Shall Not be Infringed 13: There are Two Things America Loves - Football and Mass Shootings

And I'm not so sure about Football...

There was a mass shooting as the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory parade ended.  The result 2 killed, 20 confirmed injured (half of the children), perhaps two or three suspects have been detained.  I guess with thousands present it could have been far worse.

Now we begin the kabuki dance, which accompanies these events,  conservatives will slag Liberal Democrat Kansas City and point out it's full of BLACKS (Kansas City has a rich history and connection to African Americans in sports),  Republicans will offer up their hollow thoughts and prayers, Gun Nuts will blame gun free zones, and despite the American people overwhelmingly wanting gun control and restrictions on firearms the Government will be unable to act.

Now, this is not a BothSides issue, I'm not blaming those Clowns in Congress.  The Republicans party is owned by the Firearms Manufacturing Industry and the Supreme Court is run by 6 unjust mullahs who put their warped minds above the health and welfare of the American people and believe their divinely inspired wisdom is above any human made laws.

Of course, this will not move Republicans towards any type of gun control or any efforts to limit gun violence in America.  Jello-Brained Trump, still upset over Tayler Swift and Travis Kelce spurning his advances, proudly proclaimed, 

"Nobody took care of our Second Amendment [more than me], during that four-year period, nothing happened with our Second Amendment," Treasonous Trump who fundamentally broke The Law and violated his oath to office as President declared he'll fully "uphold our great Second Amendment". 

Even well before Trump decided to destroy the United States of America, because President Obama made fun of him, Gun Violence has served Republican interests as a source of political power and money for Republican officials.

And MAGA culture (such as it is) cares nothing about the deaths from gun violence, because rightwingers don't care about society or anyone other than themselves.  All conservative caterwauling about protecting the children is utter tripe and pure performative bullshit.

Conservatives know they won't be victims to gun violence because; they have their guns with them at all times and they don't go into libtard-controlled, ANTIFA/BLM destroyed, smoking hellhole cities.  Conservatives live the pure fantasy life of a gun wielding movie character, the actual reality and actuarial statistics about gun deaths and violence are no more real to them than President Biden and VP K. Harris election victory in 2020.

Rightwingers are the Righteous and the Chosen ones; the Real Americans.  And why shouldn't they believe it?  The Corporate Media does everything it can to seek them out and elevate their false beliefs, Politicians (especially Republicans but, many Clinton Era Democratic ones) cater to their whims and delusions, and mainstream culture has always made a concerted effort to glorify their ideology (hence the rightwing outrage when Hollyweird is ramming that gay agenda down their throats).

Addendum:

In response to the shooting, tough talkin' Republican bigots (running for Governor) took to Cylon Musk's Nazi social media and declared THUGS and told those liberal gun grabbers the MO GOP will ensure children have guns to shoot other children whenever they want in Missouri.  Also one good guy with a gun could have stopped this shooting meaning the 1000 Police Officers at the Parade are according to Republican Bill Eigl not Good Guys...

Touchdown! Execute Taylor Swift? Conservatives hate Women and Football...

They're only so much rightwing garbage I or anyone can keep up with but, occasionally something are just too ridiculous or too vile to ignore, especially as the desired end result of inflammatory rightwing rhetoric is murder.

So, my Chicago Bears are currently the worst franchise in football.  I say this because the Chicago Bears are supposedly a storied franchise but, have been unable to adapt to modern football or even develop any modicum of sustained success.  The highpoint for the Bears in the last 25 years was the Devin Hester, Super Bowl Kickoff for a Touchdown in 2006.  Since then it has been a steady decline into ridiculous irrelevance and sub-par mediocrity, defeat, and fanbase misery.  Punctuated by comical losses (the Double Doink playoff loss in 2018) and soul-crushing insults like last year when Aaron "Torn Tendon" Rodgers declared, "I still Own You!" while beating the Bears, yet again.

Who are the Chefs?

So as the Kansas City Chiefs, led by transcendent QB talent Patrick Mahomes (whom the Bears passed on in the draft), were crushing the Bears 41-0, Taylor Swift was seen in the KC private box as a guest of TE Travis Kelce.  Mahomes said afterwards he didn't believe Kelce had invited Taylor Swift to the game, but said meeting her was cool, 

"Yea I met her. She's really cool. Good people.  But like Trav said, imma let them have their privacy and just keep it moving." 

