Bear's QB Past, Bulls sign Nate Rob, and other shameful topics

For years, the Bears have been a bit of a laughing stock on offense. Rex Grossman. Josh McCown. Cade McNown, Drunken Jim Miller. Kordell Stewart. Kyle Orton, to a lesser extent. Caleb Hanie. I mean, damn, how hard was it for the Bears to pick up a decent quarterback along the way? The last Bears quarterback that does not make me ashamed to be a fan of the Bears (other than Jay Cutler) is Jim Harbaugh, and I am not going to say that he was a great quarterback in Chicago, because he was not. I mean, the Bears started former Ohio State Buckeye Craig Krenzel at quarterback for a few games! Even my Ohio State-homer friend admits that Krenzel was but a tattoo on Ohio State's great tradition of quarterbacks.

So yes, the Ghost of Quarterbacks Past basically says that the Bears are not allowed to have a competent quarterback. That is, until the fallout from the Josh McDaniels/Jay Cutler feud. All of a sudden, a semi-star was begging to be traded, to get a new beginning, and the Bears were coming off the heels of an over-achieving era of awful quarterbacks (Grossman and Orton) and amazing defense. Finally, it seemed, the Bears would have a quarterback that is not a well known alcoholic (Jim Miller), is not considered over the hill (Kordell Stewert, Josh McCown), is not an underachieving "potential-star" (Sexy Rexy), and more importantly, is not a relative unknown going into the season who is getting playing time because of multiple injuries (Kyle Orton, Caleb Hanie, Nathan Enderle, Craig Krenzel). What a painful paragraph this was.

Cutler is coming into his fourth season with the Bears, and it finally seems like Bears fans and fans around the league are accepting him, even if he is a douche-bag. He has been re-united with long-time quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, and Cutler's favorite option at wide-out in Brandon Marshall. For the first time since Jim McMahon, the Bears have a respectable aerial attack. The offensive line is still a large question mark, but when hasn't it been? The Bears' line has sucked ever since I was old enough to read the stats rolling across the bottom of my TV screen.

All of this being said, for the first time in my life, I am excited for football season. The Bears are looking fantastic, along with the rest of the league. The unpredictability that I love about the NBA and college basketball and football has somehow seeped into the NFL, and this season looks like it will shape up to be an amazing one, maybe the best of the last 20 years. Actually writing this has me more excited than I was before.

On to another topic, I heard the other day that the Bulls had signed former New York Knicks guard Nate Robinson. Now, I love Nate. I just do not want him on my team, at all. He has little-man syndrome. I can definitely see him pulling a Jamal Crawford this year. Although, he could be instant offense off the bench when they need him, so that is a plus.

The Cubs are losing constantly right now, as I expected. It is good to see Rizzo contribute the way he has, and I'm sure there will be improvements in both Brett Jackson and Josh Vitters. I am not saying that they are the future, but they will be important position players if the Cubs ever want to leave the cellar of the NL Central, and officially stop being, as Chicago legend and folk-singer Steve Goodman would put it, "The Doormat of the National League."