To be a fan of the Chicago Bears, one has to set one’s expectations low. Lower than any other team in Chicago because most people can still remember the other teams winning championship(s). The Bears’ Super Bowl Shuffle team won the franchise’s only Super Bowl in January of 1986, so anyone younger than say 41 or 42 would only know the team from documentaries and books.
Since that title, the Bears have been in just one more Super Bowl which they lost. The rest of the time has generally been a disaster on and off the field. Never the most beloved family, the McCaskeys were generally scorned especially when the Bears were trying to get taxpayers to pay for the “Close Encounters” stadium inside Soldier Field. A couple of time Richard M. Daley (the son) got votes for publicly denying the funding. On top of it, then CEO the late Michael McCaskey had all of the charisma of a throw rug. It was easy to hate the Yale alum, considered smug and aloof.
OF course, eventually, Soldier Field did renovated with the McCaskeys forced to put up a significant share of the costs (which is not good for family cash flow – the McCaskeys and the Steelers’ Rooney families are the only ones who’s wealth comes primarily from being the founding owners of their football teams). However, the Bears have a history of drafting Hall of Fame running backs and linebackers, but there is no team more snakebit at the quarterback position than the Bears. The best QB to suit up for the Bears retired in 1950 – Sid Luckman. He held most of the team’s passing records even as the NFL loosened up on offense many times over the years. In fact, only flaky Jay Cutler has been able to break Luckman’s records. Other than Cutler, only Jim McMahon, perhaps Eric Kramer or Jim Miller have been better than mediocre. Yes, the Bears reached the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman and fair results with Kyle Orton. There’s never more attention paid to the position than over the past 4 years.
GM Ryan Pace traded four picks to move up one slot in the NFL Draft to take Mitchell Trubisky, passing over eventual superstars Pat Mahomes and Deshaun Watson. Trubisky took the starting role from Mike Glennon and led the team to the NFL Playoffs and a 12-4 record and one Pro Bowl appearance as an alternate. Coach Matt Ryan, a former assistant to KC’s Andy Reid who also worked with Mahomes, was hired to get the best out of Trubisky who Pace loved for his big arm and mobility. Pace overlooked, as did many of the scouts, that Trubisky only played 13 games as a starter and North Carolina went 8-5. Trubisky’s main fault was an inability to read defenses, which led to bad interceptions and overthrows.
No one is more popular than the backup QB on the Bears, and last year, the Bears spent a fourth round pick and accepting the contract of Nick Foles, who got hot and won the Super Bowl and was named MVP of that game. Jacksonville bet big on Foles and he showed what he had shown before – streaky. The Jaguars saw his imperfections and dumped him on the Bears. The 2020 season started with Trubisky who showed his usual poor performance. In came Foles who was on a bad streak, and Trubisky played well, leading the team to a late season run and the playoffs, but against teams with the worst defenses in the league. Another poor performance against the Saints made the team came to the same conclusion that the fans had done seasons before – Trubisky wasn’t going to be an elite QB.
Letting Trubisky go and having only Foles left the Bears in trouble – only the 20th pick in the 1st round meaning that they won’t be able to pick a top QB or trade up in the draft. Two of the best QBs in the league today: Watson and Seattle’s Russell Wilson were available, but the Bears didn’t have enough to trade. They were latched on Wilson and reportedly offered 3 first round draft picks, and a third rounder. The Seahawks turned down the offer and so the Bears signed Andy Dalton, former Bengals starter who was expendable when the Bengals got the number one pick and drafted Joe Barrow. Last season, Dalton played mediocre after Dak Prescott suffered a grisly, season ending ankle injury. Prescott recently signed with the Cowboys to a mega-contract and Dalton was free again. The big thing is the Bears could have signed him in the offseason last year instead of Foles and kept the draft picks.
Ryan Pace has shown very little success in his time as GM of the Bears, and he has a particularly poor record at the QB position: Glennon, Trubisky, Foles and now Dalton, a formerly Pro Bowl level QB who has gotten old and regressed. (In fact, Sportsbook William Hill dropped the Bears Super Bowl odds from 40-1 to 50-1.) This latest temporary fix will be Pace’s last. The McCaskeys, now with Goergo McCaskey in charge decided to keep Pace and Nagy, in great part because they are too cheap to pay for multiple GMs and Head Coaches. Bear fans were aghast and remain so with Andy Dalton.