Davis founded The Federalist
and is upset women won't "date" him

Pencil-dicked conservatives latched onto Taylor Swift a few years back, about the time Kanye jumped on stage and interrupted her, as their ideal woman; the überfrau.  Since then conservatives have fallen into love with Kanye and out of love with Taylor and her army of Swifties.  You see rightwing men saw the 6 foot tall Swift as their Nazi Goddess and got big boners thinking about how they could impregnate her with their seed and build the master race.  But, Taylor Swift, like most women, want nothing to do with the  MAGA Republicans. Even worse Swift is galvanizing her Swifties into an engaged voting bloc.

So, you know what happens next.  The juvenile rightwing brain immediately switches to hating that bitch, declaring her music sucks, and she's stupid, and ugly, and gay... oh and she should be executed.  You see conservatives loathe women and wish to enslave or murder them.  This is a great amount of the subtext of the rightwing gun fondling and displays.  Of course, the majority of guns are used to kill the gun owner after he has murdered his so-called loved ones and family members.

C. Kirk: Face to Big for Helmet
But! No Brains to CTE!

Stew Peters had a whole segment on his "show" about Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.  Besides declaring Kelce is the new Colin Kapernick, Peters stated 

"This is a strong point in favor of the rumors that Taylor Swift is actually a lesbian or even asexual because with a history like that and all these death jabs, it's pretty clear Kelce has no dick," 

Peters declared Kelce sold out to Pfizer and is complicit in the murder of babies so his guest on the show, pyscho fundamentalist fanatic, Morgan Ariel added, 

 
"I think that we need justice in this country.  I think the celebrities that are pushing it, they should be tried. I think these people should be publicly prosecuted and hung."

You know what happens next, rightwing trolls and Russian bots on every social media platform amplify and expand the reach of these calls for Taylor Swift's murder, while the odious YouTube algorithm continually recommends rightwing influencers.  Republicans and law enforcement ignore it but, agree that something should be done about these baby-killers and death jabbers.  Some triggered right-winger takes it to heart and kills people and Republicans and Rightwingers offer up their Thoughts & Prayers and ask how this can happen and then go on to demonize someone else who is outside the MAGA circle.

Of course, the NFL planned to finish the Bills-Bengals game

I did not pay good money for your company. I paid it so that I might profit from your death. And just as your mother was there at your beginning, I shall be there at your end. And when you die - and die you shall - your transition will be to the sound of... [claps his hands] - Proximo, Gladiator (2000)

Of fucking course they did.  Don't be ridiculous or naive.  The NFL churns through hundreds of bodies every season and has ground-up thousands in it's history... what's one more body on the pyre?

In the Monday Night Football contest between the Bills and Bengals, Bills defensive back Damar Hamlin collapsed after a seemingly routine tackle.  After his collapse, CPR was administered on the field and he was driven away in an ambulance.

After a few short words from these commercial sponsors The NFL and Network prepared to resume play.  And why wouldn't they?  It's just another replaceable body carted off the field? 'Next Man Up...' as NFL coaches say...  You've got 5 minutes to get warmed up before play resumes.  But, apparently the players and the Bills and Bengals Head Coaches seeing CPR, which is most often unsuccessful in reviving a person, on the field decided they weren't going to play and the game was postponed.  The NFL billion dollar media relations was caught flat-footed and didn't prepare any official response or have the league commissioner give a statement or handle this at all.

No, instead NFL executives and fans are livid because this MNF game was almost unique for a regular season game because of money.  Tonight's match-up was the deciding game in the Championship Week of 95% of fantasy football seasons.  As well as the regular betting which now is a major component of each and every game.  And the old school ratings draw for a marquee match-up between two top teams.

Football is a brutal bloodspot and which has lead to a significant number of early deaths for it's players.  It's just that those deaths are often far removed and the result of an accumulation of years of wear and tear and physical abuse as opposed to one flash traumatic event.  But, there have been several "highlight reel" terrible impacts and injuries this season as well.

I think most fans, executives, and even players have allowed themselves to compartmentalize the terrible destruction this "sport" does to their bodies by imagining those effects will come years later or that they will be the lucky ones who live long and enjoy a great post-playing career as a coach or commentator.

