Bretsky
09-09-2006, 11:46 PM
Here's why we hate the Chicago Bears
Posted: Sept. 7, 2006
Bud Lea
E-MAIL
In a 1980 game played at Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears destroyed the Green Bay Packers, 61-7. It was the Bears' biggest margin of victory in the 171 meetings between the teams.
The truly galling thing, though, was that Chicago coach Neill Armstrong put Walter Payton back in the game when the Bears were rolling in for their ninth touchdown. Payton already had gained 127 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Bart Starr, the Packers' head coach at the time, had inserted his backup quarterback, David Whitehurst, when the score was 48-7. It was Whitehurst's first appearance of the regular season, and Buddy Ryan, the Bears' defensive coordinator, kept calling blitzes until the bitter end - just for fun.
After the pounding, a highly ticked off Starr refused to shake Armstrong's hand. He was more upset about the blitzes against an inexperienced quarterback than the fact Payton came back in the game. He felt the Bears were literally trying to pour it on.
That's exactly what the Bears intended.
William (The Refrigerator) Perry scores on a 1-yard run for the Bears against the Green Bay Packers in 1985.
"We wanted 100 points," defensive end Dave Hampton said. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of pricks."
That's why you hate the Chicago Bears.
On a 1985 Monday night game in Chicago, the Bears went after Packers' quarterback Lynn Dickey like a pack of pit bulls. After Dickey had thrown an interception, Hampton and Richard Dent ganged up on the 35-year-old quarterback with a double-team block 30 yards away from the play. Dickey was through for the game.
The Bears then added insult to Dickey's injury by letting William (The Refrigerator) Perry burst into the national spotlight as their new goal-line weapon. The 320-pound defensive tackle twice pulverized Packers linebacker George Cumby to open holes for Payton's touchdown runs, and he bowled over for the Bears' other touchdown in Chicago's 23-7 victory over Green Bay.
"Nobody on our team was big enough to take that fat guy on," said Dick Modzelewski, Green Bay's defensive coordinator.
The Packers thought the Bears were rubbing it in using Perry that way. Coach Mike Ditka, no stranger to feuds, said he couldn't care less what the Packers said.
That's why you hate the Bears.
From November in 1976 to October in 1992, the Packers and Bears played 31 football games. The Packers won eight of them.
That's why you hate the Bears.
So gather your children around the dinner table. A lot of the young ones hate the Bears because, well, because you just know you're supposed to hate the Bears. But they really don't understand why.
I was born and raised in Green Bay, and my father took me to games at City Stadium. He always referred to George Halas as Public Enemy No. 1, and he worked up a special hatred toward Ed Sprinkle, the guy who perfected the clothesline tackle. And, yes, my dad could never understand how the Packers could hire ex-Bears Gene Ronzani and Scooter McLean as head coaches.
It is important that these stories be passed through the generations. All important is the grudge, nursing it and nurturing it.
And the stories; well. They need to be passed down, from generation to generation. Some of the stories are gory, others scary, others absurd.
Who can forget Dick Butkus? On punts, the Bears linebacker would start about five yards off the line of scrimmage and time his rush so that he clobbered the center an instant after the ball was snapped.
In 1970, the Packers had a center named Malcolm Walker. Butkus almost killed him in a game at Lambeau Field.
Using his massive forearm as a weapon, Butkus ripped open Walker's chin. The Packers doctor hurriedly stitched up Walker's gaping wound on the sideline, and he returned to the game only to be in the same situation again when the Packers punted.
Again Butkus timed his rush perfectly and took dead aim on Walker's chin. There was blood all over the place.
That's why you hate the Bears.
The Packers dominated the series during the Vince Lombardi years, winning 13 of 18 games. Nevertheless, anyone who played in these games knew that it was more like a street fight.
Bill Curry remembers the first time he played a game against the Bears. Curry was a rookie center from George Tech.
It was he 1965 Shrine Game in Milwaukee. The Packers played the Bears in the pre-season until both sides decided years later that three games in one season that turned into bloodbaths was too much.
Just before the start of the game, Ray Nitschke, hardly a shrinking violet, approached Curry. He was surprised because veterans didn't talk to rookies, especially Nitschke.
Nitschke said, "Look, if you happen to make a play near the Bears' bench today, just get up and hurry back to the huddle."
Curry nodded politely and asked Nitschke if he could explain.
"There's a short, fat coach on this bench who's got a real loud mouth," Nitschke said, "and you shouldn't hear that kind of stuff. I don't want you to be exposed to that kind of filth."
Abe Gibron was the Bears assistant coach Nitschke was talking about. In 1973, Gibron was the head coach and he outraged Milwaukee fans in the Shrine Game when he sent special teamer Gary Kosins on a search and destroy mission against Packer kicker Chester Marcol.
Inundated by boos from fans defending Marcol, Gibron responded, "What is he, a Polish prince, or something."
That's why you hate the Bears.
When the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI, they were invited the following spring to the White House to meet with President Clinton. Among the Packers making the trip to Washington was Jim McMahon, the Dead End Kid who was picked up by Green Bay in 1996 as a backup to Brett Favre.
McMahon showed up wearing his old Bears navy-and-orange jersey much to the chagrin of coach Mike Holmgren and general manager Ron Wolf. It was an outrageous act by a player Packer fans never accepted.
That's why you hate the Bears.
The Packers are 19-5 against the Bears since 1994, and it has been mostly Chicago fans who have done the carping and whining and building hatred. By winning the last two games, the Bears are not the underdogs anymore. Everything has changed - well, for a while, anyway.
So, here we are again, with the Packers as the hunters and the Bears as the hunted.
The early forecast Sunday is for warm temperatures, hot tempers, and stories.