Bear faithful are in full mutiny mode now. The defense, which was stellar two seasons ago is still very good but aging. The offense remains a mess: even with Dalton, the offensive line played horribly last season and other than Allen Robinson, who is not happy after being given the franchise tag again instead of a long term contract, was the only reliable offensive weapon. With the possibility that the pandemic will be much better by the time the NFL season starts, people will be spending top dollar to watch a mediocre at best football team. The faithful love defense, so that will keep people excited, but the offense will once again be a potential train wreck.
The Bears have shown incompetence before, but never as publicly and embarrassingly as this week.

I believe that everyone knows that I am a huge hockey fan. I have had the NHL Center Ice package for many years; I watch hockey nearly every day. As a media watcher, I was curious that it was announced that NBC Sports Network would cease to exist; sports would be moved to other NBC channels and the current station would have other programming. My reaction was – what then happens to the NHL programming.
I should have known that there was something happening, and there was: the NHL announced a seven-year contract with Disney owned ESPN. Ordinarily, one would think that this would be good news. The NHL returning to the Worldwide Leader in Sports will be more publicized. Unfortunately, some of us have a long memory; hockey used to be on ESPN but the NHL was an afterthought. With college basketball, the NBA, the NFL and MLB, hockey was treated as the poor dumb stepchild – games shown on tape delay late at night, an afterthought on Sports Center.
Of course, there was only one channel back then. Now there’s ESPN 2, ESPN News, ESPN U and ESPN +, the streaming service. The need for programming is greater than ever before. However, I am frightened. Disney has a track record of making short-sighted decisions that are only driven by the bottom line. Many long term reporters have been laid off because while ESPN and Disney have been hugely profitable, but not generating a huge enough return on the shareholders’ investments. NBC did a good job with hockey – it was the bellwether for the station. When NBCSN was Versus, the NHL had no national presence and NHL could command tons of time.
I am fearful about this announcement. I enjoy being able to watch every game on cable and also streaming on my iPad. I have a feeling that the programming is going to be horrible or much more expensive. Maybe the worst thing of all is that we will have to listen to Barry Melrose. He does have great suits and wonderful hair.

Athletes are famous, popular, and often the targets of governments and other organizations when the athletes speak their minds. Ali, Jim Brown, Bill Russell, Billie Jean King, LeBron James and most recently Colin Kaepernick, and so many others have faced anywhere from public rebuke to threats of jail and suspensions from their sport as a result of being outspoken about a cause. Internationally, it could be even worse, or in this case, one really doesn’t know what to believe.
A week or so ago, a former coach of now New York Ranger superstar (and former Blackhawk) Artemi Panerin told the press in Russia that Panerin had struck a woman in a bar fight and hit her numerous times in 2011. Under ordinary circumstances, people would investigate the incident, certainly try to talk to the woman in question, and then, if true, issue some kind of reprimand to Panerin. However, it is curious that the allegation comes out after Panerin makes several statement critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Panerin has made favorable comments about opposition leader Alexei Navalny, who was poisoned, recovered, returned to Russia and was promptly arrested leading to mass demonstrations and violent reaction from the authorities.
Panerin has taken a leave of absence from the team to address the concerns. He has to protect his reputation, and perhaps his life, but also his family members and friends left behind. This reminds us of what all of the Russian NHL superstars face – any comments or actions are scrutinized, potentially threatening themselves and their loved ones. Ovetchkin has reportedly made pro-Putin comments in the past; Egveni Malkin has been quiet on the subject. All make millions here in the NHL, do they risk life and fortune to take a political stand?
There may be no easy answer here. Is Panerin a woman abuser (also need to investigate if there’s any similar instances in his life before and since)? Or is this some “right out of the Cold War, James Bond, John LeCarre” kind of espionage? We discuss and treat sport like it’s really important. The word “fan” is short for “fanatic;” it is often taken too seriously. We often talk about it like it’s life and death; unfortunately, occasionally, it is.

Yesterday, Tiger Woods suffered serious leg injuries in a single car accident. It has not been revealed what may have caused the accident, but it appears that alcohol or other substances may not have played a role. Of course, one must think back to the Thanksgiving car accident outside of the house he shared with his ex-wife and children that brought Woods’ world low. The adultery, the double life, all of it exposed of one of the most famous athletes and spokespeople in the world.
Even before the first accident, the wear-and-tear of decades of golf on his body, especially his back had slowed Woods’ previously amazing run of PGA tour wins as did Woods’ quest to beat Jack Nicklaus’ all time major tournament record. Back surgeries limited him play, but it Is crazy – Americans’ drive to tear down their idols, then to root for them to return to the top. To redemption perhaps? Woods’ win in the 2019 Masters and consistently solid play, if not back to his earlier legendary success, the return of the Black/Asian/Nike greatness and tons of fans, die hard and casual rooted for him.
I admit that I was one of the casual fans who, while never a huge fan, was rooting for Woods to come back. If I were to stop rooting for an athlete because of personal indiscretions of adultery or personal drug use where no one else is harmed, I would never be interested in sports at all. If you hadn’t guessed it, I was raised in a time when Black people rooted for Black people to do well, especially in traditionally White activities. Tiger brought people of color to golf at a time when the game has suffered huge losses in numbers of players, television viewership, in short – cash.
It’s weird that HBO recently showed the Tiger Woods documentary, and as usual for HBO shows, it was well done and it was very illuminating. It was the story of a Black military man with an Asian wife and a son who was a golf prodigy, and grilled him like his military men to become the best golfer in the world. With that, the son was exposed to his father’s infidelity; like father like son. I have to admit, I ended up feeling sorry for the talented, rich, spoiled golfer.
Now, Tiger has suffered another setback, this one even more serious than the back. There remain a number of questions about the latest accident. One thing appears certain, the chances of Tiger Woods returning to the pinnacle of golf re longer than ever.

I have been very busy – too busy to regale you with my take on the world of sports, but I’m back now there was one story I couldn’t leave alone:
I wasn’t surprised when new Jacksonville Head Coach Urban Meyer went back into the “Good “Ole Boys Network to hire former Iowa strength coach Chris Doyle to join the team. This wouldn’t be news except Doyle lost his previous job because a large number of former players came forward with credible allegations of bullying and racist language toward Black players. Since the NFL is about 66% African-American, the hiring would be questionable and the backlash led to Doyle’s resignation the next day. Unlike college football, coaches are not Gods. Doyle’s hiring had consequences, especially since Meyer left Ohio State after supporting an assistant coach who regularly beat his spouse. I still think that Meyer will suddenly get sick if Jacksonville is not successful. At least, he won’t be responsible for recruiting young men to go to a college and learn nothing.

Today, my old friend from The Sportswriters, Rick Telander wrote an article about the upcoming Super Bowl and the fact that both the starters: Tom Brady of Tampa Bay and Patrick Mahomes of the Chiefs – maybe the old GOAT and the up-and-coming young GOAT could have been acquired by the Bears. No one needs to be reminded that Bear GM Ryan Pace blew it by trading up one pick to draft Mitch Trubisky instead of taking Mahomes or other great QB Deshaun Watson. It is possible that the Bears could have signed Tom Brady as a free agent after leaving the Patriots. Honestly, are the Bears that attractive a spot? I wrote Rick an email which is comprised by some of this post.
Would Brady want to come here? The Bears traded for Nick Foles, the streaky QB who looks mediocre when given the permanent starter job, but has shown streaks when he is absolutely amazing, as he did in the 2018 Super Bowl, being named MVP of the game as Foles played for an injured Carson Wentz. It wasn’t completely definitive as to whether Mitch Trubisky had some upside or could be officially considered a bust. Yes, the Bears had shown a good defense, but Tampa’s is also very good. The Bear defense had stepped back from the outstanding 2018 season after DC Vic Fangio left to become Head Coach in Denver. The Bucs had some very good young wide receivers – the Bears have (soon to be “had?”) Allen Robinson and little else. No one knew that Darnell Mooney would turn into a quality receiver. Finally, if you have the chance to play in cold Chicago or warm Tampa, where would you want to play? Especially after having played 19 years in New England which is also cold – Giselle probably had a big say.
However, it is time to get off the Bears for the draft. I have stopped criticizing the Bears over the Trubisky vs. Watson/Mahomes pick. Let’s be honest – with the Bears’ history with quarterbacks, we would have screwed up either of the two more athletic quarterbacks. The Bears can’t do anything with a fairly mobile Trubisky. Can you imagine what John Fox would have done with Mahomes? I can’t see that team opening up the offense to a young QB. Mahomes had the ability to watch behind Alex Smith and he had Matt Nagy for one year and NU alum Mike Kafka coaching him. Nagy has not done much with Trubisky. Most important, the Chiefs have Andy Reid, who must now be considered one of the finest coaches in all of football.
