Chicago Bears open thread
Monday, Oct 16, 2023 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sigh…
Fighter jets practicing for a routine flyover at Sunday’s Chicago Bears game caused alarm for many on Friday.
Four jets were spotted flying over the city just after 1 p.m., causing confusion and concern among residents.
Chicago’s Office of Emergency Management and Communications confirmed in a statement Friday afternoon that the city “has not received any actionable threats” related to the latest war between Israel and Hamas, and the fighter jets reported along the lakefront and over downtown were practicing for the flyover before the start of the Bears game against the Minnesota Vikings.
* Hard sigh…
* Hard, hard sigh…
…Adding… Shaw Local…
Bears coach Matt Eberflus said Monday that quarterback Justin Fields is doubtful to play against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday after dislocating the thumb of his throwing hand.
Fields suffered the injury in the third quarter against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. X-rays came back negative and Eberflus didn’t have results from a MRI done Monday.
The Bears will know more by the end of the week.
- lake county democrat - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 10:52 am:
I actually am a bit relieved - I don’t hate Fields but I don’t think he’s the QB to take the team to a Super Bowl, and I’ve always thought they needed at least 2 dismal seasons to acquire talent through the draft and rebuild. I don’t even need them to draft Caleb Williams if they get a big enough haul - Detroit is doing fine with a good-not-great QB and others have followed that path too. The worst thing would be a 7-10 season, a route to be mired in mediocrity and/or first round playoff exits for a decade.
- Jibba - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:02 am:
It seems like a tremendous waste to get another leading QB and mess up his life too. Get a new coach and GM (and owners) first, but until then get some key surrounding players and look for improvement in Fields as he gets more time and weapons.
- TheInvisibleMan - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:04 am:
“a routine flyover”
Shouldn’t be routine.
We all just shrugged off the news a few years ago of the Pentagon paying the NFL millions of dollars to run these actual propaganda flyovers.
It’s time to un-normalize it.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:06 am:
The Bears are like Trump, hiring and firing their way to failure. How many front office/coaching/quarterback changes is this team going to do? Will the Eberflus “era” end after or during this season? The problem is at the very top.
- The Truth - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:12 am:
As long as we have a bottom-three offensive line, no quarterback will have sustained success in Chicago.
- Flapdoodle - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:31 am:
There’s no snark intended here, just an honest question: Why do people continue to follow sports teams that are consistently dysfunctional from front office to game performance? What is the attraction in teams that seldom win and are often simply noncompetitive, that may have a couple “up” years but are otherwise consistently mediocre?
A while ago I attended a mid-tier professional soccer match in the UK. With one side firmly in control and its fans beginning to celebrate, the losing side’s fans began chanting “You’re nothing special / We lose every week.” What I honestly don’t understand is that if it’s that bad, why is anyone there in the first place?
I’m a sports fan Chicago born and bred, but it totally eludes me how and why anyone cares about, let alone spends a buck on the Bears or White Sox (keeping it Illinois-centric — other franchises could be named).
- Huh? - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:32 am:
It’s time for everlose to find a new job.
- Telly - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:35 am:
It has been said here before, Jerry Reinsdorf must wake up every morning and thank God he shares Chicago with the Bears. It somehow makes the top-to-bottom incompetence of the White Sox a little less obvious.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:38 am:
===continue to follow sports===
Fan is short for fanatic.
:)
- Skeptic - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:38 am:
“The Bears are like Trump, hiring and firing their way to failure” One difference, most of the Bear’s coaching staff doesn’t have “Acting” in their job title.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:49 am:
There’s two kinds of Bears fans:
The ones who save money on jerseys and the ones who have jerseys that are awkward to wear.
The nice part about buying a jersey with a legendary player from the history of the team is that you can wear it regardless of the terrible decisions made by a family that well illustrates why we need better laws around inheritance. What Papa Bear Halas brought to the table wasn’t genetic.
- Flapdoodle - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 11:57 am:
==Fan is short for fanatic.==
True enough, OW. What I’m wondering is how/why that fanaticism is sustained.
- Hannibal Lecter - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:03 pm:
=== terrible decisions made by a family that well illustrates why we need better laws around inheritance. ===
What would these laws say? That if your franchise stinks, it escheats to the state? lol. Not sure Pritzker needs another crisis to deal with.
- ChrisB - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:08 pm:
The thing is, if Poles leaned into the “Trust The Process” of stacking up high draft picks, the his seat wouldn’t be so hot. I can kind of see what he’s trying to orchestrate. They’re supposed to suck in the short term in order to build towards long term success.
Instead, the Bears media team pumped up the “New and Improved” Bears in the offseason, and they’ve somehow regressed.
- 47th Ward - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:16 pm:
At this point, I’d like to see what Tyson Bagent can do for a full game. Maybe let Fields sit the Raiders game out, make sure that hand is OK.
- OneMan - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:18 pm:
=== terrible decisions made by a family that well illustrates why we need better laws around inheritance. ===
The death of ‘Muggs’ Halas before George passed away and inheritance laws at the time basically forced ‘Muggs’ heirs to sell their part of the team to cover their tax bill. That is how you ended up with a team without many Halas’ involved anymore.
