Welcome To Draft Town

     It's the talk of the NFL World. It's outside of New York for the first time in 50 years. And it's here in Chicago. Welcome to Draft Town. Over the past 2 days, teams have been making their picks(in front of liquored-up fans) in the historic Auditorium Theater. Today the activity shifts outside to Selection Square, where teams will be having representatives make picks right outside in front of the Auditorium. But that's not all. Grant Park has been transformed into Draft Town, a 900,000 square foot fan festival, featuring the Combine Corner, a flag football tournament, and a Super Bowl Museum. I'm headed there myself coming up, and any cool updates or anecdotes will be shared as time allows. Happy Draft Weekend Chicago!

Connect With Your City

Trivia Thursday: Analysis of a Chi-Town Beatdown

     Okay folks, first off, here's the answer to last week's question: When the old Board of Trade building was torn down in 1929, the two statues that adorned the entrance were saved from the wrecking ball and made their way to the Hidden Lake Forest Preserve in Downers Grove.  One of the trustees of the Board of Trade had an estate there in 1929, so that's how the statues got over there.  Since then, the Industry and Agriculture statues have been brought back to the plaza outside the current Board of Trade.  And now, this week's question:

 

After the Bears completely destroyed the Packers at home by a score of 61-7, what did Dan Hampton say about the result?

 

     As always, we'll be back next week with the answer and more trivia.

They're Not Here to Start No Trouble: Bears Week Day 3

    In late 1985, members of the Chicago Bears gathered in a vacant recording studio in Chicago to record a song. At first blush, the idea of pro footballers laying down a track sounds about as appealing as a DVD boxed set of Cop Rock, but this was different. That February, the Bears brought the Lombardi Trophy to Chicago, and the legend of the Super Bowl Shuffle was born. Well on their way to a commanding 15-1 record, a local fan named Randy Weigand had an idea to write and choreograph a rap number for the team. His girlfriend(who just happened to be a cheerleader) got him in touch with Willie Gault, who in turn communicated with the rest of the team, which really got the ball rolling. And this was the result:

     Almost the entire lineup took part in the production, save for Dan Hampton, who thought the whole thing rather arrogant(which to be frank, it probably was, but what would the '85 Bears have been without it?) In reality, the whole affair had a charity angle to it as well, with the Bears donating roughly $300,000, a fact which Walter Payton emphasized in verse, saying "Now we're not doing this because we're greedy, the Bears are doing it to feed the needy." The song was a hit far beyond any expectations, making it to #41 on the Billboard charts, making the Bears the only American pro team to ever have a hit record. In the subsequent years, the song has spawned many imitations, many of them done by teams who didn't actually win it all, others becoming only slightly popular, but none of them achieving the stature of the Super Bowl Shuffle, a performance that still holds up 29 years later.

50 years at the Confines: Bears Week Day 2

     The Chicago Bears were founded way back in 1921.  However, they didn't play their first game at Soldier Field until 50 years later.  Why, you ask?  Because they spent the intervening years playing games at Wrigley Field.  That's right, the Bears played at Wrigley from 1921 all the way till 1970.  And while there, they had some memorable moments.  They won 8 championships there(that's about 8 more than the Cubs have), and they fielded some of the most memorable teams and players in NFL history.  This is where Gale Sayers accomplished the gargantuan feat of scoring 6 touchdowns in a single game.  This is where Bronco Nagurski ended up running into the outfield wall, cracking it, and remarking to George Halas that "That last guy hit me awfully hard".  This is where it became hip to Bear Down. Not just that, but this is where the Bears first wowed the nation with their T formation and became known as the Monsters of the Midway.  George Halas, Mike Ditka, Gale Sayers, Dick Butkus, and many other players all made their marks and their legends here.


