Any of you have a rooting interest or a prediction?

Enjoy the mini-holiday, even if you don’t care about the game one way or another.

Not that there is anything not to like immediately. Change always brings hope. Emery says his goal is to win championships. As undoubtedly Jerry Angelo said in 2004, and what Michael McCaskey said in 1993 after firing Mike Ditka and assuming the reigns as the defacto GM.

I watched today’s press conference. He bobbed and weaved a bit in the beginning (Angelo looked as if he was striding atop an unbalanced tramp steamer in his initial conference). I was glad to hear far fewer uncomfortable cliches from Emery than usually came from his awkward predecessor.

For anyone else that watched the conference-am I the only one that detected a bit of Lumburgh in Emery? Was it just his overuse of the “umm-kay”? Time will tell.

And only time will tell as to Emery and the Bears’ success on his watch. I can only like what I see so far and be hopeful. Emery says the Bears will fill the talent gap between his roster and that of the Green Bay Packers.

If not Phil, look out, someone has already registered the domain firephilemery.com.

Emery was the reported front-runner for the job all along. His reported positives include drafts for the Bears in which he helped select Brian Urlacher, Mike Brown, Olin Kreutz, Lance Briggs and later-round finds such as Warrick Holdman, Roosevelt Colvin, Jerry Azumah and Alex Brown. He also played a part in successful drafts for Atlanta and Kansas City. He has been reported to be a tireless worker and enjoys hands-on scouting in the field.

At the same time, Emery was a part of Jerry Angelo’s scouting staff that selected Roosevelt Williams, Michael Haynes and Rex Grossman with high draft choices. In fairness, none of us know what exact role he played in these picks.

Only time will tell if Emery is an upgrade from the fired Angelo, or if Emery is a true GM (will he honestly be able to make a coaching change, or is Lovie Smith running the show?

Most of us fans would prefer to see the team President, GM, head coach and scouting staff on the same contractual timetable, and if the Bears continue to go (or remain) in the tank, the house can be cleaned.

Am I the only one that’s wondering if when Emery is introduced, we’re going to hear that Ted Phillips received a raise and extension to match the new GM?

Anyone excited? Not that it matters, the die is cast.

Pearlman has written for Sports Illustrated and is an author of several sports best sellers, including stories on the 1986 New York Mets and the Dallas Cowboys of the 1990′s. (I just finished Boys Will Be Boys as well, and it was a riot.) In 1999 he was sent to interview Walter Payton, just after the Bears legend publicly revealed the illness that would take his life.

Before going any further, I should not only disclose, but proudly say, I am a Walter Payton fan. When I became a Bears fan in 1979, Payton was Chicago Bears football. He is all it was, as grammatically poor as that sounds. But it’s true. In 2002 I wrote the obligatory Payton story for my website www.bearshistory.com, detailing all that those like me knew about him. We emulated him. We all wanted to follow in his footsteps as professional sports stars for our local professional team. He was an outstanding human being, a role model, someone everyone should strive to be like.

Certainly I couldn’t have been naive enough when I wrote that to think that any human being could be perfect. But looking back on the glowing article I wrote after reading Payton’s autobiography penned by Don Yaeger, it might seem that I did.

Pearlman details why he chose Walter Payton as the subject of his fifth book on his website. The back story makes a lot of sense to me. Just before the firestorm blew up when the book was released, Pearlman posted on this blog alluding to the fact that this book would be released shortly. And as he speaks to in the back story, I admit my first thought was “another Payton book…yawn.” The 1985 Bears in my opinion have been covered to death–I don’t know how many more of the same stories I can put myself through reading, so my initial stereotypical thoughts were unwarranted. I should have recalled that I had the same initial reaction to Steve Delsohn’s 2010 book Da Bears, that once again covered the 1985 world champs. I was pleasantly surprised by that book-enjoyed it-so perhaps I shouldn’t have judged the new Payton book so quickly.

That’s a great unintended segue. Speaking of quite literally judging a book by its cover-at the time of Sweetness’ release, the Chicago media quickly picked up on the “disturbing picture” painted of Payton in the book.

