The Very First Entry: '06 vs. '85 BEARS!

Hi everyone!

As you probably know, this is a spot devoted to my thoughts on Chicago sports. (For our purposes, "Chicago sports" will include Big Ten football and basketball, because I went to Illinois, and Notre Dame football, because my high school was affiliated with Notre Dame. Deal with it.) This grew out of a weekly email I send out for a football pool that I run. I send out a bunch of notes and observations each week that I like to think are clever and that I hope entertain the players. It's kind of funny, really, considering how dreadfully dry and boring this intro is so far.

Anyhoo ...

Given that this town is always, first and foremost, a BEARS town, and given the success that the current iteration is enjoying, it seems fitting to make the greatest BEARS team ever the subject of the first post. Before the incredible comeback against Arizona on Monday night, ESPN had its broadcast crew compare the 1985 and 2006 BEARS in three key areas: quarterback, middle linebacker and head coach. I'm going to kick things off by giving my own take, as well as a comparison of the overall teams. As always, you're free to disagree.

Quarterback: This is very much of a tossup, but I had to give the nod to Grossman. That was certainly true before he laid an egg Monday night, and I think I still like him even after that game. These guys are basically the same player: Above average but unspectaclular talent, possessive of leadership qualities, and an annoying propensity to get injured. If Grossman goes on to have another good year beyond 2006, he will have more good seasons than McMahon. But the real reason I had to pick Grossman is that he is consistently level-headed whereas McMahon was a head case and a troublemaker. Advantage, Grossman.

Middle Linebacker: Singletary, and it's no contest. Mike Singletary is quite possibly the manliest man to ever play the game of football, on and off the field. In 1987, he lost a fingertip in a game at Minnesota, went to the sidelines, got bandaged up, and returned to the field to spearhead a goal-line stand that preserved a BEARS victory. In 1998, after his retirement (and enshrinement into the Hall of Fame), when former BEARS lineman Alonzo Spellman went on his gun-toting rampage, it was Singletary who took it upon himself to drive up to the scene of the incident and calmly talk down the bipolar Spellman -- even though Singletary, who dwarfs mortal men, was in turn dwarfed by Spellman. Nobody who ever played the game of football has all of that on their resume. Brian Urlacher is a fine player who deserves his own bust in the Hall of Fame, but there is only one Mike Singletary.

Coach: OK, so I pussied out and voted "present" on this one. I recognize that anyone reading this blog could have coached the 1985 BEARS to a Super Bowl victory, but Coach Ditka is too much a part of Chicago lore. Even when my head says Lovie Smith, my heart says Da Coach.

Overall team: To look at the three categories ESPN picked out, you might think this is a dead heat. But let's look at the rest of the field. The overall linebacking corps on the 2006 team is simply not in the same class as '85. Ditto the offensive line. The defensive line in '06 might be as talented as their forebears, but they are not nearly so maniacally (nor do they have as much personality) as The Fridge, Mongo, The Sack Man and Danimal. The defensive backfield has a slight edge in 2006, but the '85 receiving corps was more solid. And the running game? Please. I'll take an aging Walter Payton over Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson combined. Bottom line is, even some experts outside of Chicago think the 1985 BEARS are the greatest football team of all time. The 2006 BEARS are worthy of returning the Vince Lombardi trophy to its rightful place at Halas Hall, but they'll be far below the 1985 team when history ranks its champions.

Thanks for reading,

Kevin