The Return of the Mustache

With the NFL season less than two weeks away and South Carolina and Vandy kicking off in 6 days, it’s a good time to bring back the Mustache.  For all of you that missed us since we’ve been gone, we’ve missed you too.  I really don’t have any excuses for not posting since last December other than the fact that I work a full time job, spend time with my wife outside of work, and tried to focus on working out and getting my figure back to resemble what it was back in high school.  Good news though, work is going well, my marriage is awesome, and I’ve lost 18lbs since January 1^st (thanks 100 Day Burpee Challenge and T-Rex for the help/motivation). 

    

This time around at Mustache Sports, I’m hoping to accomplish a couple of things. 

More Contributors

I’d really like to get more people involved in writing posts and participating in the comments.  Last year, Colin Nelson (C-Murder), Chris Wernick (Monster), Scott Yasko (Scott Yasko), and Kurt Olson (Bert Kolson) did a fantastic job of providing insights into the world of NFL prognostications, fantasy football,  college football, and the Chicago Bears.  This year, you can all expect to see them back in some sort of capacity.  But as goes life, things change.  Colin is knee deep in his job and commitment to his beloved Molly, Wernick got a new job that involves him being on the road a lot more, Kurt is killing things over at CDW, and Scott had a beautiful baby girl.  So although you can expect to still read the things that pertain to the wonderful world of Mustache Sports, don’t expect to see it on such a consistent basis.  So please, if you have any interest in writing about anything, just let me know, and we will get it up for others to enjoy. 

Picks 

I am still going to be posting NFL and college picks on a weekly basis against the spread, I think that was pretty fun last year.  And I don’t know if I’m going to do much to adjust how all of that information was presented since I felt we did a great job with that last year.  Scott’s college football write ups were something that would put ESPN to shame, Wernick made Matthew Berry look like he didn’t play fantasy football, and when Colin or Kurt wrote up a Bears game preview, it always left me thinking that they should be working for the Score.  I guess the next part goes back to the getting more people involved so if you would like to participate in this portion of the blog and commit to doing it every week, please feel free to let me know. 

Pictures

I want to post pictures this year, they make things more fun.

Email Conversations

This year, my goal is to post more email discussions that I have with different people.  Scott and I did one last year about the FSU Notre Dame Champs Sports Bowl and since things turned out the way I wanted, (I ended up winning the argument, being correct about the result of the game (FSU 18 Notre Dame No Chance), and just looked smarter at the end of everything)  I want to do more of it. 

Interviews

I would also like to interview other bloggers or maybe even someone famous.  That’s sort of on my Mustache Sports Bucket List.  I’ve already had one Chicago celebrity commit to doing such a thing, Scott Bolohan (follow him on Twitter @scottbolohan), so expect that interview sooner rather than later. 

Twitter 

I have also created a Twitter account for the blog so be sure to follow us @Mustache_Sports.  Currently we are following 0 people and have 0 followers.  Impressed?  I thought so, especially since I just created it 3 minutes ago. 

Podcast

I’m also working on being able to post some sort of Podcast.  Once the technology gets worked out, and it’s easy to listen to and record, expect to see these as much as possible. 

All in all, I think this year at Mustache Sports is going to be fun.  I’m excited to see what we evolve into and who else wants to get involved.  I started writing this blog last year as a way to have some fun with things my friends and I had to say about sports without giving the reader a bunch of clichés he/she already hears from anchors at ESPN or the idiot at work that checks the score and comes in to the office the next day and says, “what a game last night, those were some really cool touchdowns.”  So, I hope, at the end of the day, we can provide that. 

It’s good to be back and it’s good to see you.  You look great by the way.  Here’s to a White Sox World Series, a Chicago Bears Super Bowl, an FSU National Championship and a fun year at Mustache Sports!  Let’s go!

Group Fail

Four weeks ago, the Bears were 7-3 and well on the way to their second consecutive trip to the playoffs.  Four weeks later, after consecutive losses to Oakland, Kansas City, Denver, and the Seahawks, hope has faded, and the Bears have been exposed for exactly what they are.

The deciding factor in the of the Bears early season success was the combination of Jay Cutler and Matt Forte.  For the first time in recent memory, the Bears were getting ridiculous levels of production from both their running back and quarterback at the same time. Their concurrent success served as the perfect band-aid for the multitude of inadquecies in Bears roster . The offense was putting up points, the offensive line was effective with Jay on the run, and Forte’s ability to both run and catch kept opponents off balance. With them gone, it has become painstakingly obvious how fragile this team truly is.

Make no mistake about it; this four game losing streak is much more than a team reeling from the loss of a star QB and RB. The fact that these games were all so winnable, despite our injuries, makes it even more obvious. How would these games played out if we hadn't wasted money on guys like Manemaluena, Chester Taylor, Roy Williams, Todd Collins and Brandon Merriweather? What would have happened if we could have picked up a backup QB based on talent, versus sticking with a bad QB because of a system? The truth is, the Bears losing these last four games is a culmination of a decade worth of bad hires, bad draft picks, bad contracts, and desperation moves on so many levels.

So whose fault is it? Just like with any awful situation, there is never one cause, never just one person to blame.

Bear with me for a moment, put coaching and player development aside, and just focus on the roster. Who messed it up? Jerry Angelo? Yes, but the situation we find ourselves in (again, roster only) runs much deeper than that.

Chicagoans, with our recent experiences in watching the Hawks, Cubs, and Sox, have become acutely aware how necessary it is for a GM to have an effective macro view; a core philosophy (specifically for drafting, trading, and free agent acquisitions) that focuses on the long term sustainability of a franchise. Without it, you have chaos. You have jobs with unclear roles. You have the Bears.

The GM of a football team is supposed to be the boss. No doubt there has to be some level of synergy with the coaching staff, but the bottom line is that the GM should make the roster and coaches should adapt to their roster.

Top GM’s like Green Bay's Ted Thompson, make decisions in the draft purely on talent. The Packers hired a leader that they trust, who in turn, has developed footballl philosophy that is the guiding factor in all decisions. His coaches and their subsequent schemes clearly are separate from his job of amassing talent. Whereas coaches and schemes change, talent is constant. The right talent can fit any scheme.

