About those Olympics. Sidney Crosby, hero to hosers everywhere, returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins for his first game after his golden goal. The captain received a nice reception (though riddled with a few good natured boos), but the Penguins’ opponent wasn’t the best draw for Sidney to get the heroes’ welcome. The Buffalo Sabres were in town and though he sat out, American goaltender Ryan Miller received the loudest ovation following his MVP performance in Vancouver. Good stuff, Pittsburgh.  As if getting upstaged wasn’t enough, Crosby is looking for some of his gear that he shed during the celebration. If you stole it I suggest trying to buy a replica stick–as if you killed his pet in a 90’s TV show–and keep the real deal for your basement bar. Oh, and you can check out other great Crosby-shops here.

Maryland beats Duke, fans get excited. In a night where all seemed right in the world, Maryland upset Duke in thrilling fashion. It was senior night in College Park and the Terps sent Grevis Vasquez out with a win over the Blue Devils. After the win Maryland fans stormed the court… by the way, there was a whistle with 0.4 seconds left in the game when it looked like the game would be over and the students showed amazing restraint in a situation that was sure to create a preemptive storming. Commendable. The rioting after? Not so much. Here’s an idea though: next time Maryland beats Duke, they should travel to Durham and riot there. Standing around on your own streets is getting old. Right Sparty?

Spring Training kicks off. I think pretty much every team has played some kind of exhibition game at this point. The favorites to win it all based on what I’ve seen? The Blue Jays, hands down.  There has already been a point of interest, though. In a Giants-Brewers game, Barry Zito plunked Prince Fielder in retaliation for a celebration by Fielder last year late in the season. The Giants and Zito have long memories, which makes you think Zito would remember how to get an out or two. Hey-o!

Let the Delhomme sweepstakes begin!NFL free agency is in full swing with a handful of moves already. The Lions signed Nate Burleson, the Bears offered anyone and everyone a contract, and there was even a trade sending Antonio Cromartie to the Jets. The names to watch before the draft are headlined by Julius Peppers and a bunch of running backs.  What this really means is just a chance for some mock drafts to take another stab, speaking of which, Ray Lewis is not available.

Chick basketball. Not sure if you noticed, but UConn’s womens basketball team is something else. Their win on Monday marked the 69th straight win for the Huskies and finished out their regular season at 30-0. Their closest game all year was a 12 point win against Stanford, handing #2 Stanford its only loss of the season. UConn is one win away from tying the womens record for consecutive wins and looks to have a good shot at UCLA’s record of 88 straight wins set by John Wooden’s squads.  There are so many stats to quote about their domination, I would just suggest going to look at their schedule and results.

U-S-A! U-S-A!  The Americans fielded (iced?) a team made up mostly of players 26 and younger, very few of which had seen action in the Olympics. The results so far couldn’t be better. Team USA is unbeaten in the tournament and plays Finland in the semifinals today at 2 CT.  Of course things got real when the Americans beat the host nation last weekend; the first time we had beaten Canada in 50 years. If we take down a tough Finland squad today, it will likely set up a rematch of USA-Canada for the gold medal. 

Take my running back, please.  Think back to three years ago and how much drool would be spilled over this running back free agent class. Tomlinson, Westbrook, Larry Johnson, and Thomas Jones will be available this off-season.  Seriously, if you told me three years ago they would all be available and they should all be approached with caution, I’d have gone all Brian Fellows on you. Anyway, a couple teams looking for a solid veteran back is going to be pretty happy. 

Don’t talk about ESPN’s lady like that. Tony Kornheiser made fun of Hannah Storm a little bit this week and ESPN was real pissed. Storm’s attire has drawn some attention before and Kornheiser really just said what a lot of people were thinking  anyway. Of course, there is no big problem with how Storm dresses, it’s just ridiculous. What’s up with the two week suspension? It started at three days and was extended to a week. Message sent ESPN, no criticizing co-workers. So Tony, next time you think about poking fun at Steve Levy’s suit, check yourself.

Durant’s amazing streak ends.  Without enough people knowing it, Kevin Durant is having an unreal season for the OKC Thunder. This week he ended a streak of 29 games scoring 25 or more points. Only Jordan put together a longer streak when he went for 40 straight games in the late 80’s. The Spurs put it to an end holding him to 21 points and shutting out the star in the fourth quarter. During the streak Durant averaged 32 ppg and shot 50% from three. Kid deserves some MVP votes.

