LAKE FOREST, Ill. -- Several years ago when Marc Trestman was out of work, Sean Payton came through with an assist. For that, the Bears coach is grateful. There probably wont be much reminiscing when Chicago takes on New Orleans at Soldier Field this week, but Trestman did take some time to reflect on Thursday. "No. 1, it was more about a friendship between Sean and myself," he said. Trestman had just been fired after a two-year run as offensive co-ordinator at North Carolina State and was on a sort of sabbatical when he was hired as a consultant to Payton, the Saints coach, for the 2007 season. They werent close friends at the time, but they knew each other from symposiums, back when Payton was an assistant in the league. They had attended symposiums and talked football over lunch a few times. For Trestman, the consulting job was "an opportunity to have some dignity in my career." Five years as the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes and two CFL championships later, Trestman is leading an NFL team for the first time. And hes off to a good start with the Bears at 3-1. Chicago is trying to pick itself up after losing to Detroit and knock the Saints (4-0) from the ranks of the unbeaten. The Bears are tied with the Lions for the NFC North lead. Their offence appears to be a better fit for the personnel, even if things have been a bit shaky at times, and it looks as if Trestman has connected with quarterback Jay Cutler. Thats something previous offensive co-ordinators Ron Turner, Mike Martz and Mike Tice could not do. And its a big reason why he is getting this opportunity, even though he seemed to vanish from the NFL radar. Trestman spent several decades coaching at the college and NFL levels under men such as Bud Grant, Howard Schnellenberger and Bill Walsh. He developed a reputation as a quarterback guru for his work with Bernie Kosar, Rich Gannon and Steve Young, but by the time he took the job with New Orleans, he was in a sort of limbo. "I had just been let go at N.C. State, I wasnt doing anything, I was sitting the year out, I had two years left on a contract," Trestman said. "He invited me down and really showed professional respect. ... It was a great learning time for me and it was also a good time to watch Sean be a head coach and see how he worked on a daily basis and see how he handled the success and the adversity." Payton called Trestman "a proven winner." But he was also a big question mark. There was a knock that Trestman didnt relate well, didnt get along with other assistants, and that explains why hes a first-time head coach in the NFL at age 57. He seems to be relating just fine now. Defensive co-ordinator Mel Tucker was quickly sold. The two had never worked together. But when he interviewed with Trestman in January, Tucker realized how alike they were. "We have very similar trains of thought about the game, how to treat people, what coaching is all about, how to develop football teams and players, what is coaching and things like that," Tucker said. A law school graduate with dark-rimmed glasses, Trestman looks and sounds more like an attorney or corporate CEO than most guys carrying a whistle and a clipboard. His answers are thoughtful and detailed. And theres a quirkiness to him. Trestman probably was the first coach to address the physics subject of "string theory and different dimensions" with Cutler. "Im kind of reading a book right now," the quarterback said. "I dont even know what half the words are in the book, though. We just kind of kick it around." Cutler wasnt sure of the books title. And he couldnt really explain the theory, which has to do with the idea that extra dimensions exist. Its just one example of Trestman connecting with a player, one of his most important players. Backup quarterback Josh McCown mentions the lunch room. Theres Trestman pushing in his chair and cleaning up his area and encouraging the players to do the same. He just wants players to be aware. "He just makes a point to say thats a way that you can serve the people around you," McCown said. "Its just a good example of the little things that you can do that maybe helps out somebody thats working back there in the kitchen, that doesnt have time to wipe up after you. The cool thing is theres never anything thats mandated. Its hey guys, think about doing it this way; think about doing it that way." Brian Westbrook Womens Jersey . Better still, its in the same team and there are 13 races left for it to develop. Ron Jaworski Womens Jersey . -- The Detroit Lions made it crystal clear to Golden Tate that he was their top target in free agency. https://www.eaglessportsgoods.com/Womens-Wilbert-Montgomery-Inverted-Jersey/ . A strong fastball. A big, bending curveball that can buckle hitters at the knees. Against the Detroit Tigers on Sunday, Elias put the entire package together against one of the leagues strongest lineups. Seth Joyner Eagles Jersey . Vonn "reopened" the idea of competing in the season-opening World Cup event on Oct. 26-27 in Soelden, Austria after returning to the slopes last month in Portillo, Chile. Jerome Brown Youth Jersey . According to TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger, the New York Rangers winger skated with extras and goalies today. ATLANTA -- Milwaukee Brewers centre fielder Carlos Gomez believes he picked the right way to get back at Paul Maholm. Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman thinks Gomez acted way out of line. Either way, Atlantas offence struggled again, and the Braves lost a critical three-game series to the Milwaukee Brewers. "Its a tough game and unfortunately I got kicked out in the first inning for doing nothing," Freeman said. "Its a little frustrating." The NL East champion Braves were shut out for the second time in three games, falling 4-0 on Kyle Lohses two-hitter Wednesday night. After losing three of four, Atlanta (93-65) has fallen two percentage points behind the St. Louis Cardinals (94-65) for the NLs best record. Lohse (11-10) struck out five and threw just 22 of 89 pitches for balls. In his first season with Milwaukee, Lohse was pitching for St. Louis when he had his last shutout, a 5-0 victory over Washington on April 21, 2011. Gomez, made it 1-0 in the first with his 23rd homer, but was ejected without touching home plate during a benches-clearing argument. Freeman, Atlantas best hitter, was ejected along with reserve catcher Gerald Laird. Gomez, the Brewers top slugger, stirred emotions on both teams as the games second batter. As soon as he homered, Gomez stood in the batters box watching the ball sail into the seats in left field, stared at Maholm and flipped his bat behind him. Gomez, who was yelling at Maholm as he slowly trotted up the first base line, was still upset that the pitcher hit his leg with an 88 mph fastball in the Brewers 7-4 home loss to Atlanta on June 23. "I dont apologize for this," Gomez said. "Just take the pain back. You can see the replay. They hit me for no reason, and I tried to get it back today. Its the only opportunity that I have. Thats what I did." The argument continued as Gomez slowly trotted across first and began jawing with Freeman, who said he told Gomez to "act like hed been here before" and run the bases. "If you have a beef with the pitcher, have a beef with the pitcher," Freeman said. "Dont make us get involved. Thats us. Were going to back up our pitcher. Im fine with how everybody handled it." Gomez touched second and third without incident before Brian McCann, Atlantas catcher, stood in the third base line about 20 feet from the plate and stopped him. The benches emptied, and Gomez was ejected for shoving Braves reserve outfielder Reed Johnson and Freeman for pushing a pile of players and coaches. Dana DeMuth, the third base umpire and crew chief, didnt hesitate to eject Freeman. "Right when he came in, he went boom with an elbow, which we saw, and it caught the third baseman, (Aramis) Ramirez," DeMuth said. "That right there is just like throwing a punch. That is overaggressive. That, No. 1, calls for an ejection. What we saw out there was the same as we saw (on video). There was nobody else that was overly aggressive other than Gomez, of course." Gomez never touched home plate, but the Brewers were still credited with a run because McCann was charged with obstructing the runner. DeMuth added that Laird was ejected for arguing from the dugout after the game restarted. Logan Schafer took Gomezs spot in centre field. Chris Johnson took Freemans spot at first while second baseman Dan Uggla entered the game for Atlanta and Elliott Johnson moved from second to take Johnsons spot at third.dddddddddddd. One run was all Lohse needed. He retired 20 straight batters after Andrelton Simmons led off the first with a bunt single, and threw just 54 pitches, 42 strikes, through the first six innings. Lohse is 10-4 with a 2.91 ERA over his last 22 starts. He pitched his 10th career complete game, allowing four hits, two starts ago in a 5-1 home victory over Cincinnati on Sept. 13. "I felt good to go out there and establish that I was going to throw strikes," Lohse said. "And they were swinging so the end result of that is if youve got a good defence behind you youre going to have a decent game. And that was a little bit better than decent." Evan Gattis two-out single in the seventh gave the Braves their second and last baserunner, but McCann followed with a flyout. Milwaukee took a 2-0 lead in the fourth when Yuniesky Betancourt singled, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on Jeff Bianchis single and scored on Sean Haltons sacrifice fly. Scooter Gennett singled with two outs in the seventh, moved to second on Lohses single and scored from second on Norichika Aokis RBI single to make it 3-0. All three runs were charged to Maholm (10-11), who gave up eight hits and struck out seven in seven innings. Scott Downs, the third Atlanta pitcher, gave up an RBI single to Aoki with one out in the ninth to make it 4-0. Lohse, facing Atlanta for the first time this season, began the night 3-1 with a 4.97 ERA in 10 career starts against the Braves. Maholm, who dropped to 5-11 with a 5.07 ERA in 24 career starts against Milwaukee, was shocked at Gomezs antics. "When he rounded third and was still acting like that, I told him, Congratulations, you hit a homer. Run," Maholm said. "Thats all I said. Like I said, hes not the first and hes not the last to hit a homer off me. Hes probably not going to be the last guy that pimped it. You can pimp it and do whatever, but at least run the bases." Gomez didnt blame McCann for blocking his path to the plate. "If Im a catcher, I do the same thing," Gomez said. "I try to protect my pitchers, my teammates. I respect McCann, all his players. Im going to apologize to his manager, his organization, that it went that far. The adrenaline, the emotion takes it more than you expect." NOTES: Betancourt entered the game when Ramirez left midway through the third inning with left knee soreness. ... Gonzalez confirmed before the game that RHP Brandon Beachy will not pitch again this season. On the DL since Aug. 23, Beachy is 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in five starts this year after missing 105 games to recover from elbow ligament replacement surgery. Gonzalez said Beachy hasnt had a setback, but added that the team wants him fully healthy for the start of spring training. ... Rookie RHP Jimmy Nelson will make his first career start when the Brewers visit the New York Mets on Saturday. Nelson, who made his debut on Sept. 6 at the Chicago Cubs, has pitched three scoreless innings in five games this season. ... Nelson is taking the place of RHP Wily Peralta. Milwaukee manager Ron Roenicke said Peralta, who went 11-5 with a 4.37 ERA in 32 starts, has a blister on his right index finger and needs to rest. ... Brewers SS Jean Segura still wants to return for the final weekend, but was unable to run in the outfield before the game because of the wet field. Segura has been sidelined since Sept. 25 with a strained right hamstring. ' ' '