Can you imagine Ted Thompson trading one of his early round draft pick “hits” (like the Bears did with Greg Olsen) to appease his offensive coordinator? Not only did Jerry do just that, but he made matters worse by making a decision with long term ramifications in order to fit a scheme and offensive coordinator with a very uncertain future. This Bears move typifies the ineptitude we have come to expect. It is the antithesis of what you see from other successful organizations. The short term benefit was minimal or non-existent and the potential for regretting that decision in the long run, especially as Martz departs is huge.

If Ted Thompson fails to provide Mike McCarthy with players to effectively do his job, you would know exactly who is to blame. With the Bears dysfunctional system of "leadership", placing blame isn’t so simple.

To equate it to the Cubs, their future success or failure all rides with Theo. A big part of being a GM, regardless of the sport, is not only being willing to take on that responsibility, but to embrace that. This responsibility has escaped the Bears and is the main reason change has been so slow to come.

Ted Phillips deserves blame for hiring a GM that failed to take ownership of his position. Jerry is to blame not only for his bad personnel decisions, but also for  empowering the coaching staff and allowing them to affect far too many decisions with long term consequences. Not only that, but this involvement of Lovie and his staff, whether chosen or not, removes the convenience of them being able to simply blame Jerry. Their Input and schemes played integral roles in many of the awful decisions.

Despite the failures on all levels, it is unrealistic to think that Mike McCaskey is going to clean house from top to bottom. That said, what certainly must go is the codependency between the coaching staff and GM. Our current system of making major decisions fosters groupthink and muddies the water just enough to make sure no one is held accountable.

When an organization is structured so that nobody is to blame, everybody is to blame, and that certainly seems to be the case with the Bears.

Happy Birthday Wayne!

It's Wayne Gretzky's 50th birthday this week and my gift to him is to, once and for all, prove that he is the best athlete to ever play any sport. It's actually quite easy. I could do it with just the next sentence.

If Wayne Gretzky never scored a goal, he'd still be the NHL's all-time leading points scorer.

Boom! Done.

Gretzky had 1,963 assists in his career.

1.Wayne Gretzky—1,963 (assists only)

2.Mark Messier—1,887 (goals + assists)

3.Gordie Howe—1,850 (goals + assists)

If that isn't amazing enough, Wayne Gretzky scored the most goals of all-time, too—894!

Case closed. Game over. So, that makes it:

•Wayne Gretzky—2,857 (goals + assists)

A whopping 970 more points than anyone ever! Absolute bananas. Just the extra 970 points is more than the career totals of:

•Maurice Richard—965 (goals + assists) Hall of Fame

•Chris Chelios—948 (goals + assists) And he played like 40 seasons.

•Bobby Orr—915 (goals + assists) Hall of Fame

If that wasn't enough:

•Wayne Gretzky is the only player ever to score 200 points in a season—and he did it four times.

•He won the MVP (Hart Memorial Trophy) eight years in a row. Nine times total.

•His teams won the Stanley Cup four times.

•His jersey number, 99, is retired by every single team in the NHL.

•His list of achievements go on and on and on...

•No steroids. No scandals. Just the most incredible athlete ever.

Picks Year to Date

NFL

C-Murder 35-28-5

Bert Kolson 40-35-6

Sef Sam Holy 36-33-3

Monster 27-37-4

College

Scott 26-17

Sef Sam Holy 25-21

Blake Witzman 7-10

Week 11 College Football Picks and Ruining Your Friday

I was honestly going to write something about how I’m sick of hearing about this Penn State story yesterday but C-Murder told me to read the Grand Jury report before I posted what I had to say.  I read the Grand Jury report and will now not post what I was going to say.  It really is the sickest thing I’ve ever read and feel like I’m going to be scared for life because of it.  It’s all I’ve thought about all day and now I can see why everyone is talking about it everywhere you look.  There are going to be more disgusting details that will surface about this, we will have something for you soon on what we think of this awful, awful situation. 

If you want to read it yourself, google “Jerry Sandusky Grand Jury” and the Washington Post will have something for you with either the first or second link.  Sorry to ruin your Friday, here are me and Blake’s Week 11 College Football Picks. 

10 Virginia Tech -1.5 at 21 Georgia Tech*

Sef Sam Holy – Va Tech

Blake Witzman – Va Tech

19 Nebraska -3.5 at 12 Penn State

Sef Sam Holy – Nebraska

Blake Witzman - Nebraska

20 Auburn +13 at 15 Georgia

Sef Sam Holy – Georgia

Blake Witzman - Georgia

24 Michigan -1 at Illinois

Sef Sam Holy – Michigan

Blake Witzman - Illinois

Miami +9 at Florida State

Sef Sam Holy – FSU

Blake Witzman - FSU

7 Oregon +3.5 at 4 Stanford

Sef Sam Holy – Oregon

Blake Witzman – Stanford

*Swear on my momma we picked this game yesterday

Year to Date

Scott – 23-15

Sef Sam Holy – 19-16

Blake Witzman – 3-3

And We're Back!

After watching 7 weeks of NFL football, it’s getting difficult to provide you, the reader, with any sort of analysis that you don’t already know.  The Packers are awesome, the Dolphins/Colts/Rams may not win this year, the Lions and Bills are fun stories but both will probably somehow miss out on the playoffs, and we’ve all had a good time watching the Eagles start out 2-4. 

I’m a numbers fella, so here are some numbers that might make you go, “I uh, I did not KNOW that.” 

Mustache Sports gots backs

Maurice Jones-Drew is second in the league in rushing with 677 yards (96.7 yards per game)

Ben Tate is 9^th in the league in rushing with 466 yards (66.6 yards per game)

Beanie Wells has 6 rushing TD’s tied for 3^rd in the NFL

Matt Forte has 419 yards receiving, most among RB’s.  That’s one less yard than LeSean McCoy, Darren McFadden, and Chris Johnson combined.