Payton’s former teammates, family members, regular Joes (and some of the loyal readers of my blog I might mention) quickly responded in horror. The general implication I took away from the firestorm was “how could this guy trash Payton’s public image in the pursuit of making money! How dare he! In order to make money, he revealed details on the life of one of Chicago’s most cherished public figures! Why couldn’t he just leave Payton’s family alone! All to make money!” (These are what I took to be others’ opinions, not mine).

I personally found one particular public comment to be most hilarious, and given that I don’t have much time at all to watch anything on television, it’s amazing I actually saw it. Lou Canellis is a journalist that has been covering Chicago sports for several decades and is currently a sports anchor for Fox-32 in Chicago. The day the revelations in Pearlman’s book broke, Canellis deviated from his role as an unbiased journalist to rip Pearlman from his anchor seat. I don’t remember his exact words, but his rant focused on the fact that the author tarnished Payton’s image in order to make money, and stated that if the book wasn’t about making money, why doesn’t Pearlman donate the proceeds to the Walter and Connie Payton foundation or something to that effect.

Doesn’t Canellis work for a living to make money? Don’t we all? Even Walter’s son Jarrett came to the defense of Pearlman after the uproar, acknowledging that we all have to make a living. I found it to be downright comical that Canellis, who is a journalist like Pearlman and should know what journalism is, would rip the author for doing a good job at the vocation he chose to pursue-being an investigative journalist.

In my undergraduate days at Illinois State, I briefly wrote for the school’s newspaper, the Daily Vidette. Ironically since I’ve been struggling with writing this review properly, I found what I think is the most fitting quote. Via a Facebook group for the paper’s alumni, I recently read an article by another Vidette alum. It happened to be the last article she wrote before she died from cancer. In this article she summed up nicely the role of a journalist-like it or not, agree with it or not:

“Journalists get to experience the wonder of life; we’re voyeurs of peoples’ lives. It is a sort of perverse peek into the wonder of the human experience. And a compulsive desire to know it all.”

Nicely said, Janeen. Here is a journalist that spent her career at smallish Central Illinois newspapers, and she “gets” it. Whether the general public likes it or not, journalists pursue this career as their passion because they enjoy getting to and sharing the facts. Why an anchor at a major Chicago television station makes statements that he doesn’t “get” this is beyond me.

Most of the friends, family, Payton colleagues and regular Joe’s that shared their reaction to the media coverage of Sweetness’ release stated that they will never read this book. Yet they’re rushing to this judgment based on a very small portion of what the book covers. Maybe if they actually read the book as I did, they would find that Pearlman did a great job of telling a fair and accurate story of Payton’s life from beginning to end. In my estimate, less than five percent of the book is made up of “stunning new revelations” about the life of the legend that we didn’t know. Regardless of how the media portrayed the book, the author does not baselessly rip Payton in an effort to destroy the subject’s public image. I am quite certain after reading it that for every person interviewed that said something derogatory about the running back, there is at least one quote from someone defending him and emphasizing the great things Payton did in his life. And despite the new revelations of marital strife, infidelity and questionable health choices, Pearlman does cover the many good things Payton did. I think this was totally lost in the initial coverage of the book, which is not fair.

But life isn’t fair. I think I’m a pretty open-minded guy. I honestly think that I respect everyone’s opinion even if I don’t agree with it. I know there are many, including some of my loyal readers, that feel it was wrong for Pearlman to publish heretofore unknown details about Payton’s private life. In my opinion, reality is that people that gain fortunes in the public view and are thus interesting subjects do have lives as open books to the general public. Like it or not, that is what it is. But again I do respect the opinions of those that that think it was off limits for the writer to report on what he learned from three years of interviewing hundreds of people that knew Payton. I respect the opinion of those that feel this way, but I don’t agree with that opinion.

Getting to the meat of the book finally, I thought it was riveting and I enjoyed reading it immensely. Since I have learned everything I can about Chicago Bears History over the years, I am amazed when a book comes out that presents new information. There is enough new Bears info in this book that it could stand on its own even without the Payton storyline. In the book the reader gets a real good picture of how dysfunctional the organization and teams were under Jack Pardee and Neill Armstrong. Hyperbolically speaking, I was so immersed in this section that I thought I could smell the smoke from one of the 100+ Kool cigarettes General Manager Jim Finks allegedly smoked per day.

