Despite the fact that this year’s Chicago Bear team was winning on luck and fumes, there are a lot of Bear fans who are pissed this week after losing to the Packers, and the Southwest Side and Southwestern suburbs are among the bluest collar, most devout Chicago sports fans. It’s their attitude and speech that the “Super Fans” were parodying on Saturday Night Live. So, if you’re a Packer fan, it’s probably best to keep it to yourself, especially to your employer.
John Stone was a car salesman at Webb Chevrolet in Oak Park and he wore a Packers tie to work on Monday. He says that he did it to honor his late grandmother who was a big Green Bay fan. The dealership management was scared of alienating customers and the dealership has done promotions involving various Bear players over the years, so they asked Mr. Stone to change his tie. He refused. They asked five times in all; and all five times, this mental midget refused; so they fired him.
Now, he could have Bart Starr pictures all over his home, and be wearing autographed Aaron Rodgers underwear, but Stone is in a public position when he is trying to sell something. Like a uniform, your employer has the right to have a dress code. When I first heard the story, I thought that Stone probably had a good case for litigation (and I’m sure he and his lawyer will be filing papers any moment now), but after five refusals, the dealership can claim insubordination, and they will probably win and he has no one but himself to blame.

That’s the question: who has more credibility – a head coach who has had only one winning season and probably should have been fired a couple of weeks ago when the NFL season ended or a loud mouthed, wide receiver who has done more off the field than on it (including change his name to his number 85 in Spanish)?
The feud between Cincinnati Bengals coach Marvin Lewis and Chad Ochocinco continued this week when Lewis was asked by the press how the star receiver would fit in New England.
“Belichick (New England Head Coach) is smarter than that,” Lewis said to reporter Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald at which point Lewis and other reporters were said to have broken into laughter.
Lewis was probably right after the way Belichick abruptly traded fellow prima donna wide receiver Randy Moss just four games into the past season. Ochocinco is a talented receiver, but he is probably too flamboyant to fit in with the little troll coach in the grey hoodie.
When he heard of Lewis’s, comments, Ochocinco tweeted saying that he wants to set up a cage match with Lewis. Ochocinco is a skilled athlete and is much younger than Lewis, but I wouldn’t necessarily bet against Lewis – there have been times with all of the off-the-field antics of Ochocinco and other players when it looked like Lewis wanted to beat the s#$t out of someone.
All I know is, I’d pay to watch that fight.

It was a bad Sunday for your friend and humble narrator. Everyone knows that the Bears lost, but if that wasn’t enough, the Blackhawks lost to the Flyers and Northwestern lost badly to Wisconsin. Here are my thoughts:
• Where was the second half offense in the first half? Why did the Bears revert back to their preseason form in the biggest game of the year?
• If Hanie had pulled off the comeback of the century, we would have had the distinction of having the worst Super Bowl participant that I can remember.
• The Packers were the better team, and on paper, should have stomped the Bears, but the Bears have some way of neutralizing Aaron Rodgers and make him human. I don’t know what it is, but he wasn’t the superstar yesterday, just competent.
• It turns out Jay Cutler was hurt after all – a sprained MCL in his knee. He took a beating on Tweeter from other players for not playing and according to a SI.com writer, was tearing up when he heard about it. I’m still not sure about Cutler: part of me wants to root for him; part of me thinks he is a jerk, but there are a lot of people out there who should get off his back.
• Questions for Bear management – why was Todd Collins still on the roster? Why wasn’t Hanie playing earlier? I know that Lovie Smith’s job is safe, but GM Jerry Angelo made the QB roster call – when does he get his pink slip?
• Question for Lovie: why not go for the long field goal in the first half instead of punting?
• Now comes the hype which I don’t need – just play the damn game!
• Isn’t it silly that the NFL prohibits advertisers from using the name “Super Bowl?” It is tons of FREE advertising from electronics stores, grocery stores, furniture stores, anyone who gets a boost in sales from the game. So, instead everyone talks about buying something for “The Big Game.” Everyone knows what they’re talking about. This is one of the NFL’s silliest rules.
• No matter how tired I am of Pittsburgh being in the Super Bowl – I hate the Packers – Go Steelers!