     Ultimately the team was forced to leave Wrigley after the 1970 season because the place simply couldn't have any more seats jammed into it, but their 50 years at Wrigley remains the 2nd longest period of occupying one stadium by any team in the NFL(the Green Bay Packers have played in Lambeau Field since 1957)

Peering Across the Cheddar Curtain: Bears Week Day 1

     When it comes to rivalries in the National Football League(and Bears lore), there is none more prominent than that which is separated by the Cheddar Curtain. The Chicago Bears and the Green Bay Packers have shared a deep animosity ever since the dawn of the NFL. Their first game against one another occurred in 1921. They've faced off 187 times since then. George Halas tried to get the Packers thrown out of the league back in the day. Both teams have experienced periods of dominance over the other. They hold a combined 22 NFL Championships. They've played some great games over the years, and here are some highlights:

     1921 saw the first game ever between the rivals, with the Bears prevailing for the first time by a score of 20-0. 3 years later, the first ever ejection for fighting during a game occurred in a Bears-Packers match up. In 1941, the two teams split the regular season series, but the Bears defeated the Packers in the first-ever playoff game between the two franchises. In 1962, the Packers beat the Bears 49-0, before repeating that very same score in another game 6 weeks later. 1971 saw a game with all of 2 points being scored, those coming against the Packers thanks to a safety.

     With the dawn of the 1980s, there was a dawn of the great years for the Bears. It all started on December 7, 1980, when the Packers came to Chicago and proceeded to get blown out. By the 4th Quarter, Green Bay was pretty well beaten, and had trotted out their backup QB. Much like the Honey Badger, the Monsters of the Midway didn't care. They still ran a full-strength blitz defense and went on to score two more touchdowns. When the smoke cleared, the Bears had won by a score of 61-7. Needless to say, the Packers were pissed. The Bears had been out for blood, as well as revenge. The coach of the Bears had been unceremoniously fired by The Pack years before, and had an axe to grind. After the game, Dan Hampton said that the loss "couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of pricks." The rest of the decade saw a long period of Bears dominance, with Chicago not losing a single game from 1984 to 1988.

     The streak was broken in 1989 with a controversial game that saw the Packers take advantage of a little-used NFL rule. There was so much consternation over the game that Da Coach himself ordered an asterisk placed in front of the score in team publications. But that was just a prelude, as the 1990s brought about a new era of dominance(and sexting) in Green Bay when Brett Favre took his first snaps as Quarterback. From 1994 to 1998, the Packers won every single game played.

     On November 7, 1999 the Bears squared off against the Packers for the first rivalry game of the season. Somewhat more significantly, this was the first game since the untimely passing of Walter Payton. In an emotional struggle, the Bears prevailed by a score of 14-13. 2002 saw the series go on the road to Memorial Stadium in Champaign, as Soldier Field was being renovated at the time. 2008 saw the coldest game ever to take place at Soldier Field, and a game that went right down to the wire, and then beyond. The Bears eventually won it on a Robbie Gould field goal in overtime.

     In 2011, the Bears and Packers met up for only the second time ever in the Playoffs. The teams met up at Soldier Field on the 23rd of January. The Packers jumped out to an early lead, and then Jay Cutler lamed up. Even though the backup came in and performed admirably, the Packers still wound up winning the game and a trip to the Super Bowl, which they ended up winning.  Over the 9 decades that they have played each other, both sides have proven time and again that this is the premier rivalry in the National Football League.  Those two teams face off again today.  And so, in the spirit of the rivalry, I leave you with this image:

Bearing Down with the family

     Last night Chicago saw Bears action for the first time this season.  20,000 fans streamed into the stadium to watch the Bears take a team practice.  But the practice was far from the only thing going on that night.  The Fest kicked off at 3 pm with festivities outside of the stadium itself, a time that saw live music, special activities for the kids, as well as a special outdoor location for the Bears Pro Shop(in addition to the main store inside the East Entrance).  Meanwhile, things were going on inside of Soldier Field as well, with a youth football demonstration put on by the Greater Chicagoland United Youth Football League, the Frankfort Falcons, The Will-Cook-Kankakee Youth Association, and the Chicagoland Youth Football League.  And then, the actual event kicked off with the player introductions at 6:30, after which the team launched into a normal practice session.  Overall, things looked decent on the field, and the team will be resuming practices tomorrow, with the first preseason game slated for this Friday at Soldier Field.

