You enter the fandom at Calumet and 18th. Cops look for the slightest evidence of Frank the Tank. Yet, they'll give you a high five and yell "you're late, the games about to start. Hurry up". You travel under the tunnels screaming like a little school kid just to hear the echo, "GO Bears... gooo bearssss....go bea.....". Everyone's giddy like its the last day of school. Pessimism hasn't set in yet. The city is yours. Everyone's an Obama thinking "Yes we can". Your buddy Wooly makes a crack about your game attire in that it resembles that of an Eskimo. You were big before, but those layers make you look like a cross between Santa and a fat bum.
You start to pick up your stride as you pass that last tunnel. You can see it: the doric columns, the blue and orange, and of course that green "Soldier Field" sign. You can smell it: the breaths of beer, burbs of brats, and that whiff you only can smell at a live game, joy. Of course you can hear it: "Bears! Bears! Bears!.. Saints Suck... Packers suck!!!! Forte!!!".
You follow your buddy Spree to the shortest line. Snuggle with your boy Hines Ward just to shield you from the wind. Everyone's cramped in those lines waiting for the airport guard to give you a pat down. He touches your ass. You don't care. You hope the ticket's real. It sure is. The girl gives you a smile and tells you to go ahead and enter.
Then... Well then you step in. Everything gets louder. Your 5 senses go to ludicrous mode. The 6th sense finds the best path to out maneuver that growing crowd. Wooly say's lets go this way.. But, your mind's made up. Left, then right, juke the program guy, bump the out of towner with the hunting gear and yell as you run buy the dork wearing the gold and white fake helmet, "Saint's suck".
Then.. the best part. You rise up to that last step. You're on level 100. And you see it. The greenest winter green you've seen in a month. You see 54 and 22 in the distance. Lights, cameras and all action. Its like that first bike you got for your birthday. Or the ice cream truck. Eye's, mouth, ears wide open. Whether your at the United Center, Wrigley, or Soldier Field; nothing beats that first glimpse of the field and players.
Its 17 degrees but everyone's hot. You make it your seats and drop like its hot. Its game time. Live.
Alright. You've heard all the analysis of Thursday's game vs. the Saints. But, let's at least give out the players and haters awards.
1. Players: (1) Forte (given). (2) Devin Hester. Without him we don't win the game. I don't care that he isn't running returns back like he used to. Besides, Daniel Manning can handle it. We might as well let him do something. DH's our best wide out. No way we win without him getting those PI calls. (3) Defense: The offense was terrible (second half) and although they gave up a lot of points, they had a lot of key stops, 2 ints, and 4th down stands against one of the best offenses in football. (although they got to figure out how to stop giving up the the 3rd and long).
2. Haters: (1) Orton. Terrible again. I still can't believe he threw that interception in the 4th quarter. He doesn't look like the franchise QB anymore. (2) The Fake Adrien Peterson. (3) The coaching staff: Lovie for doing nothing and having the worst game management known to man. The fake punt in the 4th quarter and decision to kick in OT on 2nd down for a 36 yard kick was horrendous. Turner for going really conservative to start the 2nd half instead of trying to put the game away. Terrible play calling in 4th quarter passing to fullback and then Orton's INT. Some of the most retarded play calling I've seen in a long time. Babich for not getting more pressure on Brees when he started to get rolling. (4) And of course lastly, "Rashid Davis". The worst WR in the NFL in my opinion. Yet, he somehow keeps getting on the field (numerous times he was the sole WR playing in one WR sets) despite constantly dropping easy passes. Why we don't give a chance to Rideau or Bennet I have no idea. And no, I don't fall into the stupid media hype that Earl Bennet is a bust. He's not (at least not yet). For all we know this guy is a pro-bowler. I just don't trust the Bears coaching staff to put the best players on the field. They play favorites (see Rashid Davis) and that's how they field their teams. For instance, why isn't Greg Olsen the #1 TE? I like Desmond Clark but if your going to call a play for a TE in the red zone, that TE better be Olsen.
Anyway.... with Vikings win it looks like Bears won't be going to the playoffs. Their best bet is a wild-card. As I-truth told me in frustration, "The Bears win despite their coaching". Not sure if that's totally true b/c the players mess up as well, but we aren't a playoff team.
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