It can’t be ignored that the Bears passed over two QBs of color. When Vince Evans is your all-time best Black QB, there’s a message there. The Bears shouldn’t be held accountable alone – Mel Kiper and many scouts rated a white quarterback with 13 career starts (and an 8-5 record) over Watson who had played in two National championship games, winning one, and Mahomes, who Andy Reid was willing to trade up just to get him. In light of the NFL hiring head coaches that people have never heard of rather than hire a Black coach, it’s no coincidence that the scouts have biases too.
Even though it would never happen, the Bears trading for Aaron Rodgers is the dream of every Bear fan. After the disastrous decision by Green Bay coach Matt LaFleur to go for a field goal in the NFC Championship Game down 8 points to Tampa Bay, and having the probable MVP QB Aaron Rodgers and the team with the best TD percentage in the Red Zone, it appears that the coach choked big time. Rodgers, already unhappy with the team drafting a quarterback in the first round of the 2020 NFL Draft when maybe that extra player makes the difference in winning a second Super Bowl title. Rodgers has looked dejected and down ever since the field goal unit came on the field Sunday. It doesn’t make sense: even if you fail on 4th down, you give Tampa the ball deep in their territory and you have three timeouts left. By kicking the field goal, you still need a TD and if you kick to Tampa, they have the ball, but at the 25, not in the shadow of their own goal.
Of course, there is no way on Earth that the Packers would trade Rodgers to the Bears, although I could see Rodgers trying to score 100 points every time the two foes meet. It would be fun to see.
However, back in the real world, the Bears are in need of a franchise quarterback again, and even if Pace had drafted Watson or Mahomes, the Bears would have screwed him up.

Adding to the sheer malevolence that was 2020, it was all of the Baseball Hall of Famers that passed away. Six members of the august group died just in 2020 – Tom Seaver, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson, Al Kaline, Whitey Ford, and Joe Morgan, the most since seven members died in 1972.
While there has been much more reason for hope so far in 2021, the death toll of Hall of Famers has continued. Just a few days ago, Don Sutton, the Dodger pitcher who amassed 324 wins in 17 years in the majors, passed away. He spent his entire career in Los Angeles and it was noted that he started his Dodger career as a teammate of Sandy Koufax and ended his career as a teammate to Fernando Valenzuela. We also lost knuckleballer Phil Niekro this year. I’ve always loved a Niekro quote – after being eligible for the Hall and not getting in, he was asked about being the only pitcher with 300+ wins not enshrined. Niekro said – how many do I need? I can get a couple of wins now.
Then today, we lost the Home Run King Hank Aaron. To some, Aaron remains the leader in all-time home runs since Barry Bonds’ 762 home runs were PED aided. Aaron hit 755 home runs, in second place. There were players who might have had more innate talent, or were flashier like Willie Mays or Roberto Clemente, and Aaron gets shafted because he never hit 50 home runs in a year, never played in a World Series, never won a title. There is always the argument as to are players who attain high numbers from playing a very long time compared with players who generate big numbers in specific or a short number of years (a good example being Eddie Murray versus Ichiro). That said, Aaron also has the third most hits of all time behind Rose and Cobb.
Aaron was so quiet that I think that Aaron was never loved like Mays or Banks, even among Black people. He was never flashy; there was no “The Catch” like Mays, but Aaron commanded respect from everyone even people who would have stood in his way years before. Let us not forget the blatant racism Aaron had to face in his time in the game. Segregated lodging early in his career, people threatening his life as he got close to breaking Babe Ruth’s all time homer record. Most don’t remember the extreme security measures implemented when he played just so he wasn’t killed. Everyone remembers the two white fans who ran out onto the field at Fulton Country Stadium after he hit 715. I’ve always wondered why the police didn’t run out an get those guys – they could have turned a triumphant moment into tragedy. Aaron could have hit the guys or done something else, but instead, the men ran with him and he seemed to barely give them any notice. Here was a man who had seen white privilege up close and personal and Aaron just showed class as usual.
Moreover, he seemed to bring a Southerners’ charm and common sense to the baseball world. He stated his opinions on the game and the Hall of Fame, but it wasn’t shouted. You could disagree with his opinion, but you respected the man, his accomplishments, and his point of view.
We have lost a lot of classic baseball players, most of whom I was able to watch, at least on television. With each death, it feels like a little bit of my youth, of my cherished memories from that time are being whittled away.
Rest In Peace Hammerin’ Hank. You were one of a kind…