Far out with the Wide Out

Calvin Johnson has 10 TD’s already and is on pace to score 23 TD’s for the season

Mike Wallace has 5 TD’s that are 40 yards or longer

Jabar Gaffney has 38 more receiving yards than Miles Austin

Preston Parker has more receiving TD’s (2) than his Bucs teammate Mike Williams (1)

Matt Forte has more receiving yards than Anquan Boldin, Stevie Johnson, Marques Colston, Brandon Lloyd, Dez Bryant, and Santonio Holmes

How are the QB’s doing?

Ben Rothlisberger has more passing yards than Matthew Stafford

Josh Freeman has more passing yards than Philip Rivers

Michael Vick has more rushing yards (378) than Rashard Mendenhall (374)

Cam Newton has more rushing TD’s (7) than every RB in the NFL other than Adrian Peterson

Rex Grossman, Cam Newton, and Philip Rivers are tied for second worst in the NFL with 9 INT’s.

Josh Freeman has thrown 10 INT’s already this year after only throwing 6 all of last year.

Kevin Kolb has throw less interceptions (7) than Tom Brady and Drew Brees (8)

We talkin bout Tight Ends!

Jimmy Graham has 225 more receiving yards than the next best TE, Jason Witten (674 to 449)

Scott Chandler has 4 TD’s this year but does not yet have 100 receiving yards

Fred Davis has the same amount of receiving yards (423) as Vincent Jackson

Did someone say kickers?

Dan Bailey has 16 field goals made in 6 games

Josh Brown has 5 PAT field goals made in 6 games]

D-Fence

The Washington Redskins defense has 17 more sacks than the Buffalo Bills (21 to 4)

The Kansas City Chiefs defense has yet to recover an opponent fumble

The Baltimore Ravens lead the league with 9 fumbles recovered

The Baltimore Ravens defense has only allowed 77 points through 6 games (12.8 ppg)

The Indianapolis Colts defense has allowed 207 points through 7 games (29.6 ppg)

Update on our Football Picking

And I’m with ya, we’ve been slacking in posting our picks for the weekly action the past couple of weeks, but NO MORE!  The fellas at Mustache Sports have been sending them in and I have the email proof to prove it.  So, without further ado, here’s our Picks Standings Year-to-Date.

College Football Picks

Scott Yasko – 23-15

Sef Sam Holy – 19-16

Blake Witzman – 3-3

NFL Picks

C-Murder – 30-22-4

Bert Kolson – 36-28-5

Sef Sam Holy – 33-25-2

Monster – 22-32-3

Week Five - Bears at Lions

Bears +6 at Lions

The Chicago Bears (2-2)  head up to Ford Field to face a Lions (4-0) team in a much anticipated Monday Night Football showdown.

Are the Lions legit?  Can Matthew Stafford and Megatron continue to play at this level, and more importantly, stay healthy?  Are the Lions truly ready to be considered a top NFL team?  Can Jay Cutler take that next step and be the kind of QB that wins these big games?  Does this Bears team have what it takes to stay in the Playoff/Wild Card conversation?  Yeah, this is a huge game, and it’s a game where questions will be answered.

Without further ado, here are Six Things to Watch.

6 Things to Watch

Sacks cover up issues

What happens when the Bears defensive line doesn’t show up?  Steve Smith catches 8 balls for 181 yards.  Cam Newton throws for 374.  Drew Brees goes off, Aaron Rodgers chews you up.

The success of this Bear defense is predicated by getting pressure from their front four.  When the line plays well, so does our weak secondary.  In week 1 against Atlanta, Henry Melton and Julius Peppers were a force, and as a result our secondary shut down Matt Ryan.   Since that game, they just haven’t got the job done.

To win this game, the Bears need some sacks and batted balls.

  

Jay Cutler:  Psychology of an abuse victim

  

No one will fault Jay for trying to avoid a sack, but the early season issue has been bad throws and happy feet during the few times that he has had protection.  It’s hard to blame the guy given the abuse he has taken but he cannot let the lack of protection affect him on every play.

This made me think of a concept known as self-preservation. Bear with me here. First, bear with that pun, in fact, bear with it three times.

“Self Preservation is behavior that ensures the survival of an organism. It is universal among living organisms. In some vertebrates, pain and fear are parts of this mechanism. Pain causes discomfort so that the organism is inclined to stop the pain. Fear causes the organism to seek safety and may cause a release in adrenaline, which has the effect of increased strength and heightened senses such as hearing, smell, and sight. Self-preservation may also be interpreted figuratively; in regard to the coping mechanisms one needs to prevent emotional trauma from distorting the mind.”

I bring this up because we humans were not designed to be quarterbacks, and humans were certainly not designed to be quarterbacks in a Mike Martz system with a below average offensive line.  That said, the only way the Bears offensive is going to have success is if Jay gets more control over his innate tendency to self preserve (watching and avoiding lineman coming at him) and start focusing only on his wide receivers and completing passes. It’s the only way to become a great quarterback.

Toss it outside

With Chris Spencer and his broken hand there are still some questions about what lineup we will see in Detroit.

Gabe Carimi is still out, and the athletic ex-TE Lance Louis is back in and will start for either Spencer or (the more likely scenario) for Frank Omiyale at right tackle.  Despite the forced shuffling of the line last week, overall, you have to be pleased with the way the Bears blocked, specifically in the run game.

Pass blocking requires a level of communication and cohesiveness that will be hard to come by with an inexperienced and ever-changing group of big men playing on the road in Detroit, but we have a chance if we can run the ball.  

What stood out to me in last weeks 200+ yard rushing performance was the athleticism of Chris Williams, pulling from left to right as well as the effectiveness at Lance Louis playing tackle in the second half.  The recent pull and pitch play calls have really suited Forte and opened up a running game that has struggled up the middle.  Forte needs a gap to be successful, and more space means more gaps.  Keep pulling, keep tossing, and the Bears will control the clock and keep Detroit’s offensive playmakers off the field.

Mega-Good

I will try to be brief with what I expect our readers to already know. Maybe I am letting fantasy football stats play too large a role in me saying this, but if Tron stays healthy, and a plays with a decent QB, he can be best in the game.  He runs great routes, is massive, fast, can jump, block, and doesn’t drop balls.   CJ has eight touchdowns through four weeks, last year Johnny Knox and Devin Hester combined for nine touchdowns in sixteen weeks.

