Chicago Bears

Football! This Weekend's Best Bets, Charlie Weis Celebration Practice Video Edition

This week's tale of gambling riches comes from Branford, Ontario, where locally their version of the lottery is actually an NFL parlay card of sorts, where if a player picks 15 games 100 percent correctly, they will win a sizable six-figure payout. In Week 3 of the NFL season, a man named Gino DiFe ... More >>

Bartender Chat: Amy Singletary of J. Black's Feel Good Lounge on Hockey Fights and Orgies

At J. Black's Feel Good Lounge, bartender Amy Singletary -- whose last name is spelled just like that of Minnesota Vikings linebacker coach Mike Singletary -- says she gets asked all the time if she's related to the famous football player. (Amy is white; Mike is black.) "I'm like, what does it look ... More >>

2012: Year of the Texans

Assessing all their strengths and weaknesses, we could be looking at a repeat or better.

The Mean, Evil, Bored & Ashamed Faces on 13 NFL Team Logos, Ready for Their Close-Ups

Our long national nightmare, otherwise known as the football offseason, is nearing an end. Exhibition Preseason games are in full swing, for better or worse. (If you watched all -- or even most of -- the Cowboys' 3-0 win over Oakland Monday, seek help.) Still, the appearance of the pads and unis i ... More >>

The Betting Lines on the First 15 Texans Games Are Here!

Think you have a pretty good idea on how your favorite NFL team will do this upcoming season? More importantly, does your "pretty good idea" differ drastically from the super-early predictions the experts have forecasted for your squad? If so, the gambling gods have given themselves you another way ... More >>

Texans Release 2012 Schedule: Five Early Thoughts

It's often not whom you play, but when you play. That's the key item to consider when evaluating an NFL schedule release. Ranking schedules based on prior-year records, as some media outlets did this week in proclaiming an "easy" slate for the Texans, can be misleading. For example, Denver -- sche ... More >>

Rape, Scandal, Greed and Cockfighting -- The 2011 Sports Year In Review

2011: Penn State's horrible year​You know how, in the series 24, the way a season unfolds? How just when you think there has been some sort of resolution to the bad guys being bottled up, right then and there a new (often worse) layer is introduced, and ultimately in like Hour 22 Jack Bauer wi ... More >>

Texans/Falcons & The NFL Weekend -- 4 Winners, 4 Losers

Photos by Marco TorresHopes are rising at Reliant​This time last season, in the aftermath of a Week 13 Michael Vick-administered beatdown on a Thursday night in Philadelphia, the Texans began preparation for a Week 14 Monday night game with the Baltimore Ravens in Houston. We all know how tha ... More >>

Football! A&M-UT, LSU: This Weekend's Best Bets

So yeah, about that "Bully Theory" from last week. Um, well, um....sorry? In case you missed it, I shared a theory of mine last week, and without rehashing the details it all led up to me telling all of you to take Wisconsin, Oregon, Oklahoma State, and Stanford laying the points. The theory had a ... More >>

Knocked Out

Medical effects of concussion far worse for kids.

Ray Lewis Predicts Crime-ageddon If There's No NFL

This is what society looks like without the NFL.​"Do this research if we don't have a season -- watch how much evil, which we call crime, watch how much crime picks up, if you take away our game." -- Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio Well, that's a new one. I've ... More >>

Top Five Worst Rapper-Athlete Collaborations

​Ever since Shaq flung the doors wide for athletes to satisfy their microphone dreams, many have tried to follow in his steps. The athlete-rapper experiment usually works, as long as the athlete leaves all the rapping to the rapper. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case with these five songs. I ... More >>

NFL Conference Title Games: Douche-apalooza 2011!

This is not Roger Staubach​Ben Roethlisberger, Mark Sanchez, Jay Cutler, Aaron Rodgers. In an era where success in the NFL has never been more tied to quarterback play, those are your last four quarterbacks standing in the 2011 Playoffs. Most NFL fans see the elimination and subsequent absen ... More >>

Texans Tailgating: Fans Sue After Getting In Fight

Texans fans like to fight. ​On December 28, 2008, the Houston Texans and their fans were gearing up for the final game of the season at Reliant Stadium. After starting 3-7, the team had won four of five games and a win against the visiting Chicago Bears would mean 8-8. Not a losing record. Hope wa ... More >>

NFL -- Bob McNair's Delusion, Twitter Madness And The Weekend's Best Bets

Orange slices for the Texans!​"I wanted the team to know not only how close we think they are but how close our competitors think they are to being an outstanding team." -- Texans owner Bob McNair, presumably not being held at gunpoint nor under the influence of any drugs or alcohol What Bob ... More >>

Yates High: 1985 State Champs and 'Team of the Decade' Celebrates 25-Year Anniversary

Photo by Chasen MarshallYates High '85: the debate continues over whether it was the greatest Texas team ever.Twenty-five years ago, Houston was home to, arguably, the greatest high school football team ever to take the field in Texas. During that season, Yates High was unstoppable on offense and im ... More >>

Giants 34, Texans 10: Another Tough Defense, Another Breakdown For The Houston Offense

Texans: Let's not get physical​We knew the Texans' young defense could have games like this. A second disastrous performance in five outings for the supposedly-elite Houston offense, however, is incredibly concerning.The numbers are baffling. 195 total yards. 1.6 yards per rush with what had been ... More >>

