Sports and Entertainment

Hello my friends.  Today is a good day.  Today is January 26th.  Or as most of you know it as, the day the best team in football history won the biggest game in football history.  Today is the anniversary of the best Super Bowl team ever.  So without further ado………

Bears…..Bears……Bears……Polish Sausage…….Bears……

CHICAGO-  The Chicago Bears are a funny team.  On paper, they are quite possibly the most talented defense in the NFC.  In reality they have the best special teams in the NFL.  (I dare someone to say otherwise).  With two out of the three facets a lock, you would think that the Bears would do everything in their power to include the offense in their quest for another run at the Super Bowl.  But nooooo.  The Bears chose the lesser of two evils yesterday in Mr. Neck Beard himself quarterback Kyle Orton.

Orton will start the regular season against the Indianapolis Colts….the second best pass defense in the league last year…..(now with Dwight Freeney!)  The decision was based on Rex Grossman’s performance in the Seattle preseason game just 4 days ago.

“We take a lot of things into consideration,”coach Lovie Smith said. “But in the end, it comes down to a gut feeling you have.

“I feel good about Kyle leading our team.”

He’s about the only one in Chicago that feels that way.  While the fans certainly didn’t want Grossman under center, they aren’t too enthused about Orton either.  In my opinion, the quarterback position is the least of the offenses’ worries right now.  The Chicago Bears do not have a go to receiver yet, and their offense line is the worst in the entire league.  Throw in an invisible running game in rookie Matt Forte, and you have disaster on the offensive side of the ball.

The Bears seem to be leaning toward returner extrordinaire Devin Hester to give them great field position or at least put numbers up on the board dispite the offense, and they seem to be looking for the defense to do the same. 

“He’s got a lot better grasp of the offense, being in it another year,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said about Orton. “Physically, he’s in really good shape. And he’s playing the best football of his life.”

Physically in week three, Orton will be out due to being sacked sixty times, and Grossman will be back in the starting job. 

GREEN BAY

The Packers have reached an agreement to trade legendary quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets.  The agreement was first reported by Foxsports.com.

NFL Network reported the Packers will currently receive a fourth-round pick. If Favre plays 50 percent of the Jets’ snaps in 2008, the Packers will receive a third-round pick. If Favre plays 70 percent of snaps and the Jets make the playoffs, the compensation increases to a second-round pick. The Packers would receive a first-round pick only if Favre plays 80 percent of snaps and the Jets make a Super Bowl appearance.

The NFL Network also reported that the deal included a stipulation that would require the Jets to give the Packers three first-round draft picks if the Jets were to trade Favre to the Minnesota Vikings, effectively taking away that possibility.

It seems as though the arrival of Favre in New York is also the departure for current Jets quarterback Chad Pennington.  Team general manager Mike Tannenbaum said there would be another transaction regarding Pennington, who spent his first eight seasons with the Jets.

“It’s a bittersweet moment for us,” Tannenbaum said. “I have all the respect in the world for Chad as a person, as a player. We’ve accomplished a lot of good things with Chad … He gave his heart and soul to this organization for a long, long time. I really appreciate everything he’s done.”

Jets chairman and CEO Woody Johnson issued a statement early Thursday.

“I am looking forward to seeing Brett Favre in a New York Jets uniform,” Johnson said. “He represents a significant addition to this franchise, and reflects our commitment to putting the best possible product on the field. Mike Tannenbaum and his football administration staff did a great job of navigating this complex process. I am excited about welcoming Brett, Deanna and their family to the Jets organization.”

I for one, will be lining up outside of my local Champs to pick up the number 4 Jets jersey. 

Sporting News staff reports

Brett Favre has moved one step closer toward ending his retirement and returning to the play in the NFL, regardless if it’s with the Green Bay Packers.

ESPN reports that Favre faxed his official reinstatement letter to the National Football League on Tuesday afternoon. Once the NFL commissioner’s office has approved the terms of him playing in the league again, he would need to take a physical before being cleared to play for a particular team.

The New York Jets, with their ho-hum quarterback camp battle between Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens, continue to be a strong contender to acquire Favre. The Jets canceled their scheduled training camp practice on Tuesday, with speculation that coach Eric Mangini may have needed the day to meet with Favre. The others in the running for Favre’s services include the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Minnesota Vikings and Baltimore Ravens.

Favre has now put the ball back in the court of the Packers’ organization, specifically general manager Ted Thompson. Favre complied with Thompson’s request to stay away from the team’s training camp until there was a resolution to Favre’s desire to play again.

If Favre is indeed granted reinstatement as expected, it will be on the Packers, who have moved on with Aaron Rodgers as their starting quarterback, to set up a trade for Favre.

BOURBONNAIS,IL- (AP) A half hour into his first practice of training camp Sunday, Devin Hester got behind cornerback Charles Tillman and hauled in a 40-yard pass from quarterback Rex Grossman.

It’s the type of thing the Chicago Bears are hoping to see a lot during the regular season after signing Hester to a four-year contract extension, reportedly worth up to $40 million.

