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Fearless forecast: The Chicago Bears will have a better passing offense next season (well, finishing No. 29 of 32 NFL teams with 187.4 yards per game makes that fairly certain even if quarterback Jay Cutler decides to throw left-handed).
Asked on Twitter whether there ever would be a “baby Zen,” Jeanie Buss tweeted last week: “Just this one :)” — a photo of Phil Jackson and pooch.
* The Bears will have a better total offense next season (No. 28 in total offense with 310.6 yards per game does make that prospect easily accomplished).
* The Bears will not be better in turnovers — or now called takeaways/giveaways. Mainly because the Bears were No. 1 this season with a +20 (44 takeaways to 24 giveaways).
* Every NFL team with a coaching vacancy miraculously will end up with its No. 1 choice to fill the opening.
* Every applicant who does not land a job as the head coach of an NFL team will say he merely was exploring an opportunity and is perfectly happy in his current employment situation (and that includes unemployed/fired NFL coaches — especially those with years and money remaining on their contracts).
* Andy Reid will become coach of the Kansas City Chiefs and within his first week on the job have Arthur Bryant’s Barbeque on speed dial.
* Your humble correspondent will show up for the second round of tryouts for the Bikini Basketball Association’s Chicago Crave and provide coverage. Tryouts will be Sunday (Jan. 6) at L.A. Fitness in Tinley Park (18400 Convention Center Dr.) from noon-3 p.m. Female players must be at least 18 years old, wear sports bra, Spandex short and gym shoes, bring two photos and a bio of themselves. Pre-registration may be done by sending two pictures and a bio to Tryouts@ChicagoCrave.com. There will be videos of the activities next week on this site.
* After taking a couple of weeks off, “Sports & Torts” will return next Thursday (Jan. 10) at noon Chicago time on talkzone.com. Co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris will be as charming and witty as ever.
Phil Jackson has provided Los Angeles Lakers executive vice president Jeanie Buss with another ring. And for a change, it’s not one for winning an NBA title. The former Lakers and Bulls coach proposed to Buss over the Christmas holidays.
Buss tweeted Thursday: Twitter family — Phil finally gave me that ring I wanted ! 
The marriage will be the third for Jackson and the second for Buss. Phil won six NBA titles with the Bulls and five with the Lakers.
Here is the photo Jeanie Buss posted on Twitter.
“I’m beyond happy,” Buss told ESPNLosAngeles.com. “I really didn’t want it to be news, but I knew people who followed me on Twitter cared about it; and I’ve been wearing the ring since Christmas, so I figured I should let people know.”
There’s no wedding date set yet, although if they wanted to schedule it during the NBA Finals this year, it probably wouldn’t conflict with the Lakers’ activities. Phil and Jeanie have been dating since 1999 and live together in Playa del Rey, Calif. He’s 67; she’s 51.
Ah, young love — regardless of age.
As promised, here are more calendars that feature NFL cheerleaders (something that the Bears do not have, meaning they are missing out on an additional revenue stream — in case the McCaskey family is interested):
The Buffalo Bills are interested in former Bears coach Lovie Smith. Some of us are interested in the team’s cheerleaders.
As has become the custom around here, we have reached the point in the program for some video. And we even have some NFL cheerleader-related video, as well as others:
Advertising opportunities are available on ElliottHarris.com (which had 999,989 hits in December). For information and rates, contact sales@elliottharris.com.