Unemployed since the Bears cut him following two DUI arrests, Cedric Benson has landed himself a new job. And given his rap sheet, it shouldn't surprise anybody that he signed with the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bears gave up on the disappointing running back, a former fourth overall draft pick, after two arrests barely a month apart last spring. The Bengals team arrest count already surpassed the team's win total in recent years even before Benson's......

If only the Bears could play all their games in prime time. Just like in week 1, the Bears took the field in front of a national audience against a supposedly superior team and left the field victorious 60 minutes later. For a while, though, like in each of the past two games, it looked like the Bears might surrender their lead late in the game. On this Sunday night, however, the Bears held off......

Tomorrow night, the Eagles and Bears meet at Soldier Field in what is sure to be a hard-hitting affair (7:15 p.m. kickoff on NBC 5). And if you're as big a football fan as several of us (even those of us who didn't grow up here), it's hard to forget that legendary playoff match-up between the Eagles and Bears now and forever known as "The Fog Bowl." ESPN certainly remembers and tomorrow morning on Sunday......

It's looking like it's gonna be a long season for Bears fans. For the second time in as many weeks, the team squandered a double-digit lead in the second half and lost to Tampa Bay 27-24 in overtime. It looked like the Bears would move to 2-1 on the young season when, with less than seven minutes remaining, Kyle Orton connected with his new BFF Brandon Lloyd for a touchdown to give the Bears a......

Cubs Win Home Closer In their last regular season game at Wrigley, the Cubs beat the Cardinals 5-1, their eighth win in eleven games. Dempster gave up just one run on six hits in five innings to earn his 17th win of the year. Rookie Casey McGahee knocked in two runs as many regular starters got the day off after clinching the division. Dempster approved: ""It was just fun to see some guys out there......

Cubs Clip Cards, Clinch Crown As we mentioned yesterday, the Cubs defeated the Cardinals 5-4 and claimed their second consecutive NL Central division title. A bases loaded single by Alfonso Soriano that was misplayed in left field cleared the bases and Ted Lilly later executed a suicide squeeze perfectly to add another run later. Lilly pitched seven innings to earn his 16th win and Kerry Wood closed out the ninth for his 32nd save. Said......

When we hear "ribs," we want barbecue. Not bruise. Particularly when the bones in question belong to a key member of the Bears. Devin Hester seemed to have suffered a rib injury as he ran out of bounds on a kickoff in the third quarter of Sunday's loss to Carolina. He didn't appear to be hit as he raced out of bounds, so the indications are that it's some sort of non-contact injury. Without an......

For a while Sunday, it looked like our Bears just might move to 2-0 on the young season. But a few costly mistakes resulted in the Bears relinquishing a 17-3 lead and losing to the Carolina Panthers 20-17. The final nail in the Bears' coffin on Sunday came on a 4-and-1 with under two minutes to go. Trying to pick up the first down and get into at least field goal range, the hand-off went......

Zambrano No-Hits Astros In the first game for either team since the series was delayed and relocated to Milwaukee by Hurricane Ike, Cubs ace Carlos Zambrano returned to fine form with a no-hitter, striking out 10 along the way, for a 5-0 Cubs win. It was the first Cubs no-hitter in 36 years, when Milt Pappas no-hit the Padres. It was also the first neutral site no-hitter since 1900, though there were an awful lot......

With the injury to first-round draft pick Chris Williams's back during training camp, the Bears were left with only a rookie seventh-round pick backing up their two starting tackles. To say the team needed a little help in the depth department was an understatement, so after weeks of discussions the team re-signed Fred Miller this week. The Bears cut their former starting tackle after the 2007 season, in large part because of the $4.5 million......

When the NFL released its 2008 schedule a few months back, we cringed at the prospects of our Bears being embarrassed on national television at the hands of the Indianapolis Colts. Since facing each other in Super Bowl XLI, the Bears had fallen on hard times while the Colts continued to rank among the league's elite. As expected, Sunday night's game was a blowout. Surprisingly, it was the Bears who stunned the Colts and won......

Cubs Blow Game To Reds A bad outing from Kerry Wood and untimely error by Ronny Cedeno cost the Cubs another one yesterday, as they lost to the Reds 4-3. The Cubs had managed to scrape together three runs off Reds starter Aaron Harang and Cubs pitchers Sean Marshall, Neal Cotts, and Carlos Marmol allowed only one run on three hits before it all came crashing down as the Reds scored three in the bottom......

In what looks to be a mediocre imitation the Sun-Times' Hottest Fans photo contest, the Trib has been featuring a photo slideshow of Cubs and Sox fans wearing out of date jerseys this week. We'd have to believe they'll soon open the floodgates for fan submissions, no? But old jersey scorn is not even a unique idea... StraightCashHomey has been making a mockery of those who wear them for a couple years now. We've even......

Millions of football fans have either drafted or will soon be drafting their Fantasy Football teams. As a way to connect with friends, possibly win some money, and as a definite way to kill time at work, it's no wonder that Fantasy Football has grown in popularity. And the web makes drafting and maintaining teams so damn easy! 9:30am: We're about 30 minutes away from our own Fantasy Football draft, which includes seven other sports......

If the Bears play but nobody watches does the game matter? In their final tune-up before next week's regular season opener, the Bears finally notched their first victory of the preseason by beating the Cleveland Browns 16-10. While the third exhibition game was the dress rehearsal for the starters, last night's game was all about rounding out the roster. With final cuts just days away, the Bears gave guys on the bubble one last shot......