Thank you Twitter.  There are so many ways to be heard today, which is great when you have someone as interesting as Ozzie Guillen. The Sox manager opened his Twitter account this week and the Internet may not be able to contain the awesome. Nothing earth-shattering has been tweeted thus far, but early on my favorite part is the broken English. I really hope he uses this thing to its full potential because honestly one problem with Ozzie is that I can’t understand a lot of what he’s saying at times.  Twitter should really allow him to bring the crazy in HD, but still keep that adorable habit of butchering the language.  For example, “Bed and bath I love this places,” or “going to eat in half hour why dye no have a job?”  These are the things we must know! Love it.

• Deron Williams dressed up like a goof with recspecs, a ghostbusters tee, and high socks playing dodgeball.  You have to see it to believe it. [BDL]
• I don’t usually link to this kind of stuff, but Maria Sharapova is a real looker. [Sharapova's Thigh]
• So the Milwaukee Bucks are still an NBA team, at least for fantasy purposes.  Kind of. [Give Me The Rock]
• Drew Barrymore is playing a Packer fan dressed like the Joker?  How strange…Also nice redesign Zoner! [Zoner]
• 21 different pictures of Packers fans doing what they do best: looking like fat white trash. [JCS]
• Cris Collinsworth is a complete idiot in the booth, but did you know he was a total jackass during his playing days as well? [Deadspin]
• With McNabb questionable for Week 2, it looks like the Eagles are pursuing Jeff Garcia.  Too bad Vick isn’t available. [Inside the Iggles]
• Here’s your NFL Week 2 Preview.  It’s got everything you need to know. [MidwestSportsFans]
• NFL players are donating their brains to science.  Just to make sure everyone is clear, let me die before giving me some football player’s “brain”.  Thanks.  [Bootlegger Sports]
• Another Chicago Blogger’s take on the Bears game.  Yeah, it’s negative. [Tremendous Upside Potential]
• It was NOT a good weekend for Ohio teams.  Browns, Bengals, Indians, Reds, Buckeyes all lost.  Ouch. [Paneech]
• Bruce Levine seems to think the Cubs are looking to trade Milton Bradley AND Carlos Zambrano.  It seems unlikely that they would trade both, but if the Cubs can shed bad contracts, they should.  Which begs the question: is Z a bad contract? [Bleacher Nation]
• I guess the Bengals prematurely ejaculated on the Broncos on Sunday, or at least that’s what Keith Olbermann ALMOST said.  You know he was thinking it. [Detroit4Lyfe]
• D-Wade held a charity bowling event at Ten=Pin in Chicago and a local blogger went and interviewed him.  It made me realize two things: Wade is awesome, and bloggers are dorks. [Docksquad]
• Patrick Swayze passed away, and here is a tribute to him by some sports guys. [Outside the Boxscore]

h/t: Maize n’ Brew

12.  Denver: Everette Brown, DE/OLB FSU- The Broncos would love if Sanchez fell to them here, but it’s probably better they go defense anyway.  Well, I don’t know if that’s true, but I know it wasn’t very good last year.  Brown will give the Broncos a good pass rusher and they’ll probably go for more defense at their next pick.

13.  Washington: Michael Oher, OT Ole Miss- It’s another offensive line or defensive line decision here.  You hear that Detroit?  That’s how you build in the draft.  Gar.  What was I talking about? Ah, yeah, Oher.  Some have him slipping farther, but I really like this kid and think he will be a steal for Washington. Cuz he can block, and stuff.

14.  New Orleans: Malcolm Jenkins, CB Ohio State- For about the 32nd straight year, the Saints primary need is in their defensive backfield.  Jenkins is a solid mid-first rounder and the Saints can’t pass up the match made in heaven.  Jenkins didn’t light the combine up, but he had a great career at OSU, would have been a first rounder last year, and will be a solid pro.

15. Houston: Clay Matthews, LB USC- The Texans will almost certainly look for defense in the first round.  They really need help in the defensive backfield, but if Jenkins is off the board, there might not be anyone worth taking.  They’re set at DE, so it’s pretty safe to say they’ll go for a linebacker from USC if the board looks like this.  I threw a dart and came up with Matthews.  The Texans did sign OLBs Cato June and Buster Davis, which may cause them to go for Maualuga to play the inside.  The dart says otherwise.

16.  San Diego: Eben Britton, OT Arizona- The Chargers are a team that usually surpises me on draft day, so this will undoubtedly be wrong.  San Diego did have some O-line trouble last year though and could use some help at the tackle position.

