Jump to content
[[Template core/front/custom/_customHeader is throwing an error. This theme may be out of date. Run the support tool in the AdminCP to restore the default theme.]]

Cheap Bastages


SLAYER
 Share

Recommended Posts

how do you bear fans feel about your cheap ownership not wanting to pay Lovie? IMO Lovie walks after the season if a deal is not done before the beginning of next season. To many oppurtunities for a winning coach to get paid for him to stay in chi town.

now the Saints will be facing the same in a year or two when it's time to up Payton, because Benson is cheap also and doesn't like to pay his coaches, at least not what Payton will command.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like Lovie, but am am beginning to not like his game calling, especially the D in the SB. It remains to be seen if that was more him or Rivera, but I suspect him.

 

The Bears have alwyas been cheap, in part because they are one of the few teams owned by a single family that doesn't have larger investments elsewhere. Unlike Snyder or JJ this is their Mom and Pop store and it's alwyas been handled as such.

 

If the manage to extend Lovie, great. If not, expect to see Rivera return after next year, or even Singletary.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

so the bears give early extensions to dave wanstead and dick juron. but lovie who has 2 division titles and a Superbowl appearance, no.

 

and bears dont forget us tax payers paid for your stadium. :D

 

lovie took the bears to the superbowl with out Brown and Harris. for the past 3 years lovie was here the bears have gradually gotten better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If Lovie enjoys similar success next season I wouldn't worry too much about him getting paid, either by the Bears or someone else :D

 

 

He's welcome in Indy when Dungy retires.

 

My only problem with Lovie is him having Ron Turner on his staff. I don't think that Turner is an NFL-caliber OC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I like Lovie, but am am beginning to not like his game calling, especially the D in the SB. It remains to be seen if that was more him or Rivera, but I suspect him.

 

 

 

i too was disappointed with the defensive play calling as well as offensive play calling in the game. they should have turned the d loose....might not have mattered, but i would have rather gotten beaten that way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I hate to pull out the race card, but I can't think of any other reasons why those two clowns got extensions and Lovie didn't.

 

 

 

That's probably not fair. Soldier Field has been rebuilt since then which has reduced capacity seat wise, which may or may not have been offset by PSL's and added suites. Anyone know where to find info on old and new cash flow info for SF?

 

Maybe after giving both Wanstedt and Jauron get extensions then watching the Bears tank both times they're proceeding cautiously? Did any of those guys rate $4mil/year?.

 

Or - maybe they're just cheap, like they've always been. Doyou know that the $25million contract signed by Bryan Robinson was more oney than the 1985 Bears D received combined? They've ALWAYS been cheap. Ask Todd Bell (RIP) or Al Harris (the real one).

 

Yeah, they're bigots for hiring him and his hispanic assistant (who the McCaskey's wanted) in the first place. :D Dumb, Bill, dumb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's probably not fair. Soldier Field has been rebuilt since then which has reduced capacity seat wise, which may or may not have been offset by PSL's and added suites. Anyone know where to find info on old and new cash flow info for SF?

 

Maybe after giving both Wanstedt and Jauron get extensions then watching the Bears tank both times they're proceeding cautiously? Did any of those guys rate $4mil/year?.

 

Or - maybe they're just cheap, like they've always been. Doyou know that the $25million contract signed by Bryan Robinson was more oney than the 1985 Bears D received combined? They've ALWAYS been cheap. Ask Todd Bell (RIP) or Al Harris (the real one).

 

Yeah, they're bigots for hiring him and his hispanic assistant (who the McCaskey's wanted) in the first place. :D Dumb, Bill, dumb.

 

 

Even with the renovations, the Bears are still making a ton of coin.... especially with their nation-wide fan base buying up tons of over-priced merchandise this season. There's no reason for Lovie to be one of the league's lowest-paid coaches at this point... not after he's done.

 

I don't think that the McCaskey's are racists, but I don't think that there's any excuse for paying Lovie a league-low salary after what he's done in his time there.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even with the renovations, the Bears are still making a ton of coin.... especially with their nation-wide fan base buying up tons of over-priced merchandise this season.

Most merchandise is licensed by the NFL and revenues are shared amongst the 32 NFL teams.

