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Tag: McCaskey Family

What no one is asking Da Bears

Published by pvbella on October 1, 2021
Image: PV Bella

Why didn’t the Bears build a stadium and their headquarters in the city? That is the question the mayor, alderpersons, governor, citizens, fans, and the failing local news media should be asking. There was and still is plenty of land available. Even during the past decade, they could have partnered with developers to build a new stadium emporium. There was even land to build a stadium on the riverfront.

The local news media is slobbering and drooling over the Macaskey’s like they are British Royalty. They are hyping the move like PR weasels instead of journalists. They are afraid to ask why? They refuse to ask why the McCaskey’s never built a stadium in Chicago.

They took our loyalty and vacuumed our dollars for their crappy memorabilia with the orange and blue C for Chicago logo. They laughed at us while we made them wealthier every year.

The move should be no surprise, as the Chicago Bears headquarters, Halas Hall, is in Lake Forest, not Chicago. The Bears organization is a suburban entity, not a Chicago entity. The McCaskey family are suburbanites, not Chicagoans.

Several other sports franchises left their home cities or moved to border states while keeping their city of origin names. Those cities do not have the tremendous civic pride Chicago has or used to have. If you are a Chicago team, you play in Chicago. 

When the former Comiskey Field was too old and dilapidated to make cost-effective repairs, the White Sox owners could have moved. They could have built a new glitzy stadium in one of the south suburbs, where there was plenty of land available and town officials who would do their bidding. Instead, the owners built the new stadium next door to the old one. They stayed in Chicago.

When the old Stadium, which hosted the Bulls and the Blackhawks, was past its prime, their owners could have moved both teams to the suburbs. They built a new stadium on the old site and made other investments in the area. It helped fuel residential and commercial real estate development in the area.

When Wrigley Field had structural issues due to its age, the Cub’s owners could have pulled up stakes, moved to the suburbs, and turned the landmark park into a museum or some other venue. They renovated the Wrigley Field. 

The Wrigleyville neighborhood was overhauled, including hotels, to the point the surrounding area is unrecognizