Ditka on Grossman: "I'd play the other guy"

I heard the moral compass of Bears fans, Coach Ditka, on AM 1000 Sunday morning with Chet Coppock & Steve McMichael.

Da Coach's take on the Rex Grossman non-preparation flap last week was simple: it's surprising that the Bear QB is so dumb that he wouldn't prepare for a game, and shocking that he's stupid enough to come out and say the things he said.

Coach was not amused, gang. Flat out, Ditka said "I'd play the other guy, period."

One thing I like about Coach Ditka is that Coppock is always trying to piggy-back onto the Coach's thoughts with his own trademark filibuster and Ditka doesn't really abide it.

Chet started shouting about "If you're John Tait, if you're Roberto Garza [and so on, naming every lineman], you wake up hurting every week from protecting your quarterback. And you have to listen to some little ... punk from Gainesville, Florida saying he wasn't prepared because he was planning a New Year's Eve party?"

Coach comes back with, hey, he doesn't know about all that - people do things different than him. Alls he knows is he wouldn't play Grossman again, he doesn't need that crap, and he'd clear out anyone else who takes a paycheck but doesn't prepare for a game.

Ditka did add "He's lucky he doesn't get his ass kicked."

I believe Grossman is going to come out and play well on Sunday because Seattle isn't very strong, but it would be very interesting to know how short his leash is. On television, it will be presented as an extremely short leash just like the Kansas City game. As with Damon Huard, the TV guys will have constant shots of Brian Griese pacing the sidelines.

This week, I've heard several different people including Joe Theismann say that Rex's leash won't even be as long as one interception. Just a couple bad throws and Lovie will go to Griese.

While I think that's a logical thought process based on the fact that Grossman has been unable to turn himself around during a game, that a fumbled snap is usually close behind some bad throws, I don't think it's the true length of his leash.

I believe Lovie has no intention of pulling Grossman for Griese, just like Herm Edwards wasn't going to pull Trent Green under any circumstances. All the talk by the talking heads is just that. Lovie's committed to his guy.

A couple other random notes:

- Freen busted me up good watching games and asking if he sees it right that T. Banta-Cain is a linebacker on the Patriots. Tony Banta-Danza-Cain. During Chiefs games, I always think I hear that ColecoVision is playing defense, but it's Kawika Mitchell. Sober up, right? Very well.

- We also wondered why the Bears were locked into the Sunday slot so early, when the most likely outcome was going to be the 2 Saturday teams from the wildcard round playing next Sunday, while the Eagles unnecessarily get shorted a day's rest. Must be a TV thing.

- Hey NBC: Jim Mora? I can't think of anyone that football fans have less respect for and have less interest in hearing from.