Full Court Press

The Bears should let the contract run its course and if the Bears win the Superbowl give him a blank check, if not, let him go. His blind loyalty to Grossman calls into question his judgement regarding what is best for the team.

The Bears success these past two years has been due to Angelo (and his staff) finding good players, and their failures have been due to short-sighted game plans (that do not change regardless of how badly the game is going) and giving certain players a free pass as far as required performance (ie. Grossman).

I watched the Superbowl last night for the first time since seeing it live and my impressions were exactly the same as when I first saw it.

Anyone, ANYONE, who doesn't think the Bears lost that game because of Grossman has no clue as to how you win football games in the NFL. And the reason he was allowed to play that poorly in the most important game of the year was due to Lovie.

Again, the Bears' successes couldn't have anything to do with the coaching staff, but those failures couldn't have anything to do with anyone but Lovie.

Riiiiiiight.

Smith must be asking for ridiculous, Steve Spurrier-type money if they still haven't ironed out a contract extension. At this point, I hope he has a winning season next year and leaves anyway.

(You mean to tell me Angelo's made good personnel moves? Maybe on defense.)

So are you saying that Lovie had nothing to with the Bears success the past 2 seasons? If I understand you correctly, you're saying that the Bears were successfull because of Angelo's picks? OKAY!!! Look at the Giants the past 3 years. Would you not agree that they've had some of the best talent the past 3-4 years and only made the playoffs once the past 3 years? Same with the Falcons, Panthers, and Vikings? If the Bears were 9-7, or 8-8 and failed to make the playoffs the past couple of years would you not've said the same thing? The problem with fans like you, is you are never happy. I'll tell you what, how about the Bears go 12-4 make it back to the NFC championship game and lose. Are you saying that the Bears should let him go, just because the team didn't win the Superbowl? That is the prime example of what I said about people never quite excepted Lovie as the coach in Chicago. I really don't believe that if the Bears HAD won the SB, anyone would've gave him that much credit anyway. Forget about Grossman inconsistantcies, or the Tank Johnson thing, or the Defense slide during the second half of the season. NFL Head Coaches are measured by wins and Losses, and The past 2 years Lovie has compiled one of the better records in the league, not to mention a SB trip. I guarantee you that if the Bears mess this up, it will be one of major F' ups in sports history. All he has done is help make this franchise better since he came here, but people been talking about firing him. Maybe African American Coaches are held to a higher standard than their white counter parts. I didn't want to believe that, but if the Bears don't get this done, and fans in chicago are still not happy with what Lovie has done, then what else is there to believe?

I measure my head coaches by NFL championships, where's Lovie's? He's 0 for 2 in Superbowls. Am I satisfied, no I am not, nor should you or any other Bears fan.

Following your logic about what is important, we should fire Lovie and hire Marty Schottenheimer since he has over 200 regular season wins.

It is because of fans that are willing to accept being second best, that we have the Bears teams that we have had for the last 20 years.

I read somewhere that no team has come back the next year and won a Superbowl, after losing one, since the Dolphins in 1972. And no Superbowl loser has come back to even play in the Superbowl the next year since the Bills in 1994.

This illustrates the point that the Bears blew a huge opportunity because they played Grossman. Whose fault is that.....Lovie's.

I just don't get it. Could the Bears actually let Lovie go too? The Bears games I watched this season featured a dominating defense and great coaching. They also featured a quarterback that made the enitre city feel faint every time he dropped back to pass (provided he handled the snap cleanly, of course). When Rex was good, he was fun to watch. When he was bad, it was really ugly. But Ron Rivera is dispensible, and now so is Lovie? But not Rex Grossman? I thought Lovie was right in defending Rex all season, it was all for Rex's confidence anyway. He had to feel let down by his QB's performance in the Super Bowl - everyone did. If Lovie had made the switch to Brian Griese, I don't think the outcome would have been any different. And how much better would Griese have been in the regular sesaon? He was not the answer. The answer is to find a way to keep one of the best coaches in the NFL in Chicago and find a quarterback we can all have confidence in.