I don’t like to criticize casting choices in movies, even if I care that the movie is good. For example, I thought the people who complained about Daniel Craig being James Bond before “Casino Royale” came out weren’t giving him a chance (and he was very good in that film and the problems with “Quantum of Solace” had nothing to do with him). I always wait and see – a good script and a good director will help the actor do a good job (Michael Keaton in the first “Batman” anyone?)
As you would suspect, comic book movies are important to me; I, at least, hope that they don’t suck. One of the best franchises going now is the current Batman series. “Batman Begins” and “The Dark Knight” were terrific movies, not just terrific comic book films, and Christopher Nolan has done an exceptional job. But I wonder if he is getting Sam Raimi syndrome: third movie fatigue.
What do I mean? Anne Hathaway as Catwoman for the third film? I have nothing against Ms. Hathaway, but due to the Indignant Women in my family, I’ve sat through “The Princess Diaries” (both 1 and 2) and “The Devil Wears Prada,” and while she may be a fine actress, I just wonder if she can do this part. Perhaps she wants to darken her image or roles, but I was going “huh?” when I heard it.
The way in which I hope Nolan isn’t getting Raimi-ed is in the other villain – Bane. Tom Hardy, who was in Nolan’s fine “Inception” will play the steroidal maniac from the comic. However, I wonder if Bane was chosen like Venom in “Spider-Man 3.” Both are marginal villains from relatively recently in the respective character’s history that appeal only to the few 13-19 year-olds who read the comics. “Spider-Man 3” was by far the weakest in the series with Venom overshadowing the pathos of the Sandman, something that you could see was important to director Raimi.
So, Raimi refused to continue the series, and we will get a re-vamp with unknown actors and a new director (Marc Webb, who did direct “(500) Days of Summer” which was supposed to be quite good). But it was Marvel’s decision to force Venom on Raimi. I wonder (and hope) that Bane wasn’t forced by DC (who usually know better) on Nolan as well.
Again, I will reserve judgment until I actually see the film, but I hope that Nolan can give us a third act that lives up to the first two excellent films.

Ever since the Bears and Packers won their NFC Divisional Playoff games last weekend, the hype has been off the board. Pictures of Halas and Lombardi graced the papers; Butkus, Bart Starr, President Obama, and Mike Ditka have all chimed in on who they are rooting for. “The Biggest Game in the History of the Bears” it was called since it is the first time the two storied rivals have met in the playoffs since 1941.
But it’s not. My friend, Sun-Times columnist rick Telander did a whole column on the NFC Championship Game in 1986 between the “Super Bowl Shuffle” Bears and the then-Los Angeles Rams. He made a good argument – but I would say that all of the playoff games after the 1985 season were much bigger than Sunday’s tilt.
First, you have to remember that at that time, Chicago teams hadn’t won ANYTHING in a very long time. The Bears had last won in 1963, when I was 3 years old. I didn’t remember any of it. The Blackhawks won in 1961 – needless to say, I know even less of that championship. The Michael Jordan Bulls championships were still years away, and the Cubs and White Sox were mired in decades of futility Every other sports city and town, certainly ones that had long standing franchises had won at least once if not more often. Chicago wasn’t even the “Second City” when it came to sports. A team might show promise for awhile, but they would fade again.
So, when the Bears romped through the 1985 regular season and became a media sensation, everybody was on the bandwagon. The Shuffle song and video was everywhere; William Perry and many others were doing commercials. Ditka and Buddy Ryan were revered. Everyone on the team was a rock star.
But, underneath our bravado, there was the fear that the team would come up short. They had against the Dolphins in Miami against Dan Marino. The Rams weren’t that much, but they had Eric Dickerson. The giants, who the Bears defeated in the first round, had Lawrence Taylor and were only one season away from their own championship. However, the Bears rolled all over the NFC teams and headed for their first Super Bowl. The game was played in New Orleans and fans worried: what if they party too much? Then, once the game started, the unthinkable happened – on the first series, the great Walter Payton fumbled the ball away to New England. The Patriots were outmanned, a huge underdog, and not expected to have made the game, but as a result, they had nothing to lose. The Patriots took over deep in Bear territory and I swear you could hear the whole city holding its breath or praying. Ryan’s “46” defense kept the Pats out of the end zone and held them to a field goal, and then the rout was on. But, those were the biggest games in Bear history.
Second, no one is that sold on this Bear team. Lovie Smith’s team limped out of the gate, posting four early wins, but also two of the ugliest losses in recent memory against the Giants and Seahawks. The O-line couldn’t block anyone; Jay cutler was making mistakes when he wasn’t getting killed. Offensive coordinator Mike Martz and offensive line coach Mike Tice were getting run out of town on sports talk radio, and the fans were out for the heads of Smith, GM Jerry Angelo, and team President Ted Phillips.
Then, they got on a tear, won most of the remaining games, but still lost ugly to New England, apparently the best team in the game in November and December.
And besides, the Bears were just in the Super Bowl four years ago. They lost and hadn’t been to the playoffs since, but we still don’t know if this is a very good team. They have a very good defense and special teams are just that – very special with Devin Hester returning kicks. But we’re nervous about this team; which Bear team will show up on any given Sunday?
And, to be honest, it seemed like the Packers had greater hatred for the Vikings, even before Brett Favre left and went to play for them. The Bear-Packer rivalry was something that was old, like not liking that guy who beat you up in 6th grade and still see once in awhile. The Vikings/ Packers were like someone hitting on your wife/girlfriend last night.
So, it’s a great rivalry and a huge game, but the most important? Nope.

