Like the title of this blog suggests, I spend an insane amount of time watching, listening to, talking about, and reading about sports. However, only 15-20% of whats in my head actually makes it here to the site for various reasons (i.e. laziness), but this is a random nugget that I felt compelled to share.

I watch “NFL Matchup” on ESPN alot, and my eyes are always drawn to Merrill Hoge’s hair… because it looks really weird like he’s wearing a hairpiece. So I head over to google and I take a shot in the dark on Merrill Hoge’s hair and I get a few results. Yes, there are other people in the world who talk about and laugh at Merrill Hoge’s toupee.

But during that search I found something else, a review of the 2003 NFL Draft. The author of this particular article thought Rex Grossman was a fine choice for Chicago, and refuted the claims that Rex would turn out to be a bust for the Bears.

“The biggest knock on Grossman was that he likes to party (who doesn’t?) and that Bill Walsh said in a Sports Illustrated article that he makes “catastrophic mistakes”. This, from the man who just hired Dennis “Mr. Catastrophic Mistake” Erickson to be the Niners head coach.

The defense rests.”

Oh boy oh boy… .was Bill Walsh right or WHAT? Rex Grossman singlehandedly lost the Super Bowl for Chicago a few years ago by committing several “catastrophic mistakes” in the biggest game of his career. If the GM in Chicago had only agreed with Walsh (who is considered one of the greatest football minds ever)…. history may have turned out differently.

On June 9th, Chuckstradamus had this to say:

Loading more responsibilities (and stress) on Devin Hester’s back can only take away from his productivity in other areas. Having him on the field as an every-down-receiver dramatically increases the likelihood that he’ll be injured or at the very least knicked up from general wear and tear.

Having Devin on the field every single play is like driving your Ferrari to Wal-Mart to pick up groceries. Some jackass wearing crocs is going to ram his shopping cart full of Cheeze-Its into Devin’s door and put a dent in it.

Half of the NFL season is now over, and not only does Devin Hester have zero return touchdowns… he’s been battling a rib injury since week 2 and injured his quad in week 7.

The man is a return specialist, sit his ass on the bench for 57 minutes of each game and let him do what he does best. Keep it simple.

From now on I want to be referred to as “Chuckstradamus”.

In November of last year, I wrote a post explaining why Devin Hester should hold out of 2008’s training camp for more money. He’s already one of the best NFL return men in history if you look at his numbers, yet he’s only making a $500,000 salary.

Devin Hester and his agent apparently see things the way I do, because he was a no-show at the first day of training camp. Devin wants his cot damn money and he wants it now.

Brian Urlacher recently got a new contract from the Bears because he successfully argued that he “outplayed the value of his last contract’. If thats the case, Devin Hester should have had a new contract six months ago. He’s already earned his money two times over, PAY THE KID.

For the past two years, Devin Hester has been one of the most (if not the most) electrifying return men the NFL has ever seen. Although he’s served spot duty as a cornerback and receiver from time to time, he’s been able to dedicate his full attention to kick/punt returns and it’s yielded great results.

But now the Chicago Bears want to turn Devin into the #1 receiving option for Rex Grossman (or whoever wins the starting job). Devin’s full attention this offseason has been focused on learning the intricacies of playing wide receiver and getting in sync with the quarterback.

I for one think this is a huge mistake, let me tell you why…

Have you ever heard of the acronym K.I.S.S? … Keep It Simple, Stupid.

Loading more responsibilities (and stress) on Devin’s back can only take away from his productivity in other areas. Having him on the field as an every-down-receiver dramatically increases the likelihood that he’ll be injured or at the very least knicked up from general wear and tear.

Having Devin on the field every single play is like driving your Ferrari to Wal-Mart to pick up groceries. Some jackass wearing crocs is going to ram his shopping cart full of Cheeze-Its into Devin’s door and put a dent in it.

I wouldn’t want to risk having Devin go over the middle and getting horse collar’ed to hell by Roy Williams, or cheap shotted by Rodney Harrison.

Every once in a while, there are athletes who come along and say “you know what?… all this money, all this fame, the opportunity to inspire people… all this can go to hell…. I wanna get F-CKED UP!!!!”

We have two clear cases this offseason.

*Travis Henry*
-Travis has 9 children by nine different women.
-Travis is having financial difficulties, so he borrowed money from the Denver Broncos to pay child support.
-Travis failed numerous drug tests, including one last season.
-The Denver Broncos could have just fired him, instead they got his back and helped him stay in the league.

So what does Travis Henry do this offseason? He bit the hand that fed him (word is he faked an injury because he was upset at the Broncos for demoting him)… Denver got fed up and Fired hiim.

How many NFL teams are going to RUSH to give a multimillion dollar contract to a weedhead with attitude problems? … See ya at Kinkos Trav…

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*Cedric Benson*

-Much like Travis, Benson also has attitude problems.
-Cedric Benson didn’t want to split carries and played a role in Chicago getting rid of Thomas Jones (who was the better running back).
-Once Cedric got his wish as the featured running back, he did nothing all season long.
-After the season ends, Cedric gets arrested for boating while intoxicated, and proceeds to make a big fuss about how he suffered police brutality. The Bears publicly defend their player.
-Two weeks later, Benson is arrested on a DUI and removes all doubt that his previous arrest was probably justified.

As it stands now, Cedric Benson has a great chance of being released from his contract. If that happens, he’ll be in the same spot as Travis Henry. At least Travis can say he’s a great running back though, Cedric is just a bust so far.