One year ago at roughly this time of year White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen was drawing comparisons to the only sainted coach this city has ever seen, Mike Ditka. Sadly, the comparison looks to be more apt than we had hoped because the Sox are not going to make a repeat appearance in the post-season. The good new for me and my friends is that this frees up a lot of television time to watch some of the interesting shows on TV these days (thanks to my friend Dan for that joke, by the way). Now the criticisms of Ozzie are coming from left and from right. In one year he has become a goat and one ready to be run out of town. Last year we were giving him a parade and now we want to hang him in effigy.
Right now the city of Chicago is in love with a man that, just about a year ago, they were also ready to run out of town. This is a guy named Rex Grossman. For those of you who haven’t been following the Bears since 1985 and when everyone I met from anywhere thought I knew William “Refrigerator” Perry, Rex Grossman is the quarterback for the Bears. He has been the future of the team for what seems like forever and yet, somehow, he is still a rookie.
Rex came into town about three seasons ago. Then he got hurt. Then he came back last season. Then, in a pre-season game, he got hurt. Then the Bears shocked everyone and played really well and some rookie named Kyle Orton grew a goofy beard and helped the Bears win a lot of games. This caused the city to go crazy about Kyle Orton. When, near the end of the season, it became evident that Kyle was, indeed, a rookie, everyone clamored for Rex Grossman to come back. Rex was now healthy. Everyone seemed to forget that, essentially, Rex was as much of a rookie as Orton.
Well, the Bears made it to the playoffs last year and then got their hats handed to them by the Carolina Panthers. In fact a single player on the Panthers pretty much defeated the Bears. The Bears vaunted defense that had been compared repeatedly to the ’85 team was shown to be not quite in that league just yet.
So, this year people were anxious to see what Rex would do when the 2006 season rolled around. The pre-season games certainly didn’t seem to show much promise. A lot of folks were wondering what happened to the defense from last year. Many more were wondering where all of this promise for Rex had gone. All of this changed when Rex faced off against one of his heroes.
Rex has stated that he has always admired Brett Favre. Of course, even the most ardent Bears fan would have to grudgingly admit that Brett Favre is one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever throw a football around. The fact that he is saddled with a crappy team is just sad. He deserves better and I am willing to admit that as a lifelong Bears fan. So, you have to admit that you can understand why Rex admitted that he had been a fan.
Over the years the Green Bay Packers have handed quite a few humiliating losses to the Bears. Let me tell you, it was very sweet to see the Bears run the Packers up one end of the field and back down the other. It was great, but what was even more interesting was the performance of one previously-considered glass quarterback named Grossman. He threw the ball like his hero.
Grossman has to be the first quarterback on the Bears that can actually throw the ball down the field. For the first time in my lifetime people who are Bears fans are talking about a quarterback besides Syd Luckman who was probably the only quarterback who has ever been any good and he played in the ‘40s. He was able to throw the ball to receivers and turn third downs into first downs. Suddenly the Bears were a team with a passing game and not just a running game and not just a defense.
The trend continued the next week when the Bears handed Detroit a loss. Of course, beating the Lions and the Packers in their current state is a lot like beating the local high school team. Still, the Bears were off to an undefeated start and they were heading for their other hated rival, the Minnesota Vikings.
Well, it looked like the Bears were just a dream when the game started. Rex couldn’t get the ball down field by using UPS. The defense was holding the Vikings at bay but it would only last so long. Rex gave up some truly horrific plays that turned the ball over. At one point, backed up against his own end zone, Grossman lobbed the ball into the air and right into the hands of the Vikings who promptly scored a touchdown on the next play. Uh oh, most of Chicago said, looks like this may not be our year after all.
Then a remarkable thing happened. The Bears defense stepped up and made a play. They got the ball back. The clock was ticking down and Grossman would have to make a big play. Would he choke like so many others? Would he let his previous mistakes take him out of the game? It had happened before, time and again, over and over with this team. Surprisingly he stepped up and he delivered.
The Vikings were also undefeated coming into last Sundays game. They had as much to prove after last season as the Bears did. They let the Bears steal back all of the momentum and Grossman made a play that let the Bears come from behind to win the game. The Bears are now in sole possession of first place in the NFC North.
This week the Bears face a real challenge. They are set to go up against the Seattle Seahawks. They are a real team with huge potential and a superstar in the form of Shaun Alexander. Even more than the Vikings this will be a test of Grossman and the defense. I truly hope they win.
However, I do know that if they lose it is likely this city will go from the high it is experiencing this week to the utmost despair. I hope Grossman is prepared for that. This city is alternating between wanting him to win and gnashing its teeth at the prospect of a fine meal.
• Bryan W. Alaspa’s new novel "Dust" is now available online at his Web site www.bryanalaspa.com and www.amazon.com.
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