Down and Out

It honestly is too easy to write this. You knew it was coming. You read the millions of facebook statuses, you navigated through the endless hashtags on Twitter calling Cutler a pussy. But why? Was it because we expected our starting quarterback to look interested in the biggest game of his career? Are we mad because we invested more emotion into Sunday's game than Cutler did? Who knows what his injury was, and honestly, who cares? He didn't even look to make an effort to return once he stepped outside the painted lines on the Soldier Field turf Sunday. The absolute least Cutler could have done was give the obligatory limp to the huddle, muster up the courage to take a few snaps, wince in pain, and partake in a completely staged conversation with the athletic trainer demanding that he return to the game. But that's exactly what didn't happen. Aaron Rodgers was taking helmets to the chin, staring down the teeth of the Bears' with a look of defiance, and our chubby quarterback remained stationary on the sideline pondering why he has more than one chin with a smug "What do you think is on UPN Power 50 right now?" look on his face. The only impressive thing Jay did on Sunday was somehow performing live at halftime and showing the raucous Soldier Field crowd his vocal range. Wait, that Lee DeWyze? Who knew? As soon as his phantom "knee injury" (which no one saw, mind you) flared up, Jay strolled to the sidelines, put on his Bears issued trench coat, and talked Caleb Hanie through his progressions on a clipboard that actually had a Chinese takeout menu attached to it instead of Mike Martz's playbook. You can't help but be impressed with Caleb Hanie. He showed some stones and gave the Bears a fighting chance in the final minutes. Then again, he was following Todd Collins, so it really couldn't get much worse unless Crazytown's hit single "Butterfly" was playing in the background of the venue where you were watching the game.

What can you really expect when you have your 3rd string signal caller at the helm in the biggest game of the season? He did all we could ask for and more. All we knew about Caleb Hanie before Sunday was that he had a below average first name and threw a couple good seeds against the Panthers early in the year. Technically, you can say the same thing about Seneca Wallace. Anyway, after reading Rick Reilly's article on ESPN about Cutler last week (I honestly never read Rick Reilly, I think he's a total worm), it occurred to me that maybe Cutler didn't want it. After being saddled with mediocrity as both an amateur (Vandy) and as a professional (Denver and Chicago), perhaps Jay just didn't want the decoration. Maybe he doesn't want to be a "big game quarterback". Maybe he just wants to be a renegade (shot out Uncle Poklop) like Big Ben but not wear the ring like the bathroom rapist does. Even when Collins came in, he looked emotionally invested in the outcome of the game. Granted, he sucks, and he looks like the kind of loser who buys his entire wardrobe at Land's End, but at least he was amp'd up. I mean, Christ, it's the NFC Championship!

When Urlacher stepped up to the mic at his post-game interview and stood behind Cutler (stood behind, get it? hehehe), nobody's opinion changed. He had to do that. If he calls Jay out in front of the national media, the Bears would fold easier than wax paper next year. But could you sense some disappointment? From Urlacher, from Martz, from Lovie, from some random Bear fan named Allan in Wicker Park. Everyone was disappointed. But in the end, maybe we were just disillusioned as to the people we put in positions of power. Gulp, thanks Jay.

As for Pick of the Day, the Pulse Man is looking to the NBA as the avenue to achieve his first career betting win as a 23 year old man. For Monday night, the Pulse Man likes the Bucks in Chicago getting 8 points.

Pick of the Day: Bucks(+8) @ Bulls- BUCKS

Record:(47-33-0)

Thanks again to all the people who wrote guest blogs and sent in predictions last week. Congratulations on being a part of the internet. It's a wonderful feeling.

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost

Bear Necessitites

Be careful what you wish for. The Pulse Man put the his nickels and dimes on Aaron Rodgers Saturday night and right on queue, the Packers QB ended up "airin" it out (no pun intended) on the Dirty Birds and dropped a 48 on the Georgia Dome scoreboard. Now, what has transpired in the NFC Championship is a game of epic proportions. Not even the gum-flapping, unceremonious squad of Jets in NYC can upstage what's goin' down in Chi-town next Sunday afternoon (In honor of MLK day, I'm randomly peppering this blog with Ebonics). The Bears and the Packers, January, bright lights, Troy Aikman announcing while comparing every minuscule game detail to his own career that ended a decade ago. Is this heaven? No, it's the NFC.

Truth be told, everyone and their brother penciled the Packers in as the NFC representative in Dallas next month, but the only people in Vegas that bet on the Bears to make it to February were a couple of lushes from Lombard who had money to blow after winning a few lucky spins of Roulette. In all fairness to the Pack, they bounced back from losing their starting running back, their freak tight end, a core linebacker and countless others, so there stock dropped lower than Liz Claiborne Inc. at certain spots this year. In fact, Green Bay's training room at the halfway point of the season looked like a scene for Kate Beckinsale's character (Nurse Evelyn Johnson) in Pearl Harbor. In the Bears' case, nobody trusted Cutler to will his team to the NFC title game, even with the cakewalk Seahawks at home in January. At the start of the season, nobody even trusted Cutler to throw a vortex, and now he's the captain of this crew's stunning rise to power this season. Don't uproot the tree before you taste the fruit, amirite?

With all these heartwarming story lines in play this weekend, we must be reminded of certain key points. For instance, either the Packers are going to make the Super Bowl with the Brandon Jackson/James "Don't call me John" Starts platoon in their backfield, or the Bears are going to strut into Dallas Stadium with Hester and Knox as their starting wideouts. Whichever the case, it will undoubtedly be the worst backfield/receiving core in the history of the sport. I'm just glad those geezers from the Visa commercial will be in attendance.

As the bad blood between Bear and Packer fans spreads from Burbank up to Baraboo, west to Lacrosse and down through Lake Villa, I am leaving Chicago Sports Noise as an open forum for people to voice their own opinions throughout the week. You have a prediction? Lay it on me. You have insight into how you think the game is going to play out? Share the word. If you just want to make fun of Wisconsin people for having Madison as their state's mecca, by all means, use this blog as your avenue. To have something posted, just email chicagosportsnoise@gmail.com (this account has never received a non-span email, so needless to say I'm excited), or tweet @frostyaustin (definitely the option most in touch with 2011). And lastly, let us try to keep the vulgarity at a minimum. I mean, come on, it's MLK day.

As for Pick of the Day, the Pulse Man likes the 'Cuse getting 6 at Pitt. Granted, Jamie Dixon's hair defies the laws of modern physics, but Syracuse is making a push at that numba one spot!

Pick of the Day: Syracuse (+6) @ Pitt- SYRACUSE

Record:(46-32-0)

Now I'm done. Rack me

Frost