A day of ups and downs.

It started out as a fairly typical Thursday, nothing particularly exciting. My physical therapy wasn't until 11:30, so I could bum around the house in my workout clothes and do work on the computer. Good stuff. It was Kleveland Kim's birthday, so I called to wish her a happy day. More good stuff. I also had to call my car insurance company and file a claim on a nasty dent on my passenger side doors. That wasn't fun.

PT was really tough as I was pretty tired still from working out on Wednesday night with my core class, the eliptical and lifting some weights.

Then it was off to Calumet City (think far south side and near Indiana) for a wake. The faterh of my good buddy, Dotty (my gay friend from L.A.), passed away and the wake was today. Dotty and I worked together for many years at Morningstar and still have many mutual friends. It was good to see him, but sad to think about his father passing. Good to see his sister, whom I also know, but sad to see his mom lose her husband. Good to see some of those mutual friends at the wake. Sad to say goodbye.

The roller coaster day continued though as I met the GF for dinner at Trattoria #10 (a nice Italian restaurant downtown in the theater district) and then to see Rent. The lead in this production actually went to GF's high school, Joliet West, and she even met him once (he's 3 years older). Even in high school he was doing movies and such. My main comment on the show was that there was too much singing. Yes, I'm aware that it was a musical and don't be snippy with me. Wicked, Mama Mia, Spamalot and Miss Saigon were also musicals, but they didn't sing every single line. Everything through intermission was sung and it seemed a bit forced if you ask me. They should change some to dialogue and it would make it much better. In general though, a good show.

Finally, THE BEARS SIGNED JAY CUTLER!!!! Not to mention Orlando Pace (a future hall of fame offensive lineman). For Cutler and a fifth round pick this year, the Bears gave up a first round pick this year, our first round pick next year, our third round pick this year and Kyle Orton. A steep price, but I think he makes our offense much better and that will make our defense better.

You have to understand the context of this trade. We were bidding against probably 10 other teams for Cutler and five of those were very serious and had more to offer or money to spend (especially after Denver said they didn't need a QB in return). One of those teams was Detroit. If you're Denver and your QB demands a trade, what better team to trade him to than the 0-16 Lions? That would teach him. Plus the Lions had the #1 pick, the #20 and the #33 pick. It wouldn't be a great fit for the Lions though as they need MUCH more than just a QB. Minnesota with a bonafide QB would have been deadly though. The Jets? An instant contender for the division. Washington? They absolutely have the money to spend as they have shown in the past, but their lack of draft picks this year hurt their offer.

Does Cutler walk on water? In Chicago, he just might. Cutler is a bonafide franchise quarterback, the likes of which we have not seen since Sid Luckman. Mind you, I'm not nuts about throwing Orton in because I actually like Orton and pre-injury last year, he was playing pretty well, but it was the richness of our offer that got the deal done and done quickly. Kudos to Jerry Angelo. I ride Angelo like a pony for most of the stupid shit he does, but today was a great day for him and the Bears.

Isn't three top draft picks too much for one guy? You would think that wouldn't you? For MOST teams it would be. Why is it different for the Bears? Because our top draft picks suck. They're mostly just awful and they get paid a lot of money to be awful. At least this way Angelo doesn't have to worry about screwing up another first round pick for two years!! Other teams could have selected three quality starters with those picks, much like Denver will, but the Bears would be lucky to get one! Hell, our third round pick last year was a wide receiver and he couldn't crack the line-up on the team with the worst receiving corps in football! Turns out he couldn't learn the plays. Really?? That's unfucking-believeable. Our first round pick had to have surgery to fix his back. Really?? You spend your first round pick on an offensive lineman with a bad back? The guy who has to push 350 pound monsters away from your quarterback every play. Nice decision.

So while it might SEEM like we gave up a lot, the reality is that the Bears were only ever going to get a franchise quarterback by somehow taking someone else's, because we can't develop WR's and lineman here, much less QB's. And that's what Angelo did today. So good for him!!