Tuesday football: Potpourri

Caleb Hanie, the (unknown) future of the Bears.

Something I never thought I'd say:  "I miss Jay Cutler."

And, "We shouldn't have wished so hard for that."

To be fair, when we were booing, flaming, and otherwise disrespecting him, Jay Cutler hadn't been playing well.  We couldn't tell which was worse, Cutler or the linemen who were supposed to protect him.  After some nice preseason performances and a near-miracle in last year's Super Bowl semifinal, Caleb Hanie looked like a great alternative.

But then offensive coordinator Mike Martz finally justified the salary the Bears are giving him.  Finally abandoning his dream of recreating The Greatest Show on Turf, Martz shifted his emphasis onto workhorse running back Matt Forte, while convincing Cutler and his line to work much more closely.  It wasn't the machine Aaron Rodgers is running in Green Bay, but the Bears had finally generated an efficient offense.  For the first time, Bear fans could admit to actually liking Cutler.

Now that Cutler is out through the winter solstice, the Bears now depend on Hanie to see their run through to the playoffs.  Yes, he looked good when Cutler didn't, but he hadn't had to run an offense for two games that counted.  That changes this Sunday in Oakland.  Fingers are crossed from the Indiana exurbs of Merrillville and Michigan City all the way around to the Wisconsin line.  Brrrrr.

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Outlook not so bad:  Congratulations to the Los Angeles Galaxy on their latest Major League Soccer crown.  The latest question for the league comes from the status of David Beckham:  will he stay, or is it back to Europe for him?  Some columnists think that MLS still needs Beckham, but I disagree.

The problem with arguments like this one made by NBC Sports' Michael Ventre is that it assumes that the sport hasn't made any advances in the U.S. since Beckham joined the Galaxy five years ago.  Both the U.S. men's and women's teams made nice runs in their respective World Cup tournaments.  Well known (if aging) stars like Thierry Henry, Freddy Ljungburg, Rafael Márquez and Roy Keane have made real contributions in their new MLS homes.  Most importantly, expansion franchises have succeeded spectacularly in Philadelphia, Portland, Vancouver and especially Seattle.  All of that isn't going to suddenly disappear just because one particularly glamourous Englishman left his club in Los Angeles.

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Attention, SEC West woofers:  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  I know that LSU, Alabama and Arkansas are 1-2-3 in the BCS standings.  I can understand why you SEC West fans are whooping it up, trying to mock the rest of us.

And I hope this makes up for the fact that, in men's basketball, your little division completely missed March Madness last year.  Not a single SEC West team made the field of 68.

No, you can't count Texas A&M or Missouri.  Try again next year.

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Tuesday Football: Two quick impressions

Not loving el Tri's chances

Thanks to the Telemundo network, I caught most of the three friendly matches Mexico played in the U.S..  Well, I'm not impressed.  If the opponents were tougher, I wouldn't be so worried.  But scores of 0-0, 1-0 and 1-0 against Ecuador, Senegal and Angola?  If the Tricolores play like that next month, they'll crash out, hard, from Group A and the knockout stages.

Henry crossing over?

I'm not sure what to make of the reports that French national team striker Thierry Henry will leave Barcelona.  (Henry is pictured below and to the right, from his prime at Arsenal.)  If they're to be believed -- and Henry's word not -- he will be playing for the New York Red Bulls after the FIFA World Cup ends in July.  In that case, the soccer media will probably register him as just the latest aging star to "retire" to Major League Soccer.

The word "retirement" may be too strong for MLS:  it suggests that stars who come to the U.S. (and, increasingly, Canadian) league are at the end of their careers.  That was probably true when MLS started play in 1996, but the experiences of David Beckham and Cuauhtémoc Blanco in the last few years indicate otherwise.  Both men were past their prime when they started play for the Los Angeles Galaxy and Chicago Fire, respectively, but neither was at his end.  Blanco will be taking the field for Mexico in South Africa next month, while Beckham lasted almost long enough to play again for England.  If that holds form, and Henry does come Stateside, I expect that he'll have a couple of very good seasons in New York.

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