Don't assume too much when it comes to Grossman

It was an interesting question.

"Sounds like you're convinced that Lovie Smith will make a change if this keeps up?''

I looked at my colleague and clarified, because that's not entirely accurate.

I'm assuming the Bears' head coach will make a change at quarterback if it proves to be necessary.

That he won't be as stubborn as he was last year.

That he won't blindly support Rex Grossman if the QB doesn't deserve it.

That he'll end the charade that Grossman can do no wrong, and that Grossman's only problem is the cruel media.

Mostly, I assume that Smith wants the Bears to win the Super Bowl more than he wants Grossman to be the Bears' starter.

If those two are incongruent, I assume Smith won't wait until it's too late to see if Brian Griese or Kyle Orton can get it done.

Last year, Smith stalled and stonewalled, and by the time he realized something had to be done, there was no time left to make a switch and give Griese a chance to work with the No. 1 offense, or get a feel and a rhythm for his team.

The second and third QBs on the squad hadn't been given any sort of a shot at the job, and no one else was prepared.

Smith had no choice at that juncture but to stick with Grossman, and you know how it all turned out.

We can only assume he won't make the same mistake if a change is necessitated.

Maybe it won't be.

Maybe Grossman will get it all together in the next month and Smith won't have to do a thing.

Grossman has plenty of physical ability and smarts, and he's very good when the Bears' defense (or Devin Hester) gives him a short field.

If you watch him throw a 5-yard out, then you know he doesn't have that rocket for an arm that is so widely reported, but it's plenty good enough to get it done and win games if he can just relax a little bit and manage the offense for the defense and special teams.

He needs to realize, finally, that he's much more Trent Dilfer than he is John Elway.

Problem is, at the first sign of trouble, or when things aren't going the Bears' way, Grossman has a habit of going to pieces, and the assumption is that Smith can see that, since everyone this side of the sycophants can see it.

Now, maybe the Bears do make a change and it turns out that the best chance to win still resides in Grossman's hands.

Assuming those hands can take a snap properly, maybe a brief demotion -- and the first legitimate competition he's faced on this team -- will be good for Grossman sometime during the 2007 season.

Of course, that's all assuming Lovie Smith is willing to make that change and put the team's chance to win it all ahead of all other considerations.

That might still take some convincing.

Catching on

Again, with apologies to Michael Barrett, who doesn't deserve all the blame, some updated splits going into Wednesday night, courtesy of e-mailer Tim from Mount Prospect:

Cubs with Barrett: 32-37 (.464). Cubs after Barrett: 32-24 (.571).

The Padres before Barrett: 41-28 (.594). The Padres with Barrett: 25-30 (.455).

The Padres with Barrett starting: 8-17 (.320). Padres all season with anyone else starting: 58-40 (.592).

Catching up

Koyie Hill may be gone but not completely forgotten.

E-mailer Mike from Los Angeles crunched the numbers, and came up with these catching splits heading into the road trip:

From June 3-July 16, when the Cubs were 26-12 and the best team in baseball: With Hill catching 13-4, Barrett 5-5, Geovany Soto 2-0 and Rob Bowen 6-3.

Since Jason Kendall arrived: 4-3 with Hill, 12-14 with Kendall.

Going into the week, Kendall's catcher's ERA was near 5.00, while Hill's was 3.02, though Kendall's was a terrific 3.38 with Oakland this season.

Just one more: Carlos Zambrano's OPS against was .523 with Hill, .801 with Kendall and .965 with Barrett.

Gone fishing

They're starting to question in Florida whether Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez -- who replaced Joe Girardi -- can manage a lick, and not just because the Fish went into Wednesday's game in last place, 14 under .500, 16 games out, and with a 7-game losing streak.

The Sun-Sentinel's Mike Berardino pointed out that "there are some who wonder whether the general laxness of the Marlins' play -- their shoddy defense, for instance -- would be such a problem under more of an overt disciplinarian. Someone like, oh, Joe Girardi, for instance.''

The answer

We asked -- rhetorically -- last week, for you to name three things worse than preseason football, which brought many a response.

The No. 1 answer, by miles, was anything involving the Blackhawks. Soccer came in a distant second, and among the entries tied for third were Donald Trump, polo, reality TV, NASCAR, televised poker, Tim Allen, Jim Belushi, and Tim Allen plus Jim Belushi.

Best headline

Sportspickle.com: "Team USA excited to get autographs of Argentine players at FIBA tournament.''

Best movie idea

Searching for Bobby Jenks.

Dunk tank

Dan Daly of the Washington Times, on the marriage of 7-foot-6 Yao Ming to 6-2 Ye Li: "Can you imagine how big their children are going to be? They'll have to buy a house in Jurassic Park, just so the kids won't feel self-conscious.''

And finally;

Mike Lupica of the New York Daily News: "Who would have ever thought that Marcus Vick would turn out to be the good brother?''