So many topics rolling around in my head, I hardly know what to write about these days. Think I will stick with my favorite obsession: ‘Da Bears. (Sorry for perpetuating that ridiculous stereotype.) T-minus 5 days and counting until the big game. At this point, it is all most of us can think about.
One of the reasons I love Chicago the most is that we love our sports teams with serious devotion. If you’re a Sox fan (a true Sox fan), then the ’94 strike still cuts you to the core – regardless of 2005.
If you’re a Cubs fan (a true Cubs fan), then 2003 was gut wrenching and you are still pissed at Gonzalez (even though he is really cute), Prior and Wood for imploding and losing it all. (You are not pissed at any fan with his/her arms up in the air, because you know you would’ve done the same).
If you’re a Bulls fan (a true Bulls fan), you can remember exactly where you were when John Paxson sank the 3-pointer in Game 6. (Okay, that might be a stretch, but you should know, because it was a damn good game).
If you’re a Bears fan (a true Bears fan), you knew when they won the first MNF game, that this was our year. You have been playing and singing The Super Bowl Shuffle since. You have been wearing orange and blue with pride. You are giddy with anticipation (and a little nervous) for Sunday’s game.
Chicago is a football town and the Bears are the great unifier. Regardless of neighborhood, everyone loves the Bears. For the last several days, I haven’t gone anywhere without seeing people in their Bears gear. Every transaction (grocery shopping, banking, dining, drinking…) involves a “Go Bears,” at the end of it. All weekend plans hinge on the game.
We have been waiting for a while for this game and we are planning on doing it right. Those of us that grew up here (and are over the age of 21) remember Super Bowl XX. I remember the score of the game (46-10 – Teiber), where I was when I watched it and how much fun the victory was to all of us. At age 9, all was right with the world.
It is strange to think of how much has changed since then. So much has been lost, conquered, discovered and destroyed. We have seen the Berlin Wall come down. We have seen the decimation of the Ozone Layer and the onset of Global Warming. We have fought with Iraq – twice – which is ironic, because back when the Bears were in the Super Bowl last – Iraq was our ally. Then again, the Soviet Union wasn’t. And now, there is no Soviet Union.
When the Bears were in the Super Bowl last, the face of the world was different. Countries that were present on the World Map in 1986 are long gone – hell, even a planet is missing from the Solar System. (You’re still a planet to me, Pluto!)
I was in the 4th grade back then. I spent my summer days watching the Cubs on TV (there were no lights at Wrigley then) and playing outside. Fun for us was running races down the street, playing on the neighbor’s Star Wars swing set, slipping on our Slip ‘N’ Slides, riding bikes, roller skating and climbing trees. Boys were still on the yuck side, though I secretly hoped that David and Maddie would get together and I was already in love with the cheesy movies that would characterize the decade. I loved Top Gun and Pretty in Pink. Of course, I also loved The Boy Who Could Fly, Flight of the Navigator and Space Camp. (Noticing a bit of a trend here.) Really, at 9 years old, all I wanted to be was an astronaut-teacher-dolphin trainer-writer-President of the US. I had big dreams back then.
21 years later, we are all a bit different. Those of us that were kids back then have since grown up. (Some of us have kids of our own now). We have finished school, gotten jobs, lost a little of our innocence, fallen in and out of love, been hurt by or hurt someone we cared about and slowly, but surely, we have eked out a place in this adult world.
I am no longer 9, but rather 30 now and I look that all has happened in the world and all that has happened to me in the past 21 years and I am in a constant state of wonder. I look at all that has changed for the better and the worse and I wait in eager anticipation for all that is to come. Because if we can come so far in just 21 years, can you imagine what it will be like when the Cubs win the World Series?
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