Before you put out this blog I went on a tirade on the Rivera blog and just about everything I said fit on this blog. Why is it that Lovie can't be paid what the going rate for coaches who take his team to the Superbowl even without a win? I think that there are more people who think like the right field fans at Wrigley than anything. I already know what the problem is and I think it's a g--damn shame. Why is it that a brother has to do cart wheels and everything else to please the fans in this city. When Grossman's biggest blunder brought out 500 plus bloggers you actually had people comparing Lovie to Dusty. Why was that. Let me see... This city when it comes to sports fans do have a problem with men of color. I hate to say it but it's true. I'm not just talking about black men it's hispanic players too. For every person who loves Ron Santo as a former player there are still some who appreciated Sosa,even now. Why did the love for him turn bitter so fast. He was basically the same player through out his time here .Why did he turn into a pariah so fast? NOT all fans are that way. And there are way more who do give everyone the benefit of the doubt regardless of color. But there are some who just don't like a minority or non-white person. Then they add all these criterias and make them sound stupid or something. "He's not tough.He's not vocal. He sit there with a stupid look on his face when his players are making mistakes". If a brother blew his stack at the little things you'd run him out of town for that. If Lovie grabbed a white player like Ditka grabbed Moorehead some of you would be up in arms.You'd say he was out of control. Let me tell you from experience(not mine):they lock a brother up for just yelling at their kids in public. One man's tough is another man's nuisance. Save the "oh he's playing the race card". Ask any brother on this blog where he thinks that most negativity towards Lovie come from. This town has a serious problem with how it is perceived with it's relationship towards minority players. How many superstar from all sports pass this town up and go play in Siberia instead of these fickle fans. For every Payton or Jordan there is 5 or 6 people who will tell you that they were never treated 1/5 as well as those two were. A lot of people just think this is a city full of hateful and vengeful fans. Now I see why the Saints fans feel better because we failed at the Super bowl. If it's karma like they say,let me out of here. You are really about to get what you poisonous lot are putting out. Some of it is well deserved. If Ditka signed as many contracts as he did with this team and stayed as long as he did, it had to come with adequate compensation. Winning the Superbowl sure took him through a lot of ordinary finishes.The McCaskeys have always been cheap. This is nothing new. I just think with Lovie they are parroting what they think won't be a public relations blunder. They know that the negative response will be over shadowed by the idiot fan who will tell them it was the right thing to do. Even a coach taking his team to a 10-6 record after the 3 years he had here will be perceived as a failure by these fickle fans. We're off to see the wizard yet again. Every coach we've had in the past 40 years was fired and left. Why is it that Lovie has to have his contract expire and then move on to greener pastures? If the BEARS really felt that fans would be fed up with losing a good coach and really rebel,they wouldn't let it get this far. Didn't Wannstaedt and Jauron get re-upped contracts after showing no where as much success as Lovie has shown. If Ditka was the lowest paid coach after the Superbowl there would've been a small rebellion in this city. Who cares if we didn't win. We've been losing more than football games in this city for a long time. Some one explain the standards where all of us are awarded and rewarded with equal merits. Man ,sometimes ,I really dislike this city. I've seen players like Sandberg, who walked away from millions, never go through the negativity that some players went through. He wasn't half the player he was when he came back and no one made his life hell like they did other players. People say that they get tired of backing a team that is always losing. I'm tired of backing teams that are obvious losers in more places than the win/loss column.

