Message Forum

Rod, thanks for reminding me of those old '50's era, Bear greats. I watched them all. I remember when the Bears didn't have the "C" logo on their head gear. I'm really glad that you reminded me of George Blanda. I think he played until he was 65 years old. LOL. Those were fun days.

I had an ex-friend that lives on Sylvan Ln. were you close to there?

01/28/14 09:25 AM

#4231

Rod:

Is the current snow and ice catching you in East Texas?

Thank God for my desert!

Linda

01/28/14 10:01 AM

#4232

Ed Stanfield

Rod,

When I was a boy living in Alabama, my mother, sister and I lived in an apartment house owned by my grandparents. Ons summer, a fellow named Harlan Hill rented an apartment next to us and he and his little brother stayed all summer. Yes, we did throw a football around that summer. Hill was from the little town of Killen, Alabama, and wqas a graduate of what now is the University of North Alabama in Florence, where we lived

Later on, I lived in Houston when the Oilers were formed. They had no home field. Rice U and the U of H would not let them play on their fields. The Houston School district maintained 4 game stadiums for HS games. We would play on Friday night or Saturday Afternoon and the Oilers played on Sunday.. Quaterback? An old washed up guy named George Blanda.

01/28/14 11:30 AM

#4233

Rod, the “Rolls Royce” is not my comment, but a direct quote from O’Bradovich.

With Cutler not screwing up this year with an adequate line, playing a near flawless game the last game with Green Bay, him wanting to stay here and Trestman and Emery wanting him to stay, a couple of other teams wanting to pay money for him, there was little chance that he would be leaving.

As far as Clark the mascot, mark my words, Addison is coming.

39 years ago today, the Bears picked Walter Payton as the 4th pick in the first round.

01/29/14 11:40 AM

#4234

Max - I feel for you man. That's just too cold. I understand the mosquito thing. For several years my Parents and all my Mother's brothers and sisters used to vacation (fishing), in the summer for a week, in Minn. My cousins and me used to swear the mosquitos had landing strips around the lakes. I hated those insects.

Linda - You're so far in West Texas, that it seems like I'm in East Texas. But actually, I am in what they call North Central Texas. We get flurries once in awhile and measurable snow maybe every 3 or 4 years. Our hot and cold is usually about a few degrees less then El Paso. The Panhandle, near Colorado is where the real bad weather goes.

Mike - It did seem like Blanda played 100 years. Actually, he did play 26 years, from 1949 till 1975. You could say he was Pro Football's real Iron Man. And, yes, I knew a lot of people who lived on Sylvan Ln. Who was your friend?

Ed - Probably little did you know at the time that you had seen and maybe talked with two guys who would become household names. Too bad you didn't get a signed football, a practice jersey, or something back then. I wish I could have seen both of those guys play in person. What a Hoot. By the way, I see Alabama picked up a blue chip QB thru transfer.

Jack - If Big Ed O made that statement, then he must be in the first stage of dementia. And Clark-Addison is even a more stupid name for a Mascot. The Cubs have always proven that their front office has a very low Baseball IQ, but come on, geez. Here is a little tid bit. But first, let me just say that I don't put much faith in what anylist have to say. A lot of what they say is for shock value. You, me, and a lot of others can make predictions. I can sit here and tell you what Denver has to do to win the Super Bowl. I can also tell you what Seattle has to do to win. So what. But, here is what I have to tell you. One of the big time sports writers for the Dallas Morning News rated and ranked his Top 15 QB's playing right now. Guess who wasn't in his top 15? That's right, Jay Cutler. I'm just sayin.

01/30/14 10:32 AM

#4235

Rod:

They might call it North Central............but they call Illinois..... Midwest! Whoever names them...........is off by several miles!

I am so far west in Texas, that you can't go any farther west in Texas.(except for 2 burbs of El Paso, Canutillo and Anthony!)

Linda

01/30/14 11:50 AM

#4236

Ed Stanfield

Rod,

Who do you think was tossin that football around in the side yard of our apartment building?

But I never got to meet George... watched him play a lot tho

01/30/14 08:36 PM

#4237

Rod, it was an old girlfriend. Got rather serious at one time, but I came to my senses and......well, you know. I won't mention any names here. (#14 Sylvan) Now I'm just an old burned out rooster that couldn't get a date in a women's prison, but I love my truck! (a white GMC)

01/31/14 08:59 AM

#4238

OK Rod, I'm not going to convince you why the Bears re-signed Cutler, but here is why:

"The line helped the Bears rank second in the NFL with 445 points and set franchise records with 6,109 total yards, 4,450 passing yards, 32 passing touchdowns, a 96.9 passer rating and 344 first downs."

When is the last time before this the Bears had an offense? They were not going to break everything up, lose Brandon Marshall, to bring in a "Johnny Football" who MIGHT become the Andrew Luck of 2017.

The good news too is that Josh McCown, a free agent, wants to stay in Chicago as a back-up.

01/31/14 12:40 PM

#4239

Sharrie Peasley (Orendorff)

Linda - I can see where you would think I'm in East Texas and yes, you are just a short walk from being out of Texas. By the way, the weather here has really been strange. Last Sat. it was in the low 70's and by Tues. it was in the very low 40's. Yesterday it was in the high 60's, today in the mid 70's and then the high on Sunday is only going to be in the high 30's. But, summer is right there trying to break thru. Ha! Ha!

Ed - Little did you know what you were watching back then. Did you see him do any kicking. You know, he was one of the premier kickers of his day, and I think still holds a few records. Some of his records are due to length of playing time, but hey, he was just a tough old coot.

