Seems like forever ago the Bears got smoked by the Bengals, eh? That’s probably because it’s rained in Chicago all week, and it feels more like 40 days.

Anyway, the Bears should win Sunday, right? I mean, they’re playing the Browns. The 1-6 Browns. The second-to-worst-offense-in-the-league Browns. The worst-defense-in-the-league Browns. This team is not good. At all. The Bears are back home at Soldier Field. It’s a noon game, which just feels right. They should have some serious bite after refocusing this week in practice. All signs point to a win. But nothing is a given in the NFL, and nothing is a given with these Bears so far this season.

Best case scenario is the Bears get a win, restore some confidence in themselves, their coach and their fans. Oh, and maybe even Matt Forte will show some resolve this week. Wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.

Enjoy your Halloween, and stay away from the punch. I heard it’s spiked with roofies, although maybe you’re into that type of thing.

This video is all kinds of awesome. It’s some WWF wrestlers — now WWE — playing softball against some Chicago media types circa 1994. I can’t really make out who any of the Chicago media people are — though I do know Mike North loves him some softball — but that’s not really what makes this video so special.

It’s the wrestlers, and their ridiculous outfits. Looks like Halloween came a day early, kids:

Fun fact: that home run by Macho Man Randy Savage was no fluke. Dude went to Downers Grove North, then was a catcher in the minors with the Cardinals and White Sox before his wrestling career. He also dated the mom of a kid I went to high school with. As you were.

HT: Walkoff Walk

There’s been plenty else to talk about this season — Jay Cutler, Matt Forte’s regression, the offensive line, Johnny Knox’s ascension, Earl Bennett’s promise — so it’s a question that’s sort of been lost in the shuffle: What’s up with Greg Olsen?

After all, Cutler apparently likes to throw to his tight ends, and these two formed a bond both on and off the field in the preseason. Olsen has talent. Why hasn’t it translated to more success on the field?

Dan Pompei tackles this in today’s Chicago Tribune:

In some ways, Olsen has been a victim of hype.

As a buzz built around Olsen in the offseason and in training camp, defenses took notice. [ ... ]

It started in the opener in Green Bay. The Packers treated Olsen like a third wide receiver and played nickel personnel against the Bears’ standard personnel with cornerback Charles Woodson lined up over Olsen. [ ... ]

Last year, Olsen wasn’t dealing with these issues as often. When the Bears faced man coverage in 2008, they often would shift or motion Olsen so he was matched up against a slower linebacker. This year, they haven’t been able to get those matchups because defenses have played more zone, and when they have played man, they have made allowances for Olsen. [ ... ]

You know sometimes when you read something and you’re like: “this makes a lot of sense, and I really don’t have anything else to add”?

This is one of those times.

It happened again last night. Two calls — Ryan Howard’s catch that wasn’t a catch in the sixth inning; an eighth-inning double play turned by the Yankees that wasn’t a double play because Chase Utley was safe at first, which robbed us of Howard facing Mariano Rivera with runners on first and third with two outs and the Phillies down 3-1 — went the wrong way.

Twitter exploded, Joe Buck and Tim McCarver agreed that these were not the correct calls. I’ve been a proponent of instant replay before. And I’m going to lobby for it again.

First, as PostmanE wrote last night, this Bud Selig explanation about why baseball won’t institute further instant replay is bunk:

“I think my position has been clear,” Selig said. “This is a game of pace. I’m worried a lot about that.”

Selig is against delaying a game for a few minutes and making a pitcher wait while a decision is made. MLB began to use replay in August 2008 and was the last of the four major sports to employ some form of replay to correct calls.

“You’re always concerned about pace,” Selig said. “You’re always concerned about how the game goes. And I haven’t changed my mind at all.”