Lovie shouldn't feel bad because some of you measure a coach by winning championships. By that definition there are a WHOLE lot of losers out there as coaches. How many active coaches never won a Superbowl? Why are they being paid like there are? If we got rid of Lovie what championship winning coach are they gonna pay championship money to come here. You're gonna get an unproven guy who sign for peanuts like Lovie did who'll give you the years that the last two coaches did. Firing him won't get you Cowher or anyone else. It Cowher 14 years to win a Superbowl. Why can't we have a guy in place that takes that amount of time to win a Superbowl? Patience is a virtue it's just not in most BEARS fan vocabulary. Hard headed,shallow and dullards comes to my mind because that's what they are.

JohnF: the Bears have had a tough past 20 years because they haven't had any consistency on offense. For that matter, this season is the only season the Bears have actually been second best; by your logic, we should fire Lovie because he didn't win the Super Bowl right away.

Schottenheimer's case is actually a perfect example of why Lovie should get a contract extension: do you really believe Norv Turner is a better coach? Let's look at Marty's playoff losses: "The Drive," an Ernest Byner fumble, a kicker who misses five kicks, a Kaeding choke, and (this year) a defensive back who can't control his temper (or the ball). He was robbed in San Diego; he's got one more good stretch left in him, and when he comes back, he's gonna be hungry. If Lovie is so horrible, what coach would you rather have? Bill Parcells? Pete Carroll? Dennis Green? (Actually, Dennis Green's another great coach who deserves at least one more shot, but that's another story...).

Sticking with a coach who has improved his team's won-loss record each year is not settling for second best; it's understanding that building a championship team takes time.

Oh, and just about everything William said is exactly right, which I know makes me even more popular.

Cue the white privilege denial posse; bring it on, fellas!

JohnF,

I can understand your hunger for championships, however the Bears weren't in any realistic position to win ANY championship until Lovie arrived here. Part of me really hope the Bears do what you say. I really would like to see the Bears hold onto the $$$, let Lovie play out the final year of his contract, and realisticly the Bears could go 12-4 next year. I really hope they win the SB but that would be really hard this day in age. If they don't make it, I hope they let Lovie go. Then we'll see his value. You never miss a good thing until its gone. And all this Lovie-fired-Ron-Rivera-because-he-was-afraid-Rivera-was-going-to-take-his-job is straight up bull. If Ron Rivera was as good a coach as people made him out to be, He'd be a head coach by now. 2 years, 9 interviews and he couldn't land one job. But anyway, everyone knows the Bears will take a hard PR hit if they don't get this deal done before the season starts. The pressure is on them. Lovie did his part.

Mr. Donald. Enough. I am sick of everything being about race. You assume white people are automatically
prejudiced, and judge minorities more harshly. I am sick of that attitude. Racism goes both ways. I think Rivera being let go was all about money. He's going to be gone,so the Bears weren't going to give him big money for one year. That's called BIG business. I think Lovie deserves Petrino money and more. Stop with the race thing. After all, wasn't it Lovie's decision not to have Rivera back.

Amen, GA Bears fan. I don't dislike Lovie "Farty Ball" Smith because he's black. I just think he's an idiot, viz., calling a timeout that could have given Seattle extra time to score in the playoffs. That's just one of many of his brain farts.

William R. Donald...right, after hearing 2 weeks of "first black coaches in the SB", the Bears are going to make a public relations disaster by not re-signing him. I love how you jump all over some agent's comment and immediately play the race card.
"This town has a serious problem with how it is perceived with it's relationship towards minority players". Puuulllleeeaaassse. How many white Hall of Fame players can stand toe to toe with the adoration given to players like Jordan, Payton, Banks, Billy WIlliams, etc?
I have a better idea where you can really make an impact - why not spend more of your time focused on real issues facing the black community as opposed to whether Lovie will get $4M per year of $5M. Oh, I don't know, maybe things like gang violence, black on black crime, single parent households, you know, the things that make Lovie's multi-million dollar annual contract look hugely important.

Get a clue!