Mike - I'm going to look over area of Sylvan Ln. and see if I can place thart girl. I got a good laugh out of that date with a woman in prison comment. Some of them might go out with you just for a ride in that truck and smoke a cig.

Jack - You know that I'll never have much good to say about Cutler. Statistics definitely have an impact, but I'm not sold on that fact. I mean, you make some very good points but where have the Bears players been since their last game????? How about Jim McMahon. Not the greatest on paper, but, a WINNER. A LEADER. Here is one for the old days. Johnny Unitas. According to most, a great QB. Not that he wasn't, but a vast number of his completions, (and yards), came when he threw to Lenny Moore in the flat and Lenny did the rest. Now, if you really want to compare great statistics with total, and I mean TOTAL FAILURE, just look at Tony Romo. But really Jack. I think my biggest problem with Cutler is that he just isn't worth anything close to what they gave him. They could have spread that money in some areas that are really depleted. I do agree completely with you on Johnny Football. We may be very wrong, but when the draft is over, Johnny would be best served by taking a job with his rich daddy. Pro Football will either discard him or tear him apart physically. For now you need to get on the Hawks bandwagon.

02/01/14 06:39 AM

#4240

Be sure to check out the "How Time Flies" column, written by our own Jack Keefe, in today's Pantagraph (2-1-14), especially the 50 years ago paragraph. This is always a must-read column for me every day - lots of interesting information.

02/01/14 01:31 PM

#4241

That explains the mini diploma laying in a box somewhere in the basement. I figured they thought we were just stupid and didn't deserve varsity sized diplomas.

02/01/14 08:43 PM

#4242

Mini diploma? Was that a keeper? I think I left that thing in the back seat of Hanner's '57 Chevy.

Oh well, when I was drafted, they didn't ask for it.

02/03/14 10:13 AM

#4243

Jack - One word for the Super Bowl.

D- E- F- E- N- C- E

02/03/14 12:58 PM

#4244

Can't argue with Defense, for the first time in a while, Rod, and I suspect the trend will swing back just a little because of this. But, Seattle had some Offense as well. Interesting, before they took a chance on Rusell Wilson, Seattle called Bud Grant (how old must he be?) to inquire if a short tricky guy (think Tarkenton) could play in today's game. "Absolutely" said Grant, "just build your offense around him", they did, and for a second year player, you can't beat him.

02/04/14 01:12 PM

#4245

Karen Sue (Suzi) Denton (Merritt)

Good grief! More snow coming your way! Do any of you have 'Cabin Fever' yet?

My mom used to force us to play board games, dice games, card games, etc. to keep us oriented to being busy in the cold weather. I still call it 'Cabin Fever'. Maybe it should have been called 'Close Encounters'. When you have 9 kids in a house during the Winter..........it gets very old, very quickly!

Keep warm!

Linda

PSSST!!!! Suzi......How is everything with Dave? All well I hope!

Diane Shaffer Troxel: What about your hand? Has it healed yet?

02/04/14 05:19 PM

#4246

Linda, Dave is doing good (thank the lord). We go back down to St. Louis Feb. 19 for an MRI and check up. How's everything down your way?

I am so sick of this weather!!!! It's to cold and to much snow!

02/05/14 10:24 AM

#4247

Suzi:

All is well with me. I was just nominated to the FBI Citizen's Academy for 2014. Don't really know too much about it, but I would take classes for 6 weeks. I'll wait and see if I'm selected! You can bet if it has ANYTHING to do with Chihuahuas....................I'm out of there!

Glad Dave is doing well!

Love to y'all!

Linda

02/05/14 08:37 PM

#4248

Linda, I looked up the FBI Citizens Academy. It looks like a really cool gig. Congratulations on your nomination. There is a lot of information on the WEB, concerning this. It appears that it is pretty intense training, but very rewarding. Good for you! Keep everyone up to date.

02/06/14 11:11 AM

#4249

Marv Theobald:

It is about time for 2014 notes to go out to the class. If you will figure out how much you need in postage, I will be glad to send a check to you right away.

My computer is down. I don't have access to your info to contact you.

Linda Elias

02/06/14 11:36 AM

#4250

Steve Frankeberger

OK Linda I'll show my technological deficiencies. If your computer is down, how did you send the message to Mel?

Steve Frankeberger

02/06/14 11:53 AM

#4251

Texas is just so wonderful. Yesterday was nice, and it will be in the 60's Saturday. But, today, as I set here at the computer, I look out the window, 21 degrees out, and the snow is coming down very heavy. The streets and grass are all white. Oh, and of course many schools are closed.

Well Jack, you're right. There will most likely be a change of thinking by some teams, but it won't be wide spread. And I agree that Wilson, for a 2 yr QB in a Super Bowl, was very good. Shows a lot of patience and knows how to handle a lot of situations for his youth. I felt the Seahawks had a really good D, but I didn't think it would get so out of hand. They really came to play. Although you can never be for sure about HS players, it would appear that the Illini did poorly in yesterday's signing. They seem to have loaded up on WR and DL. Jack, forget the Bears, Sox, Cubs, & Bulls for now. GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

That was an interesting fact in the Pantagraph. I used to read that section everyday. But I don't get the paper here anymore, so I miss that. Also the same type thing is in the Sports pages.

Great to hear Dave is doing good Suzi. Keep up the good fight.

Ya'll stay warm up there.

02/06/14 12:29 PM

#4252

Steve Frankenberger:

Hi. I used a different computer that doesn't have all of the info for our class on it.

Happy New Year, etc. Glad you're on the website. I hope you're doing well, .....old neighbor!

Linda

02/06/14 03:10 PM

#4253