Yay! Playoff Basketball!!!

As much as April means baseball to me, for a long time in my childhood, basketball shared the spring spotlight. How could an avid baseball fan such as myself split my sports world showing attention to a team not playing in Wrigley Field? The easiest answer: I grew up in the Michael Jordan era.

As a child of the Jordan era (and Chicago native) the Bulls took center stage from April to June. It's as if nothing mattered in the regular season, the Bulls always turned it on in the playoffs.

And how could they not? They had Michael Jordan, the greatest of all time. They had Scottie Pippen, the greatest complimentary player of all time. And they had Phil Jackson, one of the greatest coaches of all time. Phil did an amazing job taking some of the biggest ego's in sports and molding them together to bring championships to Chicago.

The first three championships featured Horace Grant, John Paxson and a deep bench of role players. The second set of three championships featured rebounding machine Dennis Rodman, Toni Kukoc and another deep bench. The constants in those two teams are Jordan, Pippen & Coach Phil.

After Jordan and Co. left, the Bulls disappeared off the face of the basketball earth. They got bad, real bad. They were constantly one of the worst teams in basketball. They couldn't attract any impact players through the free agent market, they failed to pick up young talent through the draft and their coaches weren't doing their jobs.

Enter John Paxson who replaced Jerry Krause as GM. Krause is best known as the architect of the Bulls championship teams. Paxson rebuilt this team from scratch. He dumped high price, high ego players in an attempt to build team chemistry. Next, he dumped all the remaining links of the Krause era--players, coaches, all of them. Then, Paxson did what Krause couldn't do and built through the draft.

In 2003, he drafted PG Kirk Hinirch out of Kansas. In 2004, he drafted Ben Gordon (UConn) and Luol Deng and Chris Duhon (Duke). Paxson's draft strategy was to draft players out of perennial NCAA powerhouse schools with a pedigree of success. Hinrich appeared in two final fours. Deng and Duhon went deep in the tourney under Coach K at Duke. Gordon won a Nat'l Championship in his junior year at UConn.

In free agency, the Bulls added Andres Nocioni who won a gold medal in the Olympics while playing for Team Argentina. He was also successful overseas.

In 2006, the Bulls stepped away from their draft strategy a bit. They chose Tyrus Thomas (LSU) and Thabo Sefolosha (Switz.). Thomas was chosen with the second pick (acquired from NY Knicks for Eddy Curry) and possesses amazing athletic ability and draws comparisons to Suns forward Shawn Marion. Sefolosha starred in the European basketball leagues and is another superb athlete who is versatile enough to play three positions.

Again, Paxson hit the free agent market this summer doing what Krause couldn't do--land the big free agent when he signed C Ben Wallace away from the rival Detroit Pistons.

So the Bulls look for their first playoff series win since the Jordan era again. Last year they took the eventual champion Miami Heat to six games. This Bulls team could be better with their additions while the Heat bring back basically the same team from last year. And the Bulls (despite having a lower seed) will get home court advantage because of their better record.

So break out the black shoes and the black socks. It's time for some Bulls playoff basketball.

Game One Goes To The Birds :-(

This wasn't only an introduction to the Cubs/Cards series for Lou Piniella, it was also an introduction to Cub-dumb.

Cub-dumb, also known as "being Cubbed" is an act when players decide to revert to the crap that they truly are, do stupid things in the field or on the basepaths....in short, Cub-dumb is baseball retardation. In the Cubs 2-1 loss to the Cardinals there was plenty of retardation to go around.

There were several strange plays and they all cost the Cubs in the end. They took a 1-0 lead in the 1st inning behind a run scoring single by Aramis Ramirez. Next, Mark DeRosa grounded into a double play to end the inning. But it wasn't a normal 6-4-3. DeRosa was safe when the second basemen's throw pulled Albert Pujols off the first base bag. DeRosa was tagged out when he entered fair territory while avoiding Pujols' tag.

