I’m still in shock over the moves the Chicago Bears made on the first day of free agency. Known for being tightwads, the organization actually loosened the purse strings to splurge on DE Julius Peppers, RB Chester Taylor, and TE Brandon Manumaleuna. The total tab for the three players runs in excess of $100 million, with the bulk of that salary going to Peppers.

I haven’t watched much of Peppers, but have heard various things about him not giving 100 percent on each snap. I hope that doesn’t happen here in Chicago. Also, I have to wonder how much he has left in the tank. He’s 30 years old, and has a lot of wear and tear on his body/knees already. Will he be able to last through his entire six-year contract? Will he put forth maximum effort, or will he be satisfied with his $40+ million of guaranteed money and worry more about buying Ferrari parts to pimp his ride than getting after the quarterback. Who can say.

The guy I’m most looking forward to watching is Chester Taylor. I thought he was awesome as Adrian Peterson’s backup in Minnesota, and I think he’ll do well in Chicago. He will give the Bears some much-needed depth at running back (or even as a starter if he beats out Forte). Either way, Forte-Taylor or Taylor-Forte is a much more potent combo than Forte-the other AP-Garrett Wolfe.

Between the new OC, DC, and these free agents, this is shaping up to be a whole different team. I can’t wait until training camp starts!

Before the Blackhawks game against the Islanders the other night, the four Olympic medal winners on the team had a chance to show off their hardware. Patrick Kane won silver with team USA, while Brent Seabrook, Jonathan Toews, and Duncan Keith won gold with team Canada. I love this picture and only wish that Tomas Kopecky and Marian Hossa could have won bronze with team Slovakia. That would have been a perfect ending for the Olympics!

And what can you say about Kane and Toews? These guys are the heart and soul of the Blackhawks for sure. Toews was voted best forward in the tournament and opened a lot of eyes with his play. Much has already been made about how Kane was able to increase lean muscle mass on his frame over the summer and is now able to fend off checks a lot better than last year. He proved just how strong he is by controlling the puck an awful lot and creating tons of offense for his line while notching two assists in the gold medal game.

Now it’s time for the Hawks to focus on winning the Stanley Cup. I don’t know if the goaltending is up to the task, but wouldn’t it be sweet if this is the year???

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Well, the result wasn’t quite what I was hoping for, but the game was very entertaining. Canada ended up winning the gold medal 3-2 in OT when Sidney Crosby flicked a wrist shot through Ryan Miller’s five-hole. The US was a bit sloppy on that shift, and had a chance to clear the puck out. Oh, well. Silver is still pretty good, I guess.

On a brighter note, I was thrilled to see the Blackhawks do so well in this game. Patrick Kane assisted on both USA goals, while Jonathan Toews scored a goal and Duncan Keith had an assist for Canada. Until that Crosby goal, a Hawk had a hand in every goal of the game.

Congrats to Team Canada, especially Toews, Keith, and Brent Seabrook.

(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

I ordinarily don’t like the Olympics. It’s boring (curling? biathlon?) and it messes up the regular television schedule. But I am planning on watching the USA vs Canada men’s hockey game tonight at 7pm — mostly just because the matchup features four Blackhawks: Patrick Kane on Team USA, and Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, and Brent Seabrook on Team Canada.

The Canadians are favored to win, but after they had trouble dispatching the Swiss, I could see an upset for Team USA — particularly if goalie Ryan Miller is at the top of his game. This is just the preliminary round of the tournament, of course, so no medals involved yet, but it should still be a good game.

So did any of you watch Tiger Woods’ first official public statement and apology about his affairs? I missed the live airing, but plenty of places are posting video clips of the event. I used to be a Tiger fan, but I have to admit that the whole smarmy incident of last Thanksgiving and all the info that subsequently came out has left a very bad taste in my mouth. He seems a bit disgusting now…

Anyway, here’s a video clip of Tiger’s statement, courtesy of CBS News:

U.S. snowboarder Shaun White won a gold medal at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics yesterday by pulling off a McTwist 1260 on his victory lap. Yes, with the gold already sewn up, he still went for it with an amazing final run to fire up the crowd. The IOC has been pulling down every YouTube video clip of Shaun White’s gold medal run, but here’s a clip from a different competition where you can see the same trick.

Why is this Sports Illustrated cover shot of Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn generating so much controversy??? Apparently some women’s group or other finds it objectionable because they deem the pose to be sexual in nature. Huh????? Are they serious? I don’t know about you, but I see nothing remotely sexual or controversial about this cover. She’s a skier and she’s bent over in a tuck position. That’s tuck with a “t”, not an “f”, ok? My god, what is wrong with people these days????