17.  NY Jets: Jeremy Maclin, WR Missouri- Oh boy, love the Jets and the draft!  One can only hope they do something to completely piss their fans off, but it’s pretty clear they’ll go offense here.  Some options: Freeman, Moreno, Wells, and Maclin.  Well, they can’t take all of them, so I think they should go with Maclin.  Freeman just isn’t that good in my opinion, and I don’t know why everyone is always so anxious to get rid of Thomas Jones.  He just had a great season and now it’s time to draft a back?  No way.  I could see them trading up to try and snag Sanchez also.

18.  Denver (via Chicago): Rey Maualuga, ILB USC- From DE at 12 to LB here at 18, the Broncos will get two starters on their defense in the first round.  Maualuga is a bonafide playmaker coming from the NFL’s farm system at USC.  Especially with the 3-4 defense, linebackers will be needed.  One of the USC guys will go here.

19.  Tampa Bay: Tyson Jackson, DE LSU- The Bucs need some serious help on the defensive line and if Tyson Jackson is on the board here, he’s their guy.  Look for a DT pick here as a possibility as well, such as Peria Jerry.  With Brian Griese and Leftwich competing for the starting QB spot, Josh Freeman could go here too, but the Bucs defense let them down at the end of last year and I think they’ll look there first.

20.  Detroit: Vontae Davis, CB Illinois- This is the beauty of passing on Stafford at number one.  If the Lions follow “conventional wisdom” and take him, the same people say they need to take a tackle to protect the young QB, which makes some sense.  If they pass and build with linemen and defense, they have options.  So instead of risking it all on Stafford, they get their pick of the best DE/DB/LB available.  If Maualuga is on the board, he’s the guy, because with Julian Peterson and Ernie Sims on the outside, they need a MLB, but here they will choose between Michael Johnson and Davis.

21. Philadelphia: Knowshon Moreno, RB Georgia- I’m thinking it’s running back or tight end here for Philly and Moreno has the best talent on the board at those positions.  He’s got great hands and I’m reading about his blocking skills, so that’s good.  He’ll be a great fit to spell Westbrook, while the veteran can groom him as the running back of the future.

22.  Minnesota: William Beatty, OT UConn- Josh Freeman just isn’t doing it for me as a first round quarterback, which is really what Minnesota needs.  Taking Freeman just to take a QB won’t do though, so the Vikes have to try and protect what they have with an OT.  Beatty will be a solid NFL player and should help on that already strong front.

Alright, one segment to go.  Check back later for the end of the first round and a look at what the Bears will be looking for in the second round.

1.  Detroit: Jason Smith, OT Baylor- Yeah, yeah, they need a quarterback, but what good is a QB if the rest of your team is awful?  The fact is, the things the Lions need most are defensive players and a tackle, and the Smith pick sets them up best for that strategy.  Plus, I’ve seen some very disturbing numbers on Stafford and all the mocks have him going first, so let’s see what happens if he doesn’t.

2.  St. Louis: Eugene Monroe, OT Virginia- I swear, Virginia has more picks at the top of the draft than any mediocre program out there.  In this case, the Rams are looking for someone to replace Orlando Pace (where did he go again?) and Monroe is the guy now that Andre Smith left the combine and Michael Oher, well, I don’t know why he slipped. There has been some talk of Sanchez here, but I think the Rams are employing some deception.

3.  Kansas City: Aaron Curry, OLB Wake Forest- I really think Curry is the best talent in this draft and would really love it if he went off the board at #1.  The Chiefs could also use a tackle, so if one of those two are still around (which they will be after those idiots draft Stafford at 1) then it will be a tough choice between Curry and Monroe here.

4.  Seattle: Michael Crabtree, WR Texas Tech- Seattle could do just about anything here.  They could take one of those top tackles if one slips, they could take Sanchez also as the QB of the future.  I’m going to go with Crabtree here because it would be hard to resist giving Hasselbeck the weapons.  I know they added Houshmazilli in free agency, but TJ has always had Chad Johnson by his side and it would be great for the Seahawks to add Crabtree to help him out.

5.  Cleveland: Brian Orakpo, DE/OLB Texas- Fresh off being pissed that Crabtree is gone (he’s the pick if available), the Browns will look to bolster that defensive line, which was awful last year.  Orakpo makes sense here because he will provide a dominant pass-rushing presence for a team that only got 17 sacks last year.  17 sacks?  The Texans used to give that up in one game.

6.  Cincinnati: BJ Raji, DT Boston College- This would have been a lock had he really failed that drug test, but there is still hope as long as the Bengals are concerned.  The Bengals would love and offensive tackle though and could spring for Andre Smith here. I guess if you can’t get a criminal, get a lazy bum.  I say they should go with neither and take Raji.