As we saw last week, you can triple cover Megatron and you still wont stop him.  The hopeful return of Chris Harris could help a little, but the only chance the Bears have at containing him is by our defensive line getting consistent pressure so Calvin’s routes are cut short.  It is all about doing something to affect the timing of their routes, double coverage will not contain that man.  

The Lions other weapon

The Bears will be focusing on Calvin, but they also need to be concerned with another first round pick that has loads of talent, Brandon Pettigrew.  The Lions took Pettigrew with the 20th overall pick in the 2009 draft and he is has played a large role in their resurgence.  After getting hurt in his rookie year, he game back in 2010 and caught 71 passes for 722 yards and four touchdowns.  The weapons on this Detroit offense are impressive, and with all the focus on Megatron and Javid Best (as a receiver) Pettigrew is in for a big day.

Play-Action in Prime Time

The good news for this Bears team coming off of a 200+ yard rushing effort is that they already have the play-action set up.  Will they use it?  Jay Cutler is most accurate when he is rolling out of the pocket, and Martz has somehow abandoned the key play in football.  The need for play action is even more important given the Bears collection of wide receivers.  It goes something like this: When your receivers are really bad, you need to trick the defense into thinking you are running so the bad receivers get open.  Even Ron Turner knew this.  Even teams with good receivers know this.  If it doesn’t happen this week, Mike Martz really needs to go.  There is no point in balance if you don’t exploit it.

The Prediction

Detroit is not a place where good things happen. In September alone, I have seen the Tigers defeat the Yankees and advance to the ALCS, I have seen the Lions go 4-0 and become the talk of the NFL, and to top it off, I even heard that Detroit auto sales were up 10% from last year.

I always say that a team with too many come from behind wins is never as good as their record indicates, and a team (Vikings for example) that blows huge leads is never as bad.  To get that far behind, you must have issues. To get that far ahead, you have to be doing something right.  My point is, the Lions, for how much love they have been getting, are far from perfect.

I can point to the loss of our best safety (Chris Harris) finally returning, the Bears recent ability to run, or Urlacher/Briggs/Julius, but this weeks prediction is really about me playing the odds and saying that all this good stuff happening in Detroit is going to stop for a week.  

Bears 24 Lions 21

Week Four - Panthers at Bears

Panthers +7 at Bears

After opening the season by facing three of the top NFC teams from 2010, the Bears are who we thought they were, sitting at 1-2.  Going into the season, many assumed week 4 against the Panthers would be a cruise control win, but that was before the emergence of the number one overall pick, Cam Newton.

There seemed to be little doubt that Cam Newton had a bright future, but through three weeks, he has been busy showing of an arm, swagger, and and a level of “it” factor confidence that few could say they expected during his rookie year.  Newton has thrown for 400 yards in every game not played in a monsoon and grinded his way to his first win last week.

There has been a lot of talk about Ron Rivera and Greg Olsen making their return to Chicago, but make no mistake about it, this game is all about Newton and how he performs against what should turn out to be one of the better defensive teams in the NFC. 

6 Things to Watch

Bears out of balance

Will the return of Lance Louis and Marion Barber help a run game that averaged an embarrassing 8 inches per carry last week against the Packers?

No more Craig Steltz

The Bears defense should get a nice boost with the return of both opening day starting safeties Chris Harris and Major Wright.

See Cam throw...short?

The Bears do a great job at taking away the deep pass, which is precisely what Cam and Steve Smith (21.8 yards a catch) have been doing best.  If the Bears do what they intend to do and stop the big play, will Cam have the patience to adapt and capitalize with sustained drives and shorter passes?

Chasing Cam

The Bears linebackers (specifically Urlacher) historically have had good success dealing with mobile quarterbacks.  Then again, Urlacher  (as good as he has played) has never been this old, and the opposing mobile quarterback has never been so young.

Big play Bears - it's gotta happen at some point.....right?

The Panthers have one of the youngest defenses in the league and have had a tendency to give up the big play.  In their two losses, they have surrendered touchdown passes of 49, 55, 70, and 84 yards.  They did fare better in the rain last week against the Jaguars, but still managed to give up a long (36 yard) “hail mary” touchdown to end the 1^st half.   Will the Bears and their JV offensive line and "worst receiving core in the NFL" (there I said it) be able to capitalize and continue this trend?

New Julius in Carolina

Jon Beason (121 tackle pro-bowl linebacker) is out for the season, but keep an eye out for Julius Peppers’ replacement, Charles Johnson, who had 11.5 sacks in 2010 and 3 more already this season.

The Prediction

This is an early season must-win home game for a reeling 1-2 Bears team trying to keep up with the Packers and a revitalized Detroit Lions.  They should see the returns of Lance Louis, Marion Barber, Chris Harris, Major Wright, and Roy Williams (who apparently wasn’t healthy last week) Sunday.  Despite how difficult it is for me to pick a Bears team with such a horrible offensive line and very few playmakers (few being Matt Forte), I am still convinced the Bears have the better team, specifically on defense.  Julius Peppers and Brian Urlacher will show up at home and bring Cam Newton back to reality.

Bears 24 Panthers 14

Ozzietown

Back in August, Bert Kolson and I debated, whether or not, Chicago was now a White Sox town.  With Ozzie getting dealt to the Marlins Monday, the conversation and debate was once again discussed. 

Here is the email conversation that led to this post, enjoy. 

Bert Kolson

How much does that hurt the sox losing their most known entity?
Do you think that hurts their fan base?

Have they mentioned any names for replacement?

Do you still think they’re Chicago’s team even though the Cubs had 3 million in attendance this year and had a terrible team?

Sef Sam Holy

Do you think Ozzie Guillen going to the Marlins hurts the White Sox fan base?  I think that’s a dumb question.  Who was a White Sox fan because of their manager?  Girls in other cities?  White Sox fans care about winning, they show up to the Cell when the Sox are good.  So no, I don’t think losing a character like Ozzie will affect attendance next season. 

The names they have mentioned have been Buddy Bell, Sandy Alomar Jr, and Dave Martinez. 

