Congrats to the Indianapolis Colts

Other than the opening kick, the Colts pretty well whooped the Bears on both sides of the line most of the evening. Taking what the Bears defense gave them, the Colts consistently moved the ball. The Chicago offense sputtered from time to time but didn't find a solution to the Indy defense. Final score: 29-17.

Bear fans, your turn!

The Chicago Tribune posted the picture at right showing at least three buildings with Bear themed lighting patterns in the windows. I especially like the building furthest to the left; Go Bears on the side most facing us and a nice Bears logo on the side facing to the left. If you click on the picture, you should end up at the Tribune article telling how they made that happen.

Chicago has it's musical fans as well. An Elvis impersonator submitted video of his version of the King singing Bear Down, Chicago Bears! The Chicago Symphony even released an MP3 version. If you'd like to sing along, (and who wouldn't!)

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Make every play clear the way to victory!
Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly!

We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation,
With your T formation.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.
And let them know why you're wearing the crown.

You're the pride and joy,
of all Illinois.

Chicago Bears, Bear Down!

The lions of the Chicago Art Institute had a little difficulty getting proper fitting helmets this year; the original helmets were a bit small and broke while being installed. Fortunately, another pair of helmets now adorn the cats. Click the picture to see the Sun-Times story about the difficulties. Remember the helmets the lions wore to honor the 1985 Super Bowl team? They were Weber grills!

Counting down to the Super Bowl!

In the left margin, you should see that I've added a countdown to this year's Super Bowl between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts. Enjoy the time you have left Colts fans.

Laisseez les bon temps roulez!

Let the good times roll! The Chicago Bears are heading to the Super Bowl! Amazing as that sounds given the critical review they were so often subjected to, they just keep rollin' along. There have been some major bumps along the way but the team seems to generally rise to the occasion. Yesterday was no exception. The Bears stunned all the pundits by beating the Saints 39-14. The Chicago defense allowed two scores while scoring four takeaways. The offense committed the only penalty, a false start, but registered nearly two hundred yards running the ball. Rex Grossman, flawed as he has been, played an excellent game; I've not heard any criticism of him yet.

As an added treat, my brother's Colts will face the Bears. While there may have been something interesting in rematching the Super Bowl XX Patriots, I'll enjoy the family aspect of this one. As usual, the Bears enter this game as the underdog. When will they learn? ; )

Da Bears!

Whew! Sunday afternoon is over and the dream lives on! The Chicago Bears won in the first round of the playoffs for the first time in a looong time. The Seahawks gave 'em all they'd want in a game and did it did take overtime to resolve but the Bears prevailed. The defense kept the Seahawks under control most of the time. Shaun Alexander did make some nice runs but he was also often stopped too. Special teams paid off well too. It was apparent that return specialist Devon Hester had made an impression; nobody really wanted to kick to him. Robbie Gould was golden and provided the game winning score. Best of all, Rex played well.

The New Orleans Saints will certainly test them again but, right now, the Bears can (briefly) celebrate their success. Ideally, it would be a Bears-Colts Super Bowl but I'm not holding my breath; there are only very good teams left and anything can happen.

Sunday...

Today, I watched the Bears win for the third time in a row. I also watched Jeff Burton win for the first time in 175 starts, since his seventeen win, Oct. 28, 2001. Sports fan duties filled, Linda and I previewed the half marathon course and had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on the south side of Des Moines.

Today, the Bears struggled against an excellent Vikings team in Minnesota. In the end, the defenses and kicking games of both teams were featured more than the offenses. From time to time, the running backs broke loose for nice gains or passes were completed but neither team was able to do much on offense ... until the fourth quarter. Rex Grossman finally connected with Rashied Davis for the only points scored by either offense. Bears 19, Vikings 16.


Jeff Burton has been driving a lot of years and has had some very good years but they weren't recent. A year or two ago, he moved to Richard Childress Racing and has been making steady meaningful improvements. Recent races, Jeff would lead, sometimes dominate, only to lose the handle and fall back into the field. Today, that didn't happen. He had to struggle to get past one of his former teammates and still good friend, Matt Kenseth. As the laps wound down, Jeff worked every angle he could think of to get past without resorting to techniques that might risk either or both of their finishes. In the end, Jeff was able to get even with Matt and, ultimately, get by. I'm very pleased to have Jeff on my fantasy team... however, I had him on the bench today. Doh!


This evening, Linda and I drove the course we'll be walking in a few weeks. All in all, a pretty good course. One of the routing decisions that has me scratching my head is the bypassing of one of the recently developed greenspaces, the western gateway area. Instead, we're going to be passing a couple of construction areas on a course parallel to the gateway. That said, we will be passing through, around, and over some of the nice features of downtown Des Moines. This photo is from a late stretch of our walk, midway through mile eleven. With good weather, it should be an excellent day.