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Bear Down Chicago Bears!!! 4 downs with Ditka: ‘I don’t see a lot of pride’.
By Dan Cahill

Mike Ditka, Chicago Bears Super Bowl Winning Coach, Player and Hall of Fame Member
1. Have you ever seen Chicago more down about its football team?
The Bears have gone through some tough times. They are not playing well. It’s very simple. The defense is not good. I don’t see a lot of leadership out of certain players. I think they have a problem. Marc [Trestman] knows that as well as anybody. You can blame anyone you want for what’s going on, and usually it’s the coach.
But if you have any talent at all on the defensive side of the ball, you don’t put on an exhibition like you did in the first half against Green Bay. You don’t do that. Now, if you have no pride at all, then maybe that can happen.
I don’t see a lot of leadership; I don’t see a lot of pride in what’s going on. I see a lot of guys going through the motions.
2. For a team that had such promise, where did the season go off the rails?
The only reality in life is what you do. It’s not what you think you will do or what people expect you to do. It’s really what you do. This is totally in the control of the players on the field. If you want to be great, then you earn that right to be great. You want to be respected, then you earn that right. It just doesn’t come easy. To be good at anything in life, it comes with a price. It’s not cheap. You have to bust your butt. You have to be special. You have to be disciplined. You have to know your defenses. You have to have leadership. All of those things fit in. And if you don’t have them, it’s going to show along the way. Oh, you might be by for a while, but you’re not going to make it in the long run.
This thing is not over, but you had better circle the wagons quickly. I’m not sure you can change much, but I know one thing: If I’m the coach and I call a certain defense, I would hope that the players know where the hell to line up. It doesn’t look like they do at times. How hard can it be? If it’s too hard, simplify it.
3. How do you even begin to fix the problems and how long will this take?

Offensively, there’s a lot of talent there, but everything has to come together. The fact that they have weapons doesn’t scare anybody. They have to make those weapons work. You have to put points on the board. You have to control the clock at times. You have to keep the other team’s offense off the field. There’s so much that goes into it.
4. Social media wasn’t around when you were coaching. Marc Trestman’s daughters were attacked on Twitter. Was anyone in your family ever yelled at and what do you say to the people who do that?

First of all, the people that do this are gutless. That’s why they do it in social media, so they can hide. They’re cowards; they hide behind things. They don’t come out in public. They’re not going to knock on your door and say, ‘Hey, this is what I think.’ They have to do it by innuendo and through [social] media. These people are all cowards. That’s what social media allows you to do. You don’t have to meet the person face to face. All you have to do is say what you want to say. You can hurt a person’s reputation. That’s why I say it’s a cowardly thing.
In my time, did I see it? No. Now, we had writers who weren’t favorable toward me or the team at times, but they had a right to say anything they wanted to. But that was different. This is malicious. These people ought to be rounded up and kicked right in their ass.
Trestman's reluctance to change Bears resurrects old concerns...
By John Mullin
A longtime NFL source told CSNChicago.com some time ago that a nagging knock on Marc Trestman in some corridors of the NFL - and one of the reasons he never was able to land a head-coaching job in the league prior to the Bears - was the perception that he sometimes froze under pressure as an offensive coordinator. He dispelled some of that with his performance with the Montreal Alouettes, but at the NFL level, the recent results are reviving questions as to whether Trestman toughens or tightens under pressure.
The measure of that isn’t necessarily whether a turnaround is accomplished; sometimes you simply aren’t good or talented enough no matter what you do.
Trestman on Monday said that no staff changes were occurring despite the deepening degree level of dysfunction within his team. He also said that no change was contemplated at quarterback, the top “staff” position on the field, despite his team being outscored 94-7 in the first halves of the last three games, the most recent (Green Bay) coming in the form of disasters in all three phases of the football team in spite of two weeks of preparation. Trestman even said he never considered making a quarterback change at halftime with a 42-0 deficit.
This is not about Jay Cutler. It is not about Mel Tucker. Be very clear on that.
One of Trestman’s prize students/disciples – Rich Gannon, who was an NFL MVP under Trestman with the Oakland Raiders – had a scathing critique of the quarterback Trestman is not wavering on.
