The Big Con

  At first, the firing of Jerry Angelo as Bears General Manager left me drunk with glee.  Finally, the Bear organization and its new leader, George McCaskey, had embraced the concept of accountability.  But as the hours tick towards another day, the picture becomes all the more clearer.  First off, the massive house cleaning wasn't done by George McCaskey.  No, he gave Ted Phillips the pistol and Phillips was the one who did the whacking.  Gone are GM Jerry Angelo, offensive coordinator Mike Martz and quarterbacks coach Shane Day.  Now here's the question that Bear nation should be asking itself.  Were these sacrifices made for the sake of simply looking official?  I'm reminded of the old saying... look busy and do nothing.  The Bears looked busy but what have they done?  Well, they gave the fanbase some scalps in order to placate them.  That's what the Bears organization does, it placates its fan base; nothing more.  If Ted Phillips really wanted to get the attention of the Bears fan base, he would've swept out head coach Lovie Smith as well.  Then George McCaskey should've lowered the boom on Ted Phillips.  Instead, this is just another shell game being run by the Bears organization and believe me, they're the masters of the old slight of hand.  Didn't we feel this way when Wannie was launched?  And what did we get?  We got Dick Jauron?  And when the Jauron era mercifully ended what did we get?  We got Lovie Smith.  Hoo.  Ray.  It's the same old same old.  Bear nation will be happy until they realize that it's just a con.  According to George McCaskey, Lovie Smith will remain the head coach and the power structure will remain as is at Hallas Hall.  Which means..... these so called winds of change don't really represent any form of significant change at all.  Believe me, the full depth of this con job will be revealed once Tim Ruskell gets uncle Jerry's old job as GM and the usual no name assistant is hired to be the offensive coordinator and or Jay Cutler's newest punching bag.  Real change means that the whole organization is restructured.  Real change means the hiring of a proven GM with an eye for talent evaluation.  Real change means the hiring of a proven football coach.  One, preferably, that is a true tactician and lacks that annoying air of self delusion that seems to be Lovie Smith's calling card in many respects.  Well, at least the Bears fired someone.  I was worried that the organization was becoming reminiscent of the film Office Space.  Then again, Jerry Angelo was allowed to stumble and bumble his way through nine years of wasted drafts picks and desperate free agent deals.  Only in Lake Forest is this tolerated.  But uncle Jerry is gone now and the Smith/Ruskell era should begin shortly.  I'm sure that Aaron Rodgers and Matt Stafford won't sleep a wink tonight.