As a relatively new father, I know that there will be a time when I go to bat for one or both of The Indignant Children. It’s natural; someone will say something or do something and I will come to their defense. Hopefully, I will think before I act.
So, it’s also natural to believe that Dr. Dan Grossman, ophthalmologist and father of former Bear Rex Grossman, ripped the Bears in the press the other day. He said that looking at the history of the franchise and it’s emphasis on running the football, that it’s not surprising that the Bears haven’t had a franchise quarterback since Sid Luckman.
Yes, he’s biased because his son came here and did poorly. And there is more than enough blame that has been tossed the younger Grossman’s way, but perhaps he has a point.
Ever since the Bears acquired Jay Cutler, the Pro Bowl quarterback was supposed to lead the team to the Promised Land, or at least the playoffs, but Cutler has struggled in the Bears’ 4-5 start and blame is starting to come at him as well. Cutler has faced the firestorm of opinion since his 5-interception performance last Thursday night in the loss to San Francisco. But honestly, the Bears haven’t been able to run the ball and the offensive line has been a disaster. Cutler has had to run for his life most of the time. I think that the Bears’ scheme on offense and suddenly on defense has to be called into question. I have never been a Ron Turner fan, and perhaps it’s time (especially if Head Coach Lovie Smith and GM Jerry Angelo are too expensive to hire) to bring in an true offensive mind like a Dan Henning or Cam Cameron, someone who can bring some innovation to an offense that has been simple, old fashioned, and for the most part ineffective for decades.
So, Dr. Grossman called out the Bears, but that isn’t allowed according to Rick Morrissey, columnist for the Chicago Tribune. In today’s column, Morrissey, who last week eat his article from a few years ago when he proclaimed Chicago Bulls’ number 1 draft choice Joakim Noah “a Wasted pick,” but who is blossoming into a fine NBA forward, blasted the elder Grossman.
“Figuring out what possessed Dan Grossman. He’s another father fighting his kid’s battles,” Rosenbloom wrote. “Many of us have an inner voice reminding us of the importance of letting our kids learn their own lessons. But more than a few parents have no such voice, no such filter, no such clue. They’re the ones calling college campuses to complain about their 20-year-old’s grade in 19th Century French History. They’re the ones typing their kids’ resumes. They’re the ones calling their adult children three times a day.”
“If I were Rex Grossman, I would be looking for a hole to crawl in from the embarrassment my father has caused me. I would be trying to understand why I still have my dad speaking for me in the pages of the Tribune, especially when I don’t recall asking him to do so. And I would be wondering how tone-deaf a parent has to be to think that firing on his son’s former team is a good idea. Dan Grossman would like everyone to know that the Bears can’t develop quarterbacks and that his son got jobbed.”
I know that columnists are paid to “stir up the pot” to sell newspapers, but it looks to me like he should put away the sour grapes before he has to eat another column. It’s not like Grossman is selling a book, or promoting himself all over the press. It appears that someone stuck a microphone in his face and asked for comment, and Dr. Grossman gave it to them.. Was Rex Grossman great? No. Did he make questionable throws? Yep. But is or has the Chicago Bear offense ever been on the cutting edge of play calling, offensive theory, or even throwing the ball? Nope.
All I know is, I’m glad I’m not Rick Morrissey kid – he would never have my back on anything and he would be rooting for the schoolyard bully to kick my ass.

I always enjoyed the story of Bear fans duck taping a Packers fan to a road sign just south of the Illinois-Wisconsin border. These kinds of rivalry stories make for fun between the fans of the two teams. Unfortunately, someone has to go too far.
A Pittsburgh man named Zach Heddinger was in Chicago to watch the Bears- Steelers game on September 20th and was at Kitty O’Shea’s, a watering hole that I have frequented in the past because I used to live a block away and is very close to Soldier Field. Chicago Police are investigating whether Heddinger’s drink was drugged or whether his drink was spiked, but the Pittsburgh fan had to be rushed to the hospital. He could not see and his heart stopped and had to be restarted four times.
At first, doctors thought he had had too much to drink, but eventually they feared something more nefarious was at work, perhaps antifreeze or toxic grain alcohol
Heddinger said he doesn’t remember exactly what happened, except that he accepted a drink from a Bears fan after an argument. “Basically, I guess, my buddies had gotten into an altercation and they offered a drink as a peacemaker from what I understand,” Heddinger told ABC 4 Pittsburgh. After that, the friends had to rush him to the hospital.
He has survived but even now, two months later, his vision still hasn’t returned. He’s undergoing oxygen treatments to try to restore his eyesight.
As someone who worked at sporting events in this town for almost a decade, it doesn’t surprise me at all that two groups of assholes: one of Bear fans and another for Steeler fans found each other than night. There was an altercation and I’m sure that threats, if not fists were thrown (probably not fists because there would have been arrests).
I’m all for punishing assholes in bars, but usually, being on the winning side of whatever sporting event is involved is usually enough. There is never any need to try and hurt anyone, especially when it could lead to severe injury, even death.
The police are reviewing videotape from that night, and have the full cooperation of the bar and the hotel in which it’s located. I can only hope that they find these low-lifes. They are a black eye on we sports fans.

