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I have sent multiple invites, but still do not have full leagues yet.  Currently we have two leagues open and here is what we have:

Windy City Gridiron League (Need 1)

Division 1

WCG's Team     
Clever Sports Pun   
Windy City Flyers         
Waddle's Brain Scamblers
   
Division 2

804   
Chitown Grizzlies          
furb's crew   
Spygate 2008   

Division 3

the mark carrier all-stars               
Give Cade Another Chance               
The Kyle Orton Fan Club

WCG Overflow League(need 6)

WCG's Team               
snley    snley   
GallopingGhost              
Lovie's Infallible Cannons

If you are interested, please get in contact with me ASAP.  We need to get these filled, so we can setup a draft date.

Thanks

Taking a look at this article it would suggest that Kevin Jones is not guaranteed a roster spot and whether he is will be based on his performance in the last two games.

It's not like there is a roster spot guaranteed for the former member of the Detroit Lions. Jones will test out his surgically repaired knee for the first time in a game and said he has as much to prove to himself as the team.

Jones is coming off of an injury, it might take some time to get back into the swing of things.  If the Bears were to cut Jones for anything other than another injury it would be a huge mistake.  We have a horrible line right now and our pass game isn't looking too great.  We are going to be relying on the run game to move this machine.  We need as many able bodies as we can get.  Rookie Matt Forte looks like he could be a feature back, but we don't know for sure.  The original Adrian Peterson is a special teams ace that is a backup at best and can be an occastional fill in.  Garrett Wolfe is only a situational back.  Kevin Jones is the only proven commodity we have.  He has high potential when he is healthy.  To cast him off because of bad performances behind a shotty line in pre season is irresponsible and blatantly ignoring the needs of the team.

I am keeping this off the main page, but it is big enough news that I wanted to point it out.  The Executive Director of the NFL Players Union has died from complications due to his fight with pancreatic cancer.

Upshaw was 63 and a Hall of Fame inductee having played for Oakland and Los Angeles from 1967 throughl 1981.

Upshaw had expressed interest in working until the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was in place.

Last year MLB Brian Urlacher publicly stated that his season would not be as good as normal without Dusty Dvorcek being on the line.  He praised Dvoracek's ability to eat up the front lines blocks allowing him to attack the runner.  Urlacher can be happy, because at least for now Dvoracek is back and will should see extensive playing time in tonight's game.

Dvoracek at his best is a disruptive force. The 6-foot-3-inch, 303-pound defensive lineman showed flashes during his short stint against the Chargers last season. He was credited with five tackles, including one for a loss, before suffering the ACL tear—while setting the wedge on special teams, no less.

"It was unfortunate how it happened," Dvoracek said, "but I don't think I'll be playing special teams anymore."

With the Bears now set at two skill positions (QB and RB, unless Kevin Jones comes out with a bang), the Bears need to decide who will line up with them.  Wide receiver Brandon Llyod still is gunning for the #1 spot.

Brandon Lloyd leads all Bears wideouts with 5 catches in the preseason, and his 56 yards are second on the team to tight end Kellen Davis' 80 (on 4 catches).

But Lloyd isn't taking anything for granted as he prepares for Thursday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers, the team that drafted him in the third round out of Illinois in 2003.

"I'm still searching," he said. "We'll find out when the preseason's over."

Indy QB Peyton Manning is still working toward an opening day start against the Bears.

"I've not really had a whole lot to say, to tell you the truth," he said. "As to when I'll be back on the practice field, that's still to be determined. Obviously, the sooner, the better for me. My goal is to be back for the first game."

The Colts are in one of if not the toughest division in the NFL, plus they have their annual New England Patriots battle.  They need to get the wins they are heavily favored in .  The Bears are helping the Colts open up their new stadium and starting backup Jim Sorgi would destroy any momentum they might build up.

Fooch from Niner's Nation was gracious enough to drop by and give us a run down on the state of the 49ers currently.  There a lot of names that will look familiar to you.  A number of us wildly endorsed the Bears going after Bryant Johnson.  He signed with San Fran and is currently injured.  Our name was once linked to Ashley Lelie, he also now plays for the 49ers and is also injured.  There current starting QB and the one we will see is J. T O'Sullivan.  Yes....that O'Sullivan.  The same one that was on the Bears NFL Europe squad and the one QB the Bears didn't start at some point over the last 3 years.  If he toasts us I don't know what I would do.  Here is what Fooch had to say:

The main story of 49ers camp as far as the rest of the world is concerned has been the 3-headed QB competition between J.T. O'Sullivan, Alex Smith and Shaun Hill.  Over the past few weeks it has quickly turned into the J.T. O'Sullivan show as JTO has started the first two preseason games and will start Thursday against the Bears.  That doesn't necessarily mean he's the best guy for the job, but it's somehow become his job almost by default (some of us think Mike Nolan just has a personal problem with Alex Smith).