Pop Rocks: Fantasy Football For (Immature) Dummies

​Football season is almost upon us. For many people, this time of year offers renewed hope for the future, ranging from the merely possible (can the Saints repeat?) to the improbable (will the Texans makes the playoffs) to the "You gotta be fucking kidding me" (Kris Brown kicks a last-minute f ... More >>

Game Time: Roger Goodell To Decide If He Can Punish More Stupidity

This is why they pay Roger Goodell the big bucks. For a commissioner who quickly gained a reputation as a strict disciplinarian after taking over for Paul Tagliabue in August 2006 by throwing suspensions at his league's miscreants like so many nickels and dimes, the decision he makes regarding pun ... More >>

Game Time: Texans' Playoff-Rooting Manifesto 2.0

​"So you're saying there's a chance..."  -- Lloyd ChristmasA couple weeks ago, when the Texans were sitting at 5-6, I spent the better part of about four hours constructing an easy-to-follow guide for Texans fans to know whom to root for in games throughout the balance of the season in order ... More >>

Never Depend On A QB Named "The Sex Cannon"

I stumbled over to the Texans website the other day, and after looking through things for a bit, I guess that I should buy my Super Bowl tickets because, if you listen to Texans employee Marc Vandermeer, this is an outstanding team at every position on the field. I especially like how he calls the s ... More >>

Some Praise For the Houston Texans (No, Really!)

Photo by William Holtkamp Many of you out there probably think that I hate the Texans. But I don't. I just hold them to a high standard. A standard that I think everybody should apply to them. That said, I'm not here to criticize the Houston Texans today. No, I'm actually about to say some nice ... More >>

Some Praise For the Houston Texans (No, Really!)

Photo by William Holtkamp Many of you out there probably think that I hate the Texans. But I don't. I just hold them to a high standard. A standard that I think everybody should apply to them. That said, I'm not here to criticize the Houston Texans today. No, I'm actually about to say some nice ... More >>

Can the Houston Texans Get Garcia In This Rosenfels Trade? Jeff Can Come, Too

Photo by gr750 NFL free agency starts today. And since the Houston Texans are trading Sage Rosenfels to the Minnesota Vikings, they find themselves in desperate need of a backup quarterback. And with Matt Schaub as the number one QB, the Texans are going to desperately need a proven backup for tho ... More >>

Can the Houston Texans Get Garcia In This Rosenfels Trade? Jeff Can Come, Too

Photo by gr750 NFL free agency starts today. And since the Houston Texans are trading Sage Rosenfels to the Minnesota Vikings, they find themselves in desperate need of a backup quarterback. And with Matt Schaub as the number one QB, the Texans are going to desperately need a proven backup for tho ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Texans Settle Into Mediocrity

Okay, so the Texans beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday to finish their second straight season at 8-8. That's two seasons in a row of mediocrity. Can I have a YAY TEAM! Over at the Chron, Richard Justice thinks the team is heading in the right direction and has turned the corner. He likes how G ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Texans Settle Into Mediocrity

Okay, so the Texans beat the Chicago Bears on Sunday to finish their second straight season at 8-8. That's two seasons in a row of mediocrity. Can I have a YAY TEAM! Over at the Chron, Richard Justice thinks the team is heading in the right direction and has turned the corner. He likes how G ... More >>

If They Think That's A Big High-School Stadium....

The Texas Bowl fever is building!! Kinda.This year's match-up between Rice and Western Michigan University isn't exactly setting too many people's hearts on fire, although it should turn out to be an entertaining game.Previous Texas Bowls have had bigger names, though, so this one is flying under th ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Hooters and Houston Texans

I'm in a Hooters in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and the Houston Texans are losing to the Oakland Raiders. And I'm the only one in the place watching the game. The requisite Redskins fans are scattered about, watching the Redskins on a majority of the TVs - really, is there any place besides Dall ... More >>

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Hooters and Houston Texans

I'm in a Hooters in downtown Phoenix, Arizona and the Houston Texans are losing to the Oakland Raiders. And I'm the only one in the place watching the game. The requisite Redskins fans are scattered about, watching the Redskins on a majority of the TVs - really, is there any place besides Dall ... More >>

A Dream Team for Barack Obama

Tuesday Morning Quarterbacking: Mike Singletary Gives the Weekend's Best Performance

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

John Royal's NFL Power Rankings

Texans-Steelers: At Least Mario Williams Looked Good

John Royal’s NFL Season Picks

Hope for the Houston Texans?

Gary Kubiak and team search for their first winning season

Barack Obama and Me

It was the year 2000 and I was a young hungry reporter in Chicago covering a young hungry state legislator

Miss Cleo’s Fearless Forecast: Super Bowl XLIII Winner Revealed!

John Royal’s Friends’ Top Twenty Sports Moments of 2007, Part One

NFL Wrap: Losing Teaches Lessons, Except When It Doesn’t

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Ten: Openly Defying the Gods Since October 2007

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Six: Forget Dog Fighting. Parity Is the League’s Biggest Problem.

Jason Friedman’s NFL Picks, Week Five: Whorin’ for Hits? Or Just Lovin’ the Ladies?

Here We Go Again

It's football time (cringe)

Turkeys Fly

Houston actually pulls off one crazy week

Playmaker

Houston's Bo Eason was among the NFL's toughest tacklers. But he takes his hardest hits in writing about his very intimate House of Pain.

No Sissies Allowed

They'll run. They'll catch. They'll tackle. Women's professional football ramps up (again) in Houston.