Why Lovie Smith got fired by the Chicago Bears -GRIM facts & trends that were increasingly hard to swallow for loyal Bears fans: the Bears have made the watered-down NFL playoffs only ONCE in the past 6 years despite much talent on the team, including failing 3 seasons in a row AFTER making the Super Bowl. If anything, it was an overdue decision; Bears should strongly consider hiring Brian Billick as head coach and REALLY helping Jay Cutler's progress

ESPN YouTube Channel video: ESPN correspondent Ed Werder on the Chicago Bears firing of head coach Lovie Smith on Monday, and what he may do. Uploaded January 1, 2013. http://youtu.be/mUOnaPIMPD4

While there clearly are a lot of people who like Lovie Smith's personality and experience, including some current players, consider how the players have actually played for HIM, since it seems to be something that ESPN and a lot of social media types keep ignoring.

The Bears have made the watered-down NFL playoffs only ONCE in the past 6 years despite the talent on that team, including failing 3 seasons in a row AFTER making the Super Bowl. 

That's more than embarrassing and is NOT something that fans of an NFL team in the third-largest city in the country are going to be satisfied with. 
Nor should they be.

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=8938166&pid=null

The one year the Bears made the playoffs in the past six seasons, 2010, they promptly lost the NFC Championship game -at home- in large part because they were so grossly unprepared for an injury to QB Jay Cutler.
Whose responsibility is it to ensure that you have competent back-ups if not the head coach?

As has been noted here many times before, I lived in Chicago in the mid-1980's and that coincided with their 1985-86 Super Bowl run and win, and I still usually root for the Bears.
But these CHRONIC weaknesses with the Bears, like not being able to assemble a good staff or a competent offensive line to keep Cutler upright, can be laid squarely upon Lovie Smith as head coach.

In the end, the facts didn't lie -one playoff appearance in the past six years is NOT satisfactory.
If anything, his firing was an overdue decision for fans of the team.

Just like the one the Eagles and Chargers made to finally be rid of Andy Reid and Norv Turner.
Both need to stay away from the NFL for a year for their own good -and ours.
We can't stand the utter predictability of their problems every year and their chronic inability to adequately resolve them. 

If the Bears were smart, and that's not a given, obviously, they'd hire former Ravens head coach  and Vikings OC Brian Billick, someone who knows something about offense when he has some talent to work with, like he did with those Vikings teams of the late '90's when they were one of the most-exciting teams of the past 25 years.
Give Jay Cutler some help from someone who knows what they're talking about.

While crime and flash mobs roil Chicago-area residents, City Hall, Police, Tourism & Business Establishment act like ostriches. Sounds familiar!

View more videos at: http://nbcchicago.com.

WMAQ-TV (Chicago) video: Woman Believes Beach Violence Covered Up. City officials say incidents handled promptly.

Story at http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/beach-north-124629279.html#ixzz1QgnHf0Lt

Hard as it is to believe, all indications are that the City of Chicago and the Chicago downtown business establishment are STILL trying to deny what so many thousands of Chicago-area residents have seen LIVE over the past few weeks, and what tens of thousands more Americans have now seen via posted videos on YouTube, thanks to quick-thinking witnesses.

It's indicative of many troubling things, not least, a giant fundamental govt. dis-connect to reality.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcchicago.com.

WMAQ-TV (Chicago) video: The Talk: The Real Story Behind the Beach Closure.

Amy Schwartz talks with host Marion Brooks.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/shows/nonstop/The_Talk__The_Real_Story_Behind_the_Beach_Closure_Chicago-124726299.html

The situation in Chicagoland and how poorly it's been handled from the beginning, months before Rahm Emauel was elected mayor, gives you some real insight into how a similar situation down here in South Florida would likely be handled, where much-smaller city governments already have their heads firmly in the ground like ostriches, about what everyone in their own towns (plus visitors) can already readily see for themselves 24/7 about the general state of govt. incompetence, longstanding corruption and the lack of sufficient and properly-trained law enforcement in places where it can make a positive difference.

This despite the fact that Police & Fire personnel costs make up the clear majority of local cities' budgets.

See this post from the CTA Tattler blog,

Flash mobs ride CTA to commit crimes, mayhem on Near North Side

http://www.chicagonow.com/blogs/cta-tattler/2011/06/flash-mobs-ride-cta-to-commit-crimes-mayhem-on-north-side.html

WLS-7 TV (Chicago) video: Security stepped up for Taste of Chicago

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/video?id=8213855

Here where I live in South Florida, in the SE corner of Broward County, as I've often commented with exasperation on this blog, the Hallandale Beach Police Dept. STILL does NOT regularly patrol the actual public beach, even on crowded, three-day holiday weekends.

Like what's coming up in a few days...

But if you ask me, I can tell you exactly where I've watched them sit in their patrol cars on the road for 5-10 minutes with their A/C going when they have shown up to "investigate."

Or, later, where they stand in the shade (of The Beach Club) when they do actually get out of the patrol car -to smoke or check-out the female 'scenery'.

