If you’re still a fan of the Bears, and dare admit to it, here’s a suggestion. Don’t watch Sunday’s Super Bowl XXXII.
The Green Bay Packers are destined to win again, and that’s guaranteed to make your blood boil worse than it did last January. So after the Bulls’ game against Utah, just turn off the TV and take in a movie.
Denver has no chance. Go see “Titanic” instead and root for the boat. It’s a better bet than the Broncos.
(How many Broncos does it take to change a flat tire? Only one. Unless it’s a complete blowout. Then the entire team shows up.)
In any other situation, regional pride would prevail for a Super Bowl. The Packers are as local as we can get, so if they win, it would reflect favorably on the Bears, who lose all those games just down the road. But that doesn’t apply here.
Chicago people sit for hours in summer traffic, waiting to drive to their summer cottages in Wisconsin, but the Packers are so loathed in this area they might as well be from New York. The Packers aren’t “America’s Team” in Illinois.
Besides, we aren’t impressed by the fact that four teams from the NFC Central qualified for the playoffs. I guess that makes it “America’s Division.” But we know the reason why Green Bay, Tampa Bay, Detroit and Minnesota got to the postseason is because they fatten up on the Bears.
Playing them twice a year means having a slump-proof schedule. Only Nebraska is happier when it’s time to abuse Iowa State.
Of course, the Packers wouldn’t admit that. In fact, they’re doing it the other way. Ron Wolf, their general manager, said recently that his franchise rebuilt in part by studying the Bears’ organization. Talk about rubbing it in.
Actually, there are some scary differences. When the Packers decided to tear up a lousy club, they didn’t bring in a general manager after the college draft. The Packers didn’t even wait until after the season. Bob Harlan, their CEO, brought in Ron Wolf with four games remaining in 1991.
Wolf also had an eye for talent, another characteristic that would separate him from the Bears’ brass. Wolf chased an obscure quarterback, Brett Favre, who couldn’t crack the Atlanta Falcons’ lineup. He has been the league’s most valuable player during Green Bay’s return to glory.
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The Bears fell in love with Rick Mirer and paid him a fortune to become a hood ornament on a 4-12 outfit. Whether they are bold enough to admit their mistake is debatable. The Packers had no qualms in that department. Lindy Infante was a coach with years remaining on his long-term deal, but Wolf dumped him anyway and brought in Mike Holmgren.
Holmgren has done everything in Green Bay that Dave Wannstedt hasn’t done in Chicago. Same with Bill Parcells, who accomplished more in five months with the New York Jets than Wannstedt has in five years here. Before that, Parcells revived the New England Patriots, though not enough to win last year’s Super Bowl.
Perhaps that is the answer for the annually inept AFC. Keep raiding the NFC for coaches, until the Super Bowl is won. Seattle is wise to covet Holmgren.
The AFC bungled its way into this mess. Consider how the Cincinnati Bengals, upon owner Paul Brown’s retirement as coach, could have tapped his young and cerebral quarterbacks and receivers coach to be the head guy. Man named Bill Walsh. Instead, the Bengals hired somebody named Tiger Johnson and Walsh fled, later to be installed as a certifiable genius in San Francisco.
The NFC has been smarter elsewhere, too. What if Jack Kent Cooke had dumped Joe Gibbs after the rookie coach started 0-5 in Washington? What about the Giants, who stuck with Parcells after his 3-12-1 debut? How many AFC teams passed on Jimmy Johnson before Dallas hired him? And what if Pittsburgh, which won four Super Bowls, hadn’t joined the AFC to facilitate a merger with the old American Football League? What would the NFC Super Bowl record be?
Not quite as good as it will be late Sunday, after the Packers win again. Enjoy the movie.