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Weekend wondering: Wondering whether it’s better not to make the NFL postseason or be eliminated in the first round the way the Minnesota Vikings were Saturday (Jan. 5) with a 24-10 loss to the Packers in Green Bay? Uh, you might want to ask recently fired Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith — who did not reach the playoffs in five of his last seasons — about that.
ESPN reporter and Christian Ponder’s wife, Samantha Steele Ponder. Credit: US Presswire
* Wondering whether there’s a prize for having the most candidates to fill a coaching vacancy. And if so, wondering whether the Bears might be in contention. Also wondering whether there are bonus points for having a Canadian Football League coach (Montreal’s Marc Trestman) as one of the candidates.
* Wondering what goes through the mind of anyone questioning Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder about not being able to play vs. the Packers. Assuming there is a mind actually involved in such questioning.
* Wondering what would prompt someone on Twitter to be so ______________ [fill in the blank, although “stupid” works rather nicely here] to tweet: @samsteeleponder How soft has your husband gotten since he married you? Not playing in his first playoff game because of an elbow injury.
* Wondering how the guy must have felt when Samantha Steele Ponder responded by tweeting: not soft enough to bully someone’s wife on twitter.. So I’d say he’s ahead of the curve.
* Wondering whether Twitter should put out sarcasm alerts when Samantha Steele Ponder responds to a tweet thusly: No, I believe that the key to marriage is silence. #dreamwife 
RT @TDMEL52: @samsteeleponder have you talked to Christian?
* Wondering how Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers can throw completions to a playoff-record 10 receivers vs. the Vikings. Do the Bears even have 10 guys who would be eligibile to catch the ball — and then be able to do so?
* Wondering if any Bears fans would be rooting for the Vikings to win next week if they had beaten the Packers. Oh, wait. It’s so much easier for Bears fans to be against things rather than for them. Not that Bears fans are unique in that regard. Of course, they now no doubt will root for former coach Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers, who play the Packers play next weekend, merely because he is a former Bears quarterback, right?
* Wondering how many people are thinking if Minnesota can lose to Green Bay by only two touchdowns with a dreadful quarterback effort by Joe Webb (11-of-30 for 180 passing yard with an interception), the Bears could have beaten the Packers with Jay Cutler having an average game. OK, wondering how many people who aren’t in need of professional mental assistance would think that way.
In case anyone was wondering, Samantha does have athletic skills that date to her childhood and are as recent as this month, when she participated in an athletic endeavor with the Notre Dame football team:
And this from 2009 when she was with Fox Sports:
Maria Sharapova withdrew Monday (Dec. 31) from the Brisbane International tennis tournament in Australia. If it’s any consolation (to her or anyone else), she was named winner in the TennisReporters.net poll for sexiest female player for the first time in seven years. The poll was named the “Ana Ivanovic Sexiest Female Poll” after the Serbian won the title five years in a row.
Sharapova captured 40.8 percent of the vote to 13.2 for Maria Kirilenko, who is newly engged to hockey star Alex Ovechkin. Rafael Nadal won the “Marat Safin Sexiest Male Poll” with 43.6 percent. Roger Federer was runner-up with 24.6. Sharapova, who no longer is engaged to basketball player Sasha Vujacic, reportedly is dating tennis player Grigor Dimitrov. Invaluable news.
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