Come on, Bud. Baseball gets its “pace” interrupted all the time. Players can call timeout pretty much whenever they want. There is no shot clock, there are no minutes ticking down until the end of the half. If a call is bad enough, a manager will go out and argue for (sometimes) several minutes. Couldn’t we instead use that time to figure out if a call is right or not? Shouldn’t that be baseball’s most paramount concern? Getting the call right? And what’s the difference between a pitcher waiting for an instant replay call, and waiting for a manager to stop yelling at an ump? Both disrupt the flow of the game.

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No, not at all. And here’s why: because the average American football fan will watch it. They’ll eat it up. Brett Favre is that car crash on the side of the road; we want to look away, but we can’t.

So yes: FOX is planning on dedicating a camera solely to covering Favre on Sunday when he takes on his former team, the Packers, in Green Bay. His every movement from the moment he gets on the field to the moment he leaves it will be captured by one cameraman. I pity this man. You can even watch that camera’s feed online at Foxsports.com and NFL.com. This is completely ridiculous. But there will be people dialing that up on their laptops during the game, as silly as it is.

Oh, and about 91 percent of the country is going to get the game on Sunday, the highest percentage this season:

Favre country, indeed. A little overkill, you say? Perhaps. But it’s just good business. When ESPN can pull in the biggest cable numbers of all-time when Favre played against the Packers up in Minnesota earlier this season, why in the hell wouldn’t FOX broadcast this game to as many households as they possibly can? It just makes sense.

So yes, this is all rather ridiculous. But it’s calculated ridiculousness. And I think that makes it a little less grating on our souls.

A few days old, but saw it new today …

Here we have Mike Leach, lover of pirates, giver of amazing dating advice, laying it on thick after Texas Tech’s loss this weekend:

Yeah, you hear that linebacking corps? I’M SICK OF YOUR FAT LITTLE GIRLFRIENDS TELLING YOU HOW AWESOME YOU ARE. ALSO, TELL THEM TO STOP STEALING MY MUFFINS.

Making this story more awesome? Mark Mangino — yes, this Mark Mangino — backed up Leach a bit, saying:

I don’t want to get into all of that. There’s pretty girls everywhere. Tech’s got their share, and KU has their share. We’re partial. We think KU has the best. I think you can have fun with it. That’s what Mike’s trying to do. He’s trying to have fun with it.

Yes, I agree: it’s always about fun with Leach. He’s fun for the whole family!

The Bulls take on the Spurs this evening in their season opener. Three things to keep on eye on tonight, and as the season progress.

1) The play of John Salmons and Luol Deng.

With Ben Gordon gone, the Bulls need scoring. Salmons provided it last year for the Bulls; can he do it again this year? Expect some regression, but it’s likely Salmons still drops around 14-17 a game. Deng will be interesting to watch as well. Can he return to form? Will he show off the potential he had a few years back, when many thought he was the next breakout star in the league?

Let’s hope. Because if Salmons and Deng fail to produce, the Bulls are in trouble on the offensive end.

2) Tyrus Thomas vs. Taj Gibson.

Tyrus Thomas will start at power forward tonight for the Bulls. Good. He’s in a contract year, is hungry, and if the Bulls are looking to trade him before the deadline, there’s no reason to stick him on the bench where he may pout. But you wonder what happens going forward here: if the rookie Gibson outshines Thomas when he gets out on the floor, will there be a battle for playing time? Will Gibson suddenly become the Bulls’ best trade bait? The job is Thomas’ for now, but don’t be surprised if Gibson gives him a run for his money.

3) The maturation of Vinny Del Negro and Derrick Rose.

Both were rookies last year. Del Negro as a head coach, Rose as a point guard. Del Negro took a lot of guff for questionable lineups during last season, but he got the monkey off his back in the playoffs, as the Bulls went toe-to-toe with the defending champion Celtics. Del Negro is far from an elite coach, but if he can improve with experience, the Bulls will be all the better.

For all the praise heaped upon Rose last year, he’s still got plenty to improve: his defense, his shooting, his vocal leadership.

If he can improve on all those things, it’s not a stretch to say Rose may leap into the top point guards in the league conversation — Derron Williams/Chris Paul/ Steve Nash — in the next year or two.