Woe Is Me, Sweet Home Chicago

Boy howdy! Today is an awesome day. I hope that today finds each and all three of you faithful readers in a beautiful place with a beautiful woman (unless you're female then you can be with a guy, you know what I mean) having just an amazing time enjoying this day. Isn't Jersey gorgeous in the sweltering humidity?

I would like to report how proud I am of my Chicago sports teams. The Cubs have apparently packed it in for the year. Right now, I think that most any team besides the Royals (16 straight losses...ouch) could put it to my team. They have gone into the classic maybe-next-year mode in which they pull up all of the promising minor leaguers and get them some good innings in the big leagues so that they know what they got down below if they need it. They let me down this year. I love them nonetheless, but they cut me deep this year.

Meanwhile, being a Chicago Bears fan is not any easier, and their year hasn't officially started yet. Sexy Rexy Grossman is out again. This guy is giving Mr. Glass a run for his money. So that means that all of us Bears fans are going to be watching back-ups again this year--and quite frankly, I talked with the other seven and we're getting a littl e tired of it. Look at this from the official Bears website:

While Grossman's career has been derailed for the second straight year, the Bears are vowing that losing their starting quarterback won't cripple the offense like it did last season.

"I know a lot's being said about Rex and there are a lot of things being said (about) the eulogy of the team given that Rex is out," Angelo said. "But I want to make sure our fans know that we're not lamenting over Rex Grossman. It's unfortunate; we all feel bad about it.

"(But) we have a contingency plan. The only thing that I'm disappointed in is that we're having to get to the contingency plan, not who we have to replace him. We have a lot of confidence in our quarterbacks and certainly in (offensive coordinator) Ron Turner and we feel very good about going forward."

With nearly a month to prepare for the season opener and a better supporting cast in place, the Bears have faith in starter Chad Hutchinson and rookie backup Kyle Orton. "(Chad) is much more prepared (than he was last season)," Angelo said. "He's been with us now in the offseason. He's comfortable with the system. He just needs reps and we have plenty of time to give him that now. When we brought him in last year, we brought him in during the season and that's a tough time to train a player."

Veteran Jeff Blake, who agreed to terms Sunday and suited up Monday night for the first time, will compete for the third-string position.

"He's another quarterback in camp right now," said coach Lovie Smith. "We didn't get him any reps tonight. It will take him a while. But he's played a lot of football and he should be able to help us down the line."

So Chad Hutchinson gets the offense now...Great, but what do we do about the fact that he throws like a seven year old blind girl? I like the prospects of Kyle Orton from Purdue, but how bad will Chad Hutchinson have to play before we put a rookie in who isn't even getting pre-season snaps? I also like the fact that we know that neither Chad nor Kyle will really be winners, because we signed Jeff Blake who will "help us down the line." He only does that by getting in, and Lovie knows that he is gonna be in. Awesome!

So it will be another year of the ground game going solo. But wait, Bears fans, theres more! We have yet to sign our first round draft pick and team Messiah, RB Cedrick Benson. This should not surprise us as you may remember him crying about being picked by the Bears. Literally, crying. I can't really blame him. He knew it was bad news. He knew it was a horrible beginning to his career. Listen to the official Bears line on this business:

While Angelo remains upbeat about the team's prospects this
season and the quarterback situation, he's clearly frustrated over first-round
draft pick Cedric Benson's holdout, which is well into its third week.

While No. 2 pick Ronnie Brown ended his holdout by signing
with the Dolphins Monday, Benson is no closer to coming to terms.

"We really haven't had any progress on that," Angelo said.
"It's unfortunate. We're
still working on it. It's just not happening."

Asked if the impasse would soon reach a critical juncture,
Angelo said: "It was critical last week. Every day that goes by is critical as
far as we're concerned."

At least he acknowledges that it is "unfortunate." Geez, that guy wins an understatement of the day award. We just lost our starting quarterback and have Helen Keller as a back-up, we insulted our starting RB by drafting someone to replace him after a great year, and that guy is still in denial that he has to be a Chicago Bear. That is unfortunate.

I'm calling 4-12 right now.

Welcome to the pain of being a Chicago sports fan. Is there a balm in Gilead? God save the Cheese.