I see that the "Died Suddenly" Anti-Vaccination ghouls have jumped onto Hamlin's event as further evidence of Vaccine Injury.  

Dinosaur Quarterbacks and the RPO Short Life of Glory

 It's a bizarre time in the NFL, as we are beset by two peaks far outside the standard deviation: Ancient Quarterbacks and the flood of the Young Rushing QBs.

Tom Brady is not the only old man playing QB and playing at a high level.  Aaron Rodgers is still playing and with the help of the NFL Referees, putting up MVP numbers.  Matt Ryan and Ben Roethlisberger are still effective.  

At the same time, the Run-Pass Option QB are taking over the the play calling and dreams of General Managers throughout the league.  While it would seem obvious to place your best athlete into the most important position in all of sports; Quarterback.  It's also a mistake.

College coaches will only have a QB in there system 4 or 3 or even 1 year.  General Managers, Owners, and fan bases hope and expect a Franchise QB to last 10 years (and as we've seen recently with the recently retired Philip Rivers and Drew Brees) even longer.  Every RPO QB, except Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen, has been injured this year;

• Kyler Murray
• Justin Fields
• Jalen Hurts
• Tua Tagovailoa
• Taysom Hill
• Cam Newton
• And reigning league MVP Lamar Jackson

The RPO is turning QBs into Running Backs and giving them the same shortened careers.  QBs even the fastest and the toughest can't take open field hits and continue to be effective.  This is in no way to call them soft or pampered, it's just QB can' play the way a defensive lineman can with a club hand or with a stinger or an achy joint.  QB's in the pocket have special protections but, even the slide rule adopted a while back doesn't protect them out in the open.

Now, where does NFL quarterbacking go in the future?  College has been using the option system for decades.  But, a Steve Young or Michael Vick level fast, agile QB making the NFL and running with ball has always been more of an outlier.  Players like Donovan McNabb, or Steve McNair or John Elway were mobile and would run but, also moved away from the running style so embraced as of late.  Clearly, the current crop of Quarterbacks who can run and run well are going to keep playing even if the occasional ones, like a Mitch Trubisky or Marcus Mariota get relegated to back-up status.  But, I think it's going to be a short-lived experiment because NFL franchises can't invest draft picks and big money in players whose pro careers mirror their college ones, in terms of longevity.  

Running as a QB, is the fastest way to shorten your career.

Can't the NFL convince* John Madden to come out of retirement for Thanksgiving games?

And they'll watch the game and it'll be as if they dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces.  - James Earl Jones, Field of Dreams (1989)

I've always wondered why the NFL hasn't been able to get John Madden to broadcast a Thanksgiving Day Game since his retirement 10 years ago. With the Turducken award and Holiday repartee it would bring back the nostalgia of those days when as Madden says, "it doesn't get any better than this". Perhaps, there have been quiet efforts by the NFL or TV Networks to coax John Madden to announce the Dallas or Detroit game on Thanksgiving and we don't know about them but, I've never heard any rumors.

After his successful coaching career with the Oakland Raiders, Madden was for 30 years the best color commentator in Football. Growing up and listening to Madden and Pat Summeral announce games throughout the 80's and 90's with a drink and a whap and a boom and his love of Brett Favre's moxie, Barry Sanders' ellusiveness, or Nate Newton's pancakes were almost as big a draw for the games as the action on the field itself.

But, like most things, perhaps it's the old MacArthur line about Old Soldiers fading away. Madden is after all 83 and has been retired since 2009 and only a smattering of players are still playing in the league when he last announced a game. And, most likely, Madden simply no longer wants to announce a game. But, no matter how long it's been Madden knows football and it would be something on Thanksgiving to hear Madden's sound effects and see his telestrator pen light up a game.

*- perhaps convince is the wrong word and the title should be; Can't the NFL give John Madden what ever he would want/need to come out of retirement for a Thanksgiving game?

Notre Dame only finds morality when controlling Lady Parts not Football

"But hey, you have to have moral values. You have to start somewhere, and that’s what we’ve decided to do." - Mississippi Representative Bubba Carpenter Republican Pro-Coat Hanger Abortions

The Unversity of Notre Dame is among the multiple Catholic-based institutions suing President Obama over providing the Birth Control mandate in Obamacare.

