The Penalty Box: It’s Going To Be A Long Autumn
September 21, 2022 at 12:23 a.m.
The Penalty Box: It’s Going To Be A Long Autumn
By Roger Grossman-
That moment happened in the middle of the second quarter of the Bears game, when the Packers were running roughshod through the Chicago defense and the Bears offense was seemingly incapable of responding in any way but to punt the ball back to them.
I think the proper word to use is “resigned”.
I was resigned to the thought that every single one of my favorite teams was a four-alarm fire and no one was plugging a hose to the hydrant.
The Bears weren’t going to be good anyway. Yes, I believe that they have taken some strides forward and they are certainly more competitive that they were last year.
But if you breathed deeply Sunday night, you got a good whiff of that same ole “what the heck are they doing” stench that we have been forced to suck in for so many years.
I am not the smartest guy in the world, but when you need a yard on fourth-and-goal from inside the one-yard line and you have a quarterback who weighs 215 pounds, you run a quarterback sneak and get to within 7 points of the Pack in the fourth quarter and give yourself a chance to win.
Instead, out of the “Pistol” formation, they snap it back to Justin Fields and he’s ruled not to have made it to the goal line.
I thought to myself “somewhere Matt Nagy is wondering why that play didn’t work, because he would have done the exact same thing.”
At least the Bears aren’t the Colts.
The men with the Horseshoes on the Helmets also are emitting an odor, and it smells a lot like getting stuck behind an Amish buggy on a county road on a hot summer afternoon.
The offensive line has done almost nothing. They can’t run the ball with a top-3 running back in the league. Their latest free agent quarterback acquisition has led them to 20 points in two games against the teams that were supposed to be the two worst in their division.
This was going to be the season that the Colts put the right people in the right places and not only won their division but played deep into January.
With a tie and a loss on their resume’, they have a lot of catching up to do for them to even make the playoffs.
Brian Kelly knew exactly what he was doing when packed up his stuff and left Notre Dame in the middle of the night.
I believe he knew he was leaving after last season, and he left the Irish with substandard personnel.
For Purdue and IU, it feels like another fall of being close—close to beating good teams, close to getting into bowl games, close to winning bowl games.
But not good enough to get over the hump.
The Cubs have worked really hard to not make baseball’s postseason, and they have achieved that goal.
They promise to try harder next year, but you won’t mind me if I will wait to see it to believe it.
Remember, they told us we should be excited about signing Andrelton Simmons last fall—they cut him this summer.
The White Sox are, man, I don’t even know what words to use for how their summer has gone.
In a lousy division, they are still on the outside looking in at the playoffs.
Even the most ardent supporter of South Side Pride just doesn’t really believe it’s going to happen this year, and even if they would make the playoffs, they aren’t going very far.
So, what do we have to look forward to?
Not the Blackhawks!
It’s generally accepted that they will be the worst or next-to-worst team in the league. And with the leaking that the front office engineered the exits of beloved broadcasters Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk for younger (and cheaper) on-air talent, those broadcasts will be unwatchable.
The only real hope of anything good between now and next spring training (professionally speaking) is the Bulls. But even they are still without their dynamic point guard Lonzo Ball for the start of the season and who knows for how much longer.
Good thing I have local sports to cover. They will, at least, be interesting.
That moment happened in the middle of the second quarter of the Bears game, when the Packers were running roughshod through the Chicago defense and the Bears offense was seemingly incapable of responding in any way but to punt the ball back to them.
I think the proper word to use is “resigned”.
I was resigned to the thought that every single one of my favorite teams was a four-alarm fire and no one was plugging a hose to the hydrant.
The Bears weren’t going to be good anyway. Yes, I believe that they have taken some strides forward and they are certainly more competitive that they were last year.
But if you breathed deeply Sunday night, you got a good whiff of that same ole “what the heck are they doing” stench that we have been forced to suck in for so many years.
I am not the smartest guy in the world, but when you need a yard on fourth-and-goal from inside the one-yard line and you have a quarterback who weighs 215 pounds, you run a quarterback sneak and get to within 7 points of the Pack in the fourth quarter and give yourself a chance to win.
Instead, out of the “Pistol” formation, they snap it back to Justin Fields and he’s ruled not to have made it to the goal line.
I thought to myself “somewhere Matt Nagy is wondering why that play didn’t work, because he would have done the exact same thing.”
At least the Bears aren’t the Colts.
The men with the Horseshoes on the Helmets also are emitting an odor, and it smells a lot like getting stuck behind an Amish buggy on a county road on a hot summer afternoon.
The offensive line has done almost nothing. They can’t run the ball with a top-3 running back in the league. Their latest free agent quarterback acquisition has led them to 20 points in two games against the teams that were supposed to be the two worst in their division.
This was going to be the season that the Colts put the right people in the right places and not only won their division but played deep into January.
With a tie and a loss on their resume’, they have a lot of catching up to do for them to even make the playoffs.
Brian Kelly knew exactly what he was doing when packed up his stuff and left Notre Dame in the middle of the night.
I believe he knew he was leaving after last season, and he left the Irish with substandard personnel.
For Purdue and IU, it feels like another fall of being close—close to beating good teams, close to getting into bowl games, close to winning bowl games.
But not good enough to get over the hump.
The Cubs have worked really hard to not make baseball’s postseason, and they have achieved that goal.
They promise to try harder next year, but you won’t mind me if I will wait to see it to believe it.
Remember, they told us we should be excited about signing Andrelton Simmons last fall—they cut him this summer.
The White Sox are, man, I don’t even know what words to use for how their summer has gone.
In a lousy division, they are still on the outside looking in at the playoffs.
Even the most ardent supporter of South Side Pride just doesn’t really believe it’s going to happen this year, and even if they would make the playoffs, they aren’t going very far.
So, what do we have to look forward to?
Not the Blackhawks!
It’s generally accepted that they will be the worst or next-to-worst team in the league. And with the leaking that the front office engineered the exits of beloved broadcasters Pat Foley and Eddie Olczyk for younger (and cheaper) on-air talent, those broadcasts will be unwatchable.
The only real hope of anything good between now and next spring training (professionally speaking) is the Bulls. But even they are still without their dynamic point guard Lonzo Ball for the start of the season and who knows for how much longer.
Good thing I have local sports to cover. They will, at least, be interesting.
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