Bears coaches couldn't make Cutler better
There are numerous random thoughts dancing in this head of mine, so here goes.
Thankfully, the Marc Trestman/Phil Emery era is over for the Chicago Bears. Their mistake was signing the wrong guy at quarterback for huge dollars.
Steve Young said Trestman was a coaching guru, but he couldn't make Jay Cutler better. As GM, Emery failed with management and player personnel as bad as anyone in Chicago history. Stay tuned!
• I didn't expect the Chicago Bulls to win the East, so after watching them the last two weeks I need to revise my prediction. I'm thrilled to be wrong because I want the Bulls to dominate.
With terrific coaching, the return of D- Rose, Jimmy Butler's burst to stardom, the addition of Pau Gasol, the unselfishness of Joakim Noah and the depth of coachable players, I believe an NBA championship is a real possibility.
Doug McDermott and the ageless Kirk Hinrich are on the shelf right now, so the Bulls have even more talent in the wings. Keep it up guys!
• The three most overpaid players in sports are: Jay Cutler (7 years/$126 million), Carmelo Anthony (5 years/$124 million) and Josh Smith (1 year/$2.08 million).
Smith currently is on his third team and has banked more than $79 million in his career. Now get me that man's agent!
• Thanks to ESPN and the other stations for realizing that if there is a betting line for the college bowl games, then the games need to be televised.
• It's great to see the Detroit Lions relevant again, especially for their long-suffering fans, who haven't tasted champagne since 1957. That's way too long, so good luck to the Lions because I'm not a hater.
• I was seeing a few promos for the Kentucky/Louisville basketball game promoting a guy named Willie Cauley-Stein, who averages 10 points and 6 rebounds. I'm happy for the kid, but honestly how far has the caliber of college basketball dropped? The one and done rule has robbed the game of the stars, leaving us with average talent to watch. If you have followed college basketball over the years, you know that the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats (13-0) are very good, but teams from back in the day like UCLA, Indiana, Georgetown and Duke would beat this team easily.
I also miss the star power; there aren't guys like Lew Alcindor, Michael Jordan, Pete Maravich, Christian Laettner or Magic Johnson walking through that door anytime soon. No, it's a watered-down product with few stars. When does the NCAA tourney start?
• I hope everyone had a merry Christmas. Here's to your good fortune for the New Year!
Program notes:
Follow me on Twitter@ north2north, and listen to Fox Sports Daybreak with Andy Furman and myself from 5-8 a.m. Monday through Friday on Fox Sports radio, and check me out on iHeart radio or Foxsportsradio.com.
• North's column appears each Tuesday and Friday in the Daily Herald, and his video commentary can be found Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at dailyherald.com. For more, visit northtonorth.com.