Hush My Darling

Well, its the re-cap I didn't really want to write. The one where I talk about the Chicago Bears losing in Superbowl XLI. Argh. So frustrating and a bit of a bummer. The ending was just sad. I think I am skipping game details and instead will recap the pre-game activities.

Like it was Christmas morning, I woke up at 7 AM. Not at all necessary and I have no idea why I did. I kept trying to force myself back to sleep, but it wasn't working out all that well.

At 8 AM, Natalie sent out the morning text - as she had done the previous 2 playoff games. I got up and futzed around until it was time to start the day.

Mel and Nat picked me up around 10:30, so that we could drive to get coffee and go grocery shopping for the party - we infused Sunday with as many routines as we could. We grocery shopped (snack bought) like it was our job. Never send 3 girls (with varying degrees of hunger and hangovers) into a grocery store unsupervised.

After shopping, we rolled down the windows (tradition again - and a damn cold one at that) and blasted the Superbowl Shuffle – singing it at the top of our lungs.

Next stop was the Bayou for a meat stick / bloody mary (righter of so many wrongs) with Cousin Michael a.k.a. Space Cuz. Michael had just come from mass, where he had prayed for a Bears victory. Like any good Catholic should.

Quick run home for food prep and then we converged upon the Superbowl Central. There was excitement in the air mixed with the splendid aromas of Chili, 'Lil Smokies, Velveeta cheese, Chicago-Style dogs, Popeye's chicken...the list goes on and on. Dave B. had set up viewing stations and every seat in the house had a perfect view.

Billy Joel belted out the National Anthem and the flyby buzzed the stadium. The Coin Toss went and it was heads. And the Bears were going to receive.

The anticipation mounted as the ball flipped end over end in the air. Devin Hester (I Heart Devin in ‘07) caught it and began to run. The minute he did this fancy side step, we all knew. He was going to run it all the way back. The room erupted and none of us could believe our eyes. It was the greatest 14 seconds of football I have ever seen.

And it was hard to top. Especially when the Colts scored a touchdown soon after. (Of course, the missed extra point was a bonus). Then it was 14-6 Bears and we were feeling good (not great, but good). Then there was the fumble. And Cedric went down. And another fumble. And we suddenly couldn't stop the run. And it all began to shift.

We tried. We rolled Shot-zees. We drank Mad Dog 20/20. (And Boones for that matter). We ate cold shot dogs. Anything we could think of to rally the Bears.

But when the confetti fell, it fell on the Colts in celebration and on the Bears as they slowly trudged off the field. There was sadness in the eyes of all the players. There was stunned silence in living rooms across Chicago.

This loss was a tough one – not nearly as painful as the Cubs in 2003, but pretty hard to swallow nonetheless. I will say this, though; it was one hell of a year.

To all those who met weekly and followed the Bears all season long – think of it this way - pitchers and catchers report to camp in 8 days. That’s right – 8 days! Isn’t that great? Football season for Chicago just ended and baseball season is about to begin.

Not to mention that March Madness is a mere month away.

All these glorious things to distract us until the Bears report to training camp and we can look at making a repeat appearance.

Until then, use this off-season to recover from injuries. Rest your weary livers. Take a few Sundays and catch up on your sleep. Return to a bit of normalcy.

Because, before you know it, the sun will be out, it will be warmer than the –1 it was this morning and we will be grilling brats and talking about the draft and hopes for the new season that looms before us. Go Bears!