 

Individual teams can get sole revenues by other means.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Even with the renovations, the Bears are still making a ton of coin.... especially with their nation-wide fan base buying up tons of over-priced merchandise this season. There's no reason for Lovie to be one of the league's lowest-paid coaches at this point... not after he's done.

 

I don't think that the McCaskey's are racists, but I don't think that there's any excuse for paying Lovie a league-low salary after what he's done in his time there.

 

 

 

I agree 1000%. Unfortunately, they've always been cheap. You know that. That's not an excuse. That IS reality.

 

And it frankly appears as if Lovie will now serve his time and get the deal he wants after next year. Sure life is short, but he stands to make 10mil more over the life of a solid contract than if the Bears don't get above $3.5mil/year.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here's a nice blog entry from a Bears fan/investment banker:

 

As always, there are multiple sides to every situation. Take Lovie Smith and his new contract negotiations. First, Smith fires Ron Rivera to maximize the leverage Smith has in the negotiations. Then, when the Bears show their typical lowball, Smith has his agent announce:

 

“We’re not close, we’re not encouraged, and based on where talks have gone recently, Lovie will be a free agent after next season. It would take an unforeseen breakthrough for this to get done. And we are being more than reasonable in this market.” - Frank Bauer

 

 

What Smith may fail to understand is that firing Rivera did not give Smith as much leverage as it appears. There is another head coach candidate who could come to Chicago on a moment’s notice who would make everyone forget that Lovie Smith was ever here. That person was a teammate of Rivera’s on the Bears.

 

That guy is Mike Singletary. Barring a change in this story in the next few weeks, I predict Samurai Mike to be the coach in 2008.

 

What is troubling about this story from the Bears side is several things.

 

First, the Bears should already know if they want Lovie Smith to be their coach for the next four years. If they don’t want him back, they should have fired him already. By waiting this long, you screw up any incoming coach’s ability to hire assistants as the pool of available talent has been absorbed by other teams making hires. They’ve also done Smith a disservice by not allowing him to find gainful employment elsewhere at a salary commensurate with his experience and performance.

 

Additionally, if the team doesn’t want Lovie back, they’ve done harm to the franchise by keeping him for 2007. If Jerry Angelo has determined that Smith’s in-game brain farts are such that they hold the team’s success back, then why wait for his contract to expire to get rid of him? In this era of tradable coaches, find a team and get a draft pick for Lovie. Then, move on and get the coach who you think would be better.

 

On the other side, if the Bears do indeed want him back, then being cheap is insane. This is a team that was gifted $450 million in taxpayer money in support of a business that has minimal financial impact on the economy. This corporate welfare has tripled the value of the McCaskey family’s investment in the team and grossly inflated their ability to take cash out of the business. It’s not like the team can’t afford to pay a head coach more than at least one other team (as of right now, 31 teams pay their head coach more than do the Bears).

 

Even more, if the team were to give Smith his market value starting in 2008, that equates to a salary of about $5 million per year from 2008 through 2011. So, let’s compare the four year extension that Smith turned down prior to 2007 versus his 2007 salary plus the first three years of his desired new salary.

 

Had Smith accepted the extension, he would have earned approximately $12 million over the 2007 through 2010 seasons. Under a “new” contract, Smith made $1.45 million in 2007 ($1.5 plus $15 million for years 2008 through 2010. That means, under a new contract, the Bears compensation to Smith would be $4.5 million more than what he would have cost a year ago.

 

That’s $1.2 million per year. That’s pocket change for a business that, according to published figures, generated operating profit of $51.5 million in 10 business days.

 

Now, there is one other angle that does fit what’s going on. It could be that Ted Phillips believes that no coach is worth more than $3 million per year and that a head coach is nothing more than the face that uses the talent provided by the real team guru, the General Manager. That would be a massive mistake for this franchise to assume that simply anyone could coach the Bears to a high level of success. This is not the early 90’s Cowboys that even Barry Switzer could coach to a title.

 

You can convince me that Lovie Smith is not the right guy for the job and isn’t worth $5 million per year. You cannot convince me that this team would be as successful under John Smith, Larry Smith, Dean Smith or Kate Smith.