Posted: Sept. 7, 2006
Bud Lea
In a 1980 game played at Soldier Field, the Chicago Bears destroyed the Green Bay Packers, 61-7. It was the Bears' biggest margin of victory in the 171 meetings between the teams.
The truly galling thing, though, was that Chicago coach Neill Armstrong put Walter Payton back in the game when the Bears were rolling in for their ninth touchdown. Payton already had gained 127 yards and scored three touchdowns.
Meanwhile, Bart Starr, the Packers' head coach at the time, had inserted his backup quarterback, David Whitehurst, when the score was 48-7. It was Whitehurst's first appearance of the regular season, and Buddy Ryan, the Bears' defensive coordinator, kept calling blitzes until the bitter end - just for fun.
After the pounding, a highly ticked off Starr refused to shake Armstrong's hand. He was more upset about the blitzes against an inexperienced quarterback than the fact Payton came back in the game. He felt the Bears were literally trying to pour it on.
That's exactly what the Bears intended.
William (The Refrigerator) Perry scores on a 1-yard run for the Bears against the Green Bay Packers in 1985.
"We wanted 100 points," defensive end Dave Hampton said. "It couldn't have happened to a nicer bunch of pricks."
That's why you hate the Chicago Bears.
On a 1985 Monday night game in Chicago, the Bears went after Packers' quarterback Lynn Dickey like a pack of pit bulls. After Dickey had thrown an interception, Hampton and Richard Dent ganged up on the 35-year-old quarterback with a double-team block 30 yards away from the play. Dickey was through for the game.
The Bears then added insult to Dickey's injury by letting William (The Refrigerator) Perry burst into the national spotlight as their new goal-line weapon. The 320-pound defensive tackle twice pulverized Packers linebacker George Cumby to open holes for Payton's touchdown runs, and he bowled over for the Bears' other touchdown in Chicago's 23-7 victory over Green Bay.
"Nobody on our team was big enough to take that fat guy on," said Dick Modzelewski, Green Bay's defensive coordinator.
The Packers thought the Bears were rubbing it in using Perry that way. Coach Mike Ditka, no stranger to feuds, said he couldn't care less what the Packers said.
That's why you hate the Bears.
From November in 1976 to October in 1992, the Packers and Bears played 31 football games. The Packers won eight of them.
That's why you hate the Bears.
So gather your children around the dinner table. A lot of the young ones hate the Bears because, well, because you just know you're supposed to hate the Bears. But they really don't understand why.
I was born and raised in Green Bay, and my father took me to games at City Stadium. He always referred to George Halas as Public Enemy No. 1, and he worked up a special hatred toward Ed Sprinkle, the guy who perfected the clothesline tackle. And, yes, my dad could never understand how the Packers could hire ex-Bears Gene Ronzani and Scooter McLean as head coaches.
It is important that these stories be passed through the generations. All important is the grudge, nursing it and nurturing it.
And the stories; well. They need to be passed down, from generation to generation. Some of the stories are gory, others scary, others absurd.
Who can forget Dick Butkus? On punts, the Bears linebacker would start about five yards off the line of scrimmage and time his rush so that he clobbered the center an instant after the ball was snapped.
In 1970, the Packers had a center named Malcolm Walker. Butkus almost killed him in a game at Lambeau Field.
Using his massive forearm as a weapon, Butkus ripped open Walker's chin. The Packers doctor hurriedly stitched up Walker's gaping wound on the sideline, and he returned to the game only to be in the same situation again when the Packers punted.
Again Butkus timed his rush perfectly and took dead aim on Walker's chin. There was blood all over the place.
That's why you hate the Bears.
The Packers dominated the series during the Vince Lombardi years, winning 13 of 18 games. Nevertheless, anyone who played in these games knew that it was more like a street fight.
Bill Curry remembers the first time he played a game against the Bears. Curry was a rookie center from George Tech.
It was he 1965 Shrine Game in Milwaukee. The Packers played the Bears in the pre-season until both sides decided years later that three games in one season that turned into bloodbaths was too much.
Just before the start of the game, Ray Nitschke, hardly a shrinking violet, approached Curry. He was surprised because veterans didn't talk to rookies, especially Nitschke.
Nitschke said, "Look, if you happen to make a play near the Bears' bench today, just get up and hurry back to the huddle."
Curry nodded politely and asked Nitschke if he could explain.
"There's a short, fat coach on this bench who's got a real loud mouth," Nitschke said, "and you shouldn't hear that kind of stuff. I don't want you to be exposed to that kind of filth."
Abe Gibron was the Bears assistant coach Nitschke was talking about. In 1973, Gibron was the head coach and he outraged Milwaukee fans in the Shrine Game when he sent special teamer Gary Kosins on a search and destroy mission against Packer kicker Chester Marcol.
Inundated by boos from fans defending Marcol, Gibron responded, "What is he, a Polish prince, or something."
That's why you hate the Bears.
When the Packers won Super Bowl XXXI, they were invited the following spring to the White House to meet with President Clinton. Among the Packers making the trip to Washington was Jim McMahon, the Dead End Kid who was picked up by Green Bay in 1996 as a backup to Brett Favre.
McMahon showed up wearing his old Bears navy-and-orange jersey much to the chagrin of coach Mike Holmgren and general manager Ron Wolf. It was an outrageous act by a player Packer fans never accepted.
That's why you hate the Bears.
The Packers are 19-5 against the Bears since 1994, and it has been mostly Chicago fans who have done the carping and whining and building hatred. By winning the last two games, the Bears are not the underdogs anymore. Everything has changed - well, for a while, anyway.
So, here we are again, with the Packers as the hunters and the Bears as the hunted.
The early forecast Sunday is for warm temperatures, hot tempers, and stories.