Bear Down

I am a little late to the punch with this one, but HOW 'BOUT THEM CHICAGO BEARS!!!!!!! I will be honest and say that I was the last person to think that the Bears would be worth a damn this year, but that game on Sunday night was a very pleasant surprise. Now I understand that it was just one game, but it felt great to stick it to gutless Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. It is a long season and who knows what will happen next week, but this first game sure did feel great.

A Girl and her Sports

All my life I have been a sports fan. Maybe not the die-hard, crazy, need to watch every single freaking baseball game when they play 160+ games a season type of fan, *DEEP breath* but nonetheless I'm a fan of Chicago sports.

I was extremely fortunate to be able to experience the glory days of the Chicago Bulls, with the six championships and all. :) I remember vividly watching the playoff games and Michael Jordan dominate the court. My favorite was my little point guard, John Paxon. For those of you who don't know this (I'm sure there are, hm, maybe a few) he is their current GM. I used to have this HUGE--like took up a quarter of my bedroom wall--poster of him. Back in the day, I loved me some good basketball! I still enjoy a good basketball game, and do catch the occasional games when Chris tosses them on the television.

Moving onto my FAVORITE sport. Football. I LOVE LOVE LOVE me some football!! I've always been a huge Chicago Bears fan! I can remember when the Bears won the Superbowl! I remember the Chicago Tribune, with it as a heading, I remember the little (maybe it's called a 45?) Super Bowl Shuffle record that we got--in the newspaper I believe. Needless to say, I love football. I love watching football on Sundays. Fantasy football has made me *so* much more aware of who's doing what on the other teams. Now, I may not know all of the "technical" lingo or what the "technical" point of a corner back is, but I can for sure follow a game and enjoy each and every down. A little FYI...I pray that the Bears put on a better show during the regular season than what I saw in the pre-season! Who's with me on that one!? :)

Last but not least on my list of sports are my beloved Chicago White Sox. Now if you've gotten this far I'm pretty sure this just put a smile on many of your faces. While football is my favorite, I do love baseball as well. But, it's a LONG season, with about a million games, so I do allow my life to take me where it needs to. While I may not know the score of the game the night before, or sometimes even what time they start (which is another reason why I love football...it's either Sunday, Monday, or Thanksgiving.)--but I surely know what series they are in and usually what the race is between the Sox and the Twins. I remember going to the old Comiskey Park, and praying that the upper deck wasn't going to fall off with all the people sitting in it. I then remember them tearing down the old one and replacing it with a new one. My dad totally had the side-by-side picture from the newspaper hanging in our garage. My other memories include ALL of my friends being Cubs fans. And me always being the lone Sox fan. Maybe that's why my heart lies within the heart of Solider Field rather than Comiskey--er, US Cellular Field.

Which now brings me to my next train of thought. There is absolutely, 100% nothing wrong with me being a SOX fan. Nothing at all. Chris mentioned "flawed" when it comes to me supporting my Southsiders (and I know he's "kidding"). And some, not all (...easy Ellie) of my friends have given me crap for it over the years as well. Here is my point. I support MY team because they're MY team. Not because they are by friends team, or the team that everybody else likes, or anything along those lines. I've followed them for years. I have great memories of games, stadiums, outings etc. Just because Chris or any other of my friends are Cub fans (or any other team for that matter) it DOES NOT mean that I should have climbed aboard the all of my-friends/boyfriend/fiancee-bandwagons and become a fan of THEIR team. They should all be proud that they support their team and that I've continued to support mine. Let me tell ya, it's way more difficult to support your team when you are in the minority. I've stood by my Chicago White Sox for years, and I will continue to stand by them in the years to come.

**Sidenote...not too much into hockey. Maybe now that it'll be aired on tv it'll be easier for me to get into? We'll see...**

Please Hester Don't Hurt 'Em

It is now time to sing the praises of one Devin Hester. I don't know if I can use enough superlatives to describe the man, but I will try to pay him the respect that he deserves. Us Bears fans knew we had something special after last year, but who knew that he would continue this unbelievable streak that he is on. The NFL has never, I repeat never seen a return talent the likes of Mr. Hester. He is rewriting the record book for returns right in front of our eyes while special teams coaches around the league are scrambling to come up with ways to stop him.

For the perfect example of this, let's look back to the game against Denver from Week 11. Some might argue that Mike Shanahan had no business kicking to Hester, but the Broncos bristled at this idea. I can't say I don't completely disagree with Shanahan, but of course, I want every team to kick to Hester. NFL players are paid professionals whose job is to play a game for a living at the highest possible level. Since the Broncos actually kicked to Hester, he was able to hurt them, positioning the Bears for their improbable win. We should also give credit to Bears special teams coach Dave Toub for dropping four men back into coverage during one particular punt, which forced Denver to take a timeout. Toub threw in an exotic look that confused the opposing coaches, and took advantage of the automatic threat that Hester poses. The game was fun to watch for every Bears fan out there and will be one that I remember for a long time.

Considering that this has been a lost season for the Bears, the highlight reel that Hester has provided us lowly fans has been greatly appreciated. Whoever can catch the pop culture reference in the title of this posting will receive gold star*.

*No gold star will actually be awarded.