Thanksgiving Leftovers To Ponder

 Don't think I missed anything important while over the pond for a couple of weeks. But a few things to catch up of note since Thanksgiving.

Those loveable losers, the Chicago Bears, fired yet another coach, sending Mike Eberflus packing. This is a franchise with some talented players on the roster, and among their many loses (8-4) are six by just a single score -- so it's clear the desire and fight is there. Yet the Bears can't get out of their own way. In a stretch while the Green Bay Packers have had three quarterbacks (Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Jordan Love), Da Bears have had nearly 40! Their latest, Caleb Williams, has ability. He desperately needs good coaching.

The Luke Fickell era, just two years old, stands at a 13-13 record after the Wisconsin Badgers posted their first losing season since 2001 at 5-7. 

The Badgers went gently into that good night, wrapping up the season with a horrific 5-game losing streak, the longest since 1991 and the early, early years of the Barry Alvarez run. Wisconsin ended a streak of 22 straight bowl appearances (some notable, some so-so, but a post-season game is still just that). 

Perhaps Fickell regrets going with Phil Longo and his vaunted "Air Raid Offense", maybe the worst thing to hit Camp Randall since Don Morton and his "explosive veer offense" that never did explode. Fickell let Longo go after the 16-13 loss to top-ranked Oregon, a game the Badgers had in hand had just a little offense shown up. A Badger win in that game and things might have gone in a different direction the rest of the year.

Don't expect Wisconsin to fire Fickell, even after this disastrous season. The reason is money, as the school would owe him nearly $34 million. Do expect a lot of portal movement, with players leaving early or recruits jumping ship after committing to the program. Can't blame them. 

Fickell will need to make some major changes to his coaching staff if Wisconsin is going to rebound from this 5-7 season.

Thought I was a pretty hard-core football fan, but will take a back seat to a pair of Philadelphia Eagles fans we met on our excursion. We learned that the Eagles were playing a Thursday night game while we were in a time zone that put the game at 2a or so.

At dinner, Jack and Theresa told the story of following the game via cell phone -- and trying not to wake the partner on the other side of the bed, only to learn said partner was ALSO following the game via cell phone. That's just too funny, and their telling the tale was even better.

I said in an earlier blog (Sept. 23rd, to be exact) that Pat Murphy of the Milwaukee Brewers should be crowned NL Manager Of The Year. Lo and behold, that prediction came true. And while the Brewers have lost some pieces, expect Murphy & Co. to reload and challenge for the NL Central Title again. This is team is too young and talented not to.