And I think today is a great example of why today is a White Sox town, look at the coverage this is getting in Chicago, and nationally.  In the middle of a playoff race where two teams are choking away leads with two days left in the season, and baseball playoffs 4 days away, the baseball world’s biggest story is what the White Sox are going to do for their manager job.  I don’t even think the Pinella situation with the Cubs that occurred last year even got ESPNChicago.com coverage, let alone, Good Morning America coverage the way Guillen was. 

You emailing me about this also proves this is a White Sox town.  Considering you haven’t sent one email out about the Cubs this year, you, and everyone else in Chicago pays more attention to the White Sox nowadays, more than they do with the Cubs.  We already conceded that the Cubs will outdraw the White Sox when we had this discussion earlier this season.  People go to Wrigley Field for an experience, it has nothing to do with more people being Cubs fans than Sox fans in the Chicagoland area.  That’s like me saying, “Even with this horrible Sox team, they still finished 8-10 games ahead of the Cubs this year proving that this is a White Sox town.” 

The debate is based on more than just attendance. 

Scott Yasko

Even with the fear of being called a "stupid woman" for not having the same opinion as someone, I have to disagree with everyone in this case entirely.

Chicago is not a Sox or a Cubs town, it's a winning town. The team that is ALWAYS most popular is the one that has the best reputation of "what have you done for me lately." I saw this phenomenon when the Sox won the series in 05 and even again when the Hawks won the cup last year.  People gravitate to where the fun and excitement is and nowhere is that more true than in Chicago.

When the Cubs were inches away in 03, they dominated the city; when the Sox won in 05, Konerko jerseys were everywhere; and last year, there were Hawk fans, who didn't even know what a blue line was 2 months before, hoisting Lord Stanley's cup.

Winning is a fad that the casual fan (the overwhelming majority) leaches on to. The die hard's bleed our team's colors and we wouldn't be designated as such if we didn't see the situation through blinders.  The bottom line comes down to human nature: and everybody gravitates towards "the cool kid."  And when a newer, cooler kid comes along, well, he takes all that love and attention away.

And as far as media coverage goes, Seth, I'm sorry man, but you're looking through blinders there too.  Zambrano's final breakdown got just as much pub as Ozzie's exit this year, and Pinella stepping down last year was everywhere as well.  And again, it's the “what have you done for me lately mentality” that blurs your vision as to the amount of media coverage given.  This whole Guillen situation came out of nowhere and was a shock to Sox fans' systems, and perhaps that's why you see it as getting more coverage; but I humbly disagree.

As far as the effect on the team's outcome: minimal.  A manager is only responsible for a handful of victories/losses a year and really are grossly overvalued in the American League.

Personally, I love Ozzie, and I'm going to miss him as a presence and voice around the organization. He wasn't always right and didn't always show tact, but he was passionate and fun, and more MLB personalities should be as approachable.  So Monster, don't call him a clown or I'll send Seth with a bat over to your house.

C-Murder

The White Sox are not just a sports team, they are a brand.  Over time, and especially In the years after the 05 world series, Ozzie became the brand. 

He is one of those rare polarizing figures that can do that, similar to Ditka in a way, but with Twitter.  15% of why the Marlins hired him was for his managing ability (as good as he may be) and 85% was for his aura; his ability to build a new Marlins/Ozzie brand.  It has very little to do with baseball. 

The Sox were much more relevant in losing seasons because of Ozzie and his personality.  When you are relevant, when you are getting attention, it's good for a brand.  Losing him forces the Sox to rely much more on winning and on its players to stay relevant.  Ozzie was just a nice distraction when things were not going well.  It looks like the Sox new brand ambassador is going to have to be a player. 

The Bulls brand is D-Rose, the Cubs are Wrigley Field, and the Sox (more recently) were built around Ozzie.  You won't be able to easily quantify what losing Ozzie really means, but it will be interesting to see if the Sox upward arrow of general interest (locally and nationally) will continue without him. 

Week in Review - How Did We Do?

Every week at Mustache Sports, we take a look at the previous weekend to see how we did in giving you our prognostication.

Week 4 – College Football Picks

See, we told you so

Scott and I were each 4-2 this weekend against the spread.  We both agree, and correctly picked, Bama, LSU, and Oklahoma State. 

In my opinion, LSU should be ranked number one right now.  Led by Tyrann Mathieu, the best defensive playmaker in the country (and by far the guy I would least want to fight in all of college sports), the LSU defense is fast and relentless.  Through 4 games, the Tigers have only given up 213 yards rushing and they’ve had to go against guys like LaMichael James, Darron Thomas, Chris Relf, and Vick Ballard.  Their offensive domination is done in a way that most people won’t find sexy; not turning the ball over (only 3 in 4 games) and punting on 4^th down.  Jarrett Lee has only thrown 1 pick in 87 drop backs and is doing everything Les Miles has asked him.  The Tigers still have games to play against Florida, at Tennessee, Auburn, at Alabama, Arkansas, and possibly South Carolina, or Florida again, so I don’t think they run the table.  But I’m starting to see why a one loss SEC team deserves to be in the National Championship Game more than an undefeated Boise State, Pac-12, or ACC team.    

Please don’t hear me say Alabama sucks because I think they are ridiculously good.  And I’m not saying Bama doesn’t have a chance when they play LSU in a month, they absolutely do and will probably be favored in that game.  I just believe, after watching LSU three times and Alabama twice, LSU is better. 

It’s like me saying Jordan is better than Kobe.  I’m not saying Kobe sucks, I’m just saying, the best player of all time, is better than him. 

I hope both squads get past Florida these next two weeks and we go into November 5^th with all eyes on what happens in Tuscaloosa.  The winner that night, most likely, punches their ticket to New Orleans and the BCS National Championship Game.     

Ok, so we are idiots

Florida State has killed both of us these past two weeks.  I don’t really want to talk about another FSU loss at Clemson, especially when FSU is clearly a more talented team, so I won’t.  It’s my blog, if you want to read about Clemson football, go somewhere else. 