My son described that game yesterday at one point as a movable object vs a stoppable force
- Stuck in Celliniland - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:33 pm:
The city could have at least frequently announced the Friday jet practice (weather permitting) several days in advance. Similar to how advance notice can be given for NOAA weather radio tests, monthly emergency siren tests, etc.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:36 pm:
===Not sure Pritzker needs another crisis to deal with===
Billionaires and “billionaires” that self fund their campaigns to public office are actually one of the things that I think a inheritance laws that reflect the core values of our social contract would make less likely to occur.
Even if sometimes I agree with the billionaire in question. We don’t exactly need any more Howard Buffets out there either.
- thisjustinagain - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:41 pm:
The Bears are who we thought they were. Again.
- Hannibal Lecter - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:42 pm:
=== Billionaires and “billionaires” that self fund their campaigns to public office are actually one of the things that I think a inheritance laws that reflect the core values of our social contract would make less likely to occur. ===
Not sure I understand where you are going with this. Can you please explain? What is a change to our inheritance laws that would “reflect the core values of our social contract” that would make this “less likely to occur”.
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:44 pm:
I was gifted free tickets to the Raiders game next week. My main goal will be to not spend a dollar inside the stadium. Unlike the McCaskeys I have actually had to work for my money.
- Amalia - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 12:49 pm:
was the flyover requested? or a practice run offered? the fly folks don’t sit and wait for a run in need so they gotta practice.
as for the team, well some have spent WAY too much time with folks going to mass with the owner. nothing against anyone practicing religion but it has sometimes become some strange staffer focus that may have clouded judgment (wanny & lovie). and, let’s face it Fields was probably a reaction to NOT picking Mahomes. without much real evaluation except…. maybe he’s like Mahomes. it’s pretty clear that it’s not just a problem with the Oline although they need more work on that. yes, they will probably mess up the next pick which is why they need to look at proven QBs already in the NFL including backups. still wondering about one of the two endless mysteries of Chicago sports…what happened to the D coord? (other mystery, what about the wounded inside Sox park?)
- Proud Papa Bear - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 1:00 pm:
I’m one of the few people who believe that losing for draft picks is not a wise strategy. Every year, it’s the same teams at or near the bottom and even good draft picks are such a small percentage of the team (1/22 of a starting lineup).
And of course the Bears are known for wasting their picks on reaches anyway.
I also don’t believe the answer is to fire the coach every few years and replace him with an equally mediocre coach. Pittsburgh has had three coaches in 54 years. We’ve had four since the Quinn administration.
- btowntruth from forgottonia - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 1:11 pm:
“You’re nothing special / We lose every week.”
Bears 2023 team slogan.
- Stuck in Celliniland - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 1:26 pm:
==We’ve had four since the Quinn administration==
That was when Lovie was let go even after a 10-6 2012, for the crime of “missing the playoffs.” What? In a year when the NFC North was tough? Big mistake letting Lovie go in ‘12; if things were on the decline with his coaching (as we later saw at UIUC) it would have been better for the Bears to have rode things out by keeping him rather than firing him. Smells racist on the McCaskeys part to me.
- Frida's boss - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 1:32 pm:
Fire everyone…..again. It’s just so horrible to think how bad this ownership really is. The level of incompetence is staggering. How can you be gifted a NFL franchise, grow up in legacy of football knowledge and still not have an actual clue how to run a business or team?
- From DaZoo - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 2:04 pm:
Maybe a silver lining of hope?
If last year’s Lions can have a tale of two seasons (first half 2-6; second half 7-2), maybe the Bears can make improvements before the season is over.
- Skeptic - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 3:30 pm:
“The nice part about buying a jersey with a legendary player from the history of the team is that you can wear it regardless of the terrible decisions made by a family” So can I put my Bob Avelini and Moses Moreno jerseys on eBay and say “Rare Vintage[banned puncuation]”?
- More on That Later - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 3:34 pm:
Threats of moves to the suburbs to fleece taxpayers, flyovers… how about getting back to the basics of playing football and winning games?
- ARepublicIfUCanKeepIt - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 4:19 pm:
Bears’ ability to wrench defeat from the jaws of victory is breathtaking. Whenever we fans think we’re at rock bottom, the team finds a way to take us lower. There ought to be some international prize for postmodern performance art at this level.
It’s not a good look when who might be available in the draft is more captivating than what your team is doing on the field.
I very much like Fields and what seems to be his natural style of play and was so hoping to see him and the team flourish with due development. I didn’t buy the hype of how much improved things would be this year, but would it have been too much for the gods to let the chains move a few yards downfield?
“Laughing the stormy, husky, brawling laughter of Youth, half-naked, sweating, proud to be Hog Butcher, Tool Maker, Stacker of Wheat, Player with Railroads and Freight Handler to the Nation” … and, most of all, Bears Fan!!!
- Nick Name - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 4:56 pm:
Once the Rugby World Cup wraps in a couple of weeks my Sundays will once again be free to watch American football, but I tell you those games are a heck of a lot more exciting than watching the Bears.
- Candy Dogood - Monday, Oct 16, 23 @ 4:56 pm:
===Can you please explain?===
The general concept of equal creation and equal ownership of our society or of our public thing? Individuals amassing extraordinary amounts of wealth threaten the stability of our government and society. Failing to implement a practical inheritance tax has replaced hereditary title with hereditary wealth.
Wealth in the United States drives a lot of policy that continues to exist even when it is a determent to our society.