Chicago was closed.At least, it seemed that way on Monday, January 27, 1986. The previous day, the Chicago Bears had blown apart the New England Patriots, 46-10, in Super Bowl XX . . . a game that wasn't even as close as the horrific final score. Forget winning. Frankly, the Patriots' best news was that the entire team survived the Super Bowl.TThat next day, the Bears took a tour of downtown Chicago in buses. The parade quickly ended when hundreds of thousands of celebrating fans swarmed the streets like bees on honey. And ...
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Chicago was closed.At least, it seemed that way on Monday, January 27, 1986. The previous day, the Chicago Bears had blown apart the New England Patriots, 46-10, in Super Bowl XX . . . a game that wasn't even as close as the horrific final score. Forget winning. Frankly, the Patriots' best news was that the entire team survived the Super Bowl.TThat next day, the Bears took a tour of downtown Chicago in buses. The parade quickly ended when hundreds of thousands of celebrating fans swarmed the streets like bees on honey. And sweet it was . . . for the sports fans of Chicago hadn't had a team to celebrate since the '63 Bears won the N.F.L. title over the Giants. Oh, the Cubs had come close in '84, and the White Sox in '83 . . . but ultimately, they disappointed. The Bears hadn't disappointed. In fact, they had taken America by storm, and their games in the second half of the season became more like rock stars' live tours. They amused, infuriated, and above all entertained . . . while destroying many of their opponents in a manner rarely seen. When the Bears celebrated that Monday in cold Chicago, almost all of America celebrated with them.The next day, January 28, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart just over a minute into its flight, killing all seven crew members aboard.Just like that, the party was over. Real life took over.Ironically, the Challenger disaster was a fitting end to the party, for much like the Challenger, the Bears of the Ditka decade were not built to last. They burned hard, hot, and fast - and ultimately out, their full potential seemingly snuffed far too soon. Mike Ditka oversaw this seemingly endless frat party known as the Chicago Bears from 1982 through 1992, when he was unceremoniously fired . . . leading him to quote scripture, which is a pretty good way to handle a firing. FFrom '82 through '92, the N.F.L. was dominated by the N.F.C., which won 10 of those 11 Super Bowls (the Raiders in '83 broke through and beat Washington, largely behind aging veterans). All of those other teams won multiple Super Bowls. Where were the Bears' multiple titles? Like most complex questions, there are a lot of answers to that question. Greed, ego, loss of talent, injuries, and many other answers immediately come to mind and have been explored over the years. However, none of those answers are complete, because they fail to examine the fact that the Ditka era didn't happen in a vacuum. The Bears existed before that and after that. If you're from Chicagoland or a Bears fan, you can't help but remember this era. The Bears of this era were unlike any sports team ever . . . in a way, like a rock star that overdoses in his twenties, their short flame of glory makes them more spectacular, more dominating. But they could have set the tone for an era, like the Steelers of the '70s or the Cowboys of the '90s. They didn't.So let's find out why.
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