Let's hope Orton gets a fair shake
Give the Bears credit for getting one right.
After all, if you were among those who thought Bears coach Lovie Smith would step to the microphone and proclaim, "Brian is our quarterback,'' or even, "Rex is our quarterback on crutches,'' you were not alone.
Instead, Kyle Orton gets the call.
The last time you saw him he was saving the jobs of about two dozen people in 2005, when the Bears arrived in camp without an experienced backup QB, having decided -- based on his six NFL starts -- that Rex Grossman would be all they'd need.
Grossman went down in a preseason game, and the Bears were the only ones who couldn't see that Chad Hutchinson wasn't even the answer to a trivia question.
By the time they turned to Orton, the rookie had a week of snaps to prepare for an NFL season.
The Bears went 10-5 in his 15 starts, as he managed the offense, held on to the ball, took every hit -- took a lot of hits -- and got up every time.
It wasn't pretty, but it did have a nice personality.
As the games went on and the Bears relied more on the defense and less on Orton, they dumbed down the offense to the point where Orton became a punch line.
He was regularly trashed by the experts who pined for Grossman to finish the season, and it has been "Rex is our quarterback'' ever since.
You know now with Grossman that you've got about half an NFL QB, but with Orton you know very little.
And you might not know a lot after these final few contests, considering what's left for him on offense and with a defense that might allow 400 yards rushing per game -- especially Monday night against Minnesota.
What we do know is Orton did exactly what he was asked to do last time he played, which at the end was limited to mostly handing off, throwing to backs and throwing out of bounds.
Hard to look pretty doing that.
So if the first pass he throws on third-and-17 Monday night is a 2-yard dump-off to Adrian Peterson, you'll know this is another waste of time, and that he's just taking up space until Grossman returns next year.
It'd be nice to see if he has progressed from two years ago, when as a rookie coming from a college shotgun he experienced the expected difficulties adjusting to the speed of the NFL game
He needed to read, drop back and release faster, and if he can find that, these three games will have meaning.
The man was a monster in college and had the potential to be a terrific NFL quarterback. What his skills are, what his knowledge might be, and where his head's at today after standing mute for two years is anyone's guess.
If he's given as much rope as Grossman, a year from now you'll have in Orton a good, productive NFL quarterback.
If this is a legitimate opportunity and not just meant to appease the fans and media, the Bears may be able to glean something from a dismal ending.
Let's hope that's the case.
Ivan Boldirev-ing
In today's NHL, there's probably no player more dangerous than an offensive defenseman, and no position more valuable than a top two defenseman.
The Blackhawks seem to have developed one in Dustin Byfuglien, so naturally they've moved him up to wing because they have too many defensemen.
Byfuglien has done a nice job up front -- even with constantly altered line combinations -- but anyone who has ever played the game can tell you it's a lot easier to track a guy standing in front of the net than a guy coming at you in open ice with a chance to skate.
Sure, there's going to be risk with an offensive defenseman who turns it over now and then, but why not determine the reward and use this time to continue Byfuglien's development as a big, intimidating defenseman?
This is Hockey 101 kind of stuff.
The Hawks right now with Rocky Wirtz and John McDonough have the best 1-2 punch in Chicago sports, but under them there's a lot of on-the-job training taking place -- and a lot of eyebrows being raised around the league.
Just asking
The Hawks have been embarrassed by the Ducks before, so they should be afraid, but how good would a top four of Mathieu Schneider, Byfuglien, Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook look as the Hawks try to stay in the playoff race?
The contract
Carlos Zambrano's deal appears to be more like six years and $110 million than five years and $91 million.
Turns out Zambrano, who has a full no-trade clause, has a sixth-year player option for 2013 that vests at $19 million if Zambrano places first or second in 2011 Cy Young voting, or in the top four in the 2012 Cy Young vote and is deemed healthy at the end of 2012.
Wonder if "healthy'' includes a weight limit.
Stocking stuffer
If you're White Sox GM Kenny Williams, all you want for Christmas is to move Joe Crede to the Dodgers and collect a couple of their best young players, right?
In other news
E-mailer Chris Forte: "This just in … Kosuke Fukudome is still not a Cub and Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead!''
Best headline
Sportspickle.com: "Marlins forget to win the World Series before dismantling this time.''
And finally …
Mike Bianchi of the Orlando Sentinel: "Don't you love the BCS apologists who continue to say that the system is good for college football because people are talking about it? Yeah, well, people are talking about the collapse of the housing industry, too, but that doesn't necessarily make it a good thing."
brozner@dailyherald.com