FanHouse DustyDvoracek

Dusty Dvoracek is the Cal Ripken of season-ending injuries.

You remember Cal, right? The Ironman who played in a record 2,632 straight baseball games, shattering the once-believed-unbreakable record held by Lou Gerhig. You could always count on Cal staying in the lineup. Jim Marshall is the NFL record-holder in the same category with 282 straight starts. Marshall won't be losing any sleep at the prospect of Dvoracek putting together a string of even a tenth of as many games in a row. As of Monday, the 28-year-old defensive tackle from Oklahoma has been shut down for the entire season -- for the fourth straight year.

After the Bears made the announcement of their franchise-shattering acquisition of Jay Cutler, they didn't rest. Within a few hours, they announced they had also agreed to terms with venerable left tackle Orlando Pace. I'll admit, I was overly excited about the two new Bears, as were all my Bears fans friends -- which is weird, usually at least one of us disagrees about player movement. Make no mistake about it, though. We aren't delusional. This team is far from complete and the die-hards know it.

With the team still a decent amount below the salary cap and several holes left to fill for 2009, here's what I think the Bears should do.

Jay Cutler is going to the Bears for three draft picks and Kyle Orton. Jay Mariotti has already discussed how much it means to have a good quarterback in Chicago. Still, I bring the voice of the fan, and I've got something to say: I love this move. One thing that's great about sports, though, is there are always opposing fans trying to bring you down.

I've taken time to check out many message boards and comments sections across the internet. What I'm finding, for the most part, is that fans of teams other than the Bears think this is a terrible deal. Their "evidence," though, is usually incredibly flawed. Here are some of the reasons people think the deal is poor for the Bears, followed by my rebuttals.

I guess you can say Dusty Dvoracek was incredibly healthy this season, as long as you take the rest of his career into account. He missed his entire rookie year, and then proceeded to tear his ACL in the first game last year. At least this year he got 11 games in before the season-ender. Yeah, I said it's over. I'm speculating, but usually coaches aren't this up front about potential injury issues:

''It was a serious injury,'' coach Lovie Smith said. ''It isn't looking good.'' This time the malady is in the big man's arm.

The blow is a potentially devastating one to the Bears. They likely can't lose a game the rest of the way in order to make the playoffs, and Dvoracek is one of the primary reasons the Bears run defense has been stout this year as opposed to the sieve they ran out last year. He's a strong run-stuffer. Hopefully Marcus Harrison and Anthony Adams can fill his shoes.

It's sad that Dvoracek keeps having this sort of bad fortune.

Really, I'm just shocked Mike Brown has made it this far. His season-ending injury is likely on deck.

Update: Yep, out for the season. The injury, in case it matters, is ruptured biceps. Ouch. Dusty really gets his money's worth when it comes to injuries.

This season, FanHouse writers take their cameras to NFL stadiums to document what happens when you stop being polite and start getting real. Or something. We've cleverly titled it "FanHouse in the Stands."

Sunday night in Indianapolis, the colossal Lucas Oil Stadium was officially unveiled to the sporting world via Sunday Night Football on NBC, as the hometown Colts took on the Chicago Bears. I had already seen the stadium and field up close two days earlier -- having the pleasure of refereeing a high school game there Friday night -- but it's still so monstrous that you can't help but be impressed every time you step through those doors.

The concourses are so big that there is never any sort of real congestion. Sure, it's crowded right before the game, but you are always moving and never feel suffocated. For example, in the picture to the right ... this was taken about fifteen minutes before game time when the majority of the people were on the way to their seats.

The Funny Car Cafe, pictured here, illustrates the wide-variety of food and drink around the concourse.

During the game, it couldn't have been more comfortable for me. The seats are as spacious as they need to be, while it was a beautiful night. I do think with the roof and side window open the air flow is much more pleasant than the old RCA Dome, but they also killed the sound. It wasn't near as loud in this game as it has been in Indy in the past.