Kristina's Blog

Thank you, Chicago Bears “Fans”

First and foremost, I’d like to start off by thanking the Bears “fans,” who have inspired me to once again write - something I haven’t done in close to one year. You are the ones publicly denouncing Jay Cutler, the ones who also believed the Bears would be 4-12 on the season, the ones burning jerseys in front of your kids (classy, by the way).

You blame Cutler on the Bears’ failures. Let’s analyze this theory. The man rarely had a chance to make a big play, but when he did have that opportunity, he was usually successful. I mean, the first half of the season, the Bears’ offensive line could have been replaced with 100-pound girls and the results would have been the same. They didn’t do their job, plain and simple. Cutler was sacked 52 times during this regular season. 52 times! I sure as hell would not want to show up for anything if my protection was that poor. These men are paid hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions, and they allow their quarterback to be sacked 52 times?! 52 sacks over 16 games is just over 3 sacks per game. If this was the real world, and these were real jobs, these men would have been fired. If an assistant or support staff (O line) makes an average of three mistakes at his job per week, and makes that kind of money, I guarantee you he would not have lasted 16 weeks. It is just ridiculous.

Let’s look at the NFC Championship game versus the Packers. Again, Cutler is to blame, or Cutler has no heart. Why aren’t we blaming the defense, who allowed the Packers to run all over them the first half?! Rodgers went 4-4 over 7 plays to lead the Packers 84 yards down the field to a touchdown. That’s a great way to start the game, defense, by giving up an average of 12 yards per play.

Tim Jennings should have been pulled from the game immediately after his first defensive pass interference penalty, which was good for a Packers first down and a gain of 23 yards. Oh yea, this play was made on 3rd down. But I did say his FIRST defensive pass interference penalty. There was an additional penalty, good for another 15 yards and another Packers first down. 38 yards worth of penalties on two plays by one player is completely unacceptable.

Have any of you out there even played sports, or had an injury?! It’s not fun, let me tell you. You want to play and want to help, but you need to understand that played injured is simply not smart. As for his knee injury, he suffered this during the game. There is no way to test it during the game or know the severity during the game. You just can’t risk your career when you simply don’t know. Anyone who has ever injured their knee, especially an ACL or MCL, knows that while you may be able to stand and move it, you can’t jump, and you can’t move as quick as you would like. That being said, Cutler was not the man to be in the game. We needed a quarterback more concerned with playing the game than hoping he doesn’t get hit the wrong way and completely blow his knee. I agree Cutler should have left the game. A knee injury is a great way to end a career - point and case Gale Sayers.

As for the backlash against Cutler - no one is forcing you to be a Bears fan. Go elsewhere. Your whiny ways are simply annoying to us true Bears fans - true Chicago fans at that. We understand that in a game, there will be winners and there will be losers. If we don’t win, it’s not the end of the world. There is always next year, and the year after that, and the year after that. We don’t go crying and burning jerseys or other memorabilia - that’s not a true fan. It’s disappointing, yes. But it’s life. Suck it up.

Finally!

Finally!  Scumbag, I mean former police sergeant, Drew Peterson, has been taken into custody.  He has been charged with murdering his third ex wife.

It is about time.  The death looked suspicious from the beginning, but nothing happened until his fourth wife, Stacy Peterson, disappeared.  An autopsy was conducted on the third ex wife’s body and accidental death became murder.

Stacy is still missing.  She has been gone for over a year and a half.  Peterson maintains she left him for another man.  Her family says she would never leave her young children.  Now that Peterson is being held, maybe answers will come.

I believe Peterson is a lying sack of you-know-what.  I hope that he gets what he deserves, which is a conviction and a long, slow, painful death - perhaps even at the hands of another inmate.  Yes, this might be cruel, but the man is convicted of killing one woman and being married to another who has disappeared.  The state should not pay for him to sit and rot away, waiting for either his natural death or the death penalty.  This cocky piece of dirt, once found guilty, of course, needs to leave.

