The End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)

These are the two most significant things that happened in the Bears practice against the Browns today: Tommie Harris played for seven snaps, so now everyone can stop worrying that Lovie Smith is (for some completely incomprehensible reason) lying about Harris's health. He looked pretty okay. Didn't make any huge plays, but I did see him on one play throwing his blocker around like a rag doll.

The other thing is that Greg Olsen injured his knee, which sucks. Now, if I were an imbecile and actually believed anything David Haugh ever wrote, I might be under the impression that the Bears could have avoided Olsen's injury, because there's no discernible reason for Smith to have been playing Olsen at that point in the game, ("The value of Olsen to the improved offense begs the question why Smith still would have had him on the field with absolutely nothing to gain."). If I lent any credence to what Haugh is paid to write, I would think that Olsen is also upset about the fact that he was still playing at that point, ("After trainers examined him on the sideline, Olsen smacked his hand on one of the tables in disgust. It was a reaction to which any Bears fan watching could relate.") I would also learn that Lovie Smith is a complete idiot asshole who is incapable of realizing when he's just fucked everything up by being a total retard, ("Asked if he second-guessed himself for leaving such a vital part of the offense on the field after he had pulled his starters after three plays, Smith didn't hesitate [to answer that he didn't]").

Fortunately, I am not an imbecile. I don't read David Haugh's articles to get any insight or information about the Bears. I gave that up long ago. I read David Haugh's articles to become enraged! As such: Oh. My! GOD!!! Lovie Smith is easily the best coach that has been in charge of the Bears since Ditka, and may actually be a better coach than Da Coach! I know you think it's your job as a "sportswriter" to question everything and to criticize where you see fit, but you're criticizing this guy for things that don't really deserve any criticism! Greg Olsen is a rookie! He might be a freakishly huge and fast rookie who already looks in his first training camp like he could become a legitimately dangerous weapon in this league, but he's still an effing rookie! He has to learn how to play at a pro level! That is just something that rookies have to do! And how does a rookie learn what it's like to play with the pros? Practice! That's right. Somewhere, sometime, somebody decided that they should play practice games against other pro teams so players could get used to playing against other pro players. Some people have already been pro players and have played lots and lots of games against other pro players, and so there's not really a whole lot of value for them to play these practice games, and the risk of injury in them really outweighs any gains, so some people think it's a good idea to let these veteran pro players sit out good portions of these practice games. Lovie Smith, coincidentally, seems to be one of those people. However, there are people on a pro football team who have never played against pros before, and who are new to the team they're playing for, and who really can use all the practice against pros before they have to play against real pros for real. Greg Olsen is one of those latter people! He was in the game because he (as Lovie stated, although Haugh for some reason seems to think he was lying, because David Haugh believes Lovie Smith is a pathological liar) is not a starter!

In other words, Lovie Smith felt that Greg Olsen would benefit by getting more playing time before the regular season started. David Haugh apparently thinks that Smith is wrong about that. Which is fine. But he could at least present arguments for why that is the case. He could have written, for instance, "Greg Olsen is the most talented guy EVAR who has wonderful beautiful blond hair I want to eat him who can catch everything ever and is so also really tough and is a big man with big muscles everywhere and who is way smarter than ever doesn't need to practice because of his immortality powers generating out of his man region prodigious girth wow just big big big fast zoom zoom and would have with just one ginormous hand annihilated San Diego's defenders without practicing." Instead, Haugh flat out accused Lovie Smith of pointlessly exposing his players to injury, when in actuality Lovie Smith appears to have made it the major focus of this offseason to avoid injury. Frankly, David Haugh's article would much more appropriate if Smith had instructed Olsen to go out on the field and catch a punt, not signal for a fair catch, and then stand there waiting to get creamed by a sprinting backup safety, just so he could feel what it's like to be a man.