 

The Bears have emerged from the despair of the Wanny (and the G.R.O.W. International) years. Management could put them right back in another dark age if they are not careful.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this is just my opinion and I'm not rying to open this can of worms again but a "superb coach" may not have lived and died with Rex Grossman. Again, JMO.

 

Through the first month or so of action, Grossman was the second coming, then he fell off, as many young quarterbacks do... Tony Romo, maybe?

As a packer fan, I really do hate to say anything positive about the bears, but Grossman falling apart doesnt lessen Lovie Smith's coaching ability or character one bit. Lovie is a defensive coach, the defense played fine. Rex is young. What kind of message do you give him if you bench him? YOu destroy him for next year as well. You guys also seem to think Brian Greise is great. There is a reason he's not a starter.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Through the first month or so of action, Grossman was the second coming, then he fell off, as many young quarterbacks do... Tony Romo, maybe?

As a packer fan, I really do hate to say anything positive about the bears, but Grossman falling apart doesnt lessen Lovie Smith's coaching ability or character one bit. Lovie is a defensive coach, the defense played fine. Rex is young. What kind of message do you give him if you bench him? YOu destroy him for next year as well. You guys also seem to think Brian Greise is great. There is a reason he's not a starter.

 

 

I get the impression that egomaniac Jerry Angelo had a lot to do with Rex staying out on the field this past season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would not want Mike Singletary. the meat heads in Chicago would because anybody from 85 is superman.

 

but Rivera would make more sense than Singletary.

 

Also the bears passed on Mike for a linebackers coach job a few years ago, i think 2003. so why would they want him as head coach?

 

but this is kinda getting a bit out of hand, this (agents going to media for leverage) is a normal part of negotiation. We should wait and see how this shakes out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I get the impression that egomaniac Jerry Angelo had a lot to do with Rex staying out on the field this past season.

 

I just don't see a hugh difference between Grossman and Greise... Other than Grossman can be the quarterback as a future.

I don't get why everyone thinks Greise would have done so much better. He had a decent season a few years ago. He's failed in three cities already, what makes everyone think he'll suddenly become a great qb in Chicago?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Singletary, eh? That's a bit of a gamble, given that he doesn't even have experience as a DC.

 

 

 

Well, to be honest it's got the smell of the "Halas Ditka hire." And I disagree that it'd be a bad move. Something tells me as long as he got a solid OC that he would do fine no matter where he lands. He was always known as a 'coach on the field' and I'd think he'd be somewhat okay at getting players fired up. Just a hunch.

 

I know they passed on him in 2003, but remember that Lovie had a bit of say in some of that, and if you were going to HC in Chicago how smart is it to surround yourself with former 85 Bears? It'd become a major distraction, especially in a year they struggled. THe papers would be all over replacing from within and it'd become an issue, which is why I think he decided to not keep Rivera: if he doesn't get the contract then all year it would be conjecture as to whether Rivera would replace him. If the Bears don't up their offer, he did everyone a favor by cutting loose Rivera.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just don't see a hugh difference between Grossman and Greise... Other than Grossman can be the quarterback as a future.

I don't get why everyone thinks Greise would have done so much better. He had a decent season a few years ago. He's failed in three cities already, what makes everyone think he'll suddenly become a great qb in Chicago?

 

 

Grossman has a much better arm than Griese. Griese has a much better brain than Grossman.

 

Both of these guys are borderline NFL starting QBs, with Grossman's youth, vastly-superior physical skills, better long-term potential, and Jerry Angelo's ego being the factors that kept him in the starting gig.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, to be honest it's got the smell of the "Halas Ditka hire." And I disagree that it'd be a bad move. Something tells me as long as he got a solid OC that he would do fine no matter where he lands. He was always known as a 'coach on the field' and I'd think he'd be somewhat okay at getting players fired up. Just a hunch.

 

Maybe, maybe not. I've always like Samurai Mike, but he's been a LB coach for most of his career and I'm not sure that he's ready to make the jump to HC at this point. He very well may be, but there's nothing concrete to suggest that he is at this point.

 

Agreed that the Bears need an OC, though. Turner ain't an NFL OC.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information