An Action-Packed Friday Roundup: Hester's Ankle, Bulls Stymie Cavs, Beckham to Second

The Bears should be the focus of today, but I'm again struggling to come up with anything interesting to say about them. I have no gut feeling either way on this Cardinals game. No outcome would surprise me, save for a Bears blowout win.

The Cards actually reeled off three straight wins prior to last week's disaster against the Panthers. Warner threw five picks, Anquan Boldin reaggravated an ankle injury, and the Cards defense allowed Delhomme to max out his potential (7-of-14, 90 yards, a touchdown, no picks).

Could Arizona really play that poorly again? It's unlikely. Remember how tough the Cards are on the road this year, too (3-0). Of course, this is the NFL though, so anything can happen. This seems to have the makings of a tight contest with both teams in the low 20's. I say that only because every Bears game seems to play out that way, which kind of makes me not even want to watch it. Remember when I thought we'd see style points this year? What silly wishful thinking. Same old Bears, always for forever.

My biggest concern for said Bears is Devin Hester's ankle. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, but the Bears are expecting him to play. Still, a bum ankle could neutralize Hester tremendously.

Somewhat quietly, Hester has put together a very nice season. He's on pace for over 1,000 yards, and he's done it running real routes, not just catching bombs from Cutler. The last three games he's caught six or more passes for 80-plus yards. He's getting close to a punt return, too. It's going to happen soon.







Ugly? You bet. But if the Bulls are going to beat the Cavs this year, doesn't it have to be ugly? This is particularly the case with a flu-ridden Tyrus and Rose still playing at 80 percent.

The Bulls aren't going to win a shootout against a good team. It's just not going to happen, they aren't talented enough. So to win, they need to play tough defense, hit some three's, and catch a few lucky breaks.

All three happened last night.

The Bulls held LeBron in check as much as humanly possible (25-7-6), Noah did enough to contain Shaq, and LeBron didn't get the bail out call as time expired that would have given the Cavs the win.

The Bulls now sit at 3-2, and this is far from a soft 3-2. Of their first five games, they were probably only favored on paper against Milwaukee. They played three of the five teams that have legitimate title aspirations, and beat two of them.

I really couldn't be happier with the Bulls so far, all things considered. They're historically prone to starting slow, so even playing .500 ball for the first couple months should be seen as a win.

Let's not forget the monster we'll be facing in a week and a half, though: the vaunted Circus Trip. The Bulls need all the victories they can get before that bad boy starts, which is why last night's win was so great.







The Sox's 'below average player for below average player' swap yesterday was actually more significant than it appeared. We now know what position Gordon Beckham will be playing for the next 10 years, and that position is second base. I couldn't be happier.

By all accounts, Beckham wasn't that great at short in college or in the minors. If they gave him shortstop, it would mostly be because he's a really good hitter. Does that make any sense? Of course not, and I'm glad the Sox were smart enough to avoid it. Alexei is fine there right now anyways.

I can't leave without mentioning this incredibly stupid Rick Morrissey column, calling for Beckham to play short because "you don't put your best player at second base". Seriously. He wrote that. Click the link if you don't believe me.

Rick Morrissey is so, so lucky the Bears play on Sunday and that the Bulls pulled out a big win last night. This column was begging to be FJM'd. He won't be so fortunate next time.