7.  Oakland: Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR Maryland- Soon I’ll pick a player outside of the Big 12 and ACC, but not yet.  Oakland needs a wideout badly and there isn’t much chance they take something different.  I guess you could be concerned with the Millen-esque draft strategy (QB, RB, WR in consecutive first rounds), but the Raiders have actually been good on defense, so they need this upgrade and someone for Russell to overthrow.  But that could be difficult since Darrius runs like a 2.5 40 or something.

8.  Jacksonville: Matthew Stafford, QB Georgia- So, from one to eight I guess.  Stafford’s potential is unquestioned.  He has a cannon for an arm and has shown the ability to make all the throws.  The question is the accuracy, which hit at around 61% at Georgia (103 points lower than fellow SEC QB Tim Tebow).  Garrard is not the long term answer for the Jags under center, and if no one has traded up for one of the QBs by now, they’ll take one.

9.  Green Bay: Aaron Maybin, DE/OLB Penn State- The Packers would be happy with any of the defensive linemen off the board so far, so they’ll just go ahead and grab the next best one here.  Hey, Penn State had a lot of legal trouble this year, so maybe the Bengals will go for Maybin earlier.  I guess Andre Smith could be an option here also, but I think I’ll be saying that for a few picks in a row.

10.  San Francisco: Mark Sanchez, QB USC- Bit of a gift here for the 49ers that probably won’t happen in the real deal.  In this case though, they can’t possibly pass on the California boy when they’ve had such an embarrassing QB situation for the last few seasons.  When Stafford does go first, they’ll probably be looking at Maybin here.

11.  Buffalo Bills: Andre Smith, OT Alabama- After trading Peters the other day, the Bills go offensive tackle here.  The blubbery one has had his share of problems since his suspension from Bama’s bowl game, but he is an undeniable talent and the Bills should take a risk with him here.

So that’s the first 11 the way it should be.  Again, I know Stafford will probably go first and change this all up, but I’m going by what I think teams should do.

9/13 – @ Green Bay
9/20 – vs. Pittsburgh
9/27 – @ Seattle
10/4 – vs. Detroit
10/11 – BYE
10/18 – @ Atlanta
10/25 – @ Cincinnati
11/1 – vs. Cleveland
11/8 – vs. Arizona
11/12 – @ San Francisco
11/22 – vs. Philadelphia
11/29 – @ Minnesota
12/6 – vs. St. Louis
12/13 – vs. Green Bay
12/20 – @ Baltimore
12/28 – vs. Minnesota
1/3 – @ Detroit

Although the Bears see Pittsburgh, Baltimore, Atlanta and Philadelphia, there is no really tough 3 or 4-game stretch.  The Bears are on Sunday Night Football for the first Green Bay game, the Atlanta game and the Philly game.  They also play the Vikings on Monday Night in December.  That is a lot of primetime.  I wonder how much Cutler influenced those time-slots.  One last thing, annoyingly the Bears have a Thursday Night game in the middle of November which I am assuming will only be showing on the NFL network for most of the country (don’t worry, they play it on a local station in Chicago).

Well, they are at it again, signing ex-Bear and ex-con Tank Johnson after the Cowboys decided they didn’t want him.  The same Cowboys who thought TO was a good deal for a while and signed Pacman Jones last year.  I suppose it might boost team morale to have some players with a lot in common, but you have to start worrying when every story told in the locker room starts with “when I was in the joint…”

And what’s with the Bengals scooping up all of the old Bears’ players that have gotten in trouble?  I swear if Rex Grossman gets picked up for something, say assault with a deadly weapon when he’s whipping footballs at the elderly, the Bengals will be all over him.  That assumes that they haven’t made a push more Mike Vick yet.

What an embarrassment this organization is.  I know I have plenty to be ashamed of as a Lions fan, but as far as I know we are way, way behind Cincy when it comes to jail appearances.

So what’s next for the Bengals and their offseason plans?

• Donte Stallworth.
• Plaxico.
• Maybe hire Bernie Madoff to run the team.
• Maybe Drew Peterson as a player scout of some sort.
• Ryan Leaf as Public Relations Director.

I’m really shocked by the news.  The Bears always seemed like also-rans in the deal and I really expected Cutler to end up in Washington, Detroit, or even to stay in Denver before Angelo would make a move for him.

Kudos to Jerry Angelo, I didn’t know he had it in him.  This changes a whole lot on offense for Chicago.  Cutler is a legit NFL quarterback and in my lifetime, I barely know what that is like.  So there goes the speculation about who the Bears are looking at in the first round; they already made their first round choice and it’s Jay Cutler.

I think Stormin’ Norman peed himself when he heard the news.  The only downside for me is that the Bears got rid of both their fun quarterbacks in the same year.  Still, what a move.

