The Bears

Is There ANYTHING In The Organization That Is Not Screwed Up?

Watched the Bears game last night. Why? Don’t know. But, even a 6-3 football game is more entertaining than any NBA/NCAA basketball game these days. Earlier in the day I was texting with a friend who said he bet the over. I texted him that I hoped the over was set at five points. I don’t watch them too much now that I live in Las Vegas. I also won’t pay an extra penny to watch them.

I was born in 1962. The Bears have won exactly two championships in my lifetime. 1963, 1986. They went to the Super Bowl one other time. Rarely are they in the playoffs. If they are, it’s an afterthought. The only time the Bears were consistently competitive in the NFL was from 1984-1988.

Looking at them today, no part of the organizational structure isn’t totally messed up. Can you name one thing that works?

I’d be willing to give the President, Kevin Warren, a bit of a break. He built one of the best stadiums in the NFL up in Minnesota. He is charged with doing that in Chicago but with the ownership and the politicians, it is an impossible task. You wouldn’t blame him for looking for a new gig.

But Warren didn’t want the best coach on the market, Jim Harbaugh, to come back and be a Bear. Harbaugh has the Chargers going to the playoffs in his first season. Arguably, Harbaugh would have had to do more work in Chicago and do it in the NFL’s toughest division, but he was the choice at the time. Harbaugh might have dodged a bullet.

Today, there is no clear head coach choice to head the Bears who doesn’t have a lot of potential downside. Further, since this organization has so totally screwed up every pick do you think they can do it without screwing up again?

At this point, the entire organization and its culture, the way it has performed, and the future potential of it, points to ownership. The Bears have the most inept ownership in sports. George Halas started the NFL. But, even he didn’t win championships when the league started rising and getting more competitive. His legacy, the McCaskeys, love the Bears.

But, if they truly loved the Bears they would sell the team. The game has passed them by. They are a small market kind of ownership in a big market inside of the most dominant sports league in the world, except for the Champions League in England.

The mediocre results of virtually every season but two since 1962 point to ownership.

The stadium they currently play in sucks. We were PSL season ticket holders. My wife’s family had seats in the old Wrigley Field, the old Soldier Field, and then we bought PSLs in the revamped Soldier Field.

We had great seats. Row 1, upper deck, section 314. Not great seats, fantastic seats.

Thankfully, just before the Covid season in February of 2020, we sold our PSL’s. Man did we dodge a few bullets.

Even with great seats, I couldn’t give them away to my friends. “Want to go see the Bears at Soldier Field? You can use my tickets.” No thanks, I’d rather watch them on TV.

One year at the NFL’s Kickoff Classic we met a guy at the concession stand who travels all over the NFL for that game. He said Soldier Field was the worst experience of his life. He was right. The concession stands didn’t work and the food was crappy. The bathroom situation stinks. The parking walk ten miles to the stadium and wait in line to enter stinks. Nothing about it is spectacular.

I used to donate my tickets to the USO so a servicemember and their family could go to the game when I didn’t go myself. I found myself going to fewer and fewer games despite the fact I lived on the North side of the city and could basically walk to and from the games.

The Bears looked like they might be on the right track. They bought Arlington Park and tore it down. They were going to build a dome, and at the early stages, it looked like they might even do it with private not public money. The dome meant Super Bowl’s, Final Fours, big events, and conventions right near O’Hare year round.

It had the potential to bring back tailgating, great highways in and out, and a train line. If you wanted to fly in and out for a game the same day, easy to do.

But, the C(r)ook County Tax Assessor Fritz Kaegl got his marching orders from Toni Preckwinkle and JB Pritzker that they needed the Bears downtown in the city. So, he jacked up tax rates.

Now the Bears are stymied.

The team on the field is pitiful. They have found their quarterback and many players are indeed NFL quality. But, the offensive line is so bad the offensive scheme looks like the old playground game “Kill the guy with the ball” and not an NFL offense. The defense is relatively solid, but the Bears have always had a relatively solid defense in my lifetime.

The NFL is a quarterback-centric offensive league now due to all the rule changes they have made over the years.

They have had a litany of coaches since firing Lovie Smith and all were incapable of organizing a team that could win.

Last night, Soldier Field was sold out. The Bears are lucky they only play 10 home games. Otherwise, the place wouldn’t have any people in it.

The worst ownership in the NFL. The worst game experience in the NFL. Why go?