In the 7th inning, Henry Blanco failed to move runners on first and second when he popped a bunt that was fielded by catcher Yadier Molina and almost turned into a triple play. Blanco was called out at the plate, and the Cubs rally was stifled after that when Cesar Izturis struck out looking and Daryle Ward struck out swinging at three splitters that weren't even close to being strikes.

The Cubs had a chance to make some noise in the bottom of the 9th inning. DeRosa hit a one out single and was pinch run in favor of Ronny Cedeno. Cedeno moved to second after Jacques Jones walk---kinda. Cedeno, off with the pitch, slid past the bag while shortstop David Eckstein kept the tag on Cedeno. The umpire initially called Cedeno safe until Tony LaRussa came out to argue the call, which was eventually overturned with the help of the umpiring crew and LaRussa insisting that he'd buy the first round at Sluggers after the game.

The Cub rally ended meekly as Matt Murton popped out on the first pitch he saw.

Sounds like the Cubs lost more than the Cardinals won, doesn't it? The Cards scored on a Preston Wilson two-run homer in the top of the 7th. That sucked, because I was watching the game in the student center and the Cubs were just rolling around. And in typical Cub fashion, as soon as you turn away...SMACK!!!

Preston F***ing Wilson. You've gotta be f***ing kidding me.

Besides Wilson's home run, Ted Lilly (1-2) was brilliant striking out six in seven innings while only allowing four hits. Lilly looks like he's gonna be that pitcher that gets NO run support despite good stuff.

Braden Looper (3-1) pitched well, especially knowing that I would be more than 300 miles south of Wrigley Field as I spent most of my afternoon taking a test. Nearly everyone by now should know my past interactions with Mr. Looper. Looptey-loop struck out five in seven innings while picking up the win.

If my mom was here, she'd tell me something to the extent of 'the sun will rise tomorrow."

If it does, game two will take place as Jason Marquis will take the mound against his former mates. If Marquis knows what's good for him, he pitches a complete game, no-hitter and hits a couple of dingers.

As you can tell, I don't like losing. I absolutely HATE losing to the Cardinals. Losing to the Cardinals is the absolute worse feeling in the world for me.

LIST PART I: Things that are bad, but not as bad as losing to the Cardinals.

• Losing to Duke (UNC; basketball)
• Losing to Ohio State (Michigan; football)
• Losing to the White Sox
• Rejection
• Heartbreak (over a girl)

Yeah, I said it. Being rejected by a girl, not as painful as losing to the Cardinals in my eyes. And heartbreak? Not even close, a few drinks coupled with a night of poetry writing can get me through any heartbreak. Getting over a loss by the Cubs at the hands of the Cardinals---that's just on the brink of depressing.

LIST PART II: Issues with Lou Piniella....because we haven't seen eye to eye sometimes this year.

• Why is Cliff Floyd batting second?
• Why wasn't Felix Pie starting in center field against the righty Looper?
• Why wasn't Pie used in the 9th inning as a defensive replacement? Either he or JJ could have caught that ball that Floyd missed on a dive that Jim Edmonds turned from a single into a triple.
• If you weren't gonna use Pie as a pinch hitter or as a defensive replacement---why didn't you use Pie as the pinch runner instead of Ronny Cedeno? Pie is faster and a better base stealer than Cedeno.
• Where was Michael Barrett? Last I checked, he hit a game winning Grand Slam against Jason Isringhausen last year against the Cardinals. Mikey B. is a better option off the bench than The Big Murt, who is struggling without constant playing time.
• I will give Lou credit for arguing the 9th inning call---good to see the manager awake at the wheel (not that's not a jab at LaRussa's DUI....but it should be!)

Hopefully the Cubs will get it right in the next two games, or else I (and the rest of Cubdom) have to face humiliation at the hands of the Cardinals fans on campus.

Bring On The Cardinals!

As all the attention of the baseball world shifts east, baseball's most overlooked rivalry starts up again Friday at Wrigley Field when the defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals visit the Chicago Cubs.

