Super Bowl Recap: Yeah, I Know, It's Been A While

The worst part is, they did it to themselves.

Yes, the Super Bowl lie-down is starting to fade into a yellowing memory, like a years-old coffee stain and just as bitter . And no, I haven’t been purposefully avoiding it just because I don’t like to talk of Chicago sports failures. Dude, I’ve been seriously, seriously busy.

But my BEARS were in the Super Bowl, and I cannot let this moment pass. Even if I’m weeks late with this update, I still need to get my thoughts down on virtual paper.

All season long the BEARS truly believed that if they played their best game, no one could beat them. And while there’s no shame in losing to Peyton Manning and the Colts, the outcome was painful because we’ll never know if they were right.

Rex Grossman turned into Bad Rex, particularly in the second half, but really particularly in the fourth quarter, when he threw two interceptions with the outcome still undetermined. It wasn’t just him, though. The defensive line couldn’t get any pressure on Manning, no one could stop Joseph Addai, the BEARS’ running game was nonexistant (and we’ll also never know what would have happened if Cedric Bensen hadn’t gotten hurt, because he did, and that’s that).

The first three minutes of the game made the BEARS look unstoppable. Devin Hester returned the opening kick for a touchdown and the Colts’ first drive ended with a Chris Harris interception. The BEARS led comfortably at 14-6 after the first quarter.

If the BEARS had played as well for all 60 minutes as they did in the first 15, and still lost, it would have been easy to accept the fate and look ahead to next year. Instead, we had to sit and watch this overachieving team bumble away its chance at everlasting glory.

So Long, Chief -- And Don't Come Back, Now

It’s about damn time.

The University of Illinois had to drop Chief Illiniwek sooner or later, ever since the debate was first raised on campus, which happened at least as long ago as 1989. At an institution of higher learning, a race-based debate is going to continue raging until the objects or behaviors that are deemed offensive are put to an end.

That end will come on Wednesday, when Chief Illiniwek will make his last halftime dance during the Illinois-Michigan basketball game. The University, under the shadow of sanctions from the NCAA that would prevent postseason games in any sport from being played on campus, abruptly retired the Chief just before the students who portrayed him had their first hearing in a lawsuit to save the mascot.

It’s unfortunate that the NCAA overstepped its bounds to force the university’s hand. Then again, it’s really unfortunate that the university saw fit to continue this embarrassing ritual after nearly 20 years of controversy.

Because in this debate, the people who were offended really did have a point. The Chief’s outfit and dance were so obviously bastardized to fit an anglo view of the world that the university’s claims of authenticity made us a laughingstock in the rest of the Big Ten.

Of course, I’ve been anti-Chief since my earliest days at a student in Champaign because of the massive hypocrisy of the whole thing. The university claimed the Chief was a symbol used in respect of Native Americans, but how can you show respect to a people by continually engaging in behavior that offends them? Anyone is free to agree or disagree as to whether the Chief should offend Native Americans, but the fact is that it did, and failing to acknowledge that is extremely disrespectful.

Granted, my student days were a long time ago, and in the many, many years that followed I’ve come to understand why massive organizations do things the way they do. Still, you’d like to see a purportedly enlightened institution rise just a little bit above all of that. And you’d really like to see a purportedly enlightened institution show enough common courtesy to stop doing something that truly is legitimately hurting someone.

So now we say good riddance to the Chief, and for the first time in my Illini fandom I’ll finally be able to watch an entire halftime performance. I think the orange-and-blue-bleeders out there who rabidly hope to save the Chief will be pleasantly surprised to see how united Illini Nation can become now that this painful episode is behind us.

The Latest Illini Basketball Mess

It was great to see Brian Carlwell sitting on the bench for the Illini on Sunday, less than a week after lying in a hospital bed in critical condition with a concussion. Though he was reported earlier in the week to be on his way to a full recovery, this was a tangible sign that he was alright.

Just don’t expect to see Jamar Smith on that bench. Ever again.

Officially, Smith, the driver of the car that crashed to give Carlwell his concussion, is off the team for the rest of the season to deal with the emotional, legal and academic ramifications that will surely arise from the incident. Officially, it was a joint decision between coach Bruce Weber and Smith’s family in Peoria.

Unofficially, my Champaign connections tell me the hot rumor down there is that Smith is off the team forever.

If that’s true, it sounds very much like a Bruce Weber decision. And it’s a decision that took some guts – Smith started when he was healthy and was the team’s fourth-leading scorer, with 8.1 points a game, as a sophomore.

But it’s the right decision. So far Smith has been charged with nothing more than improper lane usage, but it’s well documented that he drove more than a mile back to his apartment after the crash before someone called 911. For whatever reason, he was willing to risk the life of his teammate to avoid taking responsibility for whatever he had done. You simply can’t keep a team together with that level of selfishness in the mix, so anyone who would do that to a teammate must go.

I’ll be looking forward to seeing Carlwell play in the Big Ten tournament, and the NCAA tournament after that, and to seeing a Smith-less Illini team continue to make the tournament for years to come.

Sports Notes, 2/4/07 -- Super Bowl Edition

It would be easy to knock out a dry recitation of why the BEARS – or the Colts – will win this game.

The BEARS could establish the run and keep the ball out of Peyton Manning’s hands; Manning could exploit an injury-depleted secondary for four touchdowns; Devin Hester could make a pale mockery of Indy’s porous kick coverage; Rex Grossman could throw an interception on every play from scrimmage; Manning has been waiting his whole career for this moment; Brian Urlacher deserves it just as much and has waited almost as long; Indy is 5-0 and the BEARS 3-2 in the regular season against common opponents; but the BEARS have a much higher margin of victory in those games – even when the losses are figured in.

See? Not that hard.

But seasons like this don’t come along every year.

As a long-suffering Chicago sports fan, I’ve learned in my many, many seasons to appreciate the successes when you find them. Other than the brief, beautiful Michael Jordan interlude, our town has had a mostly sleepy sports history for nearly 50 years now.

So this season is one to savor. Win or lose today, I will always remember …

-- Shutting out Brett Favre and the Packers in Lambeau Field.

-- Brian Urlacher willing to team all the way back from a 20-point second-half deficit against the Cardinals.

-- Devin Hester sandbagging the Giants and returning a failed field goal 108 yards for a touchdown.

-- Clinching the NFC North on a BEAR-weather day against the Vikings.

-- Running up quick scores off of turnovers to hit the 40-point mark on consecutive weeks.

-- Rex Grossman silencing the critics with a convincing win over St. Louis.

-- Robbie Gould kicking an overtime field goal that would have been good from 57 yards to get past the Seahawks in the playoffs.

-- Thomas Jones’ wild celebration after scoring a touchdown on his eighth straight run to put the BEARS in control against the Saints.

-- Bernard Berrian’s tumbling, leaping, circus catches on long bombs from Grossman.

-- Ricky Manning Jr. picking off Matt Hasselbeck twice in a resounding defeat of the defending NFC champion Seahawks.

-- An aggressive defense asserting its will to lead the league in takeaways, and the quickness with which it could switch its mentality afterwards from preventing a score to creating one.

After everything played itself out, it turned out that the BEARS are who WE thought they were: Super Bowl-worthy. Today we find out if the BEARs are who we hope they are: Super Bowl champs.