http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sp...bears-headlines</p> <font color="#0000ff">Some of us still are trying to figure out what Lovie Smith's threshold for poor behavior is when it comes to his players. Is there anything that makes him mad? Does it take a felony? Or would, say, four misdemeanors and a Denver boot do the trick? What about some combination of speeding tickets, court fines and a citizen's arrest? Would that bring a snarl to his lip? Tank Johnson's problems with guns, pit bulls and late-night carousing didn't seem to hack off the Bears coach publicly in any appreciable way. Smith acted more like a disappointed favorite uncle. Ricky Manning Jr.'s troubles with the law brought bouquets of forgiveness from Smith. Lance Briggs totals his car the other morning, abandons it, calls 911 to say it has been stolen, then calls back to say, no, it hasn't—and Smith doesn't blink, unless it's to wipe away a tear of thanksgiving that air-bag deployment wasn't necessary. But ask Smith if he had inquired of his linebacker whether alcohol might have been involved in the one-car accident in the wee hours, and the guy gets snippy and dismissive with reporters. If I'm a Bear, I'm looking into forgery and embezzlement as a way to supplement my salary. I'm deer hunting out of season to put food on the table. I'm getting into racketeering just to be able to get an up-close approximation of Tony Soprano. Imagine the positive public response if, for once, Smith said he was getting sick of dealing with these problems. Imagine the relief some people would feel if Smith said: "This is just ridiculous. Being a professional athlete is not a license to behave badly. I'm tired of looking like a fool while trying to make excuses for these guys." All Smith seems to imagine is that he will lose the respect of his players if he publicly criticizes them for not acting like men. So we get this from the Lovester about the reports involving Briggs: "Hearsay, I don't go on a lot of that."</font> </p> Man, why the hell would Lovie get up and say that? How about a third, non-paper selling approach... "My job is to coach the bears, not worry about what these turkeys do on their own time unless it somehow relates to the team. And this doesn't." </p>
Re: Lovie Smith an I'm sick and tired of columnists declaring themselves moral compasses. Everyone single one of them wants to position themselves to get onto one of those crappy shows that have ruined ESPN.
Re: Lovie Smith an I don't know that there was an explicit declaration of moral authority, it seems more implicit. And I, for one, resent it, unless the writer is me!