Scott Yasko – 4-2 (6-4)

Sef Sam Holy – 4-2 (6-4)

Week 3 – NFL Picks

See, we told you so

Monster and I were both right about the Vikings +4 and Ravens -4 and that’s it.  It’s worth it to note that we only agreed on 6 games all together. 

I said before this season began that the Vikings are a 5 win team.  They have started 0-3 and I’m starting to think I’m actually wrong about them.  I watched the Lions Vikings on Sunday and Minnesota should have won that game.  I know Vikings fans will say that about the Bucs (didn’t see the game so I won’t give an opinion) and Chargers (I did watch that and never thought, even when the Vikings were up 10 at halftime, the Vikings were going to win), but last Sunday, it was absolutely the case.  If AP gets the rock 10 times in the second half, including the 4^th and 1 play, Detroit doesn’t have enough time to ever catch up. 

Now, as a Bears fan, am I going to sit around and feel sorry for Vikings fans?  No, I’m enjoying this second half collapse thing they have going on.  My point is, the Vikings are better than 0-3, and I think, better than 5-11.  I can find at least 6 wins on their schedule (at KC, Arizona, at Carolina, Denver, at Washington, and Chicago) and I’d be willing to bet someone $20 that they win one of the following games; Green Bay, at Green Bay, Oakland, at Detroit, New Orleans, at Chicago.  Now, if they do all that, they finish 7-9, good for 3^rd in the NFC North. 

Ok, so we are idiots

Monster are I both incorrectly picked the Eagles -7.5, Falcons +1, Cardinals -3.5, and Steelers -11.    Vegas, once again, shows up Mustache Sports. 

I really hate NFL Power Rankings.  There are dumb for a variety of reasons, but my biggest beef with them is the inaccuracy they spew and the way Power Rankers mercilessly defend their points even after they are wrong.  If I’m ever wrong about something, I’ll admit it and do so right away.  I mean, everything we talk about on this site is in one way or another related to giving you our predictions and then letting you know how those predictions went.  Nothing makes someone look more like a jerk than when they won’t admit when they are wrong. 

The Steelers are one of those teams that Power Rankers will have in their top 10 even though they have looked really horrible through two weeks.  And do you know why they will have them in their top 10?  Because they are the Steelers and they ranked them in their top 10 before the season started.  That’s it.  That’s all that team has going for them through three weeks.  Their offensive line is horrible, their defense is old and not as deep as it normally is, Rashard Mendenhall can’t find a hole to run through, and Big Ben looks Eli Manningish. 

So let’s be bold and do what we did with the Vikings, only this time, I’m going to assume the Steelers do, what most teams that lose the Super Bowl do, suck the next year.  I see 9-7 for this team, missing the playoffs, and finishing outside of Peter King’s Fine Fifteen.  They have 3 really obvious losses on their schedule (at Houston, New England, Baltimore) and I think they split with the Browns putting them at 5 losses.  Is it possible for a team that was a 4^th quarter defensive touchdown away from losing to the Colts to lose 2 of the following games?  They play Tennessee, Jacksonville, at Arizona, at Cincinnati, at Kansas City, Cincinnati, at 49ers, and Rams.  Yes, and I say those loses come to the Titans and 49ers with maybe losses at Cincy and at Arizona.

What the hell is a maybe loss?  Don’t be a jerk, I meant they are losable games.  Like, the Bears playing the Panthers this week is a losable game.  It’s a game they should win, but if they lost, it wouldn’t surprise me.  That’s what a maybe loss is ya nerd. 

C-Murder – 10-5 (18-12-1)

Sef Sam Holy – 8-8 (24-22-2)

Monster – 6-10 (12-19-1)

Bert Kolson – 0-0 (16-14-2)

Week Three - Packers at Bears Preview

This week's post was written by C-Murder

Packers -4 at Bears

The Bears and Packers met twice last year in the regular season, with Chicago winning the first game at home and the Packers winning the rematch at Lambeau.  This ultimately set the stage for an unprecedented (at least for those of us not around in 1941) NFC Championship clash the Packers won 21-14.

Last year might tell us a little bit about what to expect this year….

Last year in Week 3, the Packers set a franchise record with 18 penalties, Devin Hester returned a punt for a touchdown, and Jay Cutler had a better day than Aaron Rodgers.  The Packers were extremely one dimensional (45 pass attempts) and the Bears Cover 2 did what they try to do; bend, but not break.  The Bears won 20-17.

In Week 17, the Bears offense looked awful and Cutler was sacked 6 times while throwing for 168 yards and 2 picks.  Rodgers wasn’t a whole lot better throwing for 229, 1 pick, and 1TD.  The Packers won this game 10-3.  Ugly.

Then in the NFC Championship Game, Rodgers was efficient, but was once again held in check by a Bears D that refused to give up the deep ball.  Rodgers biggest play was making a touchdown saving tackle on a Brian Urlacher interception return.  Cutler got hurt, Todd Collins entered, and things got worse.  In the 3^rd quarter, Caleb Hanie was brought in and almost became a Chicago hero.  Game over.  Season over.  The Packers went on to win the Super Bowl.

This year….

In 2010, the Packers had more than their fare share of injuries and still went on to win the Super Bowl.  However, they never lost Nick Collins.  Collins is the heart of their defense, he’s Green Bay’s Brian Urlacher, and he is in his prime.  The loss of this Pro-Bowler instantly takes an already struggling Packers defense down a couple levels.

If there is one thing you can count on after the mauling that Cutler took in week 2, it’s that the Bears will run the ball.  The question will be whether or not their troubled offensive line can provide the holes to do it.  The loss of Gabe Carmi, who is developing into the Bears best run blocker, will not help.  We will see the Mike Martz “post Lovie sit down offense”.  Run first, stack the line with our TE’s, and occasionally go deep.  Will the Bears be able to provide enough protection for the Bears to be able to expose the loss off Nick Collins? 

Fun Fact:  In last year’s NFC Championship game, the Packers blitzed a member of the secondary 13 different times.  On those plays, the Bears QB’s had a 12.2 rating.  In Week 17, the Bears gave up 6 sacks.  Watch out, Jay. 