Yuck, it sickens me every time I have to think about the Cards being World Champs. I've had to deal with it every day since October. With World Champs hats, sweaters, t-shirts.....any time I have to see someone wearing those items, it feels like a punch to the balls.

But that was last year, every day is a step further away from that disastrous month of October. Since that night however, a lot has changed in the world of Cubdom.

I came up with the slogan "This is the year that Cubdom strikes back" which is a play on "The Empire Strikes Back." Pretty cool, I think. Then Andy MacPhail (F-A-I-L) stepped down, triggering the following events:

• John McDonough becoming interim president
• Lou Piniella is hired as manager
• The Cubs spend $300 million on revamping the worst team in the NL
• The Tribune Co. announces that it will sell the team at the end of the season

It's not like a lot hasn't happened to the Cards since then too.

• The Cards decided to weaken their bullpen because they decided that they didn't want to partake in the free agent spending spree. The Cards will go to battle with their 8th and 9th inning guys to start the game instead of end them.
• They've also decided not to go with a right fielder. Unless you consider Skip Schumaker, Juan Encarnacion (still injured), Preston Wilson and So Taguchi as a formidable right field trio. Oh and they've also decided to give Jim Edmonds uber amounts of money despite health concerns and a clear decline in skills.
• Then there was this little bitch fit between Albert Pujols and Scott Rolen. "I won't sign autographs unless I make this much more than Rolen."-Pujols. "I won't sign autographs unless I make this much compared to Albert." -Rolen. What a bunch of bitches.
• Oh, and then Tony LaRussa decided that he was gonna drive off that World Series hangover.
  

Again, lots has changed since the Cards were crowned. So that leads us into the first of about 19 or 20 games against our arch-rival (no pun intended.)

• Game 1 matches up reliever-turned-starter Braden Looper and Ted "The Forty Million Dollar Man" Lilly. I endorsed the Lilly signing for a multitude of reasons, including the Cardinals inability to hit left handed starting pitching which continues to be a trend. Lilly has yet to disappoint, he's 1-1 with a 2.37 ERA and is racking up strikeouts while minimizing walks. Looper isn't terrible in his own right (except for the fact that he is wearing a Cardinals uniform.) Looptey-loop is 2-1 with a 2.37 ERA. He'll benefit from me not being at Wrigley to heckle him. As some of you may or may not know, Looper and I have history between us. As a member of the Marlins, Looper was heckled endlessly by me before, during and after a rain delay. He tried to get me kicked out (presumably...why else would he be talking to an usher pointing at me?) However, little did Braden's bitch ass know that the usher was a friend of mine. Looper would go on to blow the save, just like I predicted.
• The most intriguing match up occurs Saturday afternoon as the Cardinals send Anthony Reyes (0-2, 5.40 ERA) to the mound against former Cardinal Jason Marquis. Marquis signed a three year deal worth $21 million with the Cubs after a terrible 2006 season in which Marquis posted an ERA higher than 6.00. To add insult to injury, Marq was left off the WS roster and left out to dry on several occasions by LaRussa and pitching coach Dave Duncan. Duncan and LaRussa grew thin of Marquis and basically made him Cardinal Nation's whipping boy. Cards fans are licking their chops for a shot at Marquis, who is coming off his first win in a Cubs uniform. He's sporting a 1-1 record with a 2.65 ERA.
• On paper, game three looks to be a mismatch in favor of the Cardinals. They'll send World Series hero Adam Wainwright (1-1, 3.20) against Wade Miller (0-1, 9.00). Miller has been absolutely terrible this year. He hasn't pitched deep into ball games and I don't think his fastball has reached 90 MPH this year. If he continues to struggle, Angel Guzman might take his spot in the rotation if he keeps impressing out of the pen (and now in the minors.) Wainwright, a starter-turned-reliever-turned-starter struggled in his last two innings of work against the Pirates in his first loss of the 2006 season. But his raw stuff is still there as there are times where that mid-90s fastball coupled with that big breaking ball look untouchable.

