BLACK MONDAY LOOMS

As we prepare to say good-bye to MARC TRESSMAN & his assistants, one has to wonder....who's next? fans are screaming for a trifecta of head chopping but i'm afraid we're stuck with GM PHIL EMERY and JAY CUTLER for a while longer. the bears don't mind paying tressman the final year of his contract for doing nothing but cutler and emery both have multiple years left on their deals so you'll have to be satisfied with a body count of one. WHO'S NEXT?

REX RYAN?........... still young at 52 but a 45-50 record with the jets and no playoff appearances since 2010 makes one pause. maybe too bombastic for the maccaskey family.

JIM HARBAUGH?........51 years of age but his ship is sailing towards michigan and it will take about eight million dollars to make it change course.

DAVE TOUB?............ also 52, he was the bears special teams coach and highly successful during his tenure in chicago.  passed over last time when lovie was fired so he left for kansas city where he still runs special teams. never a head coach.

MIKE SHANAHAN?.........62 and a local boy with two super bowl rings in his pocket from his days in denver but bellied up in washington with a 24-40 record.  is 62 too old to be a head coach when it involves a total overhaul of the program?

DERRELL BEVELL....only 44 but coaches the lethal seattle offense and was a quarterback in college. never a head coach.

TODD BOWLES?.......51 and recently signed a three year extension as defensive coordinator with the arizona cardinals but all assistant's contracts have escape clause for a head coaching job. however, bowles appears to be very content working for bruce arians, who, as we all know, was passed over for marc tressman.

feel free to enter your own choice because i'm confused.  the best candidates seem to be defensive coaches but don't you need an offensive guy for cutler?  

or do you trade cutler after you hire the defensive guy? and there are teams who would love cutler as their quarterback, namely the jets, rams, titans and maybe even the browns. i'd be very happy with a couple of draft choices and let's start over.

the CHICAGO BULLS are starting to fire on all cylinders as they continue to get healthy and run down all the teams that were ahead of them in the east. three weeks ago they were the seventh seed in the eastern conference but after winning 10 of 12 and currently six in a row, they're now fourth and just two games from the top seed.

in their division, they lead cleveland by three and have double digit leads on two others after only two months of play.  STAY HEALTHY and we're going to have some fun in may & june.

the BLACKHAWKS are also running wild and are mirroring the success of the bulls.  seventh in the conference standings at the start of the month, they're now second and only two points behind anaheim for the top seed in the west............and home ice advantage throughout the playoffs.  the hawks have shrugged off lenghty injuries to PATRICK SHARP and the drunken COREY CRAWFORD with incredible depth and a great goaltending situation.

in their division, which is the toughest in hockey, they finally passed the teams that were red hot coming out of the gate and now the cream continues to rise to the top. again, STAY HEALTHY and we'll have some fun in may & june.

the cubs banged the drum when they signed a manager and a pitcher but the WHITE SOX brought the full symphony orchestra with their signings.  baseball in chicago might be interesting enough to where people actually watch a game or two in april & may.  maybe.

finally, will notre dame embarrass themselves again in a bowl game? we'll all find out on tuesday afternoon when they take on LSU in the music city bowl.

THAT'S IT FOR NOW.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!