A blog by Jake Fine

The Voice Of Reason

May 6th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Last night I was working a remote at a very festive Cinco de Mayo party.  The margaritas were flowing, kids were playfully running around the parking lot, and they had a band playing a set list that could have been copied from a playlist on my ipod.  After rocking out to everyone’s favorite Journey song the lead singer began a little chit chat with the crowd which eventually turned into a comment on Cedric Benson.  Of course he was referring to the incident which occurred late Saturday night in which the Chicago Bears’ starting running back was arrested for boating while intoxicated and resisting arrest on a lake outside of Austin, Texas.  Then the front man of the Fleshing Melons continued to comment, “If the Bears needed any reason to get rid of them this is it,” and the crowd began to cheer.

Now I feel that it is my responsibility to act as the voice of reason because I’m firmly believe that a majority of Bears fans are ready to kick him out of town when in reality there is no chance that it will happen.  In no way do I want to defend Benson’s actions from over the weekend.  Was it smart?  Absolutely not, but since the incident took place there have been numerous conflicting reports.  This simply states that we still don’t know all of the details and until we do it is unfair for the Bears organization or anyone else to think otherwise.

Outside of the entire legal mumbo-jumbo, the reason there has been such an outcry for Benosn’s job is obviously due to the fact that since Chicago snagged him with the 4th overall pick three years ago his stats have been anything but impressive (42o carries 1,593 yards 10 TD’s).  In addition many seem to reading too much into the fact that the team drafted Tulane running back Matt Forte in the second round of the draft just over a week ago.  In the current time of the Jerry Angelo regime I’ve learned two things: first that no matter what the problem may be Angelo is always plan, and secondly after observing how he has handled certain distractions over the past few seasons it is safe to assume that he is not one to admit when he is wrong.  After everything that Angelo and the organization has invested in the former Texas Longhorn, he will refuse to cut him after Saturday’s arrest.  To do it now would contradict all the moves made this off-season the revamp the aging offensive line which paved the way for Chicago to rush just over 83 yards a game (30th in NFL).  Sure he didn’t get exactly get it done last season but why not at least see what he can do now with a more competitive supporting cast.  Furthermore, cutting ties with Benson would mean heading into the 2008 season with a backfield core of Forte, Adrian Peterson and former NIU Huskie Garrett Wolfe, a combined 8 career starts (all from Peterson).  It seems extremely unlikely that Lovie Smith would want to head into the new year with such an inexperienced group.  So why the end of Benson in a Bears jersey isn’t quite over yet, it is nearly a sure thing the his leash just got that much shorter.  Until next time, keep your mind on the fine side.

It’s The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year.

April 24th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Anyone who knows anything is well aware that the NFL beats the living snot out of every other professional sports league because regardless of what time of year, it is more interesting than anyone else could ever offer.  This weekend there is no exception as the 2008 NFL Draft takes center stage of the sports world.  Anyone who knows me doesn’t need the explanation that this is by far one of my favorite times of the year because this is how championships are built.  Not through free agency but through the draft.  Here is how I expect the first round to fall this weekend.

1. Miami- Jake Long, OL Michigan (No shit, already happened)

2. St. Louis- Chris Long, DE Virginia

3. Atlanta- Glen Dorsey, DT LSU

4. Oakland- Vernon Gholston, DE Ohio St.

5. Kansas City- Brandon Albert, OL Virginia

6. NY Jets- Darren McFadden, RB Arkansas

7. New England- Derrick Harvey, DE Florida

8. Baltimore- Matt Ryan, QB Boston College

9. Cincinnati- Sedrick Ellis, DT USC

10. New Orleans- Leodis McKelvin, CB Troy

11. Buffalo- Mike Jenkins, CB South Florida

12. Denver- Malcom Kelly, WR Oklahoma

13. Carolina- Ryan Clady, OT Boise St.

14. Chicago- Chirs Williams, OT Vanderbilt

15. Detroit- Rashard Mendenhall, RB Illinois

16. Ariona- Aqib Talib, CB Kansas

17. Kansas City (From Min)- Phillip Merling, DE Clemson

18. Houston- Jonathan Stewart, RB Oregon

19. Eagles- Jeff Otah, OT Pitt

20. Tampa Bay- Keith Rivers, LB USC

21. Washington- Kenny Phillps, S Maimi FL

22. Dallas- Limas Sweed, WR Texas

23. Pittsburgh- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB Tennessee St.

24. Tennessee- James Hardy, WR Indiana

25. Seattle- Tyrell Johnson, S Arkansas St.

26. Jacksonville- Trevor Laws, DT Notre Dame

27. San Diego- Brandon Flowers, CB Virginia Tech

28. Dallas- Felix Jones, RB Arkansas

29. San Francisco- Quentin Groves, DE Auburn

30. Green Bay-Antonio Cason, CB Ariozna

31. New England- Don’t get to pick because they cheat

32. NY Giants-Dan Connor, LB Penn St.

What The Hell Happened?

April 15th, 2008 Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

By now I am very sure that all seven of you have been boiling over with rage since my last post which came about ten weeks ago.  Now today I am writing out to establish three objectives: to officially declare that I am in fact still alive, to explain my lengthy absence, and finally, to rundown some adjustments that will be made.

Now the story of my brief departure all started when my mother demanded that I finally get off my ass and find employment.   After seeking out numerous places I was hired to be a server at a certain local restaurant (in order to maintain my sanity this establishment will be nameless).  Now I know what you might be thinking, “But Jake, don’t you hate people???? Why on earth would you want to serve them???”  Well as it turned out all of you would have been right on.  At first I was eager to start since I had jumped to the conclusion that I would be making good money (which it was), although I was not informed that I was working at an insane asylum.  The way this place worked was they did not refer to their workers as workers; no we had to be called “champions,” as corny as it sounded.  When it came to the serving process we were forbidden to use trays.  This made it very tricky when bringing drinks out, especially when serving a table of four or more.  They wanted you to be able to carry three glasses in one hand, but I to this day will go on record saying that it is physically impossible.  I could go on and on talking about how working there sucked it is probably best to sum it all up by saying some B.S. went down and I simply could not take it anymore so now I no longer have to deal with it.  This is why I’ve been away for so long because working at the hell hole literally took up all my time and energy but at least I can now say that it’s all behind me now.

From here on out I would like to say that how things happen at The Mind of Fine will be a little different in hope to improve the overall content.  I plan on trying some new things out over the next few weeks and see how everything goes.  My good friend Lars $ is astonished at the progress of the blog (or recent lack there of), and now wants to get in on the action.  Although instead of starting his own he wants to try on get onto this one so expect to see his audition in the not too distant future.  Also the other day I have promised Alan at least two entries a week and that is something I will try and live up to.  In addition to all this, I hope today was in some sort of a preview that we won’t always deal with sports but trying to reach on a broader horizon, I think all of you will enjoy it.  As always until next time, keep your mind on the fine side.