“Jay Cutler was awful,” Gannon said on “NFL Monday QB” on CBS Sports Network after the Green Bay game. “He turned it over three times – two interceptions and a fumble in the pocket. It bothered me that they weren’t ready to play… If I were Marc Trestman, I’d sit Jay Cutler.”
But Trestman clearly is not.
Former NFL quarterback Steve Beuerlein echoed Gannon’s thought: “You have to consider [benching Jay Cutler]. I don’t think it will happen at this point, but the performance speaks. You look at the last two weeks. They’ve been down 45-0 [Sunday] night, 45-7 to the New England Patriots two weeks ago. This is embarrassing. They are a talented football team that should be able to produce and score points. It starts at the top with the quarterback. He has to step up, make some plays and get this team in the right direction.”
Trestman has a level of belief in Cutler. The organization would not have graced him with a contract containing $54 million guaranteed without Trestman’s sign-off and coming to agreement with GM Phil Emery that Cutler is indeed “elite.”
But the only thing worse than making a mistake is sticking doggedly to repeating it, whether out of fear of change, belief that it all will work out in the end, having no alternative, whatever.
And players know. They always know. They know who can play and who can’t. If Trestman and Emery insist on staying a failing course, the perception in the locker room that coaches are giving them the best chance of winning will fade, and that doesn’t usually come back.
The Bears lost their way out of the 2013 playoffs by losing two straight games to end the season. They have virtually lost their way out this year’s postseason with a 3-6 mark that expands to 3-8 going back to 2013.
The Bears’ problems are not about one player or coach. But they are about changing and not being either frozen or so rigid that nothing changes.
How 'bout them Chicago Blackhawks? Patrick Kane gives Blackhawks shootout win over Lightning.
By Tracey Myers

(Photo: The Associated Press)
Corey Crawford made 25 saves and three more stops in the shootout to lead the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Tuesday night.
Patrick Kane scored the only goal in the tiebreaker as Chicago won for the third time in four games and stopped Tampa Bay's six-game winning streak. The Blackhawks had lost their last five games against the Lightning, with four of the defeats coming in a shootout or overtime.
Crawford stopped Ryan Callahan and Nikita Kucherov before Kane beat Ben Bishop with a backhander high on the glove side. Crawford then denied Steven Stamkos to seal it.
Brad Richards and Marcus Kruger scored in regulation for the Blackhawks, who have won consecutive home games after dropping three in a row at the United Center.
Bishop had 37 saves for the Lightning, who were coming off a 4-3 shootout victory at Detroit on Sunday. Cedric Paquette scored in the first, and Kucherov had Tampa Bay's other goal in the third.
The tight matchup of contenders got more physical as the game wore on, and it took a toll on the players.
Tampa Bay center Tyler Johnson, who leads the team with 13 assists, departed after he was cross-checked in the back by defenseman Brent Seabrook in the third. Blackhawks defenseman Johnny Oduya also left in the final period with an apparent right leg injury.
Kruger gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 lead when he tipped Niklas Hjalmarsson's long slap shot by Bishop 1:18 into the third. But the Lightning tied it at 2 when Stamkos made a nice pass through the crease to set up Kucherov's sixth goal at 9:53.
Bishop stopped Jonathan Toews on a 4-on-4 breakaway with 8:20 left in regulation, and Crawford made a pair of saves on Callahan in overtime.
The Blackhawks put a ton of pressure on Bishop right from the start, and the 6-foot-7 goalie kept the Lightning in the game with a series of outstanding saves. It was reminiscent of his previous start in Chicago, when he had 37 stops to help Tampa Bay rally for a 3-2 shootout victory last October.
Toews got a great in-close look about 7 1/2 minutes into the game, but Bishop made an impressive right pad save. He also stopped Kris Versteeg and Richards in rapid succession with about 3 minutes left in the period.
Chicago outshot Tampa Bay 19-6 in the first, but the Lightning's second short-handed goal of the season was enough for a 1-0 lead at the first intermission. Paquette finished off a slow-developing 2-on-1 with Ondrej Palat, sliding a shot through Crawford's legs for his fourth goal at 4:35.
