Monday, February 2, 2009

Remembering the 1985 Chicago Bears


One of the only reasons I have even a passing interest in the NFL stems from being a kid in the Chicago suburbs when the 85-86 Bears won the Super Bowl. That was one of the most enjoyable sports experiences of my life. (And one of only two times a team I root for has won it all. The other being when Notre Dame won the national championship in 1988.) (I don’t count the Bulls dynasty as I never considered myself a Bulls fan.)

Not only was that team fun to watch and packed with personalities, but they achieved near mythical status in their own time, and it continues to this day.

A few years ago I was watching something with Pat Summerall, who played back in the 50’s and did play-by-play for ages, and I heard him say with an audible trace of fear in his voice (that could only come from a former offensive player) “that defense was terrifying.” He, a commentator, was still genuinely afraid of the 85-86 Bear defense.

Just this morning I read this in an article on the Bleacher Report talking about the 1985 Miami Dolphins as one of the greatest teams to never play in a Super Bowl: “Miami went 12-4 and defeated the Chicago Bears. You know which one I am talking about.” Yes. Yes I do.

Their defense allowed just 10 points that entire post season. They shut-out both of their playoff opponents and allowed just 10 points to the Patriots in the Super Bowl, 7 of those coming in the fourth quarter with the game well out of reach (the Bears were up 44-3 when they scored).

That was a good team.

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In 1789, the governor of Australia granted land and some animals to James Ruse in an experiment to see how long it would take him to support himself. Within 15 months he had become self sufficient. The area is still known as Experiment Farm. This is my Experiment Farm to see how long it will take me to support myself by writing.