This series will match two of baseball's best managers. We already know about what type of piece of crap LaRussa is, but what about Lou? Yes, Sweet Uncle Lou gets his first taste of the Cubs-Cards rivalry on Friday. Good news for Cubs fans is that he's out-managed LaRussa before, note the 1990 World Series in which Lou's Reds swept the heavily favored A's.

NOTES:

• Both teams will be missing significant players this series. The Cardinals are without Chris Carpenter for about 4-6 weeks after an elbow injury. The Cubs will be without the services of Alfonso Soriano, who is nursing a hamstring injury.
• The Cardinals should consider themselves lucky, they're missing lefty Rich Hill who threw an outstanding game in the Cubs 3-0 win against the Braves. They're also on a long flight from San Fran. to Chicago after their 6-2 loss to the Giants. Sucks for them! The Cubs are on their way back from Atlanta as we speak.

COLTS 29 BEARS 17 (insert sad face here)

A little more than 24 hours later, I've emerged to speak on what everyone has an opinion on and that of course is the Colts win in Super Bowl XLI; a 29-17 victory. The game started off with a bang when Devin Hester took the opening kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown. Unfortunately, Hester didn't get much of a chance to return after that as the Colts avoided him throughout the game. The first half was a back and forth struggle, unfortunately the Bears blew an early 8 point lead after Rex Grossman (yes, good Rex was there at one point) connected with Muhsin Muhammed on short touchdown pass.
After that it was all downhill. It was as if the team decided that it wasn't going to show up after the first quarter. To the Colts credit, they outplayed the Bears in every facet of the game and that's why they're the champs and that's why I'm a little bitter this evening. Bad Rex showed up in the second half with his 2 INTs to go along with a fumble. Thomas Jones showed up with a 100-yd rushing game (told ya the Colts could be run on.) But the defense didn't show up like they did against the Saints, and that's the most disappointing thing about last night's game. Neither did the offense, with some of the blame going to the questionable play calling of offensive coordinator Ron Turner. Sure, Tommie Harris and Mike Brown not being healthy had a little to do with it, but the Bears sure didn't miss them in the NFC Championship game, did they?
In the end I'm heart broken, again. No curses. No billy goat. No black cats. No Bartman. Just one heartbreaking game. I should be used to this, but I'm not. In fact no one should get used to losing. If Dusty Baker taught me anything in his tenure as Cubs manager it's that having a losing mentality is unacceptable, no mater what "the culture" suggests, no matter what the past says. *Channeling Bobby Knight's "I'm sick and tired of losing to Purdue...I'm not here to f*ck around this week" speech* I'm sick of not feeling the joy of victory. I'm sick of the agony of defeat. Losing sucks, there's no way around it. I'm tired of not being good enough!
*Whew* now that my rant is over it's time to do this. The Bears still had a great year. They won the NFC North and the NFC Title, nothing to be ashamed about here guys. Be proud of a team that still has potential. Hopefully we keep the right guys on the field (Jones & Lance Briggs), in the coaching booth (Lovie Smith, Ron Rivera, Dave Toub) and pick up some key parts whatever they be to reach this level again. The NFC is winnable people, think of it as the NL Central--everyone (except the Pirates AKA the Detroit Lions) has a shot to win it!

It'd be easy to ask you "Who is to blame?" or "What should have been done differently?" so I'll do this instead. Tell me your favorite part of this season. As much as I hate losing, why not leave this season with a happy thought?

Now that the football season is now over...PITCHERS AND CATCHERS REPORT ON FEBRUARY 14TH. It's only 55 days 'til Opening Day and that means only 55 Days 'Til Cubdom Strikes Back!

Super Bowl Sunday: The Final Post Before The Game

As my life suddenly turns into What About Brian? I step away from that for one day and that is today, Super Bowl Sunday. Arguably, today is one of the most important days in my entire life. Yes, high school graduation ranks up there and so does my first day here at SIU. But I don't know how to express how I'm feeling (and not just because I'm hungover either!) I guess maybe I'm being a bit too over the top when saying that today's the biggest day in my life, but I know I wouldn't be wrong saying that today is the biggest day in my life as a Chicago Sports fan.