I am sick of hearing about him in the media, and I hope his new fiance takes this to heart and leaves him.  She needs something to happen - she doesn’t seem to be very bright.  Hopefully this is her chance to find someone else and remain alive for as long as she possibly can.

Goodbye Peterson.  I hope you get what you deserve, and then some.

So, so soon

Less than one week and I am done with classes for the semester.  Being a transfer student, I have many senior semesters under my belt.  At the end of this one, I’ll have four, to be exact.

I like school, I enjoy learning, but I cannot wait to graduate in December.  I have my dreams and aspirations, and they can’t come true without that little piece of paper.  I haven’t been this close to graduating before.  My first senior semester, I knew I was going to transfer.  I knew that would be the first of many senior semesters.

Well, here I am.  About to go onto my truly final senior semester.  I have potential jobs and sources lined up already.  It is wonderful.  I just have those four classes to get through first.

Bring it, fifth and final senior semester.  Bring it on.

Oh the Slaughter

This Saturday marked the first and only lengthy road trip with the Chicago Slaughter pro indoor football team. I intern with the team, and on April 18, we took the team bus to play in Fort Wayne, Ind.

I’m not sure how long the road trip actually was.  The bus driver first took the wrong way to pick up players from Hammond, Ind., so we had to backtrack a few miles.  Then, there is that pesky one hour time change. We also stopped at a “Golden Corral” buffet for lunch, and stayed for around 45 minutes.

Upon finally arriving at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum, we had watched two full movies, Step Brothers and Grandma’s Boy.  That gauges the trip somewhat.

Inside, I was the only Slaughter media to attend the game.  I spent the pregame getting notes together and interviewing Slaughter players.  During the game, I sat up in the press box with the coaches and players who didn’t dress for the game.

Post game, I had to scramble to write the game summary, send it out to the media, and make the necessary phone calls to get our scores read on the nightly news.  It was kind of overwhelming!

The ride back was fun as well.  The team won so they were loud and rowdy, which made for a seemingly quicker ride home.  Movies played but few watched them.  We got home around 2:30 a.m.

I noticed the story I wrote was posted, unedited, on the team website.  That made me feel good.  I am trusted enough to not only be sent as the only media to an away game, but that they posted my story.

I feel as though I’m on my way!

EveryBlock

I currently live in the suburbs, but last year I had my own place in the city.  I looked up my former zip code, 60625, to see what I could come up with.

Less than one block from my former apartment, I found an aggravated assault crime report.  That floored me!  The case was domestic, which sadly makes me feel better, but that was such a quiet little mixed neighborhood, complete with young families and elderly grandparents.  Assault with a knife/cutting instrument in my former neighborhood still shocks me.

Thankfully, along with the assault charge, I found a domestic battery charge.  At least the victim did something about the attack.  In this day and age, too many victims are taking back their attackers.  I don’t know anything more about the case, but at least this victim took the necessary steps to make life safer.

Otherwise, all I could really find in my former area were simple property transfers or restaurant reviews.  Looking at this site made me miss my old apartment.

Chicago Slaughter

Well, as many of you know, I intern with the Chicago Slaughter pro indoor football team in Hoffman Estates.  I spend all day Tuesday in the office, along with Thursday mornings and the occasional Saturday, provided the team doesn’t have a game.

Game days are my favorite.  Gee, I wonder why?!  I plan to devote my post-college life writing about sporting events and players, so attending games and having nearly unlimited access to players is incredible.

The team is 5-0 thus far, although it seems everyone in the league is out to get us.  Our league is the Continental Indoor Football League.  It isn’t as high as the Arena Football League or the Arena 2 League (AF2).  Usually, players cut from AFL or AF2 come to the CIFL.  This year, the AFL is not in existence.  Now, the Slaughter is the only indoor football team in Chicago.  Players from the AFL team the Chicago Rush have signed with us.  We have the best team in the league, by far.

After winning the first game by 60 points, we have noticed other teams have taken quite a few cheap shots at us, or have hit us after the play is dead.  This is somewhat uncalled for.

Most recently, our quarterback, former Rush QB Russ Michna, had one record taken away.  Keep in mind this is his first year in this league, during the fifth game, Michna tied a league record by throwing eight touchdown passes and passing for 305 yards.

Now, the league is saying he only threw seven passes - one touchdown pass was in fact a lateral.  This also takes away two passing yards.  While Michna still holds the league record with passing yards at 303, I quite honestly think the league only reviewed his touchdown passes because we are the Slaughter.

We are the best team in the league.  We now hold two league records (Kicker Chris Nendick holds the record for most PAT kicks with 12), and are well on our way to breaking or at least tying many more.

The league can’t hold us back.  As much as they try, and as unfair as it may seem to other teams, the Rush stars came to us.  When the AFL folded, the CIFL teams should have made a stronger push for their local AFL players.  The cheap shots are unnecessary.  With the Rush players taking a pay cut to play for the Slaughter, injury is the last thing they want.  They are clearly playing for the love of the game.

I end my rambling with this… The Slaughter has not played well away.  This weekend, they play at Fort Wayne, where I will be the only Slaughter media personnel in attendance.  I need the good luck wishes just as much as the team does.  I’m finally living my dream, and to be honest, I’m quite nervous!

Podcasts

To be quite honest, I’ve never listened to a podcast on my own.  At Illinois State a few years ago, one of my classes involved us listening to “This American Life.”

The class was an introductory course to journalism.  It was an elective just to see if i enjoyed journalism and if I should completely change my major from education.

It was over 18 months ago that I took this intro course.  I don’t remember exactly which episodes we listened to, but we listened to around five during the semester.  Once again, I remember why we listened to them either, just standard for the course.

I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to podcasts.  I enjoy listening to music and not so much people talking.  Don’t get me wrong, there’s a fine art to a podcast, but it just doesn’t appeal to me.

I suppose I would find some sort of sports podcasts and listen to those.  ESPN Fantasy Focus Baseball or EPSN Daily Radio podcasts sound interesting to me, and if I begin listening to podcasts, I would start with something along those lines.

Interning

I intern with the Chicago Slaughter indoor football team, based out of Hoffman Estates.  I am a sports writing and reporting major, and I intern in the media department.  It’s pretty much perfect.

The internship is extremely time consuming.  I spend about 15 hours per week in the front office.  On game days, I spend about seven hours at the arena covering games and doing whatever media-related “stuff” needs to be done.

I have learned quite a bit so far.  It is a very eye-opening experience.  I had some good and some bad experiences.  On a trip up to Madison, I saw how terrible some arenas and situations are.  For example, the home team didn’t supply a stats person, the arena was in terrible condition, workers didn’t know what was going on and no one was helpful.

The field was clearly borrowed from another team because the logo was spray painted out in each end zone.  The sponsors from the one team were simply taped over, even if the ad was in the middle of the field.  I am absolutely shocked that there were no ankle injuries that game.

However, everything I am learning will be applied in the very near future.  I graduate in December and hope to get a job as soon as I can.  And I would love to work with a pro sports team.  I just hope that by the time the season is over, I take away even more from the team and have had a chance to build my portfolio.

Spring break??

Today marks my official end to spring break. I feel as though I have accomplished nothing.

I spent the first weekend of break on the road with the football team I intern with. The team played up in Madison, Wisc., so I took the team bus up to the game. The game was quite an experience, and not necessarily in a good way. That is a whole different story though.

During the week, I worked at both my part time job and had office hours at my internship. I had another football game at the end of spring break, but luckily it was a home game. The downside of the game being at home was that I had to be at the arena six hours early to help prep the field and arena.

Free time? Break time? It was nearly nonexistent. It was supposed to be my time to catch up on homework. Much to my luck, my one day with absolutely no work or office hours happened to be the day I was home alone and my cable and internet went out. I ended up spending most of the day on the phone trying to get everything fixed. It was a bit of a pain.

Now, I head to class tonight. I feel still slightly behind in most classes - definitely more in some than in others. I am hoping this first week is relatively easy. I still have a lot to do and I hope I can get it done.