Throughout the season we will feature the ramblings of unapologetic Bears fan (and Cutler/Lovie hater) the Kayfabian Messiah. For more KM, you can check out "Thoughts from the Inner Walls."

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I hadn’t written anything in weeks because there was really not a lot to say. The Bears beat the Browns & Rams & other than that had performed like the Oakland Raiders almost all year. Last night was a huge game & showed that they are not a terrible team, but revealed a lot of why have nots.

The first is one that has bothered me since the beginning of the season & will be the drum that beats Lovie Smith & Ron Turner out of jobs. Why was Devin Aromashodu not starting all year? He played excellently in preseason. The only reason it seems Earl Bennett got a starting job was more to kiss Jay Cutler’s ass because they were college teammates. I have never had a problem with Devin Hester or Johnny Knox in those roles because they actually work hard & excel. Bennett is just not anything more than a wideout. He is blameless personally because nobody is going to say I don’t want to be a starter. But this Mangini like Favre love put on Cutler by Lovie & Turner began with that half-assed decision.

The second one was a blessing in disguise. Last year, the Bears went 9-7 but they easily could have had several more wins. One guy on defense had them blow multiple leads with his outrageously terrible coverage of wide receivers, inability to keep his own balance & all around blooper reel like qualities. That man is Charles Tillman, the NFL’s worst cornerback of all time. Your job as a CB is to guard WRs. If you can’t keep up with them and/or run the easiest of routes not only shouldn’t you start but you should be out of the league!


The dumb ass logic of keeping Tillman as a starter (despite drafting his replacement that is faster & 100 times better) is things he does in the community. Now I love players who give back & stuff but this isn’t tee ball where everyone gets a chance to play. These guys are getting millions of dollars! This isn’t a volunteer job! He is not doing his job! Tillman has been beyond terrible including his infamous clumsiness of tripping over himself. If you are great in the community & no longer can cut it as a player then retire & join the player’s association as a goodwill rep! But because his true colors are about the money he won’t! That is the Charles Tillman hypocrisy!

Instead he undermines a team’s defense & they are forced to play two games on defense. One is the Bear’s defense against the opposing offense. The second game is the Bears Linebackers & Defensive Ends having to do his job & almost play against him for the defense to succeed. This is why the defense did well for a while against Minnesota because the LBs & the DEs continued to push through not allowing Tillman to be the blocker. When Tillman was the blocker guys like Peterson easily threw him to the ground as if he was as imposing a 95 lb ref. That was on top of the clumsiness & screw ups of the routes.

When this horribly inept joke of professional football CB got hurt (which was like winning the Superbowl to me) all of sudden the secondary was able to make a ton of stops & held the Vikings to a FG. What a coincidence! As a matter a fact even in OT it was obvious that the Vikings struggled to move the ball once this disgrace to every player to ever play in the league on the secondary was out of the game. This is another reason Lovie Smith will be canned. Tillman is one of his best friends. He hired another one of his friends to miscoach the defense last year & obviously that failed. He does as well with separating friendship from professionalism as Robert Downey Jr. usually did with sobriety!

It makes it far worse because the Bears drafted DJ Moore who is faster & far better than Tillman & after last night more than anything it was obvious Tillman sucks on a national scale; so why Lovie are you still starting him? These kinds of boneheaded moves not only will fire Uncle Ben but its going to make it damn hard for him to get a coordinator job even in the CFL! Imagine if the Giants fire Sheridan & hired this goof! He would probably fall in love with CC Brown & push to start him every week even though the guy is obviously awful.

All in all it was great to see my favorite team beat my least favorite team & at least the Bears have an attempt to go 7-9 which is far better than the 4-12 finish I was sadly anticipating several weeks ago. However, it also is a disgrace with the talent they have to not make the playoffs the last 3 years & the incompetent coaching was even worse than the issues on the Browns, Raiders & Chiefs in many many ways! Since great things were not allowed to be used all year, the showcasing of talent that was constantly benched only makes you look than much worse as a coach. It may have been the worst thing to happen to Smith (and the greatest things for Bears fans) because now a new coach is going to be able to come in here & do these things & make things happen. Goodbye Uncle Ben & Good Riddens!