There are too many stories within the book that I loved to name them all, but most notably, the prank that Payton and his agent Bud Holmes pulled with then-local Chicago reporter Brent Musburger on the air was priceless. I had never read about that before. I also remember some strange terms in Payton’s contracts, and that also is fully explained. Who remembers that in 1984, Payton signed a deal that paid him and his family an annuity of $240,000 for forty years to keep him from jumping to the USFL? Great info.

After having read Sweetness, I am still a huge fan of Walter Payton the Chicago Bear. And contrary to what many might think, I might even respect him more as a person, knowing that he was subject to the same human frailties that affect me. This is why I think many would be surprised at how much they would enjoy the book-if they would just read it.

Buy the book.

I know that’s not totally fair-Emery also helped draft Brian Urlacher in his first stint (1998-2004) with the Bears.

Aren’t the Bears the only team that needed to find a new GM that hasn’t yet hired one, which is typical? And per the article, this process could “drag into next week or beyond.”

Congrats to the New York Giants. Sorry to see Jim Harbaugh lose, but you have to hand it to the Giants-never anybody’s pick to make it to the Super Bowl, yet despite massive injuries they continue to shock the league and have success.

Also-Mike Tice isn’t going to Oakland, so at least that’s settled.

Then this year, what do you know, the Giants again pulled off a complete shock by forcing a choke on the Packers at home, again. So it will always be hard for me to root against the GMen, no matter how much of a twerp Eli Manning is thanks to his 2004 draft day antics.

Given this, my loyalties in the NFC Championship game are mixed. I can’t root against Jim Harbaugh. Even if I didn’t already admire him based on his past with the Bears, I’d like him solely for what he’s done with the 49ers in one season.

So in the NFC Championship game, I’m going to sit back and enjoy. Normally I really wouldn’t care one way or another once the Bears and other NFC North teams were out of it, but I have to admit that these playoffs have been really interesting.

I really don’t care what happens in the AFC, but it would be cool for NFL fans to see an all-Harbaugh Super Bowl. They seem like a great family that would deserve that kind of good fortune.

Your thoughts?

That dream is now dead, but how good is this guy? Wow. Takes practically the same 49ers team that had disappointed its fans for years and turns it, with its disappointing first overall pick quarterback, into a team that is now one win away from the Super Bowl.

Last weekend’s NFL divisional playoff games proved a couple of things. First, anything can happen when for the first time a 15-1 team went one-and-done at home (Green Bay). Second, just when it looked for certain that the league is now dominated by passing offenses, three of the four remaining teams relied on their defenses to get them where they are.

I was torn in my allegiances between the Saints and 49ers. I find it hard to pull against Harbaugh, but I like the Saints and Sean Payton as well. With every year that goes by I am liking the New York Giants more and more, even if I still despise Eli Manning for his 2004 draft day shenanigans. What the Giants have done twice now as prohibitive underdogs at Lambeau Field is nothing short of remarkable.

I’m a Bears fan that is still struggling to find a way to feel good for the Packers when they have success, I won’t pile on about their stunning defeat at home. It would be pathetic for me to even attempt it given that my team sputtered to the finish and didn’t make the playoffs, and I as a Bears fan have watched my team of 14-2, 11-4, 13-3 and 11-5 go one-and-done at home.

But it most certainly did prove that anything can happen, and even if the Packers come back in 2012 and look unstoppable in the regular season, nothing is a lock if a team has obvious holes in parts of their game.

More on the championship games on Friday. For now, today’s Bears news:

Jimmy Raye is the next candidate up to interview in the floundering search to replace Jerry Angelo as Bears’ GM.

Didn’t see that coming, huh? The Oakland Raiders have requested permission to interview Mike Tice for their open head coaching position. This time the Bears can’t be jerks and deny him permission to seek career advancement.

Just yesterday I was wondering if anything was going on with retaining special teams guru Dave Toub, and it was announced that the coach was re-signed to a new two-year contract.