Bishop kept up his solid play in the second, and got some help from defenseman Valtteri Filppula when the Blackhawks had a successful odd-man rush. Kane's shot off a pass from Versteeg got behind Bishop and was sitting right on the goal line when Filppula swept it away.
The crowd of 21,345 groaned as replays showed how close Chicago was to the tying score, but Richards put the Blackhawks on the board when he followed his own shot for his third goal at 9:13. Richards has six points in his last seven games after a slow start in his first season with Chicago.
Blackhawks' popularity is on the rise... again.
By Nina Falcone
(Rob Grabowski-USA TODAY Sports)
It's no secret that the Blackhawks' fan base has grown tremendously over the last few years not just within Chicago, but around the league as a whole. And according to report, that growing percentage of fans isn't slowing.
Not even close.
Danny Ecker of Crain's Chicago highlighted Monday that the latest Nielsen Scarborough report shows half of Chicagoans either watched, attended or listened to a Blackhawks games over the past year. That marks a 28 percent increase in viewership from a year prior, making the Hawks the fifth American NHL team to ever reach the 50 percent fan following point in their home market.
According to Nielsen Scarborough numbers, (dating back to 2000 when the data became available) only the Pittsburgh Penguins, Detroit Red Wings, Buffalo Sabres and Colorado Avalanche have reached that mark among the 23 non-Canadian franchises.
With that boost in numbers, the Blackhawks are now the second-most popular team in town, falling just behind the Bears who stand at 60 percent. Ecker also points out that the Blackhawks had the smallest following in the city just two years ago at 36 percent.
Between the popularity of Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane, plus the team's two Stanley Cups in four seasons, the Blackhawks have surged with the help of a complete overhaul of the team's brand.
The Blackhawks pride themselves on their involvement with the city, whether it's with the USO of Illinois, local animal shelters, through their annual golf outings or meeting fans at the team store downtown. All of that has resonated nicely with the fan base, and the fact that other local teams have been struggling as of late has also likely helped boost the Blackhawks to that 50 percent mark.
NHL admits Las Vegas expansion possible, meets with owner group.
By Greg Wynshynski
The NHL has been reluctant to put its cards on the table about potential expansion. But when it comes to Las Vegas, that’s only a matter of time.
Michael Russo of the Star Tribune finally called NHL deputy commission Bill Daly’s bluff, and Daly said he not only met with a potential ownership group last weekend in Las Vegas but also toured the construction site for the new $350 million arena being built by MGM Resorts.
A few key thoughts from Daly on Las Vegas expansion:
1. He feels Vegas can “support a professional sports franchise” if the locals can create a strong ticket base. Daly said the demographics are good to that end, but the critical thing for the franchise would be not to rely on tourists, snow birds and the casinos to gobble up tickets on a regular basis: “You can’t depend on tourists to fill your building every night — even rich ones. You really need a local fan base.”
Guess the lessons have been learned from South Florida …
2. Daly admits that the start time for games could be an issue. “It’s a nighttime city, so it would have to be uniquely scheduled in terms of focusing maybe on industry nights as opposed to your typical Thursday-Saturday nights where everybody would be working.”
Keep in mind that the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL used to play every Sunday game in the afternoon.
3. If the NHL comes to Vegas, the League might ask that the team not have its games available for wagering in the city’s sports books. The same courtesy was granted to UNLV years ago; there are also smaller “conflict of interest” exceptions, like not being able to wager on the Sacramento Kings at the Palms due to the Maloofs’ ownership of both.
“It’s really more a visceral rationale than anything else,” Daly said told Russo. “You don’t want guys in the stands with bet tickets in their hands and the only reason they’re watching the game is so they can cash in on a bet afterwards. That’s not an environment you want to foster or create as a professional sports league.”
4. Finally, kudos to Daly for finally admitting that the current misalignment - 16 in the East, 14 in the West - will influence expansion. “It would have to take place in the West before it would take place in the East because you can’t get further misaligned.” Gary Bettman had previously danced around the alignment as an influence.