As these institutions provide healthcare coverage as part of their pay/benefits to their employees, this is a cut and dried situation wherein a business does not have the right to tell it's employees what they may or may not spend their money upon. Nor can Notre Dame deny to cover needed/legal medical care based on their fantasy beliefs.

But, the key is the University of Notre Dame has only found it's catholic morality when it comes to controlling lady parts. For when it comes to controlling the behavior of Football players, Notre Dame takes a hands off approach.

In just May this year, 3 Notre Dame football players, Tommy Rees, DaVaris Daniels, Carlo Calabrese have been arrested. And this isn't the first time Notre Dame Football has had run-ins with the law or have had football players go off on alcohol fueled crime sprees.

Last year star Notre Dame Football player Michael Floyd was arrested for a DUI. Notre Dame made Floyd a Team Captain and described him as a "star".

In July, 2010, eight Notre Dame Football players were arrested for alcohol-related charges (mostly underage drinking) stemming from an off-campus party. None of the players missed a game.

But, even worse than Notre Dame's coddling of Football is that Notre Dame's Football program claimed the lives of two students in 2010.

Just 3 months before Floyd's arrest, incoming freshman Matt James died when he fell off a hotel balcony during spring break with a blood-alcohol level of 0.19.

And in 2010 Notre Dame killed Declan Sullivan, when they sent him up onto an unstable scissor lift in 50+ mph winds to film Notre Dame Football practice. The tower fell, Sullivan died.

After all this is the Univserity which has "Touchdown Jesus", Joe Montana and the legend of little Rudy Ruettiger, who in December 2011 was charged with SEC violations and paid a fine of nearly $400,000 dollars. Of course, Football players may do whatever they wish.

"I think if you’re saying that South Bend is the only place in the world where that occurs, then maybe that would be true. But these are things we deal with in society all over the country. Everybody’s working to teach and communicate about making good choices. We’re going to hope that the guys model and lead the right way." - Notre Dame Football Coach Brian Kelly.

So, yet again with have religious institutions which only finds Morality when it comes to oppressing and controlling women. When it comes to controlling the racacous criminal behavior of King Football well then Notre Dame "hopes" and relies on the unseen magic of "Touchdown Jesus".

Indiana and the March Back in Time

There's More than Corn in Indiana! There's also Ignorant Religious Fanatics and Slave Masters!

An Indiana Republican-controlled Senate Education Committee voted 8-2 to send legislation endorsing the teaching creationism in public schools, to the super majority (37-13) Republican controlled Indiana State Senate. Senate Bill 89 allows school corporations to authorize "the teaching of various theories concerning the origin of life" and specifically mentions "creation science" as one such theory.

State Sen. Scott Schneider, R-Indianapolis, who voted for the measure, said if there are many theories about life's origins, students should be taught all of them.

Ah! I can't wait for Norse-Creationism to be taught in Biology class! YMIR was the father of six-headed son that was nourished by a cosmic cow called AUDUMLA. Audumla fed herself by licking the salty rime-stone, until that stone was licked into a shape of man. Ye, but verily did WOTAN slay the Mighty Frost Giant Ymir and from his bones made the earth and from his blood made the seas and rivers and his skull became the Vault of the Heavens! ODIN!!!!!!!

But, wait there is more! Not to be outdone on the March Back in Time, the Indiana House voted 54-44 to pass one of the Right-To-Fuck-Over-Workers Bills. The Indiana Legislature has 3 bills (2 House and 1 Senate) which contain language making it illegal to be part of a Union or Labor Organization. These bills are so bad that even the NFL Players Association condemned the right-to-work bills in a Jan. 6 statement, calling it “a political ploy designed to destroy basic workers’ rights.”

And you thought the train had pulled away from the Pullman Shanty Towns forever! This is how Corporate evil works, little by little they undermine hard-fought gains until the you wake up and your Rights as a worker are gone.

You really think you're going to negotiate paid-sick leave and a salary increase? You think your complaints about unsafe working conditions are going to stop the Company from putting you in harms way? Just ask the 29 dead workers at the Msssey Energy Upper Big Branch Mine or the 11 dead Oil Rig workers on the BP Deepwater Horizion Off-Shore Rig?

