There hasn't been much to cheer for as of late for the citizens of the Windy City and the Prairie State in general. No state teams are going to the big dance, and the Bulls have regressed a great level.

The Cubs and the Sox are participating in Spring Training, but I've got a feeling fans from both side will either be saying, "there's always next year" or "what the heck is Ozzie doing?" I've got a gut feeling that I'll be lamenting like the rest of Cubs nation as for the Sox, I'll leave that to their fans.

There has always been one point of excitement for our fans and that was our Chicago Bears. Perhaps we were spoiled after the Super Bowl run, but we expect them now to compete every time, and win soon, but after witnessing the free agency period that wasn't and now looking at a draft with Jerry Angelo's track record, I think it is time to worry.

The Bears free agency has had one highlight, and that was the miracle re-signing of Lance Briggs, and other than that we have departed from the likes of Bernard Berrian, Mushin Muhammad, and Brendon Ayanbadejo. I wasn't a big fan of the three, because I felt Muhammad had essentially earned a big paycheck while he was here, and did nothing in return.

Bernard Berrian was the king of dropping balls, and is no way a top five receiver as Drew Rosenhaus would like you to believe. As for Brendon Ayanbadejo, he was an excellent performer, but will be replaced under Dave Toub's scheme. After a releasing and basically purging some positions of the roster the Bears were left with a great void in many position areas lacking either depth or justifiable talent. The homecoming for Marty Booker might be three years too late, and Brandon Lloyd might not realize the potential even if he is familiar with the system of Ron Turner.

The fact of the matter is the Bears have too many issues, and there was no proactive approach taken to address these areas by Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith.

The quarterback position has us with Brian Griese in Tampa, and the competition squarely being Rex Grossman against Kyle Orton. Grossman has boat loads of talent and can be accurate while possessing a strong arm, but in his time here he has not shown he can be reliable or good as he was during the beginning of the '06-'07 season.

Kyle Orton on the other hand is probably the person with the greatest gripe of anyone in the league who is fighting for a starting job. Since joining the Bears and being thrust into the fire his rookie season, he has done nothing, but win and play sound turnover free football.

I liken Orton to Brad Johnson during his early Minnesota days. The Bears also have high interest in Chad Henne, and Joe Flacco as second or third round draft picks. None of that really seems to matter when you also come to realize that the offensive line is in shambles, and will probably be the focus of the draft day, since the likes of Alan Faneca and other offensive linemen were ignored by the Bears brass.

I have the Bears selecting Chris Williams from Vanderbilt with a heavy heart, because I would love to see the Bears select Rashard Mendenhall, the hometown stud, and get rid of the head case known as Cedric Benson. The tight end position seems to be the only solidified position on the Bears offense, but without a viable receiving corps, Desmond Clark and Greg Olsen might have trouble being effective.

The defensive side of the bubble presents us with pressing issues also. Dusty Dvoracek is coming back from a major knee injury, and Mike Brown beloved by all, has a history of not being healthy, and can't be deemed reliable. Dan Bauzin, Michael Okwo, and other players who missed their rookie year are unknown depth.

The Bears will probably return to '06 form up front at the end positions with Adawele and Alex Brown starting, and Mike Anderson being strict pass rush. Maybe the Bears can also try him at the hybrid position of OLB/DE and have him blitz from the outside. The linebacking corps is back together, but Brian Urlacher is not getting any younger, and is still left to be seen if he can remain in form.

At the moment the season seems to be screaming rebuilding, but you got to have faith even though Lovie doesn't seem to get personnel issues, and Jerry Angelo hibernated throughout free agency, and can't seem to draft well in the first round (see David Terrell, Rex Grossman, Michael Haynes, Cedric Benson, and the list goes on and on). The Super Bowl window has probably closed, but hopefully that is temporary.

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