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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/31/2009 03:28:00 PM | , , , , , | 0 comments »

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Has Lebron really been playing for a decade? Unreal.

The fellas over at Stepien Rules have put together a nice little collection of the poster-worthy dunks of King James over the past ten years.

A personal fave is #5 and a dunk on Delonte West. It's not so much the dunk but the reaction of two little portly fellas in the crowd.


They either just saw Basketball Jesus or they are fresh out of funnel cake.

A Decade of LeBron James Dunk Posters...from 10-1 (Stepien Rules)



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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/31/2009 10:09:00 AM | | 0 comments »

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My name is Kevin Owens and I have been playing professional basketball for the past six years. I decided to start a blog documenting my daily life. I have a degree in journalism and haven't written anything since college, so I figured why not. I don't particularly think I am that interesting, however when telling people about the traveling circus that is my life, they seem very entertained. I'll be contributing some of those stories once a week here at HHR. You can also now catch me on Twitter @Waiting4Godunk. Hope you enjoy!

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Another Christmas has come and gone and I am happy it’s over. During this season I have a difficult time saying no to Christmas cookies. Thankfully I am back to my regular grueling workout routine. I actually stepped it up so that I can get rid of all the Sam Adams and wine I drank this past week. I really do love Christmas, I just don’t like being at home and jobless while others are sacrificing for the game. Like Thanksgiving, this is a holiday usually not spent with family.

My first Christmas in the D-League was spent in a hotel in Fayetteville, NC. I remember walking across the street to a gas station to get my “Christmas dinner,” and seeing a group of joyful people stopping for gas en route to a party…I never despised anyone more. They were off to hang out with their loved ones while I heated up a day old burrito in the microwave.

Although I would rather be playing during this holiday season, I did enjoy my time at home. I was around my family and saw the excitement on my nieces and nephews’ faces when they opened their gifts. I also had an eye-opening story told to me by my sister.

She told us how her friend’s six year old son received Philadelphia Eagles tickets for an early Christmas present. During warm-ups they walked down to the field to watch as the players went into the locker room. Eagles wide receiver Desean Jackson walked passed, looked into the stands, and tossed a ball to the boy. Already an enormous Eagles fan, his day was made. He spent the remainder of the game talking about how amazing Desean Jackson is. He now spends every night tucked away in bed with his new prized possession.

This is something that is fairly common in sports. A player tosses a ball or an accessory into the crowd. A young fan catches the item and cherishes it for the remainder of his life. How often do athletes realize how much their otherwise insignificant gesture changes the life of someone else? Desean Jackson will be a hero to this boy for years to come.

I had a moment like that when I was in high school. Growing up I was a huge Boomer Esiason fan. (Unfortunately during the mid 80’s the struggling Eagles did not give me the hero I was looking for.) Even though I watched the Eagles every Sunday, I still checked the paper the next day to find out how Boomer did. I continued to follow his career after he left the Bengals for NY, and then when he moved to Arizona, and again back to Cincinnati.

During his time with New York my brother was being recruited heavily by Hofstra University, which happened to be where the Jets held training camp. We took a drive up one late summer’s day to visit the school. While walking through the training room I came face to face with my idol. I couldn’t speak; I just stared in disbelief. I finally mustered up some embarrassing greeting and handed him the Esiason jersey I was currently wearing to be signed. To this day that jersey hangs on the wall of my office. Boomer never knew how life changing that day was to me. It was a chance to meet my childhood hero.

Now I never had as many fans as Desean or Boomer…and yes I did pluralize fan…but I think about all the times after a game in which I threw a wristband into the crowd or shook a youngster’s hand. How much of an impact did I make in their lives? My friend Seth Doliboa and I had a young fan in Roanoke that invited us to his birthday party. Since we made little money, we decided to head over for a chance to make his day and for a free meal. He was ecstatic. I am sure he bragged to all his friends in school about how two of the Dazzle players came to his birthday party.


