ekblaw@uiucdcs.CS.UIUC.EDU (01/06/86)
Bad hit? What bad hit? I've heard the news that the NFL fined the guy who hit the QB (I don't remember which player), but I also saw the play that day, and in replay this weekend. Bad hit? Somebody has bad eyesight! The defensive player on the Bears team was going for the Lions' QB very well. As he approached, the QB started to duck, so the Bear ducked to make sure he got him. Then, right after thhe pass and right before the Bear got there (there wasn't enough time for the Bear to get out of the way at the speed he was travelling, so all the cries of "Late hit!" I hear from people are nonsense), the QB rose up. The only unfortunate thing is that the Bear player didn't have time to rise up himself, so the hit was made low and with the shoulder & head instead of the arms. However, if the Bear was really out to hurt him, as some people claim, he could have landed on him, like the Raiders, Jets, COWBOYS, and many other teams do. No, he avoided doing the damage that falling on a player will cause. In all, I don't find anything wrong with the hit, and I think the fine was wrong. The play was just one of those unfortunate things that can happen in a ball game (like Theismann's unfortunate injury earlier in the season). The only time I remember the Bears eally out to beat up a team was when they faced the Raiders two seasons ago. Other than that, the Bears have been cool. Robert A. Ekblaw P.S. I don't share your sentiments about the "Super Bowl Shuffle." Alright, I'll admit that the guys can't sing, but they admit it, too. They even say in the song that they are rapping, not singing. Too, what they arre doing is a shuffle, which is a type of dance step. NOWHERE do they say that they are singing. Too criticize them for bad sound is ridiculous. Too, the purpose of the record is to use the BEARMANIA sweeping Chicago and the state of Illinois for some good. The proceeds of the record go to feed needy families in Chicago. I don't know of any other that team that uses success and a fanatic craze to other people's benefit, not their own. RAE
mykes@3comvax.UUCP (Mike Schwartz) (01/08/86)
They do not call such penalties in the playoffs though. Against the Giants there was a play when McMahon was clearly running out of bounds to avoid a hit (after a gain tho) and he was hit well out of bounds and dragged to the ground (or should I say thrown to the ground). If the refs won't protect a quarterback on his way out of bounds, they won't call a play like you described (in the playoffs).