That's many things, but it's NOT the kind of serious patrolling HB taxpayers have a right to expect at one of the main public areas in the city.

Is it true that there are more HBPD police cars than there are actual HB police officers and administrators, and if so, why are there seemingly DOZENS of police cars that NEVER EVER move from the HB City Hall parking lot, no matter what time of the day you happen upon them?

Some answers to these questions may well be forthcoming, but I don't think I'm ruining the suspense when I tell you that I don't think you'll like the facts I have to share with you on this matter.

It's just more of the same inexplicable, inefficient, wasteful and status quo mentality we deal with here on an everyday basis.

WMAQ-TV, Chicago: Blizzard Unleashes Winter Fury; Blizzard web cam; As usual, Hoosiers in "The Region" to get the worst of it!

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/Blizzard-Unleashes-Winter-Fury-115047384.html

And because it was something that I heard for years, I'll say it now, "As always, heavier near the Lake."

And since I actually lived two blocks from Lake Michigan when I was in Wilmette in the mid-'80's, I can tell you that it's true.


And dig the WMAQ-TV LIVE Blizzard-cam, not that they actually call it it that:
Live Video: Weather Conditions Around Chicago | NBC Chicago

If link is dead it's at: http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local-beat/live-video-chicago-blizzard-115033514.html


Channel 5 seems to have no problem getting their web camera to show the brutal weather around Chicago, with special emphasis on recognizable downtown spots.

Compare and contrast that with the crummy performance of most South Florida LIVE web cams of my acquaintance the past seven years -with nice weather- that aimed for the same general effect, yet usually failed miserably, with one of the worst being the Miami Herald's web cam on their old frumpy and morose website.

That is, the frumpy one before the current frumpy model featuring old stories in the Breaking News area for 12 hours at a time.

That web cam, which so often seemed to be hours behind -LIVE? LOL!- and pointed, rather aimlessly, towards nothing in particular, was not exactly a great calling-card for Knight-Ridder and McClatchy.
Like what was the point exactly?

I'd post the URL here but it's long been deleted.


Speaking of web cams, here's two popular web cams that I enjoy and take me far from my fay-to-day cares here in South Florida. For a little bit at least!

The first webcam overlooks a beautiful and well-known lake in downtown Reykjavik called Tjörnin at http://www.inspiredbyiceland.com/icelandlive/#austurstraeti

The second webcam is one I go to fairly frequently of a a very busy and recognizable area of Stockholm showing the Slussen in central Stockholm, which connects Gamla Stan -Old Town- to the north and Södermalm to the south:
http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/gondolen/webkamera_eriks_640_4.php

Currently, Reykjavik is five hours ahead of us in Miami, and Stockholm is six.

FYI: You can click the photo to make it quite large and almost read the ads on the buses, but the motion is only in the smaller version.
Here's a 24 hour history of the view: http://www.webbkameror.se/webbkameror/gondolen/historik/historik_slussen_4/index.php

In contrast with Chicago, the weather looks quite manageable today for Swedish friends and readers of Hallandale Beach Blog
http://vader.svt.se/vaer.aspx?lat=59,33&lon=18,05&m=10&sted=Stockholm



http://svt.se/2.2173/vader
http://svt.se/2.52756/vaderkartor

As always, heavier near the Lake!

------

Also see the website for SMHI: Sveriges meteorologiska och hydrologiska institut
which is under the Minstry for Environment at: http://www.smhi.se/
Cool stuff!

http://webbkameror.se/

#FAIL #SNOWPACALYPSE: Chicago & suburbs brace for whiteout conditions - Chicagoist: You Say "Snowpacalypse," We Say "Tuesday"

Chicago's WMAQ-TV newscast with anchor Floyd Kalber,
February 23, 1967 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZIFRsgvMCEY

#FAIL #SNOWPACALYPSE

Meanwhile, in Chicagoland, home of "Big Shoulders" and even longer memories, including memories of 1967 and cars with no FWD careening into one another in hilly neighborhoods, neighbors and "former" friends who horned-in one time too many on your family's parking space that you claimed with an aluminum chaise chair... Chicagoist writes:

So the snow projected for tomorrow through Thursday is expected to finally give us the whole "Thundersnow/Snowpacalypse" big dump of white powder worthy of dibs that we've really been missing so far. Already, meteorologists are comparing this to previous large blizzards.

Read the rest of the post and things-to-do-when-you're f-f-f-freezing list at
http://chicagoist.com/2011/01/31/2011_february_blizzard_chicago_frea.php


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QVjse_DHRj4

Hmm-m... blizzard conditions, snow up to three-inches an hour and and 60 m.p.h. winds... watching from a safe distance away, as WGN-TV's beloved meteorologist Tom Skilling predicts a low of, yes, 0°, and wind chills 10 to 20 below Wednesday night in Chicago:

Listen live to WGN Radio:
http://player.streamtheworld.com/_players/wgn/

Weather: http://www.chicagoweathercenter.com/

And don't forget to spray PAM on your DirecTV or DISH-TV satellite dishes!

See also: http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/23feb1967/index.html