Well sooner or later you knew someone was gonna bring race into this mess but the reality of the situation is the Bears as an organization have always been cheap. McCaskey is so tight he requires a can of WD40 a day to keep him from sueaking when he walks. Having lived most of my life in NW Indiana (and I am white) some my favorite Chicago sports figures were Williams,Banks,Fergie Jenkins,Andre Dawson, Bob Love, Norm Van Lier, MJ, Pipen,Sweetness,Dent,Singletary and a few white players such as Butkus,Sandberg,Paxson,Luc Longley and Steve Kerr. Recently my youngest son who had the misfortune of being a third generation die-hard Cubs fan but never had the pleasure of seeing Billy Williams play but knows Cubs history from comments made by sportscasters and stories from his old man called me from Phoenix elated that he had sat next to Williams on the plane ride from Chicago. Now consider that he lives and works in NYC and has met many bigger named celebrities and mentioned them only in passing at times I found that not just to be interesting but a testament to how he was raised. He did not see a black man sitting next to him on the plane he saw Billy Williams the Cubs Hall of Fame outfielder. So put away the race card and some one please go to Wal-Mart and buy a case of WD40 to loosen up the Bears Wallet!

Oh I have a clue. I can't defend no one when it comes to being a racist but myself. I'm not a racist. I'm a realist. I never said that Chicagoan were ALL racist and I'm not saying that Carl Thoms and the persons that didn't bother to use their real name is a racist. If you read most of these responses in regard to Lovie it screams of prejudice. Some people will not cut him a break. YOU can't say it's not about racism. You can only speak about YOUSELF. When in any of your lifetimes can you can you know something happened and it was race-related? You can not say what's on anyone's mind. You can have kids and not know what's on their mind. Perception is when you walk through the door and someone peg you before you even sit down. Why is it that this guy can have some success with this team and not be given what his lesser predecessors were given ? Why does he have to be 3 times as good as another coach to be considered a success. My parents were right when they said that I would have to work twice as hard to evn be considered average. It makes you sick to see someone mention it,huh? I never heard his agent's comments. By not signing him I see the feet dragging for myself. If you want to talk about the black community don't forget to mention the crook in the mayor's office. Crime down 50%. Not in those communities. There are no cops in the black neighborhoods. If something happens to you in "those" community they don't come out. They make an appointment to call you back. Did you know that? Now,YOU can call about a suspicious person and someone will come out to you in a matter of minutes. In "those" neighborhoods you can be getting killed and the responding cops stop at White Castles before they get to you. Now,that is no lie. It happened. Back to sports: ask J.Jones, Hawkins, Curry, Chandler,Sosa, and any visiting man of color to Wrigley(right field fans) how they are treated by these fans. You who say that there's no racism didn't get called slurs like some of the visiting players and some "home" players who can attest to the fact they happen. If you can tell Saints fans that we're gonna finish what Katrina started what do you think come out of the mouths of some people when it comes to color. When that stuff happened I was the first one to say let's get over it. I just don't say things to just say them . I think long and hard before I sit down and type because I never learned typing, I'm a level headed person and that's why my blogs are not downers. I hit the point more times than not. I can see how positive people like Jermaine get attacked verbally for not speaking bad about any one player. He backs them all and never stray from being positive. But, people who know this try to come out hard on everyone. Ying for yang. NOWHERE in my blog did I say that ALL Chicago fans are racist. But on the under hand why was race brought up when Hardaway said he hated homosexuals? Why did anyone conjure up a vision of Tim's blackness to respond? Because if that's what you see first then it's what's on your mind. Race. Yeah, I got a clue.

BRAVO. BRAVO. Jermaine, Julie B., Anonymous, and all you other rational thinking people. I measure head coaches by their ability to help build and coach a solid TEAM and to have that team make an extended run at the playoffs. If we're lucky and keep most of this team together the Bears could be one of those teams. The last two years we made the
playoffs, improving our second trip. If the Bears stick together and stay healthy, we could easily make it back to the playoffs the next 4 to 5 years. Say we get a few breaks, some amazing defense, a few good signings, and we are
back into the Super Bowl. And then we'll see the results of what Lovie learned as he watched the Bears, the whole team, lose verse the Colts. Bet that Lovie is already learning and improving from the mistakes the Bears made last year, his own included. This should really be a no brainer; I say keep Lovie, Stick with a Winner. And JohnF, if I may respond to your comment, a first time NFL Head Coach who makes it to the playoffs 2 out of
his first 3 years, that's how I measure my head coaches. Either that or with a ruler.

