Though he's setting a serious and sober tone, many of us are still basking in the excitement of having Barack Obama in the White House. And with the Super Bowl coming up Sunday, minus any of my teams, it is the perfect time to reflect and another era, when another hero sauntered out of the Windy City. A man perfect for the place and perfect for the times. Back during one of the stretchier stretches of the never-ending Reagan years, that lovable 350 pounder known as The Fridge became the mascot of the greatest defense ever to play football. Never before or since has any single individual more perfectly embodied Maslovian self-actualization. Grotesque yet beautiful, deadly yet innocent, a world-class sensualist, hard-working yet fun-loving.
With a path through Chicago, Denver, and now Boston- all during the better runs of their football teams- I have no right to complain about not having a team in the big game. At least I'll have Kurt Warner to cheer against this Sunday, what with that annoyingly unshakable faith that an invisible man in the sky wants him to win more football games than other people. But up until the last games of the last week of the regular season, the possibility was there that the Bears, Broncos, and Patriots would all be playing in the post-season this year. And, then, in just a few hours, all hope vanished.
But I'll always have the '85 Bears. This is a pretty cool DVD set and a must for any Bears fan old enough to remember the season. You get most of the games, including all the really fun ones, from start to finish as they were broadcast originally. You high-resolution weenies should skip this product; the games are restored from old video tapes. They look fine to me. The dated look just adds to the charm.
The amazing thing is watching these games and actually remembering watching them the first time, remembering where I was and who was with me at each moment. The game in which Dallas loses 44 to 0 contains a Walter Payton run, sweep around the right side, legs kicking out to the side and he seemingly changed directions numerous times in mid-air, without losing any speed. The Dallas defenders crumble in demoralized heaps around him. Tom Landry paces the side-line wearing that prohibition-era fedora. John Madden is at his best, making sure all viewers understand the significance of this game and this season. I remember that run blowing my mind when it first happened, and just how good and how promising it all felt. I could go on and on, there were so many great moments during that year, but you get the point. Anyway, bet TAILS on the coin toss, Stealer's to score at least once defensively, and a final score of Stealer's 33, Cardinals 14.
less
0 comments
Post a comment