Now we know why Lovie Smith, Jerry Angelo and Jay Cutler did not want to be interrogated by NBC bulldog Bob ''I have ways of making you talk'' Costas.
Neil Hayes: Let's not overcomplicate a process that already should have begun at Notre Dame. If Jack Swarbrick decides Brian Kelly is his top candidate, he should make the Cincinnati coach an offer. Notre Dame's athletic director should give him an exclusive, 48-hour negotiating window after which any potential deal will be withdrawn.
Bears fans deserve better. They've deserved better for decades. All it takes is a quick visit to Pittsburgh, where everybody wears Super Bowl-champion caps and even airline representatives wear Steelers jerseys.
PITTSBURGH -- During halftime Saturday night, Jack Swarbrick should've started considering other options. By the time officials ruled that Jimmy Clausen fumbled in the final minutes, the Notre Dame athletic director should've had his short list compiled and started working his phone.
SAN FRANCISCO -- As the latest most important game of the Bears' season unfolded, it became more and more obvious that Jay Cutler would be the difference.
Neil Hayes: Evidently, being honest and forthright while answering questions is not something Notre Dame captains should do. If they puppet whatever coach Charlie Weis says, even if it's less than the full truth, they are leaders.
If one positive came out of this latest humiliating defeat it's that denial is no longer an option. Coach Lovie Smith tried to be positive after the Bears' latest demoralizing loss, claiming the team's short week was coming at an ideal time and his team's inexcusable penalty total was a product of needing to do things ''differently'' and a little more ''aggressively,'' but nobody was buying it, not even his players.
The Bears need to beat the Cardinals today to prevent the speck that is the NFC Central-leading Vikings from disappearing from the horizon.
Neil Hayes: Everybody else knows the offense must be fixed as the Bears prepare for a season-defining four-game stretch that begins with the Arizona Cardinals visiting Soldier Field on Sunday. Lovie Smith may be spending more time with the offense than he ever has, but it's Ron Turner who is most responsible.
Neil Hayes: The decision that will most impact the future of Notre Dame football will not be made by President John I. Jenkins, athletics director Jack Swarbrick, coach Charlie Weis or the small group of influential alumni who have served as behind-the-scenes power brokers in the not-so-distant past.
Tommie Harris made a play, which is newsworthy in itself. Well, he didn't really. He did but he didn't. It's hard to explain.
Laura Ricketts met a friend for lunch in Wrigleyville the same August day her family signed an agreement with Tribune Co. to purchase the Cubs. Her friend suggested they take a Wrigley Field tour to celebrate. They were sitting in the bleachers when the news reached another member of the tour via his BlackBerry. The deal was done, he announced. The Ricketts family had officially purchased the Cubs.
The end of the regular season and the surprising playoff series against the Celtics turned the Bulls into an NBA enigma.
What still nags about the Bears' 45-10 annihilation in Cincinnati is that they didn't compete. Not for one play. What's the point of staging an athletic competition when one team refuses to compete? It's like going to a play and the actors refuse to act. It's like attending a concert when the lead singer refuses to take the stage or picking up the latest book by your favorite author and discovering only blank pages.
CINCINNATI -- This was something nobody had ever seen before, making it like Secretariat's 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes and Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10. Replace goose bumps with the gag reflex, and it was like witnessing Nolan Ryan's seventh no-hitter or Roger Bannister's sub-four-minute mile.
If Bears offensive coordinator Ron Turner finds himself in a third- or fourth-and-short situation during the game today against the Cincinnati Bengals, he should be thinking pass all the way. Air it out. Let it fly.