Once Corporations get the power to pay you slave wages that's exactly what you are going to get. Don't like it? You're fired! Combine this with Republicons working to steal Social Security, unfund Medicaid, eliminate Medicare, and roll-back Obama Cares the vast majority of Americans are looking at being chained as Serfs and Wage Slaves to the 1% Neo-Feudal Industrial Machine.

The XLVI Super Bowl brought to you by Non-Union Labor

The New England Patriots and the New York Giants will be playing in Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis on 02/05/12. The spectacle of the highest paid Union Members in the world playing in a state fighting to destroy Unions by adopting Right-To-Work-For-Less laws is a disgusting measure of the dirty lengths Republicons will delve to in their fight to service their Moneyed Masters.

I'm glad football players make as much as they do. We see as people get stronger, larger, faster and maintain a higher level of conditioning, the toll on these men's bodies and brains is horrendous. The average career is 3.5 years. As Derrick Mason stated at his retirement announcement this year,

"I leave it healthy and able to run and walk and not take a half-hour or 45 minutes to get out of bed."

But, while Indiana enjoys the financial fruits of the Patriots and Giants labor, Governor Mitch Daniels wants to restrict the rights, lower the wages and slash the benefits of workers in Indiana. Right-to-Work laws are nothing short of the 1% finding a way to get Government to outlaw Unions and enforce the 1% schemes of paying less and less for labor and avoiding deferred compensation or healthcare for their retired workers under the power of law. Information on the 3 Right-to-Fuck-Over-Workers Bills, Indiana HB 1028 and HB 1043 and Indiana Senate Bill SB 0395, proposed by the Indiana Legislature can be found at BadforIndiana.Org

In fact, if the 1% had their way, American Workers would have to ply their labor against Workers from around the world with the Plutocrats picking the lowest price, least benefits and ease of eliminating any worker who dared question his Neo-Feudal Lord. While we Wage Slaves gawk in awe as, Vulture Capitalists Stephen "Fuck Her" Schwarzman and Leon D. Black congratulate themselves for their "ingenuity" and "job creation skills" with Multi-Million Dollar Birthday Parties. It's the Global Race to the Bottom.

This has been the goal since the end of World War II when the Industrialists and their Multi-National Conglomerates saw an opportunity to get Governments to finance the construction of plants and factories in other Nations while they get to steal all the profits. They front no risk and reap all the rewards. And if the Nation the Corporate Monster invades gets uppity, say like Ecuador, then the Corporation takes to the IMF or WTO and sues them demanding Billions of dollars in blood money be forcibly extracted from the people.

But, it's not limited to foreign shores, the Vultures are more than willing to descend on your local town or use America's Favorite pass time to steal wealth. Lowe's got the Village of Schaumburg, Illinois to front the costs for laying the foundation, running the wires and plumbing to their store, got millions in "tax breaks" and when their store wasn't making as much money as they'd like, they simply up and left. Billionaire Hank Steinbrenner, extracted $1,200,000,000 Billion dollars in Taxpayer money to finance his baseball stadium while stating,

“Socialism, communism, whatever you want to call it, is never the answer.“

Of course, it works. If you're Rich.

It's the Goal of the Plutocracy. Push the burden of business onto the people while keeping the benefits for themselves. Socialize their Losses and Costs and Privatize the Profits.

Jesus! He is Risen! But where is He? Playing QB on the Denver Broncos or a Hedge Fund Manager on Wall Street?

"I don't think he's been that good from the get-go. I think what we've had here is a little social concern in the NFL. I think the media has been very desirous that a *christian* quarterback do well. They're interested in *christian* coaches and *christian* quarterbacks doing well. I think there's a little hope invested in *Tebow*, and he got a lot of credit for the performance of this team that he really didn't deserve. The defense carried this team." - Racist Limbaugh.

Here's how you know conservatives are willingly blind to racism and bigotry. I altered Racist Limbaugh's derogatory reference from skin color to christian and changed the QB's name from McNabb to Tebow. As is easily observed, any comment about Tim Tebow which is not positive is attacked as anti-christian, yet when Limbaugh made this heinous bigoted statement about Donovan McNabb in 2003 right-wingers rallied to his defense.

The Chicago Bears just lost to Tim Tebow. Dan Bernstein of 670 the Score is quite upset over the tactics He used to defeat the Bears.

