I’ve had a bit of a hiatus from this blog for the past couple of months. Not that I was ever much of a prolific writer over here.
Somethings that I have written about that have advanced, changed, regressed, or remained static since I last saw them:
- Advanced, if only a little: I am now certain that I need ACL replacement surgery and I even know who’s going to do it. It’s now just a matter of getting appointments and scheduling the surgery. If I could do it myself in the kitchen with a butter knife, I probably would. I’m really tired of all this waiting.
- Advanced: Beautiful little Maya is now a whole year old. She’s even got her own little website (maya.chiswick.net) So very cute, and I miss her so very much. Ok, I don’t really know her enough to miss her, but I miss her parents and I want to know her and for her to know me.
- Changed: I am now officially self-employed. I have even written receipts! I would put a link here to my online resume, or something like that but you are already here! How cool!
- Advanced a bit, and then Regressed a whole lot: My beloved Chicago Bears. As much as it pains me to say. When last we talked, oh so many moons ago the Bears were 1-1 coming off a poor showing against New Orleans and about to face the Packers. An expected loss to the Pack followed by a win over the Panthers and an embarrassing loss to Detroit left the Bears at 2-3 and looking lost. But then something amazing happened. They found their stride. Martz found a balance between running and passing, and some of the WR’s were actually catching balls. And then Cutler broke his thumb, and everyone panicked. And not in a good “lets band together and do this” sort of way, but in a “holly shit we’ve got nothing, lets all forget everything we’ve ever learned about football” sort of way. Which lasted only one game until Forte hurt his knee and then it was “Uugg. Us Bear. Football. Gggrrr.” Or at least that’s what it looks like when you combine for 13 points against the Chiefs and Broncos.
[RANT: There is no such thing as “Tebow Time” or “Tebow Magic” There were two main factors that led to Sundays result: 1) Denver runs an offense that demands a lot from defenders. They have to do a lot of lateral running to contain Denver over the course of the game, and that wares one down. An offense built around a pocket passer makes different demands of a defense. While not an excuse for the Bears, it explains why the Denver offense picks up late in the game. 2) Both offensive and defensive play calling went super conservative once the score was 10-0 midway through the fourth quarter. There was no real reason for it… The offense called 11 runs and 1 pass in the fourth quarter. (the pass being an incomplete attempt to Barber) Yes, 12 plays do represent 4 three-and-outs. With 5+ minutes left to go, Denver began calling timeouts. While this should have been a signal to the Bears defense that the Broncos were starting to panic, they took it as a sign of surrender. The rest of the game was played with a deep cover-two shell ‘prevent’ defense. What’s the popular saying? “All a prevent defense does is prevent you from keeping the lead!” Tebow and the Denver WR’s had already shown a lack of a deep threat, his best asset is throwing underneath while moving outside the pocket, which is exactly what the Bears were giving him. He wasn’t fitting tight spirals into small openings, he was hitting wide open receivers. The only credit Tebow deserves for that game is not being sidelined by fits of laughter at the Bears poor scheme. I think I will assess the coaches after the season is over.]
- Static: The Bulls. There was a strike. Millionaires arguing with multimillionaires, what else is there to say?
- Changed (Minor): The Blackhawks. As of right now, they are up by one point on Detroit in the Central Division. Can’t wait for playoff hockey.
- Changed (Major): The Cubbies. Whole new front office. Whole new coaching staff. For the first time in forever the Cubs got their man. Lets just hope this GM really has the answers.
- Advanced: Ultimate Peace. It’s awesome, and wicked fun. I’ve been coaching and working on the website.
- Advanced: The Youth National teams have had their tryouts and are practicing again. Rumor has it that we’re going to Ireland in August. Sweet.
- Static: This site, of course! I’m going to try to post more frequently. Also, check out some updated pages on the left side, and maybe some new links along the bottom. Comments, and suggestions welcome!