Bearing Down for Victory!: Fight Song Week Day 2

     In the 1940 NFL Championship Game, the Chicago Bears(led by the one and only George Halas) stomped the Washington Redskins to the tune of 73-0(yes, I realize that score sounds like something the Superfans would dream up, but I swear to you all that it actually happened). The Bears were on top, and they had announced their presence in a big way. Around this same time, somebody happened upon the long-disused nickname for the University of Chicago's football team, and figured it would fit well with the Bears. And so, the Monsters of The Midway entered the 1941 season with a good amount of swagger, a newfound respect from the rest of the fans, and to top it all off, a brand spanking new fight song:

     Composed by Al Hoffman in the wake of the historic victory by the Bears, the song made another milestone. Through the writing of this tune, the Bears became the first NHL franchise to have a fight song, which certainly made a difference in the spirit level of their fans. In 1993, Bill Archer and The Big Bear Band recorded a new version of the song, which is the one still played today after every Bears victory.

Day 318: The Day that the Stars Aligned

     The year is 1988. The Chicago Cubs are 4 years removed from their first postseason appearance since 1945, the Cubs Convention has been going on for 4 years, later that year Wrigley Field will be under the lights for the first time ever, and Harry Caray is well on his way to becoming a local legend. The Chicago Bears are 2 years removed from their Super Bowl win, which has vaulted the entire team to knighthood, and practically made Ditka a saint. The Chicago Bulls have just started to make a splash with their new point guard Michael Jordan, but he will soon lead the team to the promised land six times over.hj

     Anyway, in that year, the Chicago Times contacted local photographer Marc Hauser with a crazy plan. They wanted him to get a picture of Andre Dawson, Michael Jordan, AND Walter Payton all together in the same room.  Now technically, this feat had already been accomplished partially when Jordan and Payton rolled up together at the 1987 Auto Show.  But, the shot of the three of them would have to wait until then.   And so in January of 1988, it happened. The three biggest names in Chicago at the time all came over to Hauser's studio. And they weren't the only ones either. Needless to say, the media caught wind of this and were converging on Hauser's studio in droves.

     Once the shoot started, the tomfoolery began in earnest. Jordan and Payton were trading insults like it was going out of style, Payton was engaging in classically impish behavior(including running up behind Hauser and playing numerous pranks to throw him off focus), and Dawson was just kind of standing in the background out of the way. According to Hauser, "[Dawson] was kind of ignored. But they both were saying "You're the quiet guy, but you're as up there as we are." He was just as big as them." In general, the day was not soon forgotten. "It was just amazing energy in the room. Everybody in the room was in awe. They just couldn't believe that these three guys were standing right there. You know, all of these people are just regular human beings...but...they have a thing about them. There's an aura, I'm telling you...When Walter Payton is in the room, you know it."

Day 251: Bear Down!

     During the long hot Chicago summers, the city is a house divided against itself(and contrary to Honest Abe, it actually stands quite well), divided in loyalties between the Cubs and the Sox.  But once baseball is over with(or just once both teams are too bad to watch), we as Chicagoans become one and shift our gaze to the lakefront to cheer on the Monsters of the Midway.  No, not the Chicago Maroons, the Chicago Bears!

     The franchise started out in 1919, when the A.E. Staley startch company out of Decatur fielded a company team.  The team was put into the capable hands of George Halas(who was just 4 years removed from a near-miss on the Eastland) who moved the team to Chicago in 1921, buying out the rights to the team for a mere $100.  The next year, Halas changed the team's name to "Bears" from "Staleys" and moved the team into Wrigley Field, where they would play for the next 50 years.  Almost immediately, the Bears enjoyed success, becoming an instant league powerhouse.  In 1924, the team initiated its rivalry with the Green Bay Packers when the Bears actually moved to expel the team from the league so that they could sign a prospect unfettered by the Packers(of course, once the contract was finalized, the Packers were allowed back into the league).

