Qualified Links

• The Illini don't seem to have much trouble with the Boilermakers. Big win on Sunday to hopefully keep Illinois in the Top 25.
  
• Briggs helped out in the NFC's Pro Bowl victory. Unfortunately no one cares except the 5 guys at StevieY19's 6th Annual Pro Bowl Blowout Bash.
• Only 18 of 50 states have Major League baseball teams. What and where would the teams be if they existed in the other 32 states? Well some guy came up with all the team names and logos.
  
• Maybe losing Mark DeRosa won't be that bad. I'm not sure if this logic holds up statistically, and it definitely doesn't hold up in my heart. But maybe we are all overreacting...
  
• Is Ron Turner going to be the new Pitt football coach? I wouldn't mind, Lovie can call the offensive and defensive plays.
• Remember that time Kyle Farnsworth beat the shit out of Paul Wilson and started that massive brawl with the Reds? That is one nasty spear by Farnsy.
  
• The Bulls lost a tough one in OT to Dallas Saturday night, but all in all the road trip was a success.
  
• Greg Olsen is really good. How good? Maybe one of the best tight ends in league if we get him a good wide receiver to take some of the attention away from him.
• Remember Jordan's 55 point game at the garden? Here's a reminder.
  

Today's Links-Too Many Links Edition

• Illini get a big win against Purdue on the road. They're on the map.
• The Hawks streak finally ends against the Wings, but hopefully will just be a minor bump in the road. I guess they didn't have a lot of 'kills' tonight.
  
• Apparently Drew Gooden is going to start blogging. Welcome to the blogosphere Drew. Unfortunately his first post wasn't very interesting, but hopefully he'll write some crazy stuff soon.
• Fake Ron Turner press conference following the Bears game.
  
• Worst columnist predications of 2008. Hilarious.
  
• The Denver Broncos fired Mike Shanahan. It appears no NFL coach is safe these days.
• Looks like the Cubs are about to deal Marquis to the Rockies for Luis Vizcaino, but mostly they'll be getting $5 million dollars in salary relief.
• Babich and Orton don't have much job security either. Apparently Angelo is interested in Marinelli too.
  
• So Hinrich will be coming back sooner than we thought. Obviously that's a good thing, but with the glut of guards, it may cause more problems than it solves.
• Did the Heat disrespect the Bulls the other night? It appears they did.
  

One Question Mark Down, 73 to Go; Neckbeard to Start in 2009

According to the Chicago Tribune, Kyle Orton will be the starting quarterback for the Chicago Bears next year:

After Sunday's season-ending 31-24 loss to the Texans, offensive coordinator Ron Turner said Orton will head into training camp next July as the unchallenged starting quarterback for the first time in his career.
"No question about it," Turner said. "He played really well [in 2008]. It took him a while to get back in the groove because of his ankle [injury Nov. 2]. I still don't think he's 100 percent."
"All players will have competition … everybody is in that same group," Smith said. "But Kyle Orton is our quarterback."

So that answers that question I guess. Turner's rationale for keeping Orton as the starter is that he was still hurt for most of the second half of the season and that hindered his development and performance. Personally I have been in favor of keeping him all along, if only for lack of better options. If the Bears can just get him a good free agent WR like Boldin I think he will really shine.

Bears Should Not Have Won, But Who Cares?

In a game that was almost as ugly as it was cold, the Bears pulled it off against the Pack to keep their playoff dreams alive. I was at the game and it was UGLY. The Packers outplayed the Bears in almost every phase of the game, and the only reason the Bears won was a blocked field goal in the 4th quarter. Thank god Forte decided to play hard all of a sudden late in the game to propel the Bears to the victory. Oh and as usual Maynard and Gould looked excellent when they were called upon.

Basically the Bears now need one of the following to happen in order to make the playoffs:

For Division Title:

Bears Win; AND
Vikings Loss

For Wild Card:

Bears Win; AND
Bucs Loss; AND
Dallas Loss

If the Bears can beat the Texans they have a very good shot at the division and even a slim chance at the wild card.

There are two big question marks from last night's game (and most of the season). Kyle Orton and Ron Turner. Orton had another terrible game. 2 more picks runs his total interceptions in the last 4 games to 8. 8! The guy was supposed to be a low-risk quarterback. I don't know how it looked on TV, but it was like he just wasn't seeing DBs in his passing lanes, even though they were right there in front of his face. I'm not saying the Bears should shell out 80 bazillion dollars for Matt Cassel, but this situation needs to be fixed immediately. Orton seems to be the kind of leader this offense needs and respects, but the turnovers have got to stop. It's like he has a case of the "Grossman"s without the touchdowns (I'm not saying bring back Rex, I'm just saying).

The other question is Ron Turner. I heard an interesting point last night. If we all think back to the mid-90s when Erik Kramer had 4000 yards passing and the Bears had a record-setting offense (for the Bears at least), guess who was calling the plays? Ron Turner. This guy can obviously call plays and is well-respected around the league, but something just isn't right. Why wasn't he hitting Forte on passes out of the backfield? It was clearly a hole in the Packers defense. In his and Orton's defense, the wide receivers on this team suck. I'm not sure they are even trying to get open. Something on this offense needs to change for next year, because the talent is there.

All in all, it's a good day to be a Bears fan. Bring on the Texans.