After winning the championship last year in Kosovo, I had slightly more demanding fans. After every season of my professional career it has become a custom to either graciously accept, or steal my playing jersey. I keep them in my closet so that one day when I am limping around the house, I can show my children that my knees used to work properly.

After the clinching game I was swarmed by fans asking for my jersey…and by fans I mean several middle aged men. I declined, telling them that I bring my jerseys home to show my wife. That did not seem to register. The asking soon turned into demanding. I made it back to the locker room with my jersey, only to be followed by the angry persistent fans. Apparently demanding was going to soon cross into petty theft. I figured if I wanted to hold onto this jersey it was coming into the shower with me. Now that jersey hangs in my closet next to all the others…a proud symbol of my patience and resourcefulness.

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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/30/2009 09:27:00 AM | , , , , , , | 0 comments »

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Details are beginning to trickle our Texas Tech coach Mike Leach ordering Craig James' son Adam "to stand in a dark shed at the Tech football practice facility because he thought James was faking a concussion he'd suffered during practice the previous day."

"Leach had him watched, and when James sat down, Leach had things removed from the shed so he could not sit. Two days later, Leach forced James to stand in a dark room for three hours."

Sources in Lubbuck tell HHR that this is not new behavior for Leach and sent along the following video of a thinner, balder Leach treating underlings in similar manner during a what was supposed to be a friendly holiday get together.




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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/29/2009 10:33:00 AM | , , , | 1 comments »

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From SMW's "Decade in Review: 5 biggest sports media scandals":

#3: Harold Reynolds fired from ESPN (2006)
In July 2006, prominent Baseball Tonight analyst Harold Reynolds was abruptly fired from ESPN.

Reynolds, who had been with ESPN for 11 years, was accused of sexual harassment. "To be honest with you," Reynolds told the New York Post in the immediate aftermath, "I gave a woman a hug and I felt like it was misinterpreted" (ESPN.com, 7/26/06). During an ensuing lawsuit, ESPN told a Hartford courtroom that "five young women had lodged 'concerns' about Reynolds’s sexual behavior" (New York Times, 4/16/08).

The divorce between Reynolds and ESPN grew ugly, with Reynolds filing a wrongful termination lawsuit against the network. At one point, Reynolds accused ESPN of racial bias, bringing up several incidences of sexual misconduct by white employees who were not punished as severely (New York Times, 9/8/07).

Reynolds joined TBS as a baseball analyst in 2008, before eventually landing with MLB Network in 2009.


You can see the complete list HERE.


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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/29/2009 09:57:00 AM | , , , | 1 comments »

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While many choose to look back at 2009 by highlighting championship performances, scandalous transgressions and overall warm, fuzzy nostalgia, when the history books are written, there will be several happenings this past year that will be forgotten - be it by accident or by selective memory. For perseverance's sake, here's a look at some of the HHR crew's least memorable moments, stories and figures of 2009.

Dale Jr.'s "Breakout" Season

Dale Jr.'s second year at Hendrick Motorsports was supposed to be his breakout year. In 2008, he made the Chase, and this past year he was supposed to contend. Instead, Junior found himself with his worst season in NASCAR, and had to watch from the sidelines as his Hendrick teammates finished 1, 2, 3 in the points standings. A mid-year crew chief change couldn't even ease June Bug's woes.

ACC Football

This year was supposed to be the year for several teams in the ACC. NC State had the ACC's most prolific passer returning, Wake Forest was led by senior signal caller Riley Skinner, VT was Virginia Tech, and Bowden was promising great things as he fought for his job down in Tallahassee. Instead, the ACC struggled all year, losing early games to the likes of William & Mary and never coming close to being in the talk for a National Title contender. Now, the traditionalists' cries for the heads of the guys behind the expansion are growing ever more louder. It was supposed to elevate football in the nation's preeminent basketball conference, right?

