On the wind in Chicago: Bears mania

Here in the Windy City, few things are more sacrosanct than the '85 Bears.

Fans talk about that year's team in hushed tones, compare good linebackers to the legendary Mike Singletary, and remember listening to the "Super Bowl Shuffle." It was a time when the Bears name inspired respect, not derision. After 21 years in the desert, the team is finally winning - and many loyal fans are feeling that old Bears fever. With six games to go in the season, tickets that sold for $150 apiece are now going for three times that. Just a parking pass to Soldier Field costs at least $280. A few starry-eyed Chicagoans are already plunking down thousands for Super Bowl tickets.

This is a city where baseball loyalties are split between the White Sox and the Cubs, where the NHL's Blackhawks are barely followed and the NBA's Bulls gain notice only if they win. But as soon as cold weather hits, the one thing most Chicagoans can agree on is their love of the Bears.

"Everyone roots for the Bears," says Randy Merkin, sports director of the Chicago-based Sporting News Radio. "It unifies. At a time when the weather's cold and the days are shorter, what do you have to look forward to? Sundays at 3 o'clock."

The team is off to a 9-1 start, its hopes for a perfect season dashed three games ago by poorly ranked Miami. On Sunday it travels to New England to take on the 7-3 Patriots. If all keeps going well, the Bears will probably have home-field advantage for the playoffs - and they'll compete in a division and conference with few strong opponents.

Visions of Super Bowl dance in their heads

All of this - combined with the desperate dreams of fans who haven't tasted victory in a long time - have many Chicagoans drooling over prospects for a Super Bowl berth.

"We've stuck through a lot of miserable seasons. This year we finally have reason to hope," says Dale Lorance, who's had season tickets for 11 years with his girlfriend, Marie Delabre. In all that time, they've missed only one game, sticking it out through the late 1990s when the Bears finished last in their division for four years running.

"As long as everybody stays healthy, I don't see anyone in the NFC that can match them," says Mr. Lorance, wearing a bright orange Bears jersey and watching Monday night football at Junior's Sports Lounge, about a mile west of Soldier Field.

He and Ms. Delabre say the atmosphere has changed this year. People who used to feel sorry for them as season ticket-holders are trying desperately to buy their tickets. When they show up at the stadium at 5:30 in the morning for a day of tailgating before the game, they're never the first ones there.

Columnists and fans started comparing this team with the '85 championship Bears back in October, when the team got off to an undefeated start and seemed to have - like that other team - an unbeatable defense.

Still, even the most die-hard fans admit that this team isn't quite as good as the legendary one of Walter Payton, Jim McMahon, and Mike Singletary. For starters, it lacks a consistent quarterback - a point driven home during the Bears' loss to Miami and an eked-out win against Arizona, which the defense won in spite of six turnovers by quarterback Rex Grossman.

Shake that 'loser city' rap

Chicago's reputation as a sports loser - an image that has stuck despite the White Sox World Series victory last year and the Bulls dynasty in the 1990s - causes many fans to brace themselves for disappointment even as they dare to hope.

"People are cautiously optimistic," says Mr. Merkin of Sporting News Radio. But if the Bears do make it to the Super Bowl, he says, "it'll get rid of that tag that's been on this city as a loser city."

At least one player on that '85 team says he's watching and rooting right along with everyone else. "The city deserves a championship," says Shaun Gayle, who played safety, during a relaxed evening watching football at Junior's. "Most of the guys from '85, we know these guys are enjoying it, and they should.... I think their loss to Miami early helped them to focus. I really think they have a chance to get to the Super Bowl."

Like great Bears teams of the past, this one is in many ways a mirror of Chicago: rough and tumble, scrappy and tough. The Bears typically rely on defense more than offense, and the team looks to its great linebackers - from Dick Butkus to Brian Urlacher - more than to its quarterbacks. That may explain why so many Chicagoans identify so closely with the team.

"This is a Bears town," says Lorance, the season ticket-holder. "Twenty years from now, will they still be talking about the '05 White Sox? Probably not. But we still talk about the '85 Bears. That team was feared by everyone in the league."

Chicago Bears quarterback Rex Grossman knows what he's facing

The opponent has the fourth-ranked defense and has allowed fewer points than any team but his own, not that Rex Grossman needed the reminder.

