I’ll admit to there being a component, and never a light-weight one, of loser-dom watching video of Bears followers at Soldier Field cheering wildly watching because the Indianapolis Colts’ last cross was knocked down, locking within the No. 1 decide for the Bears. It’s not meant as a criticism, or not an outward one, as I used to be doing the identical factor with my football-watching buddy on my sofa. But when cheering for in the present day isn’t accessible, cheering for tomorrow must do.
I’ve wrestled with followers cheering losses right here on the town for some time, seeing as how there are two present residents both having simply carried out the dive to the underside or are within the midst of it (Bears and Blackhawks). The thought of tanking is so cynical, a gaming of a system that basically shouldn’t exist, and when followers bounce on board and are actively cheering losses or fretting about issues which might be genuinely pleasing to observe, it solely provides to the cynicism. It can really feel such as you’ve gone by means of the wanting glass. It’s simply now how we’re imagined to be wired. And it goes in opposition to a long time of intuition.
But, because the Texans took the lead yesterday early, and gave it again, and took it once more, and seesawed forwards and backwards, I noticed one thing totally different. (Insert the final shot of “Rogue One”). Hope. When you’ve swallowed all of the horrible soccer that Bears followers have this yr (or our total lives, actually), and there’s been a heaping serving to of it, and in spite of everything the blokes you’ve watched within the path approach on yet one more 40-yard achieve for the opponent the place you’ve requested, “Who the hell is that?” it’s a must to cling to one thing. It’s buried beneath all of the noise and all that’s distasteful in regards to the thought of tanking after which the talk it generates on all sides. But the muse of it’s the promise of one thing extra. There isn’t an even bigger promise than the #1 decide in spite of everything. It’s why the system, as bullshit as it might be, is designed that manner.
Why are the Bears in such good (theoretical) form?
Of course, for the Bears, that hope is one thing totally different. For the primary time in my life, regardless that it’s not the place you need to be ideally, the Bears are the epicenter of the draft. Of all the offseason, truthfully. Not simply because they maintain the highest decide, however as a result of they don’t want it to draft a QB. But so many different groups do have to draft a QB. It’s not simply that they will take any franchise-altering participant they want, which they will (and that’s nonetheless greater than wonderful), however they might make a good larger franchise-altering transfer that lands them a pair, or just a few, plus gamers at a number of positions. And they want every thing.
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Teams have had the No. 1 pick with a quarterback already in tow before, or so they thought. But have teams had those two things as well as the most amount of cap space in the league? There probably wouldn’t be much difference in reality between the No. 1 or No. 2 pick, and what options would be at both. But there is a difference, and the Bears getting some fortune in landing the No. 1 yesterday means there’s the most amount of intrigue and hope and possibility. Is it five percent more than having the No. 2? 10 percent? 20 percent? Whatever it is factually, it’s the amount that gets it over the hump from exciting to salivating.
That’s not something we get a lot of around here. Oh, we may have pretended in the past. Maybe it was even genuine at times. But never have the Bears gotten to build from a flat ground. Always in the past the defense has been playoff-worthy or better and it was about patching together the offense on the fly just enough to not let the other side down. It never worked, not fully. Occasionally it was the other way around, but records from those times are sketchy at best and my memory is hazy on a good day. One side of the ball being ready and the other not never left enough cap space or the draft picks already sacrificed either in picking the parts of that defense or trading for them always left a half-constructed being at best.
Yeah, the Bears need everything. You can’t find a position group that doesn’t need more, and there are some around town high on paint fumes that would tell you that includes starting QB. But given the perfect confluence yesterday of that pick and that cap space, the Bears can address so much of it this offseason (not all of it though, that would be impossible). They’re still a rebuilding team. But rarely if ever has a rebuilding team been loaded with so much material to do that rebuilding, and quickly.
So we can cheer for taking now?
So yes, that cheering yesterday is still…awkward. It’s against the spirit of the whole thing. And yet it’s right in the spirit of the thing. But going from No. 2 to No. 1 is just slightly more pressure on the gas pedal. It’s the promise of something new and better. That doesn’t mean it’ll work out. No organization could fuck this up like the Bears could. It’s what they do. Other teams have borked similar spots. But if you can’t get excited about possibility, about hope, about potential when there isn’t much else, then what’s the point? If a fan just assumes everything will go bad all the time, then they’re missing the point.
That doesn’t mean that tanking is a good thing now or that I’ve reversed positions. It isn’t. And every draft should be abolished. But fans didn’t invent tanking. Fans don’t enforce these rules. They’re just making the best of what they’ve been handed.
And if it all works? Get ready: