Exciting Bears
I want to thank the Bears for an exciting season. We wanted the season to end with a Super Bowl to be on the table with the Stanley Cup, but it didn’t happen.
I have friends who are throwing Lovie Smith, Jay Cutler and other Bears under the bus. It upsets me that I have friends like that. I only hope they are just frustrated over losing to the Packers. A true fan doesn’t do that except maybe if the team didn’t try. Obviously the Bears were still fighting to win. The defense looked better in the second half and a third-string quarterback almost tied the score late in the fourth quarter. Maybe after the agony of defeat diminishes for Bears fans and my friends, they will embrace the team again. If they don’t, they aren’t real fans anyway.
The Bears were picked for last place by some so-called experts and certainly not picked to make it to the NFC Championship round. The Bears have a rich history. I am proud of and grateful for the Bears. They might just make it back to the playoffs next year, but right now the Packers deserve respect for representing the NFC North in the Super Bowl.
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Carl F. Rollberg, Calumet Park
Lack of coaching
The Bears had an incredible season with unprepared coaching and good fortunes; that’s how we made it so far. And Jay Cutler has been a trooper. I applaud the players for stepping up when management had no plans or strategies. At least Rex Ryan had passion when his team blew it; Lovie Smith stood there like a zombie. The logical thing would be to fire Lovie and his coaching staff, but Bears management never thinks like that. I expect him to be back next year with contract extensions and we’ll continue to not win a Super Bowl.
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Jason Ryan, Chicago
Culture of hate
The
had a great football season. This year when they lost to Seattle and Washington during the season, I had my doubts as to if they would win another game in 2010. They did! They went all the way to the championship game. Thank you Bears. I also want to say thank you to Jay Cutler; he was an exciting warrior. It is a shame that such a great season ended with so much hate. We live in a culture of hate — hate that technologically is available immediately; hate that is rewarded by the media. Cutler should keep his head up, heal and come back strong next year.
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Robert Keaty, Chicago
Cutler’s toughness
Now that the dust has settled and everyone knows that Jay Cutler was really hurt, I would like to say that I am thankful for all that he has done this season and I hope the team as a whole will get better next year. All of the people who have talked about Cutler’s toughness can now shut up! After all this man was sacked 57 times this year! I want to see some of these players get hit by an NFL player and get up 57 times.
I hope Cutler’s recovery goes smoothly and we see him again next year. Go Bears!
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J. King, Alsip
Chicago champs
Chicagoans need to keep their heads up. I’ve seen the 1985 Bears prove they’re the greatest to ever exist, the Bulls win six rings, Paul Konerko hit home runs during a White Sox World Series, Devin Hester run an entire field for a touchdown in the opening minute of a Super Bowl game, and Duncan Keith lose seven teeth and go on to win a Stanley Cup. I live in the greatest city in the world. I’ve lifted my glass to more championships than most people will see in a lifetime. I can lose one game; that’s OK with me. Bear Down.
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Dan “Sully” Sullivan, Chicago
Airlines sue city
American Airlines and United Airlines, like all Chicagoans, have a vested interest in the success of O’Hare International Airport. We believe that the O’Hare Modernization Program is vitally important and should continue. Eighty percent of passengers traveling in and out of O’Hare are our customers and we don’t want them to experience delays.
Thanks to Mayor Richard Daley’s vision, delays have been significantly reduced and are down 60 percent from 2004. Additionally traffic is down 5 percent from the level at which Phase 1 construction of the OMP began. There is still one more Phase 1 runway to be completed in 2014. OMP is clearly working and air traffic delays will continue to decrease.
Our airlines have paid for a substantial portion of the improved operational efficiencies at O’Hare, and we have benefited from those improvements. We want to see OMP completed.
We also expect to be active participants in the process, as our lease with the city requires. We believe future airfield improvements should be completed as they are needed based on expected flight levels and in a fiscally responsible manner, as was done with Phase 1.
Currently forecasts show that flight activity levels at O’Hare do not warrant constructing Phase 2 of the OMP at this time. As a result, the airlines have proposed a phased construction plan to the city that would allow runways to be built when flights levels justify the expense. This is the same approach that the city and the airlines used for Phase 1.
We did not want to sue the city, where we employ 23,000 people (“Airlines sue over O’Hare plan; United, American ask judge to halt second phase of expansion; carriers face $2 billion in higher fees, rents,” Page 1, Jan. 19). Our lease agreements, however, give us the right to review and approve the financing and construction of capital projects at O’Hare. By going to the market to sell bonds now, the city is proceeding with the first step toward funding Phase 2 without our notice and approval as legally required under our leases. As a result, the airlines had no choice but to litigate.
Airline landing fees and rents pay for construction and today, O’Hare’s landing fee is more than seven times higher than that of Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which bills itself as the nation’s major transportation hub. Selling bonds now to prematurely start Phase 2 construction will make O’Hare among the highest cost airports in the country. Higher costs at O’Hare will drive traffic into other hub cities and make air travel more expensive for customers in the region.
— Thomas W. Horton, president, American Airlines
— Pete McDonald, executive vice president and chief operations officer, United Airlines
Residency rules
Should Chicago city employees and teachers be allowed to live outside of the city as long as they intend to move back?
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Greg Richmond, Chicago
Surprising speech
What was with the State of the Union address?
The gathering was civil, the speech was reasonable.
We like to be entertained. So where was all the noise and foolishness? What are we supposed to do?
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Bernard Wheel, Oak Park
