For 20 years, I’ve followed the Chicago Bears, with only seven winning seasons to show for it. During that same period, a neighboring team, whose name I shall not mention, enjoyed 20 winning seasons, playing in the same weather. But I stuck with the Bears, not based on winning seasons, but because of good memories (especially the Dennis Green rant) and with hopes for the future.
That’s why I am disappointed by the Bears management’s arrogance in the new stadium location search, playing one site against the other. The priority was to determine which package of incentives contributed to the best bottom line for the team, without considering the fans, who buy tickets and watch games.
And I am angered by George McCaskey’s recent comment that Bears fans need to make an adjustment to the Indiana stadium location. I’ve commuted to that area and don’t think that it is a good location for entertainment venues.
I know that players and sometimes teams move. I remember the Browns, Rams, Titans, Raiders and, yes, the Colts. There are other winning football teams to follow.
I might move on, and yes, I’ll adjust.
— Alan McCurdy, South Elgin
Let Bears go to Indiana
Professional sports teams and their owners are worth billions of dollars, with the net value of the Chicago Bears and the McCaskey family valued at $8.2 billion and $1.2 billion, respectively. Yet they have petitioned the state and city to foot the bill for their proposed stadium. Why can’t they foot the bill? I’m sure they would get tax breaks from the state.
But think about it. When they remodeled Soldier Field, they picked out the design (a bad one), and they could have made changes to keep up with the times, and they could have put a dome on the stadium. But no, they’d rather cry about the costs, which they could foot easily.
When the Cubs and the Ricketts family asked for money from the state and city, they were told no. Yet, they have made changes to Wrigley Field on their own. Why can’t the Bears do that?
If they want to move to Indiana so badly, they should lose the right to keep “Chicago” in their name. Perhaps the Hammond Hoosiers would be more appropriate.
— Janice A. Wachtler, Chicago
Tired of drama and greed
Am I the only person who thinks the McCaskey family and Bears President and CEO Kevin Warren should end this charade of a negotiation and move their beloved Bears to Hammond? Like many in the Chicago metropolitan area, I am tired of the drama and the greed.
Many NFL team owners pay for their own stadiums and leave the taxpayers out of the equation. The McCaskeys, unfortunately, seem to think that every Chicago and Illinois resident need the Bears here to survive. In a time when many citizens are just trying to make ends meet to pay their bills, provide for their children and put food on the table, the last thing they care about is the greed of an NFL franchise.
As soon as the “Chicago” Bears leave Chicago for Hammond, a countdown will begin for the next NFL franchise to relocate to Chicago. Remember the Baltimore Colts’ move to Indianapolis under the cover of darkness? Later, the Baltimore Ravens were born. There were the Oakland Raiders, then the Los Angeles Raiders, then the Oakland Raiders and now the Las Vegas Raiders. The Chargers left San Diego for LA.
Trust me, Chicagoans, there are many NFL franchises that would love the fanbase in Chicago and be more than willing to play in Soldier Field while personally financing the construction of a new state-of-the-art stadium. The McCaskey family is just not one of them.
The McCaskeys say they want to improve the fan experience. That is a cop-out. What they want is to fleece their most loyal fans — first in tax guarantees from the state, which the residents will ultimately pay for, and second, to increase the price of a ticket.
Now I hope the Bears succeed as a team. The players are not responsible for the whims of their ownership. They’re paid to play the game and not get involved in ownership decisions. But ponder this: If the Bears move to Hammond and win a Super Bowl while they’re there, that Super Bowl parade will be quite a spectacle in the downtown streets of Hammond. That’s when the governor of Illinois and the mayor of Chicago will get the last laugh.
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Our downtown streets are only for Chicago teams who play in Chicago. Go figure.
— Mark Zavagnin, La Grange Park
Let’s just annex Hammond
How do Chicago and Illinois solve the Chicago Bears problem? Illinois first annexes Hammond, then allows Southern Illinois to be annexed by Indiana, and everybody will be happy. The Bears will still be the Chicago Bears, and Southern Illinois will not have its tax dollars go to supporting Chicago.
— Jerome C. Malon, Chicago
Donation to Northwestern
The print headline “A broken system” for the editorial on failed Illinois government rules against harassment appeared at the top of the Aug. 16 Opinion section front page. The words could just as well served as a headline for one of the Quotes of the Week at the bottom of the page, specifically the quote by Liz and Dick Uihlein who donated $35 million to Northwestern’s football program. To wit: “To us, Northwestern University is Chicago. Chicago loves sports and we need Wildcat Football to be competitive. We are pleased to support the university as it enters an exciting new era.”
For Northwestern to be competitive in today’s professionalized college sports business, the Uihleins’ gift will not only be used to recruit for-hire college athletes, but will also help perpetuate the myth of student athletes that degrades academic integrity.
Unfortunately, the implementation of this extraordinary gift will not enhance but will likely detract from Northwestern’s reputation as a world-class academic university.
— Frank G. Splitt, former Northwestern University faculty fellow, Mount Prospect
Fighter jets as entertainment
I live in an old house directly under the flight path used by the jets performing for the Chicago Air & Water Show. When my windows rattle and my house shakes as they pass overhead, I can’t shake this thought: Anywhere else in the world, that deafening roar would announce that hellfire was about to rain down on all those hearing it.
It most certainly was the last sound more than 100 Iranian schoolchildren heard before they were incinerated in February. Including these high-tech killing machines in the air show — as entertainment for public consumption — is as obscene a statement as our government could possibly make.
— Richard Wetzel, Chicago
What bus riders showed me
Friday evening, after enjoying the music of the Grant Park Music Festival, I boarded a bus to return home. While I was reaching to pull down a seat, the bus lurched, and I lost my balance. Immediately, other riders steadied me and helped me sit down. None of these people questioned whether I was right- or left-leaning, rich or poor, or Black or white, but saw me only as a person who needed a hand.
Chicago is touted as the city that works, but I prefer to think of it as a city that cares.
Thank you, Chicago.
— Mary Ann McGinley, Wilmette
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