OUCH

KAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-BOOM! that was the sound of the bears' season bottoming out with 9:50 remaining in the first half when JAY CUTLER suffered a torn groin muscle that was so painful, the tough guy couldn't finish the walk to the locker room.

as one who has been on both sides of this coin, i can tell you that he would need a minimum of three weeks IF i was only a pull BUT a tear means that cutler's season is basically over.  torn groins heal very slowly without benefit of sugery so don't expect cutler to be back until after thanksgiving if he ducks the knife.

even if it was "just" a pull, those injuries tend to linger and affect the way you walk and run which normally results in other injuries. a perfect example: PEANUT TILLMAN hurt his groin 4 weeks ago and he continues to favor it while playing but now he's dinged up with both knee & ankle issues and i guarantee you they're related. COACH MARC TRESSMAN said yesterday of cutler's injury "it's just a groin." he's about to learn about understating a injury.

and today we also learned that LANCE BRIGGS is gone for six weeks with an injured shoulder. with one of the worst defenses in the league, losing your best player spells absolute doom for the season. at the end of the game, did you know every name mentioned on defense?  me neither. they finish at 6-10 and a whole bunch of free agents at the end of the season.

JIM LEYLAND was woefully outmanaged in the ALCS and announced his retirement today.  the game has passed leyland by and it was definitely time to hang em up.  how do you pull MAX SCHERZER with a 2-1 lead in a 'go home' game? the answer is ....you don't.  you stick with your stud. send the chain smoking leyland a carton of cigarettes as a retirement gift.

BOSTON-ST. LOUIS.....two old time teams. i love it. more later.