Familiarity with Windy City Gridiron: The ideal Sunday

The world has seemingly stopped spinning on its axis. That’s but one major consequence of the first major pandemic on Western soil in years. Everyone’s trying to stay safe and stay together with minimal consideration of what that means. Somehow that translates to staying calm and composed in unprecedented territory. But even if that goal is easier said than done, it’s still not easy to say. Who on earth can state they’re at peace with any confidence in this moment?

To stay together, you have to maintain some thread of connection with other people. In this unprecedented time, the staff of Windy City Gridiron decided to take initiative. We managed by getting to know one another. Over the course of this week, each of us have answered a series of questions that allow you, the reader, to peer into our respective souls. Some of the questions are conventional “first date” practice, some not so much. The idea is to show off our individual idiosyncrasies, and perhaps, maybe, have a little fun if we can. If you after reading this want to participate and show off what makes you you, well, that’s an added bonus. No one’s going to bite, I promise.

It might be difficult to discuss football on a regular basis for the time being. Sports themselves have shuttered until further notice, after all. But that doesn’t mean civil, light discussion about the aspects of life everyone enjoys the most can’t happen.

The WCG community is a wonderful place. In my completely unbiased perspective, it’s unmatched in Bears passion. More importantly, it’s unmatched in everyone one of us helping it hum in harmony. I’m certain many of you would attest to the same belief even as you log in day after day, month after month, to debate quarterbacks, offensive philosophies, and the like. As caustic as it may seem, none of that is ever personal. All it did was give good reason to speak with someone you might otherwise have never crossed paths with. And that’s a wonderful sentiment of connection to consider.

Let’s keep WCG and this tiny little corner of the Internet humming together.

1. What does the ideal Sunday, with money being no object and no sports involved, look like to you?

Robert Zeglinski: Chris Parnell and Andy Samberg knew it best: Enjoying a Lazy Sunday is a life mantra. I can’t tell you how many “holy days” of the week have begun with a similar phone call between my best friend and I, though never about movies with majestic fantasy lands inside a closet. (Shit, I wish. Could you imagine a talking tiger with a crown? Incredible.) A Lazy Sunday is about spending quality time with my de-facto family—my best friend, his wife, and another close friend of ours. Sometimes that means a hearty session of Dungeons and Dragons, which always evolves into the silliest of bellyaching laughter and role play. We’re giant, snarky trolls, which I’m sure many of you are so surprised by, and we mince no words. Sometimes that means spending the day playing video games, indulging in every snack known to man, while watching C-movies built on spectacle and low production values. But as long we spend it in close proximity, laughing, getting fat, using our reflexes for good, the spirit of Lazy Sunday lives on.

Let’s hit up Magnolia and mack on some cupcakes.

Lester Wiltfong Jr.: I’m more a Saturday guy, with Sunday’s left for chilling out all day. But family, food (something tasty in the smoker), the beach, some games, and more chilling means everything.

Erik Duerrwaechter: The ideal Sunday for me consists of clear skies with plenty of steaks, brats, ribs, and other meats to throw on the grill. Charcoal grill, to be exact. I also cannot forget the cold beer, my German Shepherd, and good company to enjoy the moments with.

Robert Schmitz: On an absolutely ideal Sunday, I’d get home from church around noon, spend time with my wife until about 6 p.m., enjoy a fabulous meal of some sort, and then finish the night off with work on whatever video project I’ve got on my ledger. I really do enjoy putting those together!

Ken Mitchell: The ideal Sunday is just Day 3 of a week-long photo safari off in some hinterland or another. There are no cell phones. There is no Internet. There’s just me, a trusted companion or two, and nature.

Patti Curl: Rihanna wakes me up with breakfast in bed. Berry waffles with berries on top and a hand-steamed chocolate-raspberry latte. I tell her she’s too good to me. She knows, but she’s so grateful to have me in her life that she can’t help herself. We go outside to walk our rescued-and-adopted bear cubs to the river to go for a swim. The cubs are chonky and love to wrestle. After we get tired of wrestle-swimming, Riri and I lay in the sun as the bears catch salmon for our dinner.

On the way back from the river, my agent calls to tell me that Keira Knightley has been cast opposite me in the romantic comedy I’ve written. Rihanna is jealous—which is fair, because Keira has definitely developed feelings for me in the process of reading my script (a situation which will become complicated and at times uncomfortable but be ultimately worth it for the on-screen chemistry it delivers). I make salmon salad for dinner, all our friends and family come over, and we use the empty salad bowl to play salad bowl. Rihanna beats me for the first time and I’ve never been more attracted to her.

Sam Householder: I, like others, like to do nothing with my Sundays, but I still think my ideal Sunday would be sleeping in (LOL j/k I have a 2 month old baby), going to a Cars and Coffee or some other kind of car show and then going out to a nice brunch. Since money is no object I would roll in the cars and coffee with something awesome, like a Porsche Panamera Sport Turismo so my wife and daughter could both fit or maybe if we go full fantasy I’m rolling in a Ferrari 812 Superfast. Then we’d go for a nice long drive and go out to a nice dinner and return home to veg out the rest of the evening.

Bill Zimmerman: I love to travel, so if money is no object, I’m hopping on a private jet Sunday morning and exploring beautiful areas that you can reach within a few hours. There’s too many to name, but ideally warm, and a beach and an ocean is a good place to start.

Stay safe and healthy everyone!

Click on our names to follow us on Twitter: Jeff Berckes; Patti Curl; Eric Christopher Duerrwaechter; Kev H; Sam Householder; Jacob Infante; Aaron Lemming; Ken Mitchell; Steven Schweickert; Jack Silverstein; EJ Snyder; Lester Wiltfong, Jr.; Whiskey Ranger; Robert Schmitz; Robert Zeglinski; Bill Zimmerman; Like us on Facebook.