For 3 quarters the Bears defense had Tebow flustered. Tebow had completed just 3 of 16 passes had thrown an interception and fumbled. Tebow's passes were off (although 4 drops by his wide receivers wasn't helping) and his normal running style was replaced by a skittish one as Tebow discovered, unlike in college, he couldn't outrun or bowl over the likes of Julius Peppers. Lovie Smith then decided to employ the "Prevent Defense". As Mike Ditka once said, all the Prevent does is prevent you from winning...

But, Tim Tebow is not the first NFL player to make his faith central to his life off or on the field. Reggie White was a preacher. Deion Sanders is a minister and led prayer circles on the football field after games. Troy Vincent was once asked what book everyone should read and he replied, "The King James Bible because it is life."

Even in the Bears-Broncos game Tebow wasn't the only player who makes a big show of his faith. Devin Hester touches his feet, legs, shoulders and points skyward in order to get god's protection, "I just tell god to watch over me from the toes on my feet to the head of my crown."

And Reggie White, Deion Sanders, Troy Vincent and Devin Hester are all African-Americans, Kurt Warner dedicated his Super Bowl victory (but not his two Super Bowl defeats) to Jesus.

So, what is it about Tebow? Do people really believe that Tim Tebow is winning because of Jesus is watching out for him or aiding the flight of the football? I think the Tebow Mania and the way everyone wants this to be an issue is because some christians want to feel they are persecuted. These christians are making Tim Tebow a litmus test for the persecution complex they crave and the war on their religion they are engaged in.

However, lost amongst all this Tebowing, was the is a more egregious religious affront. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins, who recently conferred upon deadbeat Republican dad Joe Walsh, the title of #1 True Blue Pro-Family status wrote an article declaring Jesus was a Free Marketer not an Occupier.

Of course, the problem that Jesus lived 2000 years before the concept isn't really the issue. Because what Tony Perkins was actually writing about was a justification for the rampant theft and corruption by the 1%. Perkins, overplayed his hand, because the need to mention OWS and the term "occupier" in the title shows how frightened he is christians in this country will begin to side with the poor and correctly view #Occupy as a struggle against Oppressive Power and the corrupt system set up by those who wield that Power.

It's actually an old idea in christianity. The Poor Men of Lyons (Waldenses) were condemned as heretics by the Catholic Church and were eventually anathemamitised because they dared to question the Order of Society. The Waldenses meet the same fate as the Cathars in the early 1200's being chased down and brutally slaughtered by the Guardians of the Powers That Be.

Perkins ends his Jesus wants you to invest in sheep futures with the following:

Yes, we are to "occupy," not by railing against a free market system that rewards diligence, even though it is occasionally abused. Rather we are to occupy by using that system ethically as a means to advance the interests of the one we serve.

Got it? Jesus wants you to accept the Income Inequality, abuse of power and transfer of wealth. Focus instead on ethics, i.e. things which don't challenge the Economic Inequality.

Of course, what Tony Perkins is actually defending is Feudalism. Christianity grew along with Feudalist ideas. It's been a 1000 year struggle by powerful and wealthy christians to massage the meaning of christ into favoring the Rich and Elite. To turn Jesus from a rabble-rousing champion of the poor and oppressed into a scion of the Plutocracy and keeper of the status quo (Behold! The Gospel of Supply Side Jesus).

And today what the religious right have allowed themselves to become the marching foot-soldiers waiting for the opportunity to enforce the will of the 1% and oppress the Occupiers.

Do you want to know how dishonest Fox is? Even Fox Sports lies...

Jay Cutler has been very maligned as of late. Before getting to the perfidy of Fox Sports, here's a little about the beating he has taken in the last few years as the Bears QB. In the last 17 games, Jay Cutler has been sacked 63 times. Peyton Manning has been sacked 61 times in his last 64 games. Cutler has already been sacked 11 times this season and knocked down another 17 times, he's on pace to set a dubious NFL record for most QB sacks in a season.

8 months ago in the NFC Championship game Cutler suffered a torn MCL. Torn.

But, what did Fox Sports writer Jason Whitlock do? He wrote a column and stated this emphatically "I don’t need an MRI to confirm King Cutler quit".

Then Whitlock spent hours on 670 The Score yelling at Dan Bernstein and Terry Boers how Back when I played college ball he played a whole season on a torn ACL. Whitlock also told Boers and Bernstein if Cutler had been more demonstrable and more visibly in pain in the game or on the sideline he would have believed Cutler was injured. So basically, if Jay had acted more injured and feigned trying to gut through a bad injury it would have made Whitlock feel more convinced of Cutler's serious injury.