I think Halas Hall needs to buck up and pay Lovie. The fact that he has headed the best 3 year span in 20 years says he deserves fair market value. They lucked up and went cheap on the right guy and now that he has panned out to be the real deal they need to keep him here, AT ALL COST!!! The whole thing about Lovie sticking w/ Rex is garbage. The reason Rex is still the guy is because Angelo bet the farm on him and they are making the whole team sit on that grenade. Why would Angelo bring in Greise who is no longer an NFL caliber QB? Rex's job was never in jeopardy, Greise was nothing more than window dressing who could be insurance if Rex got injured again and never meant to be the #1. Rex is terrible, how bad do you think Greise is if he can't beat out Grossman? I think this board got a little carried away with the race talk. I cant say I agree totally with WRD, but I can see where he is coming from. Chicago FANS have loved most of the great minority players that have worn our uniforms from Banks,Sayers,Williams,Love,Payton to Jordan, Sosa,Pippen, and now Jones, Gordon, etc... That being said, the OWNERS have really shown less than stellar appreciation for those talents. Jordan was never paid fair market for carrying the NBA and the Reinsdorf group to astronomical pay days, I would say they still owe him quite a bit of coin. The Cubs players of the '60s were grossly underpaid, and the Shufflin' Crew all got screwed by the Mc"Clutchky" Klan. For some to say racism plays 0 part in the equation, you are being naive at best and probably a little dishonest w/ yourselves. The fact that Urlacher is the highest paid Bear EVER should tell you something. Why can't Briggs get his due? He is every bit as important to the D, Urlacher would never be left hanging this way. We'll have to see how it all plays out.

BEAR DOWN

"I watched the Superbowl last night"

Of course you didn't watch any of the other games of the season where Rex had his 100+ passing rating. You just watched a game where Rex couldn't handle the snaps. Rex is a good quarterback. Yes, he did suck in the Superbowl, but it was the Superbowl!

Yes, Lovie made a some mistakes last season, but out of all the coaches in the NFL (excluding Dungy), he made the LEAST mistakes. Pay him whatever he's worth.

Mr. Donald
No one is denying that racism is still alive and well in Chicago or throughout this country for that matter, but the reality in the case of the situation with Lovie's negotiations is that the Bears organization doesn't care if Lovie is black, blue, white, purple or pink; they (the McCaskey's) are cheap and if they did thier own grocery shopping would most likely try to haggle over the price of a loaf of bread with a store owner.

The question is should the Bears keep Lovie Smith at any price; my answer is no. My reason is no coach, no athelete, is worth the money they are getting. I'm a Bears fan. I want them to be a good team, have good players, coaches, etc. I want them to win. But I am sick of professional atheletes and coaches demanding more and more money. Lovie Smith was offered $3.5 million dollars per year if reports are correct. How long is it going to take for one of us to earn that kind of money?
Let's get a grip folks, he is a coach for a football team. Football is a game. Where does it end? Who is paying the millions these people say they deserve? In the end it is us, the fan. For those of you who say the Bears owners are cheap, let me ask you, whatever they end up paying a coach or player, do you really think they won't end up getting it back from us? If something doesn't change I believe we'll eventually see the end of the NFL, as well as all the other sports, on network TV. We'll be looking at pay for view sports. That's the only way the teams will be able to afford paying the salaries the coaches, and the players, seem to think they are entitled to. Screw them all.

does anybody out there believe in the sanctity of contract? if you agree to a number for four years then you gave your word. if things had went the other wayand the bears where not successful would coach smith give back some of his salary? of course not! if you think the man on the street is sympathetic for a man who makes 4 million plus for four years your saddly mistaken in my opinion.

