Bears Have Saved City of Chicago From a Long Period of Mourning

When the Chicago Cubs lost the National League championship series to the San Diego Padres in October, there was a feeling that a period of mourning would set in on the Windy City.

After all, this town has known more than its share of losers. When other cities were celebrating championships, Chicagoans were shoveling snow or going to distant beaches for comfort.

But the Cubs’ success was only a harbinger of things to come. The Cubs, who had become the darlings of Chicago and to a certain degree the rest of the nation for their Cinderella rise to the Eastern Division title, gave way to the Chicago Bears.

The Bears haven’t taken the city by storm the way the Cubs have yet. But their appearance in the NFL title game Sunday at San Francisco has eased the pain of the Cubs’ playoff loss and convinced some that the sports sunshine has finally found its way to Chicago.

“I remember I was just sick, just sick about them losing,” said one fan who had waited outside Wrigley Field to celebrate what he thought would be the Cubs’ first pennant since 1945. “I didn’t dream that I would have forgotten by now. Go Bears.”

The Bears, with superstar running back Walter Payton, are suddenly on the verge of the the Super Bowl and their first NFL title of any kind since 1963.

“Who would have ever thought it, the Bears, one game from the Super Bowl?” said local sportscaster and former sportswriter Tim Weigel.

The NHL Chicago Black Hawks shook off a dismal year last season and climbed to the top of their divisional standings. The Chicago Sting won the NASL outdoor title and climbed to the top of the MISL standings with a 10-game winning streak in early January.

And wonder of wonders, the Chicago Bulls, who usually are watching the Cubs play come playoff time, have taken the town by storm thanks to Olympic hero Michael Jordan.

The Bears will tell you the winning fever began with the Cubs. At first, there was some jealousy that the Cubs had commanded all of the attention while the Bears got off to a fast start earlier in the fall. But much of that is forgotten now.

“You know, the Cubs winning, it changed a lot of people,” said Bears’ linemen Al Harris. “You could just feel it in this city; honest. People were suddenly expecting us to win, not just waiting for us to lose. Sure, the Cubs lost the playoffs, but boy, what a summer.”

“I know some people in this town don’t want to believe it,” said Bears’ coach Mike Ditka. “But people better start to get used to winning teams in this town. The losing is over.”

Former Cubs’ President Jim Finks, who also was formerly general manager of the Bears, said he subscribes to the theory that winning in one sport carries over to another.

“It’s an attitude thing for the fans. Look at some of the other major cities that keep winning. One sport’s success breeds another,” Finks said.

Success in one city may be gauged on an entirely different level than it is in Chicago.

Before the Cubs’ banner 1984 campaign, the city had seen playoff games rarely in the past five years. The Chicago White Sox appeared in 1983 only to bow out to the Baltimore Orioles.

Both the Bulls and Bears were non-participants, and the Black Hawks qualified due more to the large number of teams that make it and a weak division.

“I know when our season started, everybody was talking about the Cubs and what a great year they had,” said Jordan, last year’s college basketball player of the year. “But when we started to win, the crowds got louder and louder and the place started rocking.”

The Bulls, who barely drew 5,000 a game in the second half of last year, drew back-to-back capacity crowds against Boston and Philadelphia this year. The club also is among the top draws on the road thanks to Jordan.

“I just think there is a feeling now that Chicago is no longer a losing city,” said Bulls’ forward Orlando Woolridge. “The Cubs kinda got things started, and I think everyone is taking up on it.”

There are indications the honeymoon period may not be so short. Jordan and the Bulls almost certainly will end the club’s playoff drought; the Black Hawks may not be Stanley Cup champion caliber yet but they have clearly shown they are the class of the Norris Division.

The Bears, regardless of Sunday’s outcome, apparently have built a winner. The media, which usually resorted to covering ice jams in Lake Michigan or debates in the City Council, is now covering airport receptions for the teams and wild celebrations in local taverns.

“We think it will last,” Ditka said.