Well, it turns out that I didn’t have a portable radio to listen to this morning’s Lin’s Bin on WXRT. A question I sent in many years ago was used as grist for the mill on Lin Brehmer’s show this morning. He sent me an e-mail to make sure that I was still training bankers, so I knew it was coming. (No gifts anymore for this, oh well).
Anyway, since I didn’t remember the question, I was in the dark as much as anyone, but I did want to hear it. The Indignant Family is going to the Blackhawks – Maple Leafs game tonight, so I knew that I wouldn’t hear it at 6:15 this evening. Fortunately, I live by a 24-hour Walgreens, and sure enough, they had a couple of FM radios, both less than $6. So, I was able to hear it as I was on the commuter train to work.
My impression? It was OK; the question involved how to make banking “cool” as a trainer. I never said anything like that, I just asked for songs about banks that I could use to amuse/interest participants. There is no way to make banking and bankers “cool;” artist’s interpretation.
Anyway, Lin used the usual banker clips for “It’s a Wonderful Life” and basically did a gentle slam on banks. Banks and bankers have never been popular, and in the current economic environment, the large bailouts, and the huge bonuses (which I haven’t been able to get, dammit), it’s completely understandable to join the bandwagon. But it was cool of Lin to use Marlon Brando as The Godfather saying “I’ll make him an offer he can’t refuse” to say that bankers are cool if they can do this to Congress.
One thing – I have had two people already ask if its me: one in person and one via e-mail. Ordinarily, I would fain ignorance and then proclaim loudly that it isn’t me, but since I am Tony Fernandez, and I am a credit trainer at a bank, I couldn’t really do anything but admit that it was me. Ah, the cost of fame….

I realize that many young men are admitted to major universities to play sports, not earn grades or degrees, or even learn anything other than the Xs and Os of their sport. I understand that, but if you play a major sport at a major university, you are known. You are under a microscope; and often, your picture is printed all over the newspapers, campus publications, media guides and the like. So, the chances that you can go about your business unknown are nearly impossible, especially if you are trying to do something illegal.
That lesson is the latest that three freshmen Tennessee football players may be learning today. Wide receiver recruit Nu’Keese Richardson, starting safety Janzen Jackson, both 18, along with defensive back Mike Edwards, 18, and companion Marie Montmarquet, 22, were charged after a report of an armed robbery at a gas station in an area known as “The Strip” at the edge of Tennessee’s campus.
Apparently, three people were in a parked car about 2 a.m. Thursday at a gas station near Tennessee’s campus when two males dressed in hooded jackets, one brandishing a handgun, approached and demanded, “Give us everything you’ve got.” The people in the car said that they didn’t have any money, and even presented their wallets to the attempted robbers to show that they had no money.
Eventually, a third man approached the car and told the two black males, “We’ve got to go.”‘ The three suspects were seen leaving in a Toyota Prius, and police pulled over a vehicle matching the description on Tennessee’s campus. Police found a pellet gun and hooded jackets and later found drug paraphernalia and a bag of what appeared to be marijuana. Police say Ms. Montmarquet told them the drug paraphernalia and substance belonged to her and she was charged with simple possession. The victims identified Richardson and Edwards as the men who approached their vehicle.
What makes this even odder is that Richardson, a highly touted recruit from Pahokee, Fla., created headlines when he switched to Tennessee after having originally committed to Florida as a result of recruiting by Tennessee Head Coach Lane Kiffin. Kiffin created more headlines (and ill will between the schools, if that was even needed) when he “joked” (Kiffin said later) in a February recruiting celebration that Florida coach Urban Meyer cheated in trying to keep Richardson as a Gator, earning Kiffin a reprimand from the Southeastern Conference. Richardson had told Kiffin recently he was frustrated with his lack of production but scored his first touchdown in a 56-28 win over Memphis on Saturday. He’s had six catches this season for 58 yards and served as a punt returner.
What is going through these guys minds? I remember a story on the University of Colorado a couple of decades ago that said that each squad car in Boulder had a copy of the football media guide for the pictures of the athletes that regularly got arrested at that time. Is it steroids, or a misguided belief that the normal rules don’t apply to them? (It would also help if we just legalize marijuana and sell it in stores. If it were legal, it should get cheaper, and take away the profit motive of the gangbangers, and let people get high in the privacy of their own homes.)
I know that times are hard, but with all of the young black men killing each other, or going to jail, isn’t it time to look at the lives of the people around them and say that this way of life doesn’t work? It’s the easy way not to take school seriously, not apply yourself, be ignorant, be a gang-banger. That’s easy – the right way is harder and not as glamorous.