It's funny how I am asked to figure out the problems in the black community when we are in Iraq helping to bring democracy to people who don't want us there. That's like spitting in the Ocean and coming back next week and looking for. Our country spend billions of dollars to help others but refuse to put money into communities in this country. Not just black communities. And then with blind loyalty we are asked to back our troops. A am a veteran and no one helps Illinois vets at all. Sports is used as a diversion from everyday strife and still the inequalities surface. There is a guy who blog on just about every blog that they have in the Suntimes and he will tell you he hate black people. Wears his hate like it's a proud flag. One racist is one too many. When I said that there are too many racists in this city it was meant for people like him. If a guy who is a self proclaimed racist give his input on sports figures who are non-whites you would expect him to just show a racist view. I never accused the BEARS of being racist. I said they pander to those who make it easy for them to make unpoplar decisions. I accused people who based their opinion of Lovie on his color under the disguise of saying that he makes mistakes. They know that no one is perfect but they want to dismiss him because of his viewed flaws. If you don't resemble that person, why did you waste your time responding to me? What,you couldn't look at yourself in the mirror or something? I'm sure that there are a lot of people who don't see color at all and they should be commended. The ones who know that that is their problem are the ones who need to be called out. If it don't apply,don't reply. I haven't had time to hate races. When I was in the MPs in Germany between 83-85 I was one of two blacks. In all ,I had 45 some-odd coworkers during that time who I got along with great. Don't think I didn't endure the "jokes" and the "those people" remarks. Since then I've worked in two north suburban hospitals and anyone who's ever known me knows that I am not a race-baiter. Some of you can say whatever you want about me. I call it like I see it. I don't lose sleep waiting for people to call me anything. I'm very comfortable in my skin.

Roman responds: Ok, I think everyone has made his argument about race. Time to end it.

Race may not have anything to do with it from a business standpoint, but I have to question whether it has anything do with acceptance wih some fans. I'd be willing to bet that if Lovie Smith were coaching the Raiders, and had the same success he's had here he would be widely accepted by most, or all Raider fans. My point is all year, no matter if the Bears won or loss, There were people "questioning" Lovie's coaching. Not just on these Blogs, but in the sports bars, football parties etc. In their eyes Lovie couldn't do anything right. Those same people were saying that Lovie couldn't lead the Bears to the SB. When he did, you heard absolutely nothing from them. Then when the Bears loss the SB, all of a sudden the Lovie/Rex bashing started again. This has been by-far the strangest season ever for me as a Bear fan. It almost felt better during the Wanny years. At least we all agreed that the Bears sucked back then. This year, it seemed noone (fans, media, or the NFL) wanted to accept the fact that the Bears were a good team this year. Heading into the season, some "experts" didn't even pick them to win the division. Then as the season progressed, There were the media's flavor of the month teams (Giants, Saints, Cowboys, and Eagles) All were supposed to end the Bears sweep through the NFC.It never happened.As we all know the bears almost swept the NFC. One lost came against the packers in that meaningless game. Everyone went WAY OVERBOARD with the Rex bashing after that game. It was ridiculous! Now it seems like the Bears are imploding. Coaches getting fired, or leaving, Lovie can't get paid, and players are demanding trades. It really has me worried.

But back to the subject about Lovie. I think that if the Bears don't sign Lovie before this season starts, we can kiss this season goodbye. No one is gonna play hard for a lame duck coach. And it will be a shame.

First I want to say that Jermaine your lastest entry was spot on. I couldn't have put it better myself. Just now as I was watching the Bulls on ESPN I heard a report that said Lovie reportedly said he was "confident" that he would recieve a long term deal with the Bears. Please let it be true. Then the Bears should give Briggs the long term deal he deserves. Come on McCaskey's open that check book.

