ESPN.com - NFL - Cub's den: Rookie QB Orton named Bears starter

Talk about being tossed into the heat of battle. Bears rookie QB Kyle Orton has just been named to the opening day starter. Personally, from what I've seen of Orton at Purdue, he has a good chance to a quality starter in the NFL - in the rights situation and system. Sadly, Chicago is not that system or situation. There are been few positions that have been less dangerous than the Bears QB in the past few years. They used four starters last year alone. In addition the Bears do not have enough experience around Orton to help him succeed. WR Muhammad is going to be double covered on nearly ever down and rookie RB Cedric Benson just got to camp and isn't ready to become the workhorse that Chicago needs. Kyle Orton is going got struggle because of the lack of weapons he has been given. He is also going to struggle with the speed of the NFL. Orton is similar to Drew Brees, niether is exceptionally gifted but they are leaders. The problem is that it can take natural leaders a couple of seasons to figure out the nuances of the NFL offense. Brees and Orton will suceed because of their leadership abilities and their ability to process information - but that takes time. Sadly for Bears' fans, Orton's first season just might be as ugly as Brees'. Yet at Brees showed in 2004-2005, if you give a smart kid who has enough talent, the time to adjust to the NFL - you just might win out in the end.

Ahead of the curve.

Nascar.com has caught up with Son of Toad Sports:

In the Viewer's Guide for this weekends race at Bristol they said the following about Son of Toad fave Paul Menard;

"Keep an eye on Paul Menard. Menard --- who celebrated his 25th birthday last Sunday --- has posted nine top-10 finishes in his last 10 races, propelling him to a career-best seventh-place standing in the Busch Series standings." - Nascar.com

Check out the full Viewer's Guide: Here

Where's the love?

Dale Earnhardt Incorporated has an open ride. DEI has a talented young driver who has been flying up the Busch series point standings in the past month. It would seem like a perfect fit. Yet, rumors have it that Paul Menard will not be moving to the #15 in 2006. Does this make sense?

Simply put, it only makes sense if DEI feels they can get a young driver with Nextel Cup experience. DEI has been rumored to be interested in Brian Vickers, Casey Mears and even Matt Kenseth. Yet all of these drivers are under contract for 2006. The #15 car has been a big time cash cow for DEI in spite of Waltrip's lack of consistent success. Paul Menard has the benefit of bringing a sponsor with him, Menards. He also has shown recently to be one of the top drivers in the Busch series. Just look at his last ten races. He has 9 top ten finishes, with the only miss being an 12 place finish at Pikes Peak. In those 9 top ten finishes he has 3 top five finishes and an average finish of 6.8. In comparision in Waltrip's last 10 Busch races he has an average finish of 23.4! Waltrip has competed in a lot fewer Busch races than Menard but the disparity between their recent results can only go to improve Menard's Nextel Cup outlook. Menard has only started two Nextel Cup events in his career both at Watkins Glen. However, in both of those races he started in the back of the pack and worked his way into the late 20s. In fact in 2005 he finished ahead of Waltrip due to Waltrip being knocked out of the race.

DEI should give Paul Menard a one year shot to show them something in Nextel Cup racing in 2006. Should he fail there will no doubt be available drivers to step into the #15. Looking at the Silly Season landscape, Menard maybe DEI's best hope for 2006.

Who is Damien Wilkins?

Recent reports out of Seattle have the Minnesota Timberwolves offering restricted free agent Damien Wilkins a five year contract. The news came as a surprise to Timberwolves fans, as there had been little news out of the Timberwolves as to whom they were considering as potential free agent signees. So Wilkins is certainly an unknown quantity in Minnesota.

Read more at RealGM.com HERE

More cheating in Baseball

This past week, Baltimore Orioles first baseman, Rafael Palmeiro tested positive for steriods. Its has since come out that the steroid that he tested positive for could not as he claims, been taken accidentally. A near certain hall of famer has been tarnished by cheating, this time with drugs, his chances for the hall of fame are certianly up in the air. The man has been disgraced, made a mockery of his sport, and had embarassed his team and employers. Congress is even investigating as to whether Palmeiro should be charged with purjury for claiming that he had never used steroids when he testafied under oath last St. Patrick's Day. He has become a joke a punchline.

The funniest thing is that the Palmeiro only compounded his problems by giving a lame excuse. The American people and the sport of baseball loves to forgive the contrite. Darryl Strawberry and Dwight Gooden being prime examples. Each were given numerous chances to make comebacks, to recover their careers in spite of the lack that they had repeatedly tested positive for drugs. The best thing for all involved would for Palmeiro so simply state that he screwed up. That he was sorry, that his desire to please the fans go in the way of his common sense. If he had claimed to love playing so much that he couldn't bear to give it up, or bear not too compete, the public and media would have given him a symbolic slap on the wrist and his career would have resumed. If he had the balls to subject himself to weekly public drug tests he would have gone from goat to hero.

He would have been remembered as an honest man who loved the game but who made a stupid horrible mistake. Instead, he took the weakest way out, blaming the unknown, waving his hands and saying, "its not MY fault." For that he will be mocked, criticized and scorned.

Palmeiro could have still been a role model and admitted his mistake, instead he helped to embolden every child to pass the buck. Very smooth Raf, very smooth, I think Pete's waiting for you in the hall of shame.

Read Skip Bayless rip Palmeiro: Here