If you happen to be near your radio tomorrow (Friday, November 13, 2009) at approximately 7:15AM or 6:15PM, turn on WXRT to Lin Brehmer’s “Lin’s Bin.” I guess that Lin will be answering a question from your friend and humble narrator (me).
I don’t know what the question is (was); it was a long time ago when they were giving people sound cancelling headphones and The Indignant Wife wanted some, so I sent in a number of questions.
I have to give kudos to Lin – first for letting me know what was coming, and also for even dealing with me as I’ve made him the whipping boy for everything that’s wrong with WXRT knowing that none of it is his fault. Unfortunately, he has been the only person with the station who replied to my complaints.
Anyway, listen if you wish; I’ll be listening if just to remember what I said all those years ago…

Now that Michael Jackson is dead, I guess we need another strange celebrity whose appearance is causing an uproar. Former Chicago Cub outfielder Sammy Sosa was photographed recently in Las Vegas and it appears that Sosa’s skin has lightened considerably.
The Chicago Tribune published photos of Sosa and his wife alongside an older picture that showed Sosa’s wife looking about the same, but Sosa being several shades lighter. (It is interesting that now that the Tribune Company no longer owns the Cubs, it might be much more vicious to ex-players. Of course, the Tribune was always willing to go after Sosa, like after the well-publicized incident of him leaving the team without permission before a late season meaningless game. This was used to try Sosa in the court of public opinion when the Cubs released its signature star.)
While no cause has been established at this time, the Tribune quotes web site Midwest Sports Fans that speculates steroid use could be responsible: It was reported last June that Sosa, long tainted by allegations of steroid use, actually tested positive for steroids in 2003 According to these reports, there appears to be at least some evidence suggesting that steroid use could increase a person’s likelihood of becoming symptomatic with vitiligo, the same skin-lightening disease that supposedly plagued Jackson.
The Tribune later reported a conversation with an acquaintance of Sosa’s named Rebecca Polihronis who claims that that “he is going through a rejuvenation process for his skin.”
Yeah, right! Maybe its poverty or willingness to do anything to make the majors, but My friend Carl Bonasera who owns All American Comics, where I’ve bought comics for over 2 decades and I used to say that Michael Jackson bathed in a tub of Linco, a white dye they used to sell (still sell???) because he wanted to become pale skinned (or Elizabeth Taylor).
I don’t think that Sosa has the same issues, but what little doubt remained that Sosa was playing clean is gone. It is obvious that Sosa had more foreign substances in it than a Dow Chemical plant, Times Beach, and Love Canal put together.

Days like last Saturday don’t get better than this last Saturday. First, the weather was beautiful – sunny and nearly 70 degrees; perfect for a Fall day. Then, contrary to what I thought, NU defeated Number 8 ranked Iowa. Just like NU against Penn State last weekend (when QB Mike Kafka got injured, the offense disappeared), a tough tackle on Iowa QB John Stanzi and another week with multiple turnovers was too much to overcome.
The only problem is that NU is now on line for a better bowl game: Capital One Bowl or the Champs Sports Bowl, both in Florida, or, gasp, a third trip to the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. Unfortunately, NU hasn’t played a 60 minute game all season, and I’m tired of them going to bowls and then losing. Yes, they were better in losing to Missouri last season in overtime, but, in the final analysis, a loss is still a loss. This year’s Wildcats can run the ball; both quarterbacks are nursing injuries, and the defense has been spotty at best. I just don’t want this team thinking that they are better than they are.
But the best was yet to come. I was driving around during the afternoon and heard that Navy was beating Notre Dame 14-0. I crossed my fingers and toes, and eventually got to watch the final minutes of the game. It was fun to watch the South Bend faithful quiet and the Midshipmen going crazy in one corner of the stadium. I turned the game off after Navy’s safety made the game 23-14 figuring it was over. ND scored a late TD but still fell short.
So, no BCS bowl Domers; no Heisman Trophy Mr. Clausen (even though I am more impressed with him as a quarterback than I was previously). Best of all, the calls are out again for Head Coach Charlie Weis’ job. It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Weis has blamed everyone but himself over the years, and after being brought in as the “Great White Hope’ after ND underhandedly fired Tyrone Willingham, I found a good reason to hate Weis (and yet another reason to despise ND).
As I said, a great Saturday. Unfortunately, I watched the Bears debacle yesterday…