Mike Martz Stay Away!

The recent opening of the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator position has brought rumors that Mike Martz might fill the position. I really hope this does not happen. Martz's offense consists of long drop backs for the quarterback and deep routes for the recievers. The only time Martz has had success with this offense was when everything was perfectly put in place: Hall of Fame players at the skill positions and a good offensive line. His stints in Detroit and San Fransico were not good years for Martz. The problem with his type of offense is the vulnerability for sacks on the quarterback. The Bears offensive line was terrible this past season and with no headlining free agent or high draft pick the room for improvement on the line is minimal. With the high amount of sacks given up, there is a higher possibility of injury on Jay Cutler just because of the fact he is taking a higher amount of hits. Another reason why Martz should not be hired is the lack of use of the tight end. Greg Olsen is one of the Bears top weapons and with a Martz system in place, his production would drop significantly. When Martz was in San Fransico, he had Vernon Davis as his tight end. The one year Martz was in San Fransico, Davis had only 31 catches for 358 yards and 2 touchdowns. This year, Davis had a breakout year with 78 catches for 965 yards and 13 touchdowns.

Also during Martz's year with the 49er's, Martz and head coach Mike Singletary did not see eye to eye on their offensive philosohpies. Martz is more of a pass happy coach, while Singletary wants to control the clock by running the football. This is the same situation as it is in Chicago. Lovie Smith always uses the expression, "We come off the bus running." The difference in coaching philosophies would not be a good idea. You would like to have your head coach and offensive coordinator on the same page. Martz also said some words about Jay Cutler's play earlier this year. "He just doesn't get it," Martz said. It would be interesting to see how the two would work together. My prediction would be it would not be a good relationship. Both of them have big ego's and neither would back down. I do not want Martz to come in and ruin the career of Cutler.

Another Bulls Injury

Kirk Hinrich is the latest Chicago Bull to go down with an injury. Kirk will miss 1-2 weeks with a sprained left thumb. This shortens the Bulls depth even more than it previously was with him in the rotation. Jannero Pargo is going to have to fill Kirk's place for the next several games. And with the continually slow progression of James Johnsons' rookie campaign, the Bulls are still going to be hurt by their lack of depth. Fatigue could become a factor for this team come March and April when these players are logging 35+ minutes a night early in the season.

Tyrus Thomas Injured

Tyrus Thomas was injured in a weight room accident and is going to be out 4-6 weeks with a broken arm. I am suprised Tyrus knows where the weight room is, let alone actually lifting a weight. This injury puts a strain on the depth of the Bulls. Rooke Taj Gibson is going to start in place of Thomas. Taj has played well so far and I look for him to keep improving as the year progresses. Another rookie, James Johnson, is going to get additional minutes to replace Thomas. Johnson has had the deer in the headlight look so far as a rookie. He needs to slow down and just play basketball. Vinny played only 8 guys with Thomas in the lineup and since Tyrus' injury, he only has played 7 guys in the regular roation with Johnson only getting a few minutes. Vinny is going to wear out the Bulls by the All Star break if he keeps going with his 7 man rotation of: Rose, Salmons, Deng, Gibson, Noah, Hinrich, and Miller. The Bulls should go out and try to sign a veteran PF to help with the depth of this team. The Bulls may be able to manage the 7 man roation for now, but how long are they going to be able to last?

Preseason Top 25 College Basketball Poll

The AP top 25 was released recently with Kansas ranked as the preseason #1 team. Each season, there are between 8-12 teams that have a legitamite shot at winning the naional championchip. This seasons preseason top ten are: #1 Kansas, #2 Michigan St, #3 Texas, #4 Kentucky, #5 Villanova, #6 North Carolina, #7 Purdue, #8 West Virginia, #9 Duke, and #10 Tennessee.

This year there seems to be wide open in who could win the title. The defending champions, North Carolina, have arguably one of the best frontcourts in the nation led by Ed Davis and Deon Thompson. The concern with North Carolina is how are they going to replace Ty Lawson at the PG position. Larry Drew II will start the season as the teams starting PG. That is the most concerning position with the defending champs. A team that I really like this year is Texas. Texas is led by two seniors, Dexter Pittman and Damion James, and have one of the top rated freshman in the country in Avery Bradley.

The four teams that I think will reach the Final Four this year is: Kansas, Michigan St, Texas, and North Carolina. My NCAA final matchup is going to be Kansas vs Texas. And the team I think is going to win the title is Texas.

Help Wanted: Offensive Line

It's been far too long since I've last made a post, so I am long overdue. The Chicago Bears O-Line is absolute dog crap. With the current play of the line, Cutler is going to himself killed at one point this year. I had to hold my breath a minute on Sunday when he took a helemet to the chin shot. Upgrading the O-Line in the offseason should be Jerry Angelo's number 1 priority next offseason. Also, seeing an actual Wide Reciever out there would be nice too. These could be difficult tasks seeming how the Bears are without a first or second round pick(don't get me started on the Gaines Adams trade). So for now, every time Cutler drops back to pass I hope he doesn't get himself killed.

Glen Davis bumping a fan

The father of a 12 year old boy wrote a letter to the NBA demanding that Glen Davis apologize to his son for bumping him the other night. In my eyes there is no reason for Davis to apologize to the fan, but today he did. Davis had just hit a game winning shot, and was celebrating the win. It was obvious he did not mean to bump the fan. In the letter wrote by the 12 year old boy's father, he stated that Davis had, "no regard for fans' personal safety." If that was the case, the 300 lbs Davis would have been visciously attacking the fans sitting courtside and not just slightly bumping a person as he was celebrating. The kid did not even fall down. Sitting courtside to a NBA game in my eyes the best seating in any pro sports and I would be lucky to sit there once in my lifetime. This is just an act for this boy and his dad to get their 5 minutes of fame. If you don't want to run the risk of being involved in a physical act, like this one, then don't sit courtside. The boy's father just needs to shutup and go away.

Bulls-Celtics Series After Game 4

Those who have been watching this series knows how fun this series has been to watch. Outside of Game 3, where the Celtics whooped the Bulls ass, this has been far and away the most exciting series to watch. There has been 3 games where its been back and forth where 2 of the 4 games have gone to overtime, with the most recent game going to a second overtime. Ray Allen and Ben Gordon have gone back and forth hitting big shot after big shot. Rajon Rondo has been terrific in this series with multiple triple doubles. The Bulls have been getting good minutes from their bench in Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller. The problem for the Bulls often during this series has been their inability to get rebounds at times during these games. There also has been many coaching mistakes during this series as well. In the first two games, Vinny Del Negro had a combined 0 timeouts at the end of the game to set up a play that could tie or win the game. Instead they had to settle for desperation half court heaves. In game 4, Doc Rivers did not have the Celtics foul while up 3 with under 10 seconds left in the first overtime. Instead Ben Gordon drained a 3 to tie the game and send it into a second overtime. As far as the rest of the series goes, the Bulls can win Game 5 if they get off to a good start and rebound defensively to keep the Celtics off the offensive glass. I think however this game might end up going 7 games, which will be fun to watch. Hopefully, the Bulls can be the victors in the series.