The biggest non-QB story has been the emergence of rookie WR Josh Morgan, a 6th round pick out of Virginia Tech.  The former Hokie dropped in the draft due to character concerns, but he has been a revelation in camp.  Injuries to Bryant Johnson, Arnaz Battle and Ashley Lelie have changed Morgan's situation from competing for a roster spot to actually competing for a starting job.  He struggled a bit last week when covered by Charles Woodson and Al Harris (shocking, I know) so 49ers fans are curious to see what he does against the Bears #1s.

The 49ers will be putting together a bit of a patchwork offensive line due to injuries to their starting right tackle and left guard.  Barry Sims was signed to compete with and also be insurance for Jonas Jennings, who broke one of his knuckles last weekend.  Undrafted rookie free agent Brian De La Puente, a local boy who went to Cal will be filling in for injured left guard Adam Snyder.  De La Puente is a long shot to make the roster because of the numbers game but has had a very solid camp and could end up on the practice squad.

On defense, the 49ers had a vastly improved pass rush last weekend against the Packers, although they had some injury issues of their own on the offensive line.  If the 49ers could develop a consistent pass rush, it's reasonable to believe they could have a top 10 defense.  The secondary and linebacking corp is a strength (the addition of Takeo Spikes helps there), but will break down without a pass rush.

The Bears could expect some fireworks on special teams.  The 49ers punt and kickoff coverage has been spotty due to some short-term injuries to key special teamers.  I wouldn't be shocked to see one or two long returns from the Bears as both the Packers and Raiders have had long run backs on punts and kickoffs.  For their own returns, Allen Rossum apparently decided fair catches are for whimps and wants to run just about everything back.  He had a return for a touchdown last week, although it was late in the 4th quarter.

The 49ers are planning on sending their starters out into the third quarter although is for sure yet.  In spite of this, Frank Gore and Isaac Bruce are two guys who will probably not play beyond the first quarter, if history is any indicator.

Kevin Jones, who many believe will take over the role of Bears starting running back, will see his first action in this Thursday's pre season game.

He will still start the game as backup, but with a line that is letting everybody through, they may need to get him significant time in the next two games to have him ready come the regular season.

Kevin Jones is a more than capable starting running back, but cannot stay healthy.  If he can the Bears will find themselves with a very deep running back corp which they may need to off set a possibly very poor passing game.

In the offseason the Bears decided Israel Idonije would pack on some pounds to play defensive tackle this season.  He has and has responded well.  Looking very active in the 1st quarter of the second pre season game.  The Bears liked what they saw so much that they are going to move him???  With Mark Anderson getting thumb surgery the Bears may take a look at Idonije at defensive end against San Francisco.

Mark Anderson will miss the game after having minor surgery on his right thumb. The Bears are hopeful he will return in time for the regular season. In the meantime, they'll evaluate Idonije at end, where he has played previously. That's not good news for former second-round pick Dan Bazuin, who is hoping to stick as a backup to Adewale Ogunleye.

Idonije dominated the Seahawks' Steve Vallos, a seventh-round pick who was filling in at center for Chris Spencer, and made a power move past perennial Pro Bowl left tackle Walter Jones on one play. He had two tackles, one sack, one tackle for loss, two quarterback hurries and one deflected pass, all in limited playing time.

While it's difficult to imagine general manager Jerry Angelo cutting a second-round pick after one year, Bazuin still isn't fully recovered from a knee injury he suffered in rookie minicamp. It swells up from time to time. Complicating matters for him is the need for depth inside at tackle, where the Bears were overrun by injuries last season. If it comes down to keeping an extra interior lineman or an end, the Bears are going to look inside, and Idonije provides roster flexibility.

As a rookie Mark Anderson came out and tallied 12 sacks and a second place finish in the Defensive Player of the Year Award behind Houston's DeMeco Ryans.  He was then given the starting end spot over Alex Brown.  Since then he has a close to disastrous season, then was benched in favor of the man he once replaced, now he had to have some surgery.  The surgery was however minor.

Defensive end Mark Anderson has undergone minor surgery to repair his injured right thumb, coach Lovie Smith said. Anderson is out for Thursday's game vs. San Francisco and Smith didn't provide a timeline for a return, but tried to emphasize it was a minor procedure.

It is not uncommon for linemen both defensive and offensive to play with their hands almost completely wrapped up, so unless this is just to painful I wouldn't think it keeps him from any playing time outside of pre season.

This coming from Fanball.

Bernard Berrian told KFAN's Dan Barreiro Monday that the toe injury that kept him out of last week's preseason game is similar to turf toe and is something he dealt with last season while with the Bears, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. The receiver said he isn't sure if he'll play this Saturday in the Vikings' third preseason game and that he and the team are taking things "day-to-day." Berrian said he is receiving "a lot of treatment" for the injury and that he spent much of last season undergoing similar treatments.

I know two of the injuries that seem to linger for a long time are turf toe and high ankle sprains.  They seem minor, but players seem to have a significatly hard time getting over them.  I recall Deion Sanders missing about half a season with turf toe and he was not right for a few games after getting back.

Berrian has a second case of turf toe in the last two years.  Could this lead to other related injuries that could slow him down.  Did the Bears get rid of him before they were stuck with the headache?

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