     The next year, the team took a huge step forward when Halas signed Red Grange to a contract after his collegiate career at the University of Illinois.  Grange immediately became a hit with the team, and both shored up the Bears' finances and increased the legitimacy of the young NFL.  In the 30s and 40s, the Bears continued their unparalled streak of dominance over the rest of the NFL.  There was a slight downturn in the 1950s, before the team surged back and won another NFL title in 1963.  After that, the team once agian started to struggle, finally thudding into their worst season ever in 1969, scraping out a 1-13 record.

     After several more seasons of futility, the team managed to draft Walter Payton in 1975, which ushered in a new period of success.  It goes without saying what the end result of this period of success was, but I'll say it anyway.  '85 Bears. 15-1. Super Bowl Champions. The Super Bowl Shuffle.  Enough said.  Afterwards, the team stayed competitive through the '80s, but never re-attained their prior level of success.  The '90s continued the downward cycle, and the bears made the playoffs only twice in the whole decade.  In 2001, the team had a surprising season where they surged to a 13-3 record only to be knocked out in the first round of the playoffs.

     In 2004, the Bears hired Lovie Smith as their new head coach, who saw initial success.  After a 5-11 record in '04, the team flip-flopped and made it to 11-5 the next season, which saw another first-round exit.  In 2006 the team got back to a level of dominance that generally inspired this reaction from opposing teams.  The team made the Super Bowl, but lost to the Indianapolis Colts.  After that, the team only made the playoffs one more time under Smith, in 2010.  2 years of disappointments followed, by which point Smith was fired on December 31, 2012.  3 months later, Marc Trestman was hired as head coach.  This past Sunday, the Bears defeated the Bengals 24-21, making Trestman only the 4th head coach in Bears history to win their debut.

Day 172: When Best Laid Plans go Awry-Championship Week Day 4

     On January 26, 1986, the Chicago Bears finished off the New England Patriots in the Big Easy.  The very next day, there was supposed to be a parade downtown to celebrate the accomplishments of the team.  As it was stated, the plan was to have the parade wind its way downtown north on LaSalle St., and then eventually make its way back to Daley Plaza.  However, two variables that had not been accounted for reared their ugly heads at the parade.  First off, the organizers didn't in their wildest dreams think that the parade would attract even 250,000 people.  Guess what? They were right.  It actually drew well over 300,000(but even that figure looks puny compared to the 2 Million that came to the Blackhawks' parade in 2010).  The simple mass of people meant that some of the spectators were jammed up against other patrons, barricades, and even a bus, for the entire parade.  The aftermath was such a mess that one of the organizers declared that she "would never do another parade on LaSalle [Street]" 

     Another unaccounted for variable was the temperature.  This figured its way into affairs in two ways.  Firstly, it made organizers edit their guesses for attendees down, which contributed to the unexpected flood of people.  Secondly , the cold ended up damaging the instruments of a local marching band that was to perform in the parade.  The school ended up having to pay several thousand dollars to have the instruments repaired.  However, when you look at the grand scheme of things, it's not the worst thing that could happen.  I mean, its not like underestimating the weather led to people actually dying or anything like that?

     Unfortunately, the very next day in Florida(1/28), it did.  Believe it or not, this actually had an impact on the Bears.  After the disaster, President Reagan was much too busy comforting the nation to celebrate with a football team.  After the immediacy died down, the team was just kind of forgotten.  That is until 2011, when President Obama finally invited them to the White House to celebrate their title(albeit 25 years late). Since 1985, the Bears have not won another Super Bowl, and have had fluctuating fortunes as the years go by.  Just like with the Bulls, we'll see what happens in the future.

Day/#34: One number, two great sportsmen

Author's note:  Today's entry is slightly different, as we're not looking at a landmark, but rather the number of this entry is what is significant.  Regardless, this is still profiling an important part of the city, so I feel justified in running it this way.  Enjoy!
                                   
