CHICAGO BEARS PATRONAGE WOES: BEARS COULD LEARN FROM THE DALEY'S

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The Chicago Democratic Party has been built on patronage, and this is common knowledge. Both Daley mayors built political armies from their own backyards that have dominated Chicago politics for decades. However, being hired by a Daley comes with a price, and that price is that whoever is hired, must deliver, must go the extra mile for the Party, or team, if you will. And when that hired hand fails to perform, or gets dirty, for whatever reason, the Daleys' were/have always been quick to take action, whether by seperating themselves from the culprit or dumping them outright.

The Chicago Bears front office and coaching staff also practices it's own version of patronage, in that Jerry Angelo, Lovie Smith, Ron Turner, and Bob Babich, are all joined at the hip. Now it stands to reason that if you're hired as a boss somewhere, anywhere, and you bring in your pals to fill key managerial positions, they should be held to the same scrutiny as anyone else. If they're not, then you're placing your own head under the chopping block. Also, you should be held under scrutiny for your hiring, and any unwillingness to correct wrongs within the organization. But that doesn't seem to be the case with the Chicago Bears; not yet anyways. Why is that?

When the Bears hired Lovie Smith he was heralded in the local media as some kind of up-and-coming football genius, a label since shown to be undeserved. First of all, he was not the architect of the Tampa 2, but most of Chicago seems to think that he was. Also, he was given praise for being the first Black Head Coach of the Chicago Bears. That's all fine and dandy, but there comes a time when you have to be judged on your own merits, regardless of any extrinsic factors.

So how has Lovie Smith's performance stacked up under close scrutiny? Smith is given credit for coaching his defensive players during the Super Bowl run of a few years back when they lost to the Colts, when it was actually Ron Rivera who had the Bears defense playing at an elite level. Smith's player evaluations and assessments are also  sorely lacking. Remember that it was Smith who sounded the trumpet for Tommie Harris, who has become a non-factor in the interior for the Bears. The Bears D-Line now has to slant on a regular basis to help out the interior, which puts a hamper on the pass rush and also leaves the line vulnerable to runs bounced to the outside. It also has a cumulative effect on the linebacking corps, when they have to assist the ends, who are assisting the interior. With the safeties playing 20 yards back in the Cover 2, quality teams easily dink and dunk the Bears up and down the field on a regular basis.

Smith gets rid of Ron Rivera, a highly talented defensive mind, presumably over philosophical differences. So why did Lovie Smith get rid of him? Did Rivera realize that the Cover 2 has been solved, and furthermore, that the Bears player personnel isn't best suited for the Cover 2? Or perhaps Rivera saw that Smith's judgment is flawed in other areas as well?

It was Smith also who got rid of the oft-injured Safety Mike Brown, who by the way is still playing better than any safety on the present Bears roster. At least Brown has above-average NFL awareness and also plays with a chip on his shoulder, even if he's lost a step or two over the years.

Concerning Babich, one of the evil cabal from Smith's Rams

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