The Bears were an improbable 7-3 team at the time. They had started the season 1-2, then 2-3, in the same fashion as they had in 2010. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz was virtually ignoring the run game at the beginning of the season, and the results were indicative of such. But following another return to the run behind Matt Forte, then leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage, the Bears were on fire.

Forte wasn’t the only reason. Quarterback Jay Cutler looked to finally be hitting his groove as leader of the Bears offense. After the Chargers game, Cutler was on pace to finish the season with 3,700 passing yards and 20 touchdowns. In Bears annals, that would be a remarkable season.

As postgame interviews were being completed that November 20th, news began to spread that this Bears season would in all likelihood take a fortuitous turn for the worse. On a seemingly innocuous play in the second half, receiver Johnny Knox slipped on a simple slant route, and Cutler’s pass was intercepted. The quarterback instinctively chased after the defender, helping to save a touchdown. On the tackle, replays showed that the quarterback threw his right arm high and towards the defender in the tackle effort, and Cutler’s right hand ended up striking the field with force.

The end result of this seemingly routine play was a break at the base of the thumb on Cutler’s throwing hand. The initial news was that the quarterback would miss a few weeks but would potentially return for the playoffs.

The end news was that the 2011 Chicago Bears would lose five of their final six games, finish with an 8-8 record on the season, and endure one of the most surprising reversals of a season’s fortunes in their history.

Read the rest of this article on the 2011 Chicago Bears Season.

I didn’t like Dick Jauron as a coach. But at the end of the 2003 season, as much as Jauron was doing nothing for the Bears, at the time I thought “why fire a guy unless you KNOW you have targeted a better replacement.” I didn’t want the Bears to keep Jauron, but as much as I felt that way, I thought it was stupid to fire him for the sake of firing him unless the due diligence was done to identify an upgrade.

What did the Bears do at the time? They fired Jauron then flopped around like a fish out of water trying to find anyone to take the job. As we all know, Jerry Angelo pursued Nick Saban first. Saban said thanks but no thanks when Angelo wouldn’t share personnel control. Then the Bears’ GM embarked on a cross-country tour to talk to college coaches Jeff Tedford and Kirk Ferentz, who both turned down the offers to interview. In my opinion the final candidates in Lovie Smith and Russ Grimm were underwhelming.

Has Lovie Smith as head coach been a complete failure? No. But we would have thought the Bears organization would have learned from that experience to plan for big moves and be ready to decisively act when big decisions are to be made.

Two weeks after firing Angelo, the Bears asked for permission to interview Eric DeCosta and found he wasn’t interested in the job. Two other GM’s have been hired by other teams-including the consensus best candidate available in Reggie McKenzie. And sorry to say so, but it again looks like the organization is now flailing to slap together the only list it can, rather than acting like they know what they’re doing. Because from this fan’s perspective, it doesn’t look like they know what they’re doing.

I hate to say it, but I’m beginning to think the best solution to yet another Bears mess is to elevate Tim Ruskell, hoping that if the organization blows the next two years, the next move will be for the family to blow everything up. But we already see that probably won’t happen.

That being said I guess we can all change in our old age. Now that Arkush doesn’t work as an extension of the organization, he (surprise!) sounds like another frustrated fan. So I have allowed myself to enjoy his analysis even after I swore I’d never be able to.

I rarely have time with my schedule to listen to his reports on WSCR, but today after work I did. And I thought he did an admirable job of acknowledging and outlining the current frustration of Bears fans. This evening, Arkush said:

- How long do Bears fans have to endure the organization running the team by throwing darts at a dartboard?

- According to what he’s been hearing as publisher of Pro Football Weekly, the prospect of the Bears hiring Tim Ruskell is “very real.”

- He was very hard on Ted Phillips, saying he obviously “knows nothing about football” (direct quote) and the fact that he is clearly in charge should scare Bears fans.

- He hears that the Bears are frustrated that the best GM candidates aren’t knocking down the Bears door, rather than the team showing that they are going out to land the best candidate.

It’s all speculation by the media fans, I realize this. But how does this make you feel?