Tank is gone

Not gonna put any of the 5,000 links out there to this story, but they Bears let Tank go today. I've had mixed feelings about the whole situation, but at this point they had to do it. The guy has F'ed up too many times and made too many bad decisions.

I was a little surprised they cut the cord today, seeing as the blood test isn't due back for at least another week. But I guess the simple act of being out at 3:30 AM was enough for them to say 'enough is enough.' Truth be told, I'm known to be up at 3:30 on alot of Saturday nights/Sunday mornings, but I'm not driving, and I'm sure as hell not doing it when LITERALLY millions of dollars are at stake if anything goes wrong. I'm all for partying, and I certainly wouldn't want to be judged by my employer based on how I spend my weekends (would anybody?), but in a profession where your health & well-being are paramount to even having a chance at success, and you are already essentially on probation with both the league and your team, you gotta walk the line until the suspension is up at the very least.

It was a necessary mvoe for the Bears to maintain credibility. The gave Tank the rules he had to live by, and he crossed them (even thoguh he may not have done anything truly illegal), so they let him go. A ballsy move by the team, and one that sends a message that this isn't an organization that allows itself to be messed with (attn Mr. Briggs).

As far as the future, this is painful. Tank had a starting spot locked up once he was healthy and his suspension was served. His loss, plus the losses of Ian Scott (which I wish hadn't happened) and Al Boone (not a huge deal), put our DT rotation at risk. Tommie is still the man, Anthony Adams should be a decent rotation guy, Dusty has a ton of potential (I see him as another Mongo), and Garay has been solid in the action he's seen (could be another Al Boone, best case scenario maybe another Ian Scott). Hopefully Alex Brown/Israel Idonije are able to get in a few reps on passing downs, to keep the other guys fresh.

Looks like new D-line coach Brick Haley has his work cut our for him. Let's hope he's a step up from the last guy.