We Are The Bears; No Shuffling Crew (This Year)

“And all the world is football shaped,
It’s just for me to kick in space…”
--Andy Partridge of XTC—Senses Working Overtime 1982.

I could cry.

The Chicago Bears (the proverbial MY Team in my household) have suffered another major injury. The frustration of being a Chicago Bears fan has tested my limits, especially this year when the fans are celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Super Bowl. To celebrate this is a double-edged sword. On one hand, the fans relive the greatest moments in Bear history. On the other hand, we are admitting that we have not done "jack-sh!t" since then.

Celebrate the past—mourn the present. I am reminded of the ELO song..."I can't get it out of my head..." The mighty have fallen so fast.

On Friday evening, the Bears took a major tumble when starting quarterback Rex Grossman went down with a broken ankle in the early part of the second quarter on a rotten astro-turf, untested field. I sent an email to my Bear fan friends and they all wrote back telling me I was too harsh on the management, as I was quite critical of Jerry (Wanna Buy a Used Car) Angelo and Lovie (Uh…we like what we got) Smith. I was told by more than a few folks that Grossman was untested. I say, who cares? If we know he is the starter, why not protect him???? But I digress.

Fine--I let the comments of others sink in, but I was hoping for a 9 and 7 season.

9 and 7 seems tough, but let’s look at some honest facts. The Bears have an easier schedule. They are playing in arguably the worst division in football. The Packers are down without some key offensive line players; the Vikings are Moss-less and I hate them (which has nothing to do with how well they will play) and they do not have an established running back; and the Lions are…well…the Lions. They simply stink. I figured the Bears have the best defense in the group and with the addition of Mohammad and the new O-Line; the Bears have made some good moves in the right direction. Therefore, 9 and 7 is plausable.

Then they played Grossman on a bad field in a meaningless game and now, their season is once again facing a no quarterback lull. Chad Hutchison? I mean, c’mon now. He is wretched. Kyle (Don’t Call Me "Cowboy Bob") Orton will probably end up starting. Kurt Kittner—how low can we go? I see the limits. Why would this team for the FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW, go into a season without an established quarterback? The management is kidding themselves and ripping off the fans again.

And to be fair, the Bears also need a starting linebacker (Hunter is a great guy--but no starting linebacker); a tight end; and SOMEONE to emerge as a second wide receiver and a "clutch" go-to receiver.

Watching the Bears for me is like watching the last few seasons of NYPD Blue. I watched it for so long, I had to see how it ended, even if I knew it stunk. Its kind of like some of my collections of comics or CDs--as I own all of the Stones stuff, even though I know Goat's Head Soup is terrible (minus the song Angie) and I own Dirty Work (lousy album on anyone's standards) and I even own Emotional Rescue--wow, it SUCKS! The Bears to me are the same--I will whine and curse and I will, without a doubt, watch EVERY SINGLE SECOND OF EVERY SINGLE GAME--even if they are down by fifty points (which hey, could quite possibly happen). Who is the idiot in this scenerio?

So let’s cheer for the Defense of the Monsters of Midway. Let’s pray that the bum Benson will end his hold out (the little snot) so we do not HAVE to rely on Jones since the Bears were DUMB enough to bench and subsequently lose Anthony Thomas (you remember him—he was rookie of the year a few brief years ago). Let’s hope that Orton will have a Ben R. from the Steelers type of year.

Pictured above is Tom Waddle of the Bears and now a on-air personality in Chicago Sports with me at a fund raiser for the United Way. As Tom Waddle told me, the Bears management at times, does not always think with their football minds—they think with the checkbook.

And a shame it is.

If they are 6 and 10 or worse this season, I say Jerry Angelo should be fired and sent back to Tampa Bay.

If they are 9 and 7 or better, Jerry Angelo is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

I am not fickle; I am a Bear fan.

Oh and KUDOS to the Bears for dumping Hub Arkush from the radio broadcast. I have heard critical comments about the Bears since they no longer have cheerleaders. To those people I say listen to the radio team. You will hear more “cheerleading” and less honesty than you can imagine.

Go Bears (and no, I will not draft a single one of them for my fantasy football team)!

By the way, I still remember Pam's immortal words at the beginning of EVERY season "Football is starting--I could cry."

This year, yeah, me, too!