Team Dead

Once again I foolishly let the Bears get me all excited about their direction, only to have premature jocularity and make a mess all over myself. I have finally learned my lesson with these guys.

When the team announced they were cleaning house by firing the GM, and coach, and then it was leaked that team president Ted Phillips would not be attending the press conference with George McCaskey, I thought that at long last the family finally figured out they did not have a clue and were going to bring in a new team to clean up the mess in aisle three.

Well, once again I could not have been more wrong.

As I watched the press conference I was stunned at the complete lack of understanding of the fans, the team, and the industry, that this family has after 100 years of being in the business. The attitude from them is simple and should make every fan stop and rethink their loyalty.

It is this.

We have zero respect for your concerns, and in fact we know that no matter what we do you will still follow us with blind loyalty. We are happy with making money hand over fist without having to put a championship team on the field. All we need to do is tell you we are really, really trying hard and you believe us. Thank you for your money, now go away.

That is what George McCaskey told the players and fans yesterday. The Bears plan is to do the same old same old because they believe it works for them. They don't care about winning. They don't care about competitiveness. They don't care about us the fan. Period.

The smugness oozing from McCaskey was sickening. The tone deafness from Ted Phillips was shocking. Saying things like "I'm just a fan, not a football evaluator", and then in the next breath telling us that he will make the decision on who to hire, makes you scratch your head.

Terrible Ted saying that Pace and Nagy checked all the boxes and he was proud of having them run the team, after they fired them, was insane. McCaskey telling the press that the NFL diversity program doesn't mean they have to hire people of color, just give them a fair interview, shows how much they don't get it. He then doubled down and called Olin Kreutz a liar regarding the story of offering Kreutz a part time job in training camp for only $15 an hour. That is a true story.

This whole family, and operation, still thinks it is 1935 and they can just do whatever they want. My cousin Mike said it best last night, the Bears remind him of the Blackhawks before the old man died and Rocky took over. He's right.

My favorite exchange yesterday was when David Hough was called on to ask a question and his mic was muted. After twenty seconds of dead air he figured it out and was able to be heard. McCaskey says, before he could ask his question, that it was the best question he ever asked. Hough immediately responded, "I'm sure your answer will be just as good." George looked like he was pantsed in the school playground.

These guys don't even respect the press who generally gives them a pass on their buffoonery. They continue to refuse to bring in former players because they don't want them to be in a position of having to keep secrets, but they are very happy to have them as season ticket holders.

We have seen some incredible shit shows for press conferences in the past five years but yesterday was a special one. Since the old man died, the family, and Ted Philips, have won exactly zero Super Bowls. They are so proud of this that they have decided that they will continue to operate as usual because it works for them.

How is it working for you? For me, I'm done with this team until they sell it to someone who gets it. Starting this morning don't ask me about the Bears, they are dead to me.