I'm not a pessimist when it comes to the Chicago Bears. It isn't in my DNA. I'm a realist. I look at what's in front of me and try to evaluate it with as much common sense as possible.
For those of you who don't know, I'm twenty-three years old and when I was a small kid there wasn't any DirecTV. I also have never lived anywhere near Chicago so being able to sit and watch a Chicago Bears game was indoctrinated into my brain as an honor. It was a gift to be able to watch the team I loved and I wasn't able to do it consistently until the Jersey Sports Cafe opened in Rutherford my freshman year of high school. It took a great deal of commitment and money but I convinced Nicole, the cute barmaid, to put the Bears on one of the smallest televisions in the bar each week. The rub was I had to commit to the entire season - not three or four weeks. I had to be there throughout. And I was. For four years.
It started in the fall of 1996. In '96 the Bears were 5-8 after 13 games. In '97 the Bears were 2-11 after 13 games. In '98 the Bears were 3-10 after 13 games. In '99 the Bears were 5-8 after 13 games. Four years of the Jersey Sports Cafe in Rutherford and not one single meaningful game in the month of December.
College comes and I stumble into a bar called Reservoir, where they refuse to put the Bears opening day game against the Minnesota Vikings, featuring the debut of Cade McNown on one of their television screens. I ended up at a little underground joint called Josie Wood's Pub where a clearly stoned guy claimed to be a Bears fan but couldn't open his eyes. He also had no idea how to work the DirecTV system the bar had just enstalled. So I joined the Bears/Vikings already in progess somewhere in the second quarter. McNown looked great, the Bears just missed pulling out a close one and I had found my new bar. (Although I did go back to Reservoir the following week, for the final time, to watch the Bears lose 41-0 to Tampa Bay. I've never been in the bar since.)
The Bears were 3-10 after 13 games that season. (2001 didn't happen) After winning the first two games of the 2002 season, the Dicky J Bears went on a torrid eight-game losing streak. We know what's happened since.
9 seasons. And only one of the seasons (that didn't happen) had a meaningful game played in the month of December. So I'd like to officially take this opportunity to say to everyone: R.E.L.A.X.
No matter what happens in the immediate future, the Chicago Bears have three meaningful games left on their schedule. In the worst case scenario of the Bears losing two and the Vikes winning two, they'd still have the chance to win the division on the last day of the season. Take comfort. Take solace. Enjoy December football and dramas that involve questions like "Which quarterback gives us the best chance to win in the PLAYOFFS?"
And to be honest with you, I can't think of a single thing I'd rather be doing for the next three Sundays than watching the Chicago Bears plays some football and know that the outcomes of those games are important. i didn't expect nine wins this season. I hoped for 8. Now 10 or 11 is a serious possibility.
A young team last Sunday lost to a veteran team with a veteran coach that needed a win. Watch the kids fight back Sunday night and be proud.
Here at DaBearsBlog, you are free to kill us or the Bears as you so wish. You are not free, however, to be an asshole. So if you spew racism or ill-meaning foul language (cursing about football is just fine) or anything of that ilk, your comments ain't gonna last long, jerk.