As a result of the schizophrenic nature of the offense, how hot Aaron Rodgers has been all season, and the fact that the Packers have the last two defensive players of the year, on paper, you would have to go with the Packers.
That said; I hate the Packers. My grandfather had season tickets for years when I was growing up, so I almost came out of the womb hating the Packers. And, seeing the classless behavior of Rodgers in the game at Soldier Field earlier this season, I now want someone to hit him hard on every play. Like Favre, I respect Rodgers’ ability, but unlike Favre (at least while a Packer), I could respect him as a player. Not Rodgers.
On top of that, I have a tendency to go with the traditional wisdom, and that says GB 17-10 in the cold. But, this has been a wacky year in the NFL. We’ve had a sub .500 team win a division title and defeat the defending Super Bowl champions. Teams that were expected to win: San Diego, the Giants, fell short. Teams picked for the bottom: Tampa Bay and Kansas City showed much improvement. So, it literally could go either way. I especially think so after the week 17 game between the two teams. Green Bay needed the win to make the playoffs; the Bears had already clinched playoff position, first round bye and seeding. But Smith plays his starters the whole game and while the offense sputtered, it felt like a playoff game, and the Packers won 10-3. I thought the game was going to be a blowout but the Bears hung in and lost a tough game, which says that Sunday’s game could really go either way.
I’m picking the Packers, but I hate them. Go Bears!

Currently on Amazon.com’s best seller lists is “My Father At 100” by his son Ron. There are at least two other books that have been released in the past few weeks to commemorate the 40th president and of course, the conservatives are once again trying to engage in rewriting history to make the man a saint.
The B-movie actor, former head of the Screen Actors’ Guild, and California governor, ascended to the Presidency after the troubled presidency of Jimmy Carter and there are people who want to give him all types of credit. He spent on defense pushing the Soviet Union into near bankruptcy trying to keep up. But he nearly bankrupted us at the same time.
Let’s talk about some of “Dutch’s Greatest Hits:” criminal behavior in the Iran/Contra scandal; he did little or nothing for minorities and women and got rid of the Fairness Doctrine which required holders of broadcast licenses to present issues of public importance in a manner that was honest, equitable and balanced. As a result, we have Fox News. Thanks Ron.
In my opinion, if people want to celebrate a centennial, let’s celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of blue pioneer Robert Johnson. He did more good for the world that that tired, senile old man ever did.