The 2012 Sports Adventure teams have been picked

As I'm sure you are all aware and yet completely indifferent about, I picked the two teams that I will try to watch live and in person during the 2012 calendar year. For those that don't know, here's how it works. I lump every team from NCAA basketball and football, the NFL, NHL and MLB into a random number generator, as well as a series of numbers, so as to pick a game off of a selected team's schedule. Then I go to the game. Simple as that. The randomness of this is what makes it an adventure, you see.
So without further ado, the teams. This is the 6th year I have done this, and I had yet to select a professional sports team. Additionally, I had never yet picked a team from the same city as a previous selection. It all changed this time! The 4 that just missed out were the Colorado Avalanche, Baylor basketball, South Carolina basketball and UC-Santa Barbara.Instead, I will be attending week 5 of the Chicago Bears 2012 season~

The Bears are, as I said, the first professional sports team that I have drawn in this little game, and the second team from Chicago. Two years ago, the University of Illinois-Chicago was selected, but due to a blizzard, I was unable to go to their game. Obviously, next season's schedule is not yet known, but the potential opponents are. The Bears could, of course, play at home, but also have potential road games at Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota, Arizona, Saint Louis, Tennessee, Jacksonville or any of the 4 NFC East teams, depending on how this season finishes.

Another trend when picking these teams is that I have never failed to select a college basketball team. This trend continued for 2012. I didn't draw a team from a state I had selected in the past. In fact, this was from a conference that I have until now left untouched. The last 4 out, as Joe Lunardi might say, were the Pittsburgh Steelers, New Orleans basketball (in their final D-1 year) Maryland basketball and Utah State football. The team that I selected had another ursine mascot... the Mercer Bears.

Wow, if the Bears have a home game, I can just wear Mercer gear and probably fit in, huh? Mercer is located in Macon, Georgia, and has, if I recall, a pretty decent medical school. They also have a home game on January 2nd against Florida Gulf Coast University, the 16th game on their schedule, which was the game I drew to attend. Mercer plays in the Atlantic Sun conference, long dominated by Belmont, and finished 11-9 in conference last season, good for 5th. Most importantly, I'm heading south in January!

Which 3-0 team is the most surprising?

 We're three weeks into the season, and there are three teams still riding high, without a loss.It actually seems like a low number on my end, only three out of 32 teams going undefeated, especially given the success of some teams last year. The three that haven't suffered a defeat are most surprising, but which one is the MOST surprising? Let's look at the case.

Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers are probably the least surprising, if only because they are such a complete team. Without Ben Roethlisberger, other players have had to step up. It certainly hasn't been the quarterbacks, but the defense and running game have been very respectable. Tough games were had, but it was a good team even without Big Ben.

Kansas City Chiefs: Maybe they just weren't as surprising for me. I like what they did with their offense, and their defense has been supplemented every year for the past 3 or 4. They were bound to reach respectability. It doesn't hurt that the schedule they played was very soft, with the Chargers and 49ers at home and a road game against the Browns.

Chicago Bears: The big surprise for me has been the Bears. What did they do in the offseason to warrant such an improvement? Sure, Urlacher is back and Julius Peppers is on the D-Line, but much of their improvement is on the offensive side of the ball. Is Mike Martz that good? And if he is, how do you explain Matt Forte's resurgence? And on top of that, they have faced two stout opponents after narrowly escaping the Lions. Yes sir, the Bears are the biggest surprise for me.

Who really won the Cutler/Orton trade?

To hear either side of it, nobody is happy with this deal. From an unbiased perspective, the Cutler to the Bears trade was decidedly one sided. Of course, it takes a little parsing to see who won this deal, but not much. The primary worry on either side is as follows.
Broncos fans are upset because they like Jay Cutler. They liked Mike Shanahan too, which was the bigger deal. The Broncos chased Shanahan out of town, which lead to the hiring of Josh McDaniels and the eventual alienation of Cutler. Essentially, Broncos fans are upset because they feel like the Broncos' administration is ruining the team. It's a legitimate argument, especially if you are close to the situation and have a fondness for the individual players. Bears fans, on the other hand, are upset that they gave up too much.
I lived in Minnesota during the late 80s and early 90s. I remember the excitement among Vikings fans when they acquired Herschel Walker. Cowboys fans may have been upset that they gave up such a quality young running back. It's sort of the same situation here, except it's slanted even further towards the Broncos than it was towards the Cowboys.
The Broncos will get two first round picks and a third round pick, which surely isn't the same sort of draft pick fleecing that the Cowboys put on the Vikings, but it's awfully close. The Cowboys used their picks in order to add Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson and Russell Maryland, all key components to the Cowboys' mid 90's Super Bowl successes. The best part for Denver fans is that the Broncos don't necessarily have to replace the guy they traded like the Cowboys did, needing to burn a pick on Emmit Smith.
Kyle Orton, the other component to the deal, struggled in Chicago. It seems to be a trend in Chicago, however. The best receiver on the team is Devin Hester, Kyle Orton didn't succeed there because there was nothing around him, not because he was a poor quarterback. Sure, he gets rattled, but he seemed to be comign around last season, hamstrung only by his ineffective team.
In a division where defenses are generally suspect, I would anticipate Kyle Orton, not Jay Cutler, to end up being the pudgy faced quarterback who doesn't look like a pro athlete to be the one that succeeds with his new team next year. Furthermore, this may be a trade that puts the Broncos over the top, making them an AFC dynasty for years to come.
Of course, they still need to make the right draft choices....

Brett Favre tomfoolery

Let's talk about Brett Favre. Hypothetically, let's talk about Brett Favre. Let's go ahead and say that the Packers cut him and he went out and signed with one of the NFC North teams. How would the fan base react? Let's poke around the division.

Minnesota: What? No! He's the most hated person in Minnesota sports! We're doing so good with our team, We have a great running game, and a pretty good defense, and an awesome running game! I'm sure Tarvaris will be fine this year. All he has to do is hand the ball off! We have a fantastic running game! I don't know that I would be able to sleep, knowing that my team's fate was being influenced by Brett Favre. Besides! We don't need him! Wonderful running game!

Chicago: I know that he's been such a mortal enemy for so many years, but Jesus, we were really beginning to think that Kyle Orton was the answer to our quarterback problems. Kyle Orton! I mean, we brought in Kordell Stewart for a year! Seriously, we've never had a quarterback. The best in our history was like, Jim McMahon. That's not very good. So yeah, Brett Favre. Whatever.

Detroit: We still have a football team?