Stand By Your Bears

The initials G.S.H. on the sleeve of the Chicago Bears jerseys does not stand for Give Support Halfway. As any Bears fan knows, G.S.H. are the initials for Bears founder George Stanley Halas. Papa Bear Halas is probably rolling over in his grave with the way some of the Bears fans are talking about his respected team now days.  A team that is still owned by an original Halas, George’s daughter, Virginia.

A fan is supposed to stick by their team through thick and thin. When a team is winning and a franchise is making all the right moves, everyone jumps on the bandwagon. You stick your chest out, wave banners from your car, and tell anyone who will listen that your team is going to win the Super Bowl.

It’s easy.

Remember 2006? It wasn’t that long ago. Remember all of the people who wore Urlacher and Hester jerseys just because it was the in thing to do? It might have been nice to see our Bears well represented, but we knew half of the people stumbling and mumbling the words to ‘Bear Down, Chicago Bears’ didn’t even know the name of our mascot. It’s Staley.

We hated it. We were the ones who stuck by our Bears through all the losing seasons, all the Brett Favre touchdowns. It was our time to rejoice, not these fair-weather fans.

Well, now those fair-weather fans are wearing Brees and Bush jerseys and we are left with our Bears.

Just the way we like it.

But some of us are forgetting our love for our Bears. It started about four months ago and seems to get worse and worse as each day passes by.

Some of us think we know more than the men running one of the most successful franchises in the National Football League. We get sucked in by the media trashing. There are more than enough Rick Moronissey’s and Steve Rosendoom’s in this world. We don’t need any more. Negativity breeds negativity.

In the wake of this current coordinator search, everyone wants to bash the Bears. Rumors are flying around that the reason we have not found an offensive coordinator is because the organization is in such disarray; no one wants to work for a franchise with a "lame duck" coach.

First off, all we have done is interviewed some of the candidates; no one was offered a job and turned it down.

Two men turned down the opportunity to interview with the Bears and jumped at a sure thing. First it was USC offensive coordinator, Jeremy Bates. Yeah, he looked like a good fit for our Bears, but do you really want somebody who is not secure enough in his own abilities to take a risk? He placed Pete Carroll’s tail in his mouth and followed his daddy to Seattle. Knowing that once things go wrong there, it’s all on Carroll. It’s an easy ride into the NFL. Then there’s Hue Jackson. The Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks coach who all of a sudden took the offensive coordinator job with the Oakland Raiders. Jackson has ties to the west coast and has longed for an opportunity to go back there. Oh, and there’s also the 95 percent chance that he will be head coach before next season ends, heck, maybe even before next season begins!

Rob Chudzinski and Ken Zampese both came in for interviews but chose to stay with their current clubs before the Bears could even make an offer. They were forced into a decision before the Bears could make a decision. Did you want the Bears to jump just because the Cincinnati Bengals and San Diego Chargers said how high?

Then there’s Green Bay Packers' quarterbacks coach Tom Clements. Really? Green Bay give anything to the Bears? ‘Nuff said.

Through all of this football stuff, the Bears lost one of their own. One of our own. Gaines Adams died tragically and unexpectedly. Maybe the Bears family had more important things on their minds. Maybe grieving comes before groveling.

When everyone is trying to bring Soldier Field to ruins, we true fans need to support the pillars. Even if we don’t agree with everything that is going on, just shrug your shoulders and say ‘We’ll see...’ If you don’t have anything nice to say, just say that the Bears will be competitive next year.

We called for a new quarterback, General Manager Jerry Angelo delivered; we called for offensive line help, we got two new guys; we called for the firing of Ron Turner, we got our wish.

Now, of course some of those decisions didn’t work out, but Angelo tried. He tried to build a winner. Football is the only sport where the only constant is change, both with teams and players.

So please Bears fans, remember why you love this team. Remember that in times of need, standing by a loved one or team, shows true heart. True grit.

Besides, when the Bears win the Super Bowl in a year or two, imagine how sweet all of this will be!