Pro bowl beckons Bears fans will not have to wait for Monday night’s game at Arizona to start choosing their favorites for the Pro Bowl. Balloting for the Pro Bowl begins Monday on nfl.com. The fan voting counts one-third in the process with players and coaches also getting their say. It was the player and coach votes that helped out some Bears last season when six were chosen for the game, the most for the franchise since six were selected in 1991.
Middle linebacker Brian Urlacher and center Olin Kreutz have been chosen to five Pro Bowls, and both should extend that this season if they stay healthy.
Also selected last season were defensive tackle Tommie Harris, linebacker Lance Briggs, cornerback Nathan Vasher and strong safety Mike Brown, all chosen for their first time. Harris, Briggs and Vasher were the only ones who played (injuries sidelined the others).
The franchise record for Pro Bowl players is nine following the victory in Super Bowl XX.
1985 Flashback
Ditka praises Niners With the Bears unbeaten in five games and bracing for an Oct. 13 date at defending Super Bowl champion San Francisco, coach Mike Ditka heaped the requisite respect on the 49ers (3-2), saying, ‘’They’re still the best team in football.’’
Ditka cautioned against unrealistically high expectations.
‘’We’re approaching to where the 49ers were a year or two ago when they were making their move,’’ Ditka said. ‘’But I don’t think you are champion until you are. Period. And they are. They wear the crown, the mantle of success.’’
Halliburton lawsuit lists Super Bowl party
A lawsuit filed in Washington claims U.S. taxpayers funded a big screen TV and snacks that Halliburton Co. sent to Iraq for the 2005 Super Bowl.The lawsuit filed by a former Halliburton employee also alleged the Houston-based company defrauded the government by double- and triple-billing for Internet, food and athletic services provided for U.S. soldiers, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Halliburton officials said the actions by KBR, its division responsible for the military mess halls in Iraq, were misinterpreted. The company said all of its Super Bowl activities were covered under recreation and troop morale boosting clauses in its contract.
The suit, the latest salvo involving Halliburton`s contentious multibillion-dollar services contract, was filed under the False Claims Act, designed to prevent war profiteering by allowing citizens to sue on behalf of the government and recover a portion of damages.
Halliburton was run by Vice President Dick Cheney from 1995-2000.
Janet Jackson repeats Super Bowl antics
As if flashing the 2004 Super Bowl halftime audience weren’t enough, singer Janet Jackson has appeared bare-breasted in her latest music video.Jackson, whose infamous “wardrobe malfunction” while performing with Justin Timberlake during Super Bowl XXVIII two ago led to Federal Communications Commission fines, bared her breasts in her video for the single “So Excited,” TZM.com said Monday.
Why did she do it?
Jackson told Giant magazine that one of her famous brothers used to tease her as a child, saying “he thought my butt was too big,” TZM.com said.