The entire "debate" about Cutler was despicable, but Fox always finds a way to surpass their previous dishonesty and shamelessness and continues the utter lack of any journalistic integrity within the entire Organization.

During the Bears victory over the Falcons on Sept 11, Fox Sports displayed the following headlines:

“Cutler Leaves With Injury”

“Cutler Lacks Courage”

“Cutler’s No Leader”

Then Darryl Johnston relayed “these are the actual headlines from the local papers in Chicago.”

Of course, they are not. The Chicago Tribune called Fox and got the following quotes from Fox Sports spokesman Dan Bell, "It was misleading." "The wrong word was used." "Our attempt was to capture the overall sentiment nationwide following that game.”

I don't know if someone over at Fox has a grudge against Cutler for demanding out of Denver or for failing their fantasy football team. But, the Fox Sports lies and maligning of Jay Cutler did not end with Week 1 but carried over into the Week 2 match up with the New Orleans Saints.

I don't listen to any Fox broadcast preferring Tom Thayer's erudite descriptions and Jeff Joniak's hometown partisanship over at WBBM 780.

So, last week when Fox Sports sent their #1 Team, I muted the tv broadcast from Where is Troy Aikman's Brain? and the inane blatherings of the overrated Joe Buck. So while I saw Fox broadcast I didn't hear what was being discussed until afterwards.

During the game as the Saints were beating the Bears, Fox showed several wide angle shots of Jay Cutler standing alone far away from the rest of the team. Joe Buck wondered 'I don't know why Jay Cutler is standing over there by himself' as Fox continued to hammer away at the Cutler is No Leader meme they have adopted. Finally, Troy Aikman had to halt the constant Cutler bashing by stating, he also watched the game far away from the bench so that he could see the entire field.

This is worse than misleading, this is outright fabrication and lies. But, then, Fox Sports is a subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's NewsCorp. As Gregg Rosenthal wrote for NBC Sports over at profootballtalk, Why make up headlines when they could just hack into Cutler’s voice mail and create a real one?

Update:
I believe most Bears fans wish Cutler had responded to his critics thusly

Lovie Smith is a Good NFL Head Coach

The Bears are who we thought they were! ~ Dennis Green

The Bears defeated the Miami Dolphins 16-0 to improve to 7-3 this season. Which brings up the question of Lovie Smith's coaching ability. Lovie is not liked very much in Chicago. I tend to get exasperated at some of his coaching habits which seem to be mistakes to me. His challenge technique is poor and his record in them supports that conclusion. Additionally, he's lost several games (including one playoff game and nearly another) by his seeming inability to adjust his defensive schemes. But!!!

But, the Bears are in first place this year after 10 games and his record overall is very good. And during his tenure the Bears made their second Super Bowl appearance and, although they lost, it was to the favored Indianapolis Colts. Lovie has never lost a clubhouse or had his players turn on him.

Brian Urlacher, who predates Lovie Smith and is the best Bears player of the last 10 years and a borderline Hall of Famer, when asked about the negative coverage of Lovie by Marshall Faulk after the win said, "I don't understand it, man. I love Coach Smith. I think the problem is the media doesn't like him. He doesn't tell them what they want to hear. He doesn't sell players out on the field to the media."

Urlacher may be correct about the Media's dislike for Lovie, several 670 The Score radio personalities do not hide their desire for Lovie to be fired. And many sports fans in Chicago call up The Score and complain, 'Lovie isn't fired up on the sideline', that Lovie doesn't have 'The Fire and The Passion' to coach. While a rabid sideline demeanor is not a quality of a good coach, playoff appearances and victories are a good barometer. Following the Super Bowl Loss the Bears have failed to make the playoffs in last 3 seasons. So, during this last offseason the Bears picked up Julius Peppers, the best defensive end the team has had since Richard Dent, and Chester Taylor to guard against the possibility that Matt Forte is an average running back. The Bears are not blessed with unbelievable talent.

And that brings up the best argument for Lovie's status as good NFL coach. During his tenure Jerry Angelo has been a failure in talent evaluation and drafting. And has routinely left the Bears with deficiencies at key positions.