The Prediction

History shows us that this will be a relatively low scoring, ugly game that will be decided by turnovers.  The Bears should do their best to prevent Jay from getting hit by running the ball, but Cutler will still see his fair share of 3^rd downs where he will need to pass.  I think the Bears inadequacies on the offensive line, along with injuries at WR, (already one of the worst receiving cores in the NFL) far outweigh the loss of Pro-Bowl FS Nick Collins.  

Packers 24 Bears 17

Week in Review - How Did We Do?

Every Tuesday at Mustache Sports, we take a look at the previous weekend to see how we did in giving you our prognostication. 

Week 3 – College Football Picks

See, we told you so

Scott and I were both spot on with our Notre Dame pick, unfortunately, that’s the only thing we both agreed on and selected correctly.  The Irish showed why many picked them before the season started to be a possible BCS team.  They are talented on both sides of the ball and when they can avoid mistakes in their red zone (and giving up TD’s with 30 seconds left), they can beat almost anyone (not in the top 10).  Brian Kelly is continuing to do a great job recruiting (4 recruits Rivals Top 100, 8 4-Star recruits total) and if this team keeps improving every week, they could go into the showdown with Stanford 9-2.  It’s hard to see another loss on their schedule. 

Michigan State, on the other hand, was a little overrated coming into the season.  They have one of the tougher schedules in all of the Big Ten this year with contests at Ohio State, home against Michigan, home against Wisconsin, and at Nebraska in consecutive weeks.  Right now, the Spartans look like the 6/7^th best team in the conference and in a year where the Big Ten looks pretty down (OSU, Iowa, and Michigan are all not very good), that can’t have MSU fans excited.  Fun MSU Fact:  Michigan State has won two bowl games since I’ve been out of the 5^th grade……and I’m 31 years old.

Ok, so we are idiots

This was a big no-no on my part.  I picked Florida State to beat Oklahoma because I wanted Florida State to beat Oklahoma.  It was clear on Saturday night that the Seminole defense is one of the nation’s best 5 defenses holding Oklahoma to only 2 TD scoring drives.  However, it was also clear that EJ Manuel is not ready for prime time yet and that he’s probably 4-5 games away.  Losing Kenny Shaw and not having Bert Reid in the lineup to start was a big handicap that FSU could not overcome.  Clemson looks like a trap game this weekend and as a Seminole fan, I’m already nervous.

Oklahoma is great on both sides of the ball but this game made me all not that impressed with Landry Jones.  He is going to go on and have a big statistical year and FSU’s defense might be the best he sees all year unless they make it to the National Championship game, but he just didn’t wow me the way I thought he would have.  I still think Oklahoma can be beaten, but this was clearly their biggest test of the season until they play at Oklahoma State and they passed by notching up a 23-13 win in Tallahassee.

Scott Yasko – 2-2

Sef Sam Holy – 2-2

Week 2 – NFL Picks    

See, we told you so

C-Murder and I were both right about the Lions -9, Jets -9, Steelers -14.5, Browns -3, and Texans -3.  We actually had a relatively good week picking winners, each going 13-3. 

The Lions are showing everyone why many picked them to be a “sleeper” team in 2011, although if everyone is picking a team to be good, are they still a “sleeper?”  I don’t know, and to be honest, I don’t care.  It’s hard to hate on the Lions right now, because they have looked really impressive, and if Stafford plays 14 games, I’ll say Detroit goes 11-5. 

The Jets killed a horrible Jags team but the one thing I’m finding out about the Jets through two weeks is that Shonn Greene isn’t that good.  I really thought he’d be a top 15 fantasy back this year and now I’d be willing to be someone $20 that he doesn’t finish in the top 25. 

The Steelers shut out the Seahawks, the Browns beat the Colts on the road, and the Texans beat the Dolphins in Miami.  I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that you didn’t read this blog post to find out what we thought of that so I’ll save myself the ten minutes and stop this paragraph now. 

Ok, so we are idiots

When someone goes 4-0 in picking the winner of a game, I’m not sure you could call that someone, or in this case, someones, an “idiot,” but it’s pretty obvious Vegas knows more about football than Mustache Sports. 

Either the Cardinals or Redskins were going to start the season 2-0 (that just sounds weird to say).  I’m wondering if people still really love Rex Grossman after he looked a little like the Rex Bears fans got to hang out with in parts of 2006 and in 2007.  Tim Hightower continues to look like a great 6^th round fantasy football running back.  The Skins won the game but we thought they would do it by more than 4 points, that’s called losing against the spread.    

In a battle of two teams who have been terrible in the last decade but who also have pretty sick uniforms, the Bills squeaked out a close one against the Raiders.  I watched the last 6 minutes of this game because the Bears were getting humiliated, thanks CBS.  The Bills are now 6-4 in their last 10 regular season games, it’s just too bad they played said 10 games in the span of two seasons. 

The Packers looked beatable Sunday at Carolina as 2^nd year pro Cam Newton threw for more than 400 yards for the second week in a row.  Is Newton now a legitimate bye week fantasy QB?  Or do you spot start QB’s that play against the Packers defense?  Or do I just ask questions without providing any answers because I’m not a real football reporter? 

Ginger Bengal Andy Dalton threw for over 300 yards and 2 TD’s Sunday on the road in Denver against the Broncos.  The Broncos won and didn’t cover, Tim Tebow played WR a couple plays, and no one cared about this game. 

C-Murder – 8-7-1

Sef Sam Holy – 8-7-1 (16-14-2)

Bert Kolson – 8-7-1 (16-14-2)

Monster – 6-9-1

Week Two - NFL Picks

Bears +7 at Saints

The Bears came out in week 1 and simply manhandled an Atlanta team that many picked to go deep into the playoffs.  Expect Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams will try to overwhelm the Bears young tackles with different looks.  With the emergence of Henry Melton, the Bears are getting pressure from the interior line and their front seven has looked dominant.  There is no doubting Drew Brees is a stud, but expect some picks to be thrown (see last year) when you combine Olin Kreutz and non-Colston fill in WR's.  Crowd noise is going to play s huge role in this game, but I am going with the Bears to make it five in a row against the Saints.

