Sports & The City

OK, I admit it. I'm watching the Bears/Saints game and the weather is fair here in Florida. Not that I'm making any connection.

I'm moved to post because I actually heard a name outside of the usual context (Usual Context = some elaborate discussion about the 46 zone defense or any aspect of the 1985 Chicago Bears). Ron Rivera is the Defensive Coordinator. Ron Rivera? That's the best we could do?! Of all those guys, Ron Rivera is the only actively participating remanent of 22 years of formerly manhandling, earth shaking, booty rumbling defensive elegance?

Whatever.

It's not the same this year, by any stretch. For one thing, we don't have THIS this year:




Oh Jimmie Mac, when are you comin back? This photo is suprisingly not very dated looking, given it's 21 years and 2 months old.

But more importantly, this is is also what we don't have:
(clicky on the picture to see better detail in the picture - if you're interested. This is one of Jeff MacNelly's better toons)




Does this type of fandom even exist anymore? Has Chicago become too cosmopolitan to be good die hard sports fans? It might be. Oprah is thin, Bono is shopping at the three story Gap next to where the last good coffee shop was (Cambridge House, R.I.P.), the Park Hyatt swells over the street that leads to Cabrini Green which is getting torn down brick by brick. You look at your average Gator fan or FSU and they pretty much are not cosmopolitan type people. They like to paint their faces and get naked and this is why they are good sports fans.

The thing was, back in the day, Chicago would lose its literal mind on a day like this. I suspect there's a great deal of going's on in Chicago today and it's hardly shut down (I'm sure da Jewel is doing just fine). People change, times change, I wonder if Chicago is losing its identity slowly, or is it merely just that I'm losing my identity to Chicago?

I'm not saying that in the upper reaches of Northern Illinois or downstate there are Bears fans. But do da super fanz ex-zist any more, my friend?



edited: I spoke too soon - now they are talking about Ditka..Jim Harbaugh and Jim McMahon. But all Ditka centric. Barf.