Did You Know?

There is no smoking, drinking, swearing or dancing allowed on the campus of Olivet Nazarene.

Dancing?

There is, however, and thank the Lord for this, a drive-through Starbucks in the borough of Bourbonnais (pop.: 17,000).

Insider Fantasy Tip

The one guy on this team I'd take a fantasy flyer on is Bernard Berrian. "He's determined to join that upper echelon of receivers in the NFL,'' Lovie Smith told me this morning. The rail-thin Berrian, 6-foot-1 and 182, ran by cornerback Nathan Vasher and caught a well-thrown bomb from Rex Grossman under the lights at practice last night, and I'm told he caught several others like that early in camp. Grossman and Berrian have formed a good chemistry in a passing game designed to get the ball deep two or three times a game. In the last two years, Berrian has average 16.0 yards per catch. My guess is he's a good bet for 60 catches and seven or eight touchdowns if, and this is a big if, Grossman is more consistent this year.

On the Menu

At breakfast this morning with Smith, I was impressed with his culinary discipline. With terrific-smelling waffles and a nice selection of eggs and meats, Smith grabbed a bowl of mixed fruit, a breakfast bar and a bottle of Tropicana orange juice. Now there's a man with strength at 7 a.m. Not an easy thing to do.

For me: Oatmeal with raspberries, blueberries and one teaspoon of brown sugar. I let it get too cold talking to Smith, but it's hard to screw up oatmeal. Grade: C+.

Camp Confidential

The Bears have a rock star. His name is Devin Hester.

He went into motion from left to wide right on one play in last night's team work, and the crowd began chattering in anticipation. There is a rising oooooooohhhhHHHHHHHHH from the crowd every time he leaves the line of scrimmage. And at the end of practice, walking off the field, this is what he hears from the fans waiting for autographs: "We want HESTER! We want HESTER!''

As I watched practice with veteran Chicago Tribune scribe John Mullin, he described Hestermania by saying, "It's not training camp here. It's the Devin Hester Experience. He's like a theme park.''

This is the greatest tribute I can pay to Hester: The Bears selected him 57th overall in 2006 as a cornerback and returner, and he went on to play in 19 games, including the playoffs. He scored seven touchdowns. The Miami Dolphins picked Ted Ginn Jr. No. 9 overall this year ... and said the reason they did it, in large part, was because games are so close these days and they have such a good defense. In other words, they took note of the impact Hester had with the Bears.

For now, Hester is moving all over the formation. Strangely, the thing that could help him a lot is having the new tight end, Greg Olsen. Olsen could move to the slot occasionally and take up a safety's attention because he's too fast for most linebackers to cover. Hester has shown good hands so far, and a fearlessness the Bears knew about due to his daring return ability. But there's no lock he'll be able to make the transition. "He's put in the time he needed this offseason and really learned the position,'' Smith said. "He's made the position so much more competitive for us.''

Now we'll see if that translates into being a good fourth receiver.