The league’s oldest and most historic rivalry is on primetime once again, and for the first time in my life I could not care any less.
Since I was born (1994), the Chicago Bears have gone 13-42 against the Green Bay Packers. And I get asked why I hate them so much? It’s because beating them is almost as rare as winning a Super Bowl. My life started on a 10-game losing streak. I have seen two winning streaks in that timeframe: a 3-gamer in 2005-06, and a sweep in 2007. The rest of them have just been one-off miracles. Playing the Packers is like shopping for losses at Costco – I get them in bulk. Checking out, you think the final total is going to stop and it never ever does. It’s the only two games a year I NEED to win.
It’s hard feel at fault for my record against the Packers, though. As I get older, I am becoming more and more aware that absolutely nothing I do has any impact on the outcome of any game- especially when these two meet. Plus, I can assure you that if I had something to do with it, my record would not be sitting at a .310 winning percentage. Maybe that’s the problem, the McCaskey family, the owners of our beloved Bears, see that and think “hey, we’re in the Baseball Hall of Fame.”
You think my record is bad? Let’s check in on the leadership of the Chicago Bears.
Breaking down the “leadership”
George McCaskey, chairman of the Chicago Bears and representative for the McCaskey family, once said that beating the Packers was priority. Ted Phillips, president and CEO of the Bears, was once believed to have knowledge about football. Ryan Pace was believed to be the general manager that would turn the corner. Matt Nagy was a sworn offensive genius. This was promised to be the leadership that would turn the ship around and bring dominance and monstrosity back to Chicago.
Could anyone be any more wrong about a single thing? That’s how wrong all four of these things are.
Let’s start with the incompetency of the McCaskey family. Pap Bear George Halas has rolled over in his grave so many times he could be a 16-time gold medal gymnast. The family has since made a joke of one of the most historic franchises in all of sports. They continually promise to demand excellence, and are too soft to fire a guy mid-season, let alone tell a good friend he sucks at his job. Moving on to that “good friend.”
Ted Phillips knows just as much about football as a three year old knows about financing a home and putting food on the table. It’s best to just let the grown-ups handle it while he plays with his toy in the corner. But again, he’s a good friend to the McCaskey family. He’s been handed a the keys to a fighter jet he has no idea how to fly, but the people who gave him the keys don’t him want to be upset so they let him suit up and sit in the cockpit and make the little airplane noises to make it seem like he’s doing something. This is arguably the most important position in a football organization, and this is where we’re at. THE CHARTER FRANCHISE.
Ryan Pace is someone I’m willing to give a little le-way too. A LITTLE. Yes, he absolutely sucks at his job. But he does know the game of football. I think he is a football guy in the wrong position. Should he receive an opportunity to take on a not-general manager role in the Bears front office come season’s end (notice I did NOT say promotion), I would not pitch a fit. He made some terrible decisions, but he also provided great pieces to a Bears team – that was ultimately mishandled by a guy he hired…
Matthew Nagy, I’m going to talk directly to you. You are the reason for this whole bleeping blog. You are the one who pushed me over the bleeping edge, who put me in this dark place of no faith, no belief, no positive vibes. I have never seen anyone fail worse at doing their job than you incompetent visor-wearing bald man. A proclaimed “offensive genius” consistently at the rock bottom depths of the league in every offensive category is mindbogglingly stupid. You have to be stupid. You ARE stupid, Matthew. You ruined Mitchell Trubisky’s career because you agreed to develop him when you never had the intention of doing so, and you’re well on your way to doing the same to Justin Fields, endangering him unnecessarily on Sunday in a last ditch effort to save your job that better be so far gone you can’t see it. And I swear to anything that is holy anywhere, if I hear the phrase “find the why” one more time, I’m going to lose my mind more than you have already made me.
December 16, 2018.
That was the last time the Bears defeated the Packers. In doing so, they wrapped up the NFC North. I was there. This was the peak of my existence as a Bears fan. I’ll never go to another Bears/Packers game because of this day. If I were to be in attendance during a Packers win, I would be sick. And at this rate, and with this leadership, the Bears will never beat them again. I will taking my 1-0 record to my grave.
I can’t bring myself to invest anything more than laughter in this game, and it’s collectively the Chicago Bears brass’ fault.
And here we are, another primetime Sunday night game for my arch enemy to embarrass the hell out of me and my favorite team. The NFL couldn’t flex out of this game, they had no choice. Aaron Rodgers has loudly mocked and buried the Chicago Bears and the fan base, and there is absolutely nothing we can do. The amount of anger and hatred I have for him and this team is unhealthy, but there’s nothing I can do. I have no control. The only people who could put a stop to it could not care any less that it’s happening.
We, as Bears fans, care because we have no choice. The morons that dictate the direction of the team we put all of our emotions and time and money into don’t have to care in the world. Why? Because no matter what they do, how incompetent they are, or how much they care or definitely don’t, they’re going to get their money and we’re going to keep paying them. They’re dumb, and we’re just as dumb for feeding into it.
I have said this more times than I can count – nothing is going to change about this franchise until changes happen at the very top. The McCaskey family needs to cash out, and get the hell out of the way. The team needs to be sold to someone who a) wants it, b) knows what to do with it, and c) will invest to transform this institution into the winning franchise it is supposed to be until the end of freaking time.
From there, hire a president that knows, lives, and breathes football. Entrust him to find a general manager that can piece together a football team who can feed off each other to win. Then, the final piece, a head coach who can keep it all together and moving forward – preferably one who doesn’t cause a delay of game penalty off of a timeout.
And at the end of the day, I know the Bears moving to Arlington Heights is imminent. I know the future is there with the proper development of land and the prospect of events year round at an enclosed venue is what’s best for business. The idea of the Bears playing on artificial turf and indoors murders my soul, trust me. But if this is being used as a selling tactic by the McCaskey family, and this is what is needed to bring championship football back to where it belongs, so be it.
I want nothing more in sports than the Bears to win. It’s the last and most coveted piece to my puzzle. It’s just not going to happen until the top changes, and that could be years – decades even.
Rumors are swirling again about this being Nagy’s last game before getting fired. This is what was said prior to the Thanksgiving game against Detroit as well, even a report adding the players were ready for him to leave. I thought it was real, and it might have been. But I would not put it past the Bears to have their plan spoiled so they do nothing instead. It’s how they operate.
As for the actual game on Sunday, yes, I’ll have the game on. It’ll be on a small television with no sound while I enjoy a happy Christmas movie, because I’m not going to invest in what is sure to be another nationally televised embarrassment at the hands of my most hated rival, again. It’s not good for mental health to be a Bears fan.
PS – the Bears are on primetime again next week: Monday Night Football against the Vikings. lol.
Restart Sports Network 