**Orlando Pace was also signed today.  After a slow start by Angelo in free agency, these two moves are blockbusters.

The final pieces to the Cutler deal seem to break down with the Bears getting Cutler and a 5th rounder this year, in exchange for Orton, a first rounder this year, first rounder next year, and a third rounder this year.

Adding Orlando Pace and Jay Cutler in one day is amazing for the Bears.  Yes, they gave up a lot in draft picks, but the Bears don’t exactly clean up in the draft ever.  This is a win for both teams I think.

Thanks to Sharapova’s Thigh for the tip.

After passing the “Tom Brady Rule” the other day, which apparently has nothing to do with a ratio of Super Bowls to the hotness of your wife, the NFL passed another four rules involving unnecessary roughness yesterday. Let’s criticize them one by one shall we?

1. The first is a ban on “wedge blocking” for kick returns.  The powers that be decided to eliminate the wedge and limit the group blocking to two players at a time.  This of course gets rid of the always intriguing battle of wedge vs. crazy wedge buster.  So already this is bad.  Seriously though, how many people really get injured in this situation?  And won’t the increase in tiny kick returners getting killed by rabid roided gunners negate any benefit?  Bad rule.
2. Next we have the blindside block, which I guess is being called the Hines Ward Rule, prohibiting blocks to the head or neck.  Well that sucks, because these are extremely fun to watch.  I do understand that it only prohibits the hits to the neck or head, but there is no doubt in my mind that it will result in some very wussy fouls.  Plus, no more “you got knocked out dance?”  Boooooo.
3. There is also a rule about onside kicks and from what I can gather it requires four players on each side of the kicker and then places more spacing restrictions on the kicking team.  We’ll call this the “good luck recovering an onside kick, ever rule.”  I think that’s catchy.
4. Finally, the defenseless receiver rule will get a little more strict.  Now forearm and shoulder hits to the neck or head of a receiver, instead of just head-to-head hits, will be 15 yard penalties.  So basically, receivers will be getting the same protections as the quarterback demanding you don’t touch them above the shoulders.  Well, the same protections quarterbacks used to have, because now you simply can’t touch them.

Listen, injuries in the NFL are horrible and they happen too often, but it is a violent game and trust me when I say the NFL likes it that way.  Actually, I’m not that upset with the principle behind the rules protecting defenseless receivers and blindside hits, I just know that the way they are applied will piss me off this fall.

LM: After the 2008 season ended, you said that you believed in Kyle Orton and liked some of the things he did, but you needed to see more before anointing him the long-term solution at the position. You also indicated that the Bears were fixated on getting the quarterback position stabilized. With all that in mind, why are the Bears seemingly not interested in pursuing a veteran in free agency or via a trade?

Yeah, what gives Jer?  There are certainly plenty of quarterbacks out there that the Bears could try and bring in to compete with Neckbeard for the top spot, but the Bears have seemingly been idle.  Angelo said he didn’t want to hurt the progress of Orton like they did last year with him and Rex competing for the job.  Understandable, as a guy competing for the job would steal reps from Orton, but if the guy, whether it be Simms, Leftwich, or anyone else, is better than Orton, isn’t that worth the lack of reps? For what it’s worth, Angelo said they could look for a veteran back-up after the draft.  Woo!

LM: Why haven’t the Bears tried to sign any of this year’s big-name free agents such as wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh or safety Brian Dawkins, both of whom are productive veterans who seemingly would provide major upgrades?

Money.  That was Angelo’s answer in a nutshell.  The Bears didn’t want to shell out the money for a guy like T.J. at the top of his market, or to an aging Brian Dawkins.  Dawkins I understand, but you’re going to have to spend money to upgrade at wide receiver.  Angelo said Seattle’s situation was different in that they had an “inordinate amount of injuries with their wide receivers” and were looking for someone healthy and stable.  Umm, what?  Well, the Bears have an inordinate amount of suck with their wide receivers, let’s address that.  The more you read this, the more you get the feeling Angelo is the kind of guy that steals the butter from the dish at restaurants.

LM: How much of a priority is upgrading the wide receiver position either in free agency or the draft?

Angelo says they have guys they like as “twos, threes, fours and fives, and if we carried six, a sixth receiver.”  Translation: one two, three fours, and a couple five or sixes.  He says they’re in the market for a number one receiver and will likely pursue it through the draft.  You hear that first round mock drafters?  He also said that they would look at premium receivers available through free agency too, but umm…referencing the last question, I don’t think that’ll happen.  They cost money you know.

h/t: Chicago Bears and Judd!