C-Murder - Bears

Sef Sam Holy - Saints

Chiefs +9 at Lions

In week 1, the Chiefs lost their pro bowl safety Eric Berry and made Ryan Fitzpatrick look like a star. Expect Matt Stafford to put up monster numbers. Chiefs will look to pound the ball with Jamal Charles and keep their Berry-less pass defense off the field as much as possible. The Lions fans can finally take those bags off their heads as they win this one and cover.

C-Murder - Lions

Sef Sam Holy – Lions

Jags +9 at Jets

On one hand, the Jets should have lost last week. On the other hand, I think Luke McCown will lose his job before I ever find out who he is. There are too many strengths for the Jets that won't be offset by an above average Jag defense and good running back (that will consistently face an 8 man front with a mystery man at QB). I have to go with the Jets here.

C-Murder - Jets

Sef Sam Holy – Jets

Raiders +3.5 at Bills

Fantasy implications led to me being one of the few to sit through the Raiders late Monday night game.  What did I take away?  Their run defense is sick, McFadden is a top 3 fantasy back if healthy, their offense is going to be creative (Jacoby Jones), and they have absolutely no discipline.  Not only that, but the weather conditions (Orton fumble when Lloyd was wide open and the fact that crowd had no energy) seemed be the deciding factor. I like Fitzpatrick continuing his efficiency against the Asumongu-less Raiders defense and the Bills winning at home in a close game.

C-Murder - Bills

Sef Sam Holy – Bills

Cardinals +4 at Redskins

Remember in 2006, when Sexy Rexy was the front runner for NFL MVP through 6 weeks?  Yes, it was a long time ago, but the reality is that he can definitely be above average in the right system. Look for Sexy to expose the same defense that Cam Newton tore apart in week 1. Not only that, I'm also sold on that Skins defense agaisnt Kolb learning a new system, especially when you bring crowd noise into the mix.

C-Murder - Redskins

Sef Sam Holy – Redskins

Ravens -6.5 at Titans

Believe it or not, I think the Titans could pull this one out. Reports are that CJ should be seeing 25+ carries and I am sensing an emotional letdown after the Ravens destruction of the rival Steelers. Science of the day I heard on the radio yesterday: The Ravens are 1-5 following wins against the Steelers.

C-Murder - Titans

Sef Sam Holy – Ravens

Seahawks +14.5 at Steelers

Unrelated but kind of related science: Big Ben has a 10-3 record in the playoffs. Totally

inappropriate stat (given that playoff games are against good teams), but I think it means that this team gets up when they need to. Something about Tavaris Jackson is hard to trust, and that something happens to be that he really, really sucks at quarterback. Expect dominance from the Steel.

C-Murder - Steelers

Sef Sam Holy – Steelers

Packers -10 at Panthers

The Packers will win this game by a lot of points because they are good.  It will be interesting to see how bad Cam Newton plays.  Don't get me wrong, I really like what he did last week, but rookies typically don't fare to well when facing a Dom Capers defense.  Any hope for the Panthers D to contain Aaron Rodgers and James Starks is now on the IR (Jon Beason).

C-Murder - Packers

Sef Sam Holy – Packers

Bucs +3 at Vikings

I'm going with the experienced QB and experienced/worlds best running back.  The Vikings were able to keep it close last week even when they only got 39 yards from the passing game.  Look for them to play with a lead at home and for Donovan McNabb to return to being below average (as opposed to the worst ever).  The Vikes win by 10+.

C-Murder - Vikings

Sef Sam Holy – Bucs

Browns -3 at Colts

Hillis will be the top fantasy RB this week unless something that I dont predict ends up

happening. Not only that, but if my two hardcore Colt fan friends are any indication, that

stadium is going to be quiet and deeply depressed from start to finish. Random thought: I'm still surprised the Colts didn't go after Kyle Orton.  The Colts will lose again, but not in a blowout as we see Collins start getting better with more reps.

C-Murder - Browns

Sef Sam Holy – Browns

Cowboys -3 at 49ers

The Cowboys should be 1-0 and coming off a huge win against the New York Jets. Instead Tony was a Romo and we saw their entire team meltdown. That said, the 49ers can't move the ball.  The Cowboys are going to be a 10+ win team, and do you really think that an offense led by Alex Smith can pace with weapons like Austin Miles, Dez Bryant, Jason Witten, and Felix Jones? I'm going Cowboys, big.

C-Murder - Cowboys

Sef Sam Holy – Cowboys

Texans -3 at Dolphins

This is the year for the Texans. Sounds like Mario Williams made the transition to standup lineman with ease, their running game clicks regardless of who’s playing (Tate is good sick), they have the best WR in the game, and Matt Schaub is an extremely underrated QB. Expect monster numbers for him against the same D that Brady torched last week.

C-Murder - Texans

Sef Sam Holy – Texans

Chargers +7 at Patriots

Science of the day: Tom Brady has won 27 straight regular season home games. The Chargers had a hard time keeping up with Minnesota (who threw for a whopping 39 passing yards), Brady is bound to throw for at least twice that. Ok, maybe 13x that. Pats by 14.

C-Murder – Patriots

Sef Sam Holy - Chargers

Bengals +3.5 at Broncos

Yes, the Bengals beat the Browns but don't forget this is still the same team that many thought could go 0-16. I am still convinced that the crazy rain last week in Denver played a huge role in their week 1 loss. Big win for Broncos with a reenergized crowd.

C-Murder - Broncos

Sef Sam Holy – Broncos

Eagles -3 at Falcons

Mike Vick won't be stopped, and LeSean McCoy will have similar success Matt Forte had for the Bears in week 1. Tough task for the Falcons facing what could be two of the top NFC defenses in consecutive weeks following the abbreviated preseason.

C-Murder - Eagles

Sef Sam Holy – Falcons

Rams +6 at Giants

You've heard it before, this NYG team really is not the same when they are playing from behind.  That won't happen in week 2. Expect for the Bradshaw/Jacobs combo to close in on 40 carries and for the Giants to run away with this one. Life will be made difficult as the pressure on Sam Bradford will increase without the threat of S Jax running the ball.

C-Murder - Giants

Sef Sam Holy - Rams