The Bulls dominated the '90s and I appreciate that. I feel bad I took for granted the greatest player to have ever played the game, but in my defense I was too young to appreciate the Bulls the way I do now. I didn't "get" the Bulls until the second-"first" championship. The one where the Bulls won on Father's Day and Michael Jordan ran to the locker room and cried. That was a special moment. So there's the Bulls thing right there. I wasn't able/allowed to appreciate the White Sox winning the World Series in 2005. I'm a die-hard, Cubbie blue 'til I die Cubs fan and there's no way around that. However I did acknowledge that what they did for the city and certain White Sox fans (you know the ones that aren't stealing Camaros) was really nice.

The 2003 Cubs were the last hope for my happiness. That's kind of sad to say, but it's true. I haven't been this psyched up for a game since Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS. Yes, I understand there was a Game 7, but most of you don't know that I spent most of the day in bed sick (thanks to the Cubs....seriously) and watching the game in my basement under several blankets.

Enough of that, now on to The Big Game. Super Bowl week has been like a teen movie for one Peyton Manning. He sheds the loser/geek/nerd tag (AKA the monkey off the back) by beating The Hoodie and Tom Brady. Since then, it's been a Manning suckfest led by Eastern Seaboard Programming Network and like in the teen movies of the '80s Manning went for loser-to-really hot in the matter of moments. No one expects the Bears to win, except the great state of Illinois as evidenced by this ESPN SportsNation poll. I'm still trying to figure out how the Bears are an underdog in this game. They won 13 regular season games (more than the Colts), they are the highest seeded team left here in the playoffs (#1 seed vs. Colts #3 seed) and as much as the Colts are riding the momentum of beating their nemesis the New England Patriots (34-31), the Bears are coming off of a 39-14 thrashing of America's Team Part Deux the (favored) New Orleans Saints. I'm looking for the Bears to provide a not-so-happy ending for Manning. Oh yeah, and Rex Grossman has a higher passer rating in the playoffs than Manning does, ha!

Thanks to weather.com, I've got a relatively positive weather note. The chances are high that it could be 70 and raining outside which of course would probably benefit the Bears, seeing as they just played a game last week where it was 30 and snowing like the Dickens; so at least we've got that going for us.

THE BEARS WIN IF/BEACAUSE:

1. The defense has spent countless hours reviewing tapes of the New England Patriots beatdowns of the Colts. Hopefully LBs studied Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Rosie Colvin's "How to punch Peyton Manning in the face without getting and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty" tape and the DBs studied Ty Law and Rodney Harrison's "You've got 5 yards to turn Marvin Harrison into your little bitch/chuck 'em at the line" videos as well.
2. Manning's career record against Florida versus Grossman's career in Florida. Before Manning couldn't beat the Patriots, he couldn't beat the University of Florida and Manning doesn't have fond memories of this state now does he? As for Sexy Rexy, he thrived in the state of Florida almost winning a Heisman Trophy that was somehow awarded to Nebraska QB Eric Crouch. So technically, the trophy does belong to Grossman.
3. Dear Rex:
   Please think happy thoughts during the game. Think of all those touchdowns you threw at Florida. Remember the happy times with the "Ol' Ball Coach" Steve Spurrier. Remember all those hot Florida chicks you banged in Gainsville all those years. Remember, they don't call you Sexy Rexy for nothing. Think happy thoughts.
   Sincerely,
   Bears Fans Everywhere
4. The key elements as directly quoted by Chicago great Doug Buffone: "Run the ball! (drum roll on desk) Stop the run! (repeat drum roll) Pressure the quarterback! (final drum roll) Those are the keys to winning football games people, plain and simple. Establish the run inside with Cedric Benson and outside Thomas Jones. Stop the two-headed attack of Joseph Addai and Dominic Rhodes. Do everything you can (short of sicking your pitbulls and taking your weapons of mass destruction on the field...I'm talking to you Tank Johnson) and make Peyton Manning's life a living hell. You want more fundamentals? Solid tackling, none of that arm tackle bullshit, hit 'em hard. Hold on to the ball, no fumbling...we've gotta win the turnover battle...I want three turnovers (at the least!) Play every play as it is your last.
   