“I think the Bears have a lot of faith in me, and they feel that I do a lot of things on the offensive side of the ball, so they rewarded me,” said Hester, who in two seasons is two touchdown returns short of Brian Mitchell’s record of 13 kick or punt returns touchdowns—a mark that took 14 years to set.

After a standoff between Hester’s agent, Eugene Parker, and the team ended Sunday morning, Bears coach Lovie Smith wore a huge smile.

“I’m smiling most of the time I’m talking about Devin Hester; now I can … a little bit more,” Smith said after practice.

At issue for the Bears was whether to pay Hester like a return man or like a top wide receiver when they made him the 22nd player on the current roster to receive a contract extension. They converted Hester to wide receiver last year when he made 20 catches, and this year expect him to start in place of lost free agent wide receiver Bernard Berrian.

“This one was probably the most difficult one we’ve had to do and probably ever will do because we’re not only rewarding a special player,” Bears general manager Jerry Angelo said. “If you look at it as a returner, we blew that (money total) out of the water. It was now looking at him as what he might be or could be as a receiver. That’s where the real difficulties were and a real challenge.”

It was a challenge that led Hester to hold out for two days before reporting Friday and watching from the sidelines for two days with what the Bears called a hamstring injury. After signing Sunday, he showed no signs of a hamstring pull.

“It’s feeling great,” Hester said of the hamstring. “It’s a little tight, but I was able to push through it and just try to work it out and stretch it a lot. Right now I feel great. I wouldn’t say it’s a major issue.”

The deal adds four years to the two years already remaining on Hester’s contract. The Chicago Sun-Times reported Hester received in excess of $15 million in guaranteed bonuses, with $10 million possible in 2013, the final year of the deal.

The Bears this past year also negotiated contract extensions for kicker Robbie Gould, linebacker Brian Urlacher, defensive tackle Tommie Harris, tight end Desmond Clark, defensive end Alex Brown, and signed linebacker Lance Briggs and quarterbacks Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton to new deals.

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this busy in an offseason, and I don’t think I ever will again,” Angelo said. “We did a lot, hopefully we accomplished a lot.”

Angelo said it should be obvious now he wasn’t just paying lip service to the notion that the Bears try to reward their own.

“Talk is cheap,” Angelo said. “We put teeth into it. The good news is the players we have here want to be Bears. Certainly they want their money, we’re all understanding of that, but they also make the commitment to me, to (coach) Lovie (Smith) and to our fans that they want to be Bears.”

Now comes the task of turning Hester into a premier wide receiver. He struggled learning the offense at times last year.

“Last year he was a guy who was a return specialist, obviously, that was going to be a part-time player at receiver, play a little bit and have a small package in the offense for him,” offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. “This year he’s committed to being a full-time receiver and to learn the entire offense. We didn’t hold anything back in the minicamp and (off-season workouts) so he’s way ahead of where he was last year at this time. He’s made that commitment and he’s learned it and done a good job and we’re excited to get him back out there.”

Tim Falletti

CHICAGO- It’s time for Brian Urlacher to turn his little frown upside down.  The Bears and Urlacher agreed to a revised deal in which Urlacher will receive a $6 million signing bonus along with a $1 million bump in salary each of the next four years. The sides also have agreed to extend the pact into 2012, at a salary of $7.5 million. Urlacher can earn an additional $500,000 in a workout bonus in 2012.

That’s a total of roughly $43.5 million over the next five years, with $18 million in new money for the six-time Pro Bowler and four-time All Pro.

Urlacher had made his displeasure with his old contract very vocal throughout the offseason in Chicago. He believed he had went above and beyond the nine-year contract he signed in 2003. But the Bears, who had Urlacher under contract for four more years, didn’t have to do anything. He missed some voluntary workouts in protest but did not miss any mandatory team activities while agents Pat Dye Jr. and Bill Johnson negotiated with the Bears.

Urlacher will now be free to miss more tackles on Tom Brady. (Just kidding, I think Brian Urlacher is really good…but c’mon Brian!  Tom Brady? 

Tim Falletti

WASHINGTON- Jason Taylor may not have won Dancing With the Stars, but he did win his dream of being traded from the once respectable Miami Dolphins.  After an offseason of soap opera like drama, Taylor who had asked to be traded to a playoff contender, got his wish Monday from the Washington Redskins.  The Skins, who lost DE Phillip Daniels to injury for the season, quickly filled the void.

Taylor, a six time Pro Bowler, and 2006 Defensive Player of the Year, wasn’t exactly welcomed by new executive vice president Bill Parcells.  Parcells was unhappy with Taylor for dancing around like a canary while his team was doing offseason workouts.

Last season, Taylor was chosen NFL Man of the Year and was the lone Pro Bowl player for a Dolphins team that went 1-15. His departure is the latest move in a major roster shakeup.

The Dolphins will get a second round draft pick in next year’s draft and a sixth rounder for the 2010 draft.  No word on whether Taylor plans on doing the Salsa.