Fat College Football Coaches



Apparently, this wasn't the year to be big and on the sidelines with a headset in college. The portly Mark Mangino and the rotund Charlie Weiss both found themselves without a job at the end of the season. While Mangino's dismissal had more to do with his treatment of players than his team's record, Weiss just couldn't eat enough donuts to help the Irish win enough games to keep his job. Surely, Ralph Friedgen's off season diet kept him on the sidelines in College Park, because Maryland's 2-10 record certainly didn't help.

Urban Meyer Resigning at Florida

Quite simply: Proof that the "do-over" rule is alive and well in college athletics.

WNBA's Shock Relocates to Tulsa

You know your league is in trouble when a team wins three championships in the decade and then decides a move from a major sports metro to Tulsa, OK is an upgrade.

Allen Iverson, Memphis Grizzly

"God chose Memphis as the place that I will continue my career. I feel that they are committed to developing a winner." Two months God must've told the Answer to get the hell out of Dodge. Sometimes even God makes mistakes. Either that or he has a helluva sense of humor.

Terrell Owens, Buffalo Bill


While making an initial splash upon signing, TO has since taken backseat to the prospect of the Bills moonlighting in Canada. When all is said and done, it says something when a guy will forever be remembered more for doing sit-ups in his driveway than actually playing for the Buffalo Bills.

The Billy Gillispie Era at UK

Add a new coach (John Calipari), the best player in America (John Wall) and a shiny undefeated record, and it’s hard to believe that the Cats were bounced by Notre Dame in the NIT last year.

The New York Metropolitans

While the team opened a brand new stadium, the cross-city Yankees win the Series over the defending champion/division rival Phillies and fans protest the franchise by forfeiting astronomically-priced season ticket plans, the team looks to rebound in 2010 by signing the likes of Alex Cora, Kelvim Escobar, Henry Blanco, R.A. Dickey and Chris Coste. To add insult to fans' injury, Coste punctuates his signing by reminding NY faithful, "I will always be a Phillie."

Shawne Merriman Performs Lights Out Dance on Tila Tequila

In an incident that was as ridiculous as the bi-sexual reality star's "career," Tila claims "Shawne grabbed her, shook her like a rag doll, threw her down and choked her during an argument last September. Tila says the San Diego Chargers linebacker had a bad temper combined with a drug problem, and that he humiliated her because of her bi-sexuality." Yet, authorities and the public somewhat seem to buy the Charger's claim of acting in the name of being a responsible party host. Charlie Sheen: take note.

We miss anything?


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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/28/2009 09:02:00 AM | , , , , , , , , | 1 comments »

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He will NEVER RETIRE!




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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/27/2009 05:50:00 PM | , | 1 comments »

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Cadillac Mescallade sent me this earlier today. As you can see, helluva crowd. Rooks kind of looks like a poor man's Jay Z from this angle.

"Veteran nba backup center sean rooks in the building."

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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/23/2009 09:07:00 PM | , , , , , | 1 comments »

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The combination of mid-air slow motion and copyright infringement succeed here in making a few teenagers goofing around into what can only be described as an undercover filming of a secret winter ninja training. The only difference being that instead of landing into a pile of bad guys delivering justice with their fists, these guys land in a pile of snow and probably injure themselves. But justice remains intact and secure. That is the ninja way.



via urlesque


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Posted by lucas | 12/23/2009 05:55:00 PM | 1 comments »

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This week’s Blogs With Balls Show on the JoeSportsFan Radio Network is now available.

Download Episode 15 Here.




Our guest this week is The Big Lead's Jason McIntyre.

TBL's combination of news, opinion, media oversight, and pop culture has enabled Jason to position it as one of the most popular independent sports blogs on the web, and parlay it into a full-time career - with a little help from the likes of Jason Whitlock and Colin Cowherd.


He talks about the site's creation and growth, his personal background and the role it's played in TBL's success, and addresses the online tit-for-tat that comes with its success.

In a nod to the site's marriage of sports and entertainment, we've Skyped him up with "Name that Celebrathlete."

This week’s links of interest:


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Posted by Hugging Harold Reynolds | 12/23/2009 04:01:00 PM | , , | 1 comments »

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