It wasn't necessary to mention the New England Patriots have won three of the past five Super Bowls, either. The Chicago Bears quarterback knows what he's up against, and he realizes he needs to get off to a better start than in last week's 10-0 victory over the New York Jets.

"It's not something complicated that I'm going to figure out," Grossman said on Wednesday. "It's just a matter of going out and playing well. For the most part, I made good decisions, but I didn't deliver the ball the way I wanted to. That's easily correctable."

All but seven of Grossman's 119 yards against the Jets came in the second half. And he wound up 11-for-22 with a touchdown - a short pass that Mark Bradley turned into a 57-yarder - after completing 5-of-11 in the first two quarters.

The Jets outgained the Bears 156 yards to 80 in the first half, but Chicago prevailed thanks to its running game and several key plays by the defense and special teams. Chris Harris recovered a Jets onside kick to start the third quarter, leading to a field goal. Brian Urlacher intercepted Chad Pennington in the end zone in the second quarter, and Nathan Vasher picked off a pass in Bears territory in the third.

Thomas Jones and Cedric Benson each averaged more than five yards per carry, with Jones running for 121 and Benson adding 51.

"We didn't go into the game saying we'll be conservative," offensive coordinator Ron Turner said. "We never got a chance to get Rex into a rhythm or get our offense into a rhythm. And in the second half, we did get conservative. We were getting six, seven yards a carry."

That explains why a Bears team (9-1) that looked like it was headed toward a slump after losing 31-13 to Miami at Soldier Field, has visions of a three-game road sweep.

After beating the New York Giants and Jets on back-to-back weekends at the Meadowlands, the Bears have the NFC North all but wrapped up and hold a three-game lead in the race for the conference's No. 1 seed. A win on Sunday and losses by Green Bay and Minnesota would give Chicago the division title.

"We're excited about where we're at," Grossman said. "We're pumped up at 9-1. ... It's up to you to decide if it's a measuring stick."

To Vasher, this week's game is just that.

"It's a measuring stick to where we ultimately want to be," he said. "That's one of the premier teams in the league."

The Bears will be tested by quarterback Tom Brady, and Grossman will see a defense that's among the best at confusing quarterbacks.

"They do a really good job, and they always seem to have some wrinkles," offensive co-ordinator Ron Turner said. "They try to take away what you do best."

Grossman has had moments of brilliance and games where he had more success getting the ball to the opponent than to his receivers. He committed six turnovers in a one-point win at Arizona on Oct. 16 and four in the loss to Miami, and he has a tendency to veer from his fundamentals when pressured.

Still, he's 13-4 as a starter.

Grossman acknowledged he's trying to find a balance between his gunslinging instincts and simply managing the offense, which is what he did last week. He plans to spend "a lot of time" reviewing the Patriots (7-3), who run the same defense as the Jets, but he already realizes New England's front seven is one of the best in the league.

He doesn't need a reminder.

"They're not only great players, but they've been in the system a long time," Grossman said. "They really understand what they're trying to do with pass routes and coverages and mixing up different looks."

Cubs ride Lee's first HR in nearly 3 months

Derrek Lee’s first homer in almost three months came at the best possible time for the reeling Chicago Cubs.
His long, two-run shot into the left-field bleachers tied the score in the eighth inning, and the Cubs scored three more runs to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 Wednesday and end a five-game losing streak. Chicago had dropped nine straight at Wrigley Field.
“It’s a huge relief,” manager Dusty Baker said. “Now you see what it means to have D-Lee back, to have that big bat in the lineup.” Lee, who came off the disabled list Sunday after missing 59 games with a broken wrist, hit his first homer since April 8, a shot off Dan Kolb (2-2) that started the comeback.
Obviously, after missing so much time, the defending NL batting champ is still feeling his way around the plate and the field. He is 4-for-17 since being activated.
“I don’t feel great, honestly, at the plate,” Lee said. “But you just keep working and you don’t know when good things can happen. I’ll keep fighting until I get that rhythm down and get in a groove.”
Kolb struck out the next two batters before Jacque Jones singled to left. Ronny Cedeno then blooped a double into shallow right just out of the reach of diving second baseman Rickie Weeks.