prepared to step in and contribute right away. Guys like Roach, Steltz, Wright, any Olineman, they all appeared clueless for several games/entire seasons before approaching usefulness (if at all).
Bernstein had his usual idiotic/hyperbolic rant of "Name one player who left the Bears and set the world on fire!!". This misses the point...the coaching staff needs to develop starting quality players and backups who won't kill you when they have to play. They don't need to develop the next Brian Urlacher from every mid-round pick. Also, not many players in the NFL are cut from one team and then become All-Pros with another team. We don't have Kurt Warner stories every year. NFL teams are too shrewd in their evaluation. I don't know what league Bernstein has been watching, but NFL teams aren't cutting Ray Rice to make room for Brock Forsey.
Bernstein's comment was typical, because in the previous 30 seconds he was saying how much better Greg Olsen was than Kellen Davis. There are several jettisoned Bears players who ended up being decent starters on other NFL teams.
2) Bears ownership/management role
Bernstein was equally adamant that blaming Bears ownership/management is "old" and doesn't have any relevence. Only meatball fans blame the McCaskeys and Ted Phillips, and to claim the Bears are too cheap to make changes to the organization is a thing of the past. Terry Boers helpfully pointed out Lovie Smith's current salary. The whole conversation was a WTF? for me, because the Bears management obviously has had a big impact on the team, and their cheapness is currently affecting their hiring practices. How Boers/Bernstein doesn't see this is incomprehensible. Lets check the timeline...
*GM position is open, but Bears make it clear that the new GM has to keep Dick Jauron as HC because they don't want to eat his contract. Jerry Angelo is a lesser candidate, but he is hired in part because he will go along with the Jauron thing.
*Jauron's tenure has one up and many downs (I think he makes one postseason in 5 years). Angelo eventually fires him. Bears don't want to spend big money on new HC, so they end up with Lovie Smith.
*Later on, Bears don't want to eat Angelo's contract, so he's allowed to continue as GM even though he is proven to be terrible.
*GM position is open again, and again the Bears make it clear the new GM has to keep Lovie as HC because they don't want to eat his contract. Phil Emery is a lesser candidate, and was actually a scout under the terrible Angelo reign, but he is hired in part because he will go along with the Lovie thing.
Seems to be a repeating process...no? Boers, I really don't care how well Lovie is currently paid...in fact, that is a hindrance because the Bears are unwilling to eat his contract. Bernstein, I really don't care if Emery is being paid "market value"...the Bears have been unable to attract a good GM because they place constraints on their ability to hire/fire a HC. Am I the only one who sees this?
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