Jerry Angelo has a terrible record at drafting in the first round. Angelo has neglected to draft an offensive lineman in the early rounds since his failure with Marc Columbo and has not taken an offensive player of significance outside the aforementioned Matt Forte. The Bears best offensive player QB Jay Cutler was acquired via an expensive trade.

What Angelo has succeed in is drafting pro-bowl caliber defensive players, with Lance Briggs being a longshot Hall of Famer, and the gamble on Devin Hester.

Devin Hester is the best punt/kick returner to ever step onto a pro football field. His presence alone has been worth 3-4 wins a year since 2006.

And here is the problem, Lovie Smith has been saddled with a preponderance of average to below average players (by NFL standards) and has succeeded in squeezing the most out of those players and Jerry Angelo is very good at seeing raw, unrefined talent but fails at the task of selecting bona fide #1s. And Hester's play has covered up the egregious errors by Lovie Smith and Jerry Angelo.

Which leaves the Bears were they have been for the past 3 seasons. Around the middle of the league. But, this season's not over and as the wins pile up, it's becoming harder and harder to justify the hatred of Lovie Smith who is a good NFL Coach.

Chris Henry Victim

Everyone who thought Chris Henry was merely a criminal and a bad person (and conservatives came to that conclusion because of his skin color and their inherent bigotry) were blaming a victim.

West Virginia University doctors have determined via autopsy Chris Henry suffered from chronic traumatic brain injury. Most likely, at some point in his collegiate playing days he suffered a concussion which was undiagnosed or ignored because the game is more important and his repeated playing days exacerbated the injury. Or even worse this type of injury doesn't even have to come from dramatic explosive hits but can come about due to repetitive small impacts, standard football movements and seemingly innocuous plays.

Chris Henry died last year after being thrown from a vehicle during an altercation with his girlfriend. Henry had numerous prior run-ins with the law and with disciplinary problems with the Cincinnati Bengals.

Football destroys both mind and body and leaves players altered and crippled. Future generations are going to view us with the same revulsion we have when we think of the bloody Roman Gladiatorial games, an enthusiastic willingness to allow men harm themselves for sport.

But, football sure makes a lot of money for a lot of people!

Contract Dichotomy

I've already written about this issue but the Bears (from Chicago) Linebacker Brian Urlacher is demanding a reworked contract.

His current contract has 4 years left on it. 4 years. I think everyone who's served understands the gravity of 4 years...

Urlacher signed the 9 year deal for 57 million in 2003. Now the reason you sign a long term deal in most sports is for the security and for the big upfront guaranteed signing bonus. Urlacher is threatening to retire in order to keep his signing bonus. Additionally, Urlacher has neck and back injuries. His career could be shortened so he's trying for more money.

I have no problem with people attempting to get as much money as possible. But doesn't this situation highlight the disconnect American Society has with reality and Iraq? The dichotomy between a football player, who's major problem* is he has the terrible duty of working on Sundays versus those lazy Marines and Soldiers who only have to face the risk of getting their legs blown off?

Either contracts matter or they don't. Personally, I'd like to see Urlacher get more money because I naturally come down on the side of the individual but I know the government will not afford the same latitude in missing movements or threats of "retirement" from the service members prior to obligating their contract, because I think the government labels that person a criminal.

*-I'm ignoring the fact Urlacher once had dalliance with Paris Hilton.

Sean Taylor and Media Focus

A man named Sean Taylor was shot and killed. I am not happy about his untimely death.

I think the accounts which have chalked this murder up to a random burglary are discounting several key pieces of potential evidence. Taylor's father is an ex-police chief, which could easily provide motive for someone and the previous break-in at Taylor's home when a knife was left on his bed (a knife on the pillow was the warning of the Society of Assassins). Additionally, Taylor did have a criminal past including several incidents involving guns.

As an tribute the NFL has announced every player in the league will wear a #21 decal on their helmet.

However, I am puzzled and dismayed by the coverage from the news media. Could anyone at ESPN or the Washington Redskins name a soldier or marine who has died in Iraq? Do they even care?

Another 40 troops dead in November? Oh well.

Another 12 Iraqis killed by a rocket attack? Oh well.

But, the death of a man who can run fast and tackle people, who has been arrested for agravated assault with a firearm? Hell we need non-stop coverage!