5. Embrace the under dog role. Not much more I could add here.
6. THE WILD CARD PT. II: Tank Johnson. The Bears are a team of motivated men, from the top with GM Jerry Angelo through Lovie Smith's coaching staff all the way down to the 53rd man on the roster. Tank Johnson is arguably the most motivated man on the Bears. For the last few months he's taken shit from everyone about his legal troubles and deservedly so because, well, he's got himself in a lot of trouble by hanging out with a lot of bad people. Tank's starting in the Super Bowl while Tommie Harris is out with that extreme hammy pull so this is his time to shine. If I'm Tank, I treat every member of the Colts as if they were the one who killed my best friend in that night club and punish them with severe hits (hopefully they won't draw any penalties for "illegal weaponry on the field on #99 on the defense. fifteen yard penalty, first down.")

And to think, this is the beginning of a big week in sports for me. The Bears kick it off with Super Bowl Sunday. Wednesday SIU takes on in-state rival Bradley in an attempt to exact revenge on one of their few in-conference losses. Oh yeah, and Duke/Carolina's on Wednesday too....someone's conflicted but will be at the SIU game with his phone (fully-charged) in hand checking on the scores. And then Saturday, the "mid-major" edition of Duke/Carolina is SIU/Creighton at the SIU Arena! Can't wait. This is just the beginning.

GO BEARS!

Friday's Off The Wall/Super Bowl Preview Blog

Yes, I know it's late in the day but that still doesn't mean that I can't get around to getting to the Happy Friday Blog. Indeed it is a happy Friday, in fact it is a Super Friday. Unfortunately (or fortunately) there will be no off-the-wall stories this week, but there will be a Super Bowl preview. The way I see it, once every 20 years something comes around that makes the football fan inside of me relatively happy. And since I was not born to this world when the Bears won Super Bowl XX, I might as well enjoy Super Bowl XLI. So, here's my preview.

• BEARS OFFENSE VS. COLTS DEFENSE- I understand that the Colts defense has been playing well since the playoffs have begun and haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher in the last three games. However, in the 16 games before that they allowed a 100 yard rusher in each of those games. FS Bob Sanders is the key to their D. The Bears have one of the more talented back field duos in 1,000 yard rusher Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson, a former 4th round pick looking to explode on the big stage. Yes, the Bears passing game does have its deficiencies, especially when "Bad Rex" shows up. However, QB Rex Grossman's familiarity with the Cover 2 defense coupled with the lack of a Colts blitzing scheme should keep a clear line of vision for Rex. Establishing the ground game with TJ and Ceddy or establishing a passing attack with Desmond Clark, Muhsin Muhammed and Bernard Berrian will be key for the Bears. Edge: Bears.
• COLTS OFFENSE VS. BEARS DEFENSE- The Colts are lead offensively by all-world QB Peyton Manning. The Bears are lead by all-world MLB Brian Urlacher. The Colts running game is no slouch with perennial second stringer Dominic Rhodes and rookie Joseph Addai. The Colts have a clear advantage over the Bears when it comes to the receiver position with Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison and TE Dallas Clark. However, it's not like the Bears don't have stars on their defense with D-linemen Alex Brown, Adawale Ogunleye and rookie Mark Anderson. They also have physical defenders that historically give the Colts problems in CBs Nathan Vasher and Charles "Peanut" Tillman. Oh, did I forget to mention the tackling machine? The wild card in this game could be the play of nickelback Ricky Manning Jr. The Bears play more of a Cover-3 than a Cover-2 come to think of it. Edge: Even.
• SPECIAL TEAMS- Colts K Adam Vinatieri has a slight edge over first-time Pro Bowler Robbie Gould. Vinatieri has championship experience and ice water running through his veins. However, it was Vinatieri who taught Gould his two-step kicking style and that might come back to haunt him if it's a field goal battle. This might be the only area the Bears have a clear advantage over the Colts thanks to the explosiveness of All-Pro KR/PR Devin Hester. If you saw the AFC Championship game, you saw Patriots KR Ellis Hobbs almost return a few to the house. The consensus among media-folk is that if it was Hester returning, those turn into touchdowns. Edge: Bears.
  
