BEARLY FORGOTTEN JANUARY 2002
Lesson No. 3: Old friends have no mercy
RedEye continues a look back 2002–the last time the Bears made the playoffs–when a city expected its 13-3 team to pound Philadelphia but instead watched its team suffer a 33-19 home loss.
News of that day: That Tuesday brought talk of an Eagles homecoming:
Donovan McNabb is from Dolton, Barry Gardner from Harvey, and Cecil Martin is from Evanston.
The sign we ignored: McNabb’s mom planned a feast for the team at their hotel on Friday night.
“We have requests from players, and she’ll cater it with other players’ moms,” McNabb said.
Flash forward to THE GAME: McNabb had plenty of energy. “He beat us. He beat us running.
He beat us throwing,” said Bears defensive tackle Keith Traylor.
BEARS BIDNESS
We surf the net so you don’t have to
It’s playoff week, which means ebay.com is loaded for … Bears fans.
Item: A Chicago Bears bowling ball.
Key description: It’s a 10-pound ball and “This ball is brand new and undrilled.”
Number of bids as of Tuesday night: 0
Who could use this? Anyone who bowls and anyone who doesn’t.
K.C. JOHNSON
COVERS THE BEARS FOR THE TRIBUNE
As this weekend’s Bears playoff game against the Carolina Panthers draw nears, Bears talk is all over town
After all, it has been four years since the NFL playoffs were in town.
RedEye’s Jimmy Greenfield went in search of the Tribune’s elusive Bears beat writer K.C. Johnson for his perspective on the Bears’ magical season and postseason chances.
This conversation was conducted via e-mail because, well, it’s just so much easier that way. E-mail your own Bears questions to Johnson and read his expert answers at chicagosports.com.
KC, you covered the Bulls last year, they made the playoffs. You then left the Bulls beat, and the Bulls tanked. You moved to the Bears beat this season, and the Bears immediately made the playoffs. So my question to you is this: What was the deal with Kyle Orton’s beard?
Anyone as follically challenged as you shouldn’t be asking questions about hair of any kind. As for your first point, people seem to forget that I covered, in succession, the worst two seasons in Bulls franchise history. So any postseason coverage I may experience is hard-earned, kind of like Orton’s beard. The guy just started taking guitar lessons, so maybe he’s going for the beatnik look.
Tough words from a 38-year-old man who still can’t grow a mustache. But this isn’t about you or me or our many physical shortcomings, it’s about the Bears and their upcoming playoff game against Carolina. Bears fans might be buoyed by their dominating 13-3 win over the Panthers in the regular season. Any reason to believe Sunday’s game will be any different?
Actually, there are about 168 of them. That’s the difference in Panthers rushing yardage from when the Bears beat Carolina in November and when the Panthers beat the Giants on Sunday. DeShaun Foster’s emergence has made receiver Steve Smith even more dangerous, if that’s possible. The Bears made Carolina one-dimensional. They need to try to do so again, because I think this Panthers offense is underrated.
Ooh, sorry. The answer I was looking for was “None.” Next question: Who would win a fight between Brad Maynard and Robbie Gould?
I gotta go with Maynard. Gould had a nice tackle in the Detroit road game. But if Maynard was losing, he can run a 4.4 40, so he could run away. Plus, he’s an excellent golfer, which means he can do effective things with 9-irons. Never put dirty pool past punters.
So much talk about the ’85 Bears this year. If there’s one player on this team who would fit in best with the Super Bowl XX champs, who would it be? And you can’t pick Olin Kreutz.
I love it when you get bossy. You gotta go with (Brian) Urlacher, don’t you? His name even would fit. Only problem would be he’d be playing second string behind (Mike) Singletary. But his ability to make plays all over the field would find him some playing time somewhere.
Sorry, the correct answer was “Olin Kreutz.” Remember, never ever listen to what I say. If you follow that edict, you’ll do just fine. With that, we move to the lightning round. Player you’d most like to dunk on?
Easy. Urlacher, a hoops junkie. Too bad it’s not 2004 when he had bad hammies.
Two words that best describe the personality of this team?
Lovie. Lovie. (It’s just too fun to say and type.)
Most enjoyable day on the beat this season?
I gotta go with the first day of training camp down in Bourbonnais. When I saw that we ate in the same dining hall as the players and had a made-to-order stir fry chef at our call, well, let’s just say that tears flowed. Footballwise, I’d say the Nov. 13 wind-fest against San Francisco. It’s always fun to see NFL history, Mr. Nathan Vasher.
Last question. But first, I want to thank you for taking the time to entertain the readers of RedEye’s superb sports section and for humoring me despite my inane questions. The question is this: How could so many have been so wrong about the Bears?
Present company included. In the parity-driven NFL, one team seems to emerge as a surprise every year. The Bears didn’t offer much hope given last season and the preseason injury to Rex Grossman. But everybody, obviously, underestimated their defense, Kyle Orton’s unflappability and Thomas Jones’ grit. Not sure how that happens. It’s one of those great mysteries, like how someone gets named Lovie.
Online all the time
Get midday Bears reports and sound off on your Chicago team at chicagosports.com and surf through more at chicagotribune.com/sports/football/bears/playoffs.
What? You want a little more? Check out these fan sites:
WEB SITE / OUR TAKE
Bearshistory.com / Wade into this deep pool of Bears nostalgia run by a longtime Bears fan.
Webwaymonsters.com / Plenty of everything and a healthy dose of the fan.
Bears-fans.com / We like the “Where were you when?” fan feature.
Bearsboards.com / Lots and lots of fans and lots and lots of Bears talk.
Windycitygridiron.com / A recent post asks Muhsin Muhammad to “please hang on to the ball.” Politeness counts.
Dabearsblog.com / “The Bears’ D isn’t the only thing in Illinois reminiscent of 1985,” this blogger writes. “So is my dial-up which is reason for the belated post.” Honesty counts too. But keep it fresh.