     One of them won a championship with a team that is still revered in Chicago legend to this day.  One of them was a young phenom who never was able to reach his full potential.  Walter Payton and Kerry Wood.  Two athletes who on the surface, don't seem to share much more than a uniform number(34).  But once you dig deeper, you see that both of them are among the best-loved and most well-known players that their teams ever put on the field.

     Walter Payton grew up in Mississippi during the 1960s.  He played in the Marching Band at his high school.  Interestingly, he didn't play football for his first two years of High School out of deference to his brother, who was already on the team.  Once he started with the team as a Junior, he made his prowess known.  During his Senior season, he was named to the all-state team and led his high school to a rather unexpected 8-2 record.  After High School, Payton decided to attend Jackson State University.  While in college, he rushed for more than 3,500 yards, and was named to the All-American team in 1973.  It was also during this chapter of his life where he received the name Sweetness.  The exact origin of the name is unclear, but it is said to have stemmed from either his personality or his athletic grace.  Whatever the reason, the name stuck for the rest of his life.  He was drafted by the Chicago Bears in 1975.  The team had been in a slow decline ever since the retirement of Gale Sayers.  Although the team struggled at first, by the mid 80s, the team was stringing together successful seasons.  During the 1985 season, Payton rushed for around 1,500 yards, serving as a touchstone of their highly vaunted offense.  However, in the Super Bowl, Payton failed to score a touchdown, a statistic that Mike Ditka would regret many years down the road.  Payton would play for two more seasons and then retire after the 1987 season.  After his playing career ended, Payton remained active in the area, maintaining several business interests, such as his 1995 purchase of a former railroad roundhouse to serve as a multipurpose dining establishment.  On November 1, 1999, Payton died from a rare liver disease.  In a true testament to his legacy, he received a public funeral at Soldier Field, as well as a private service with 1,000 attendees, which was attended by the likes of John Madden, IL Governor George Ryan, and Mayor Richard M. Daley. 

     Growing up in Irving, Texas, Kerry Wood idolized the fireball-throwing Texan Roger Clemens.  Little did he know that eventually he would match one of Clemens' greatest feats.  But before he could wow Cubs fans everywhere with his potential, Wood dominated High School batting lineups in Texas.  In 1995, he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the amateur draft.  Immediately he started working his way through the minor league system, where he went 10-2 for the Daytona Cubs in 1996.  He was finally called up to the big leagues on April 12, 1998.  Just over 3 weeks later, he would announce his arrival to the baseball world in a big way.  On May 6, 1998, Wood struck out 20 batters, tying a major league record that had been set twice by his mentor Roger Clemens.  Unfortunately, that was the highlight of Wood's first two years in the majors(and quite possibly his career).  He did not pitch at all in 1999, having just undergone surgery on his arm.  The following season he struggled as well, but regained his form in 2001, turning in a 12-6 record. He matched his previous year win total in '02, before winning 14 games in 2003.  However, after that, he was never quite the same pitcher.  Over the course of his career, Wood was sent to the Disabled List 14 times, including missing the entire 1999 season.  At a certain point, it was surmised that he could no longer be an effective starter, so there was a plan hatched to convert him to a closer.  In 2008, Wood saved 34 games out of 39 possible, a result that showed the merits of the plan.  However, the Cubs chose not to keep him around after the season, so he went to the Cleveland Indians. In 2010, the Indians traded him to the Yankees, who released him after the season.  Shortly thereafter, he was picked back up by the Cubs, where he played a season and a half more before retiring on May 18, 2012.  Irrespective of his frequent-flyer status with the team doctors, Wood's tenacity and willingness to come back to the sport have endeared him to a generation of Cubs fans(this blogger being one of them).  Outside of baseball, Wood is married with children, lives in Chicago, and regularly conducts philanthropic work through his charitable organization.

     Both of these men performed well when they had the opportunity to, and by doing so endeared themselves to fans of each of their teams. While only one of them may have ultimately wound up in the Hall of Fame and retired as a champion, both of them made many contributions to their teams fandom for years to come.