The Jon Schiambi-Jessica Mendoza pairing on ESPN radio for the NLCS is going to make for good listening if you want to catch playoff baseball while you are out and about. But I surprisingly found myself enraged when they mentioned patches of empty seats around Busch Stadium. As someone who flew to Los Angeles to watch his favorite team in the NLCS in 2016 because it was more affordable than buying secondary market tickets at Wrigley Field, I was floored. I doubt there will be patches of empty seats at Wrigley Field when they host an NLCS game next year. I guess baseball means more to some people than others.
SOUND ON (but also, make sure your children aren’t around because some of the words used are on George Carlin’s list of things you can’t say on TV):
You wanna hear more Butkus? I can’t blame you! Here ya go:
I asked Dick Butkus if any #Illini stood out to him from the games he's watched so far. A bit concerning of an answer for Illinois fans… pic.twitter.com/3xVEXlq7HI
Even Bears fans who aren’t old enough to have seen him know about his Hall of Fame credentials, but his collegiate exploits can sometimes go overlooked. He was a two-time Consensus All-American (1963, 1964), the Big Ten Conference’s Most Valuable Player (1963), and the voted Lineman of the Year (1964) by United Press International. Getting award from the UPI is a big deal for people of a certain age. Butkus is in both the Pro and College Football Halls of Fame, and is an all-time great quote. I just wish he wasn’t so down on his motivational exploits, as I remember watching him coach up the boys on NBC’s “Hang Time” on Saturday mornings.
One of my favorite Bears uniform combinations of all time are the white-on-white they sported back in the day. They made a brief comeback during the Urlacher era, but they didn’t last long. That’s a real shame, too. Those joints are clean.
(Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Had the Bears finished the job against the Raiders in Week 5, I was mentally prepared to write the “LOL ReGrEsSiOn” post about a defense that was locking it down to that point of the season. But then, Josh Jacobs ran wild and the defense coughed up a season-high 24 points to kill that dream. But still … that defense is relentless:
Chicago’s defense is on pace to force 32 turnovers this season. And while that falls short of last year’s total, the Bears defense is still elite in that regard. That group still pressures the quarterback well enough to fluster him into questionable decisions, and is talented enough to snag an interception when it is there. And who else is going to do the Peanut Punch better than the Bears?
Unfortunately, one Bears unit has been hit with the regression stick … and it’s the one responsible for scoring points. Chicago’s offense needs to take a long look in the mirror, then go out and find solutions to problems that have presented themselves throughout the first five games of the season. One change that doesn’t appear to be on the horizon is a position swap with Cody Whitehair and James Daniels. As Larry Mayer (ChicagoBears.com) points out, Bears Head Coach Matt Nagy said switching Daniels and Whitehair back to their positions last year isn’t on their radar at this point. But Nagy did not rule it out altogether, so it could be something worth keeping tabs on once the team gets back on the practice field after using the bye week to do some self-scouting and soul searching.
Luis C. Medina, who you can find on Twitter at lcm1986, has been covering the Chicago Bears at Bleacher Nation since 2017. Since then, he has written about 3 head coaches, 5 play-callers, and 11 starting quarterbacks. Previously, Luis wrote about the Cubs and MLB at BN (2015-16) and worked in the Chicago Tribune sports department (2011-16). He also co-hosted a Cubs postgame show, Outside the Ivy, in 2019.
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NEWSLETTER