• COACHING/INTANGIBLES- Another place in which the teams are evenly matched. Everyone knows the story between Colts coach Tony Dungy and the leader of the Bears Lovie Smith, so no need to beat a dead horse (unless it's a Colt of course.) What few are talking about is the assistant coaching staffs. Dungy's right hand man is offensive genius Tom Moore. Lovie's sports one of the most complete coaching staffs in the NFL from top to bottom. Offensive Coordinator Ron Turner is underrated, but sometimes his play calls are head scratching. Defensive Coordinator Ron Rivera (the first Puerto Rican defensive coordinator in the Super Bowl by the way) has been a perennial head coaching candidate the last few years and this might be his last hoorah as Bears DC. The Colts are playing that "Team of Destiny" card along with the "Peyton Manning is Steve Young...so let's get the monkey off his back" card as well. No one has played the "Nobody respects us card" like the Chicago Bears, heck they're coached it to a tee. As much as I'd like to give this to the Bears, the two teams are too similar to choose one over the other (LoL, I used three different terms for the word two/to/too.)
• THE BEARS KEYS TO VICTORY:

1. A successful running game that will enable them to control the clock and keep Peyton Manning off the field.
2. Rex Grossman limits his mistakes and is able to stretch the field enough to allow the running game to be successful and allows his receivers (specifically deep threat Bernard Berrian) to be playmakers. Rex Grossman may need to be a playmaker in this one, and I think he's up to the task!
3. The Bears defense lives up to its smashmouth billing. Yes, DT Tommie Harris and SS Mike Brown are out, but Tank Johnson and Todd Johnson are filling in quite admirably. Tank should be the most motivated Bear not named Rex Grossman on the field (hopefully he can stay on the field.) I'm hoping the Bears go New England Patriots (circa 2004) on Manning and his receivers.
   
4. X-FACTOR: Devin Hester's ability to give the Bears good field position, if not his ability to put the ball in the end zone himself. He hasn't had a TD return in a while.

• THE COLTS KEYS TO VICTORY:

1. Peyton Manning's offensive line keeps the pass rush away from him. If their offensive line is stout against the Bears defensive line, Manning may be able to pick the Bears defense apart if given enough time.
2. Rex Grossman plays like an idiot. I understand that this is the Colts keys to victory, but it's simple. If Rex Grossman decides not to show up and decides he'd rather throw completions to the defense, the Bears have no shot.
3. Speaking of showing up, the Bears defense must show up to stop the #2 offense in the NFL. They did an amazing job against Drew Brees and the Saints. However this game is at a neutral site with fair weather conditions. We'll see if the good Bears D shows up.
4. X-FACTOR: Adam Vinatieri. He's the best in the business. He's the best clutch kicker in football and if the game comes down to #4 and a game winning field goal, I won't be able to watch.

WHO I GOT: It'd be absolutely wrong for me to pick against the Bears. So I won't. This might be a very close game, potentially it has the makings of one of the best Super Bowl games in recent history. PREDICTED FINAL SCORE: BEARS 24 COLTS 16. How'd I come up with that score? BEARS SCORING: A rushing touchdown a piece for Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson to go along with a Rex Grossman TD pass to WR Bernard Berrian, and a Robbie Gould field goal. COLTS SCORING: A Peyton Manning TD pass to Reggie Wayne to go along with three Adam Vinatieri field goals.

Here's hoping I'm right.