Last year, we were Wrecks Grossman. But with Kyle Orton's ascension to starter, we feel the need to bench our fantasy football team name. But one can't draft without a kickass name. And with our draft approaching, we still haven't decided yet what to name our 2008 squad. At least we've found help. Fantasy Team Names let fantasy sports fans submit and rank team names. While they have categories for football, baseball, basketball, hockey and......

In what was supposed to be their closest thing to a dress rehearsal before the regular season begins, the Bears lost 37-30 to the San Francisco 49ers at Soldier Field on Thursday. Once again the team looked decent on one side of the ball and lackluster on the other. But in an unusual twist, it was the offense that performed well while the defense showed they're still not ready for the regular season. Kyle Orton,......

While the Bears thankfully brought their quarterback competition to a close with yesterday's selection of Kyle Orton, the team has a history of lining up just about anyone behind center when the going gets tough. Whether due to ineffectiveness or injury, the Bears have employed more starting quarterbacks over the past decade and a half than any team in the NFL over that time. Since 1992, while the Packers had started Brett Farve and only......

Now halfway through their preseason schedule, the Bears still haven't answered their biggest question -- who'll start at quarterback? While Kyle Orton's performance rated slightly better than Rex Grossman's and some think he's shown enough to earn the job, neither QB looked particularly good playing behind the Bears' ragtag offensive line. We're certainly not sold on either of 'em. Like many of the team's games in recent years, the bulk of the point came......

Former Bear Muhsin Muhammad, now with the Carolina Panthers, said in an interview with Sports Illustrated that Chicago is "where receivers go to die." While that's the quote that's getting the most play today, we like the next part, too. From Peter King's column: Speaking of Muhammad, he had this to say about the state of the Chicago quarterback situation: "In the time Brett Favre has started for the Packers -- what's it been, 16......

The Bears opened their preseason with a 24-20 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field on Thursday. And while Bears fans were looking for some answers about their team and its prospects, particularly on offense, instead more questions were raised than answered. Heading into the game, the biggest question was at quarterback. Would either Kyle Orton or Rex Grossman show enough to prove they could ably lead the team's offense? Last night, neither......

Brett Favre is no longer a member of the Green Bay Packers. Following an increasingly hostile situation created by his desire to come out of retirement while the team had moved on with Aaron Rodgers, the Packers finally traded the future Hall of Famer to the New York Jets late last night. Refusing to trade him within the division -- the Bears and Vikings were supposedly interested -- it came down to a horse race......

Coach Lovie Smith says not to read anything into it, but Kyle Orton will start at quarterback for the Bears when they host the Kansas City Chiefs at Soldier Field tomorrow evening. Lovie's game plan calls for Rex Grossman to play in the first half also, and the Bears first team offense will remain in the game until intermission so that both QBs get a chance to work with them. The quarterbacks vying for the......

After first choosing to hold out of training camp while demanding a new deal, and then reversing course and showing up without a raise, Bears kick return specialist Devin Hester was rewarded with a fat new contract on Sunday. The 4-year deal guarantees him $15 million and could be worth as much as $40 million with incentives. Hester had wanted a deal that paid him like an elite wideout; the Bears were willing to pay......

When most of the Bears hit the practice field for the first time on Wednesday, one player was very noticeably absent. Kick return extraordinaire Devin Hester was nowhere to be found in Bourbonnais. He's decided to hold out of training camp until he gets a new contract. He's entering the third season of a four-year deal he signed after being drafted in '06. "I can't go out and play this year making $445,000. Come on,......

Brian Urlacher and the Bears have finally agreed on a new contract. Urlacher, 30, had four years and approximately $25.5 million remaining on his contract. Under the terms of the upgraded deal, Urlacher will receive a $6 million signing bonus along with a $1 million bump in salary each of the next four years. The sides also have agreed to extend the pact into 2012, at a salary of $7.5 million. Urlacher can earn an......

If you can't wait for fall for your football fix, perhaps a jaunt to see the Chicago Force play tomorrow will do. The all-women tackle football team just finished a perfect regular season and a first-round playoff win; tomorrow, they're taking on the Pittsburgh Passion, and if they win, they'll be in the national championship on July 26. The Force play at North Park University's Holmgren Athletic Complex on Foster and Albany. The game starts......

The Bears waived Cedric Benson Monday afternoon. The Benson era in Chicago is officially over. From the Bears: “Cedric displayed a pattern of behavior we will not tolerate,” general manager Jerry Angelo said in a statement. “As I said this past weekend, you have to protect your job. Everyone in this organization is held accountable for their actions. When individual priorities overshadow team goals, we suffer the consequences as a team. Those who fail to......

The Bears don't get themselves into field goal range nearly enough, but when they do they'll have the richest kicker in the game to try and put some points on the board. The Bears signed kicker Robbie Gould to a long-term contract extension that makes him the highest paid kicker in NFL history. And the guy hasn't even hit a 50-yarder yet. The five-year, $15.5 million extension with $4.25 million up front keeps him kicking......

Bears rookies just began their first rookie mini camp a few days ago, and already safety Craig Steltz seems to be making a good impression. So good in fact, that the Bears cut safety Adam Archuleta on Tuesday. Archuleta, who was a favorite of Lovie Smith's when he played under the Bears coach with the St. Louis Rams, was acquired from the Washington Redskins last March. He was a disappointment in his lone season with......