Bears are the second best team in the league. Before Lovie, all we wished for was to beat Green Bay. How soon we forget. We haven't had good times like this in 20 years. Lovie did the best he could with what he had. This man conducted himself like a coach - not affraid of the media and fans. Gelling the TEAM together unlike Ditka who had division. Defending his QB who got him to the Super Bowl. Lovie made the right decision. If any of you believe Greise could get us to the Super Bowl, you are sadly mistaken. Bears need a genuine playoff tested starter, like Vick, McNABB, or even Garcia. Noone on our roster could challenge Grotesque-man. Lovie knew that, and he simply played the hand he was dealt. He has made history, and has given us bragging rights over EVERY TEAM in the NFL except the Colts. BLAME Management for NOT signing this man to a new contract that reflects OUR RECORD in the NFL. There is only ONE coach who deserves better than Lovie in 2007 and that is Dungy. Lovie needs to start thinking about LOVIE. He needs Drew Rosenhouse, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Min. Louis Farakhan, Sen. Meeks AND Barak Obama just to get what HE HAS EARNED. Its Black History Month and they need to be reminded of it. It shouldn't take all of this, but sometimes thats what some people need. It hurts to see him being treated like this and it speaks volumes to why folks like Terrell Owens have their money and why Lovie doesn't. Lovie needs to start this season with a NEW contract, or quit BEFORE the season starts. THEY WOULDN'T GET ONE MORE WHISTLE OUT OF ME!! Got 3 seasons, two division championships and a superbowl appearance. That is one heck-of-a resume and audition. Give him his money cheap jokers!!!!!!!!

What bothers me right now is this "lame duck" label. Lovie is still under contract for next season and whatever players the Bears have when the season starts are also under contract. Now all of these people are professionals and are supposedly motivated by the dream of getting to and winning the SB. The prestige of the ring and all that stuff. Yet many believe if Lovie's contract is not extended before the season starts he's not gonna coach as hard as he did the last 3 years and the players aren't gonna play as hard for him? First of all I think Lovie and any player or coach should get whatever they can even though they are ALL over paid. On the other hand if any of them just go through the motions in the last year of a contract because it was not extended prior to the start of that season they should be fired. The Bears defense declined during the last half of the season during which time Ron Rivera was interviewing for head coaching positions. Apparently his focus was on himself and not on the team winning the SB. That may well be why he was let go and if it was it was the right thing to because he did not live up to his contract and why would anyone believe he wouldn't do the same next season? Now if the players truely like playing for Lovie I would think they would play even harder for him in an effort to get him back with a new contract. If not then they are unprofessional and don't desrve to get back to the SB.

All Lovie is saying is " Show me the money! "
From what I have read, he is asking to be paid the fair market price. The team has improved in each of the last 3 years since he has been the coach, including a trip to the SuperBowl. The Bears management is low-balling him. Pay the guy what he is worth, that's not excessive or " keeping him at all costs ". Why would they want him to leave after the next season so they can start over again with a new coach ?
Management says it will pay Lovie fair market value, so let's get it done and move on to the next step!

The Bears had the most talented team in the NFL, but failed to win the championship. The head coach should take the blame for that. It's a hard thing to get to the Super Bowl (the Colts can attest to that), so once you do make it you sure as heck had better win the ball game. Plus, Lovie wanted to get rid of Rivera, which was just plain dumb. I honestly would not be surprised if the Bears don't even make the playoffs this coming year.

I'm beginning to think it's not all about the the huge amount of money Lovie wants, per se I think the Bears organization is more afraid of the precedent it sets. Any coach who comes to the team will expect and want those kind of dollars and more. And then there's the ripple effect. The asst coaches are going to want to cash with hefty raises. After all, if the head coach is knocking down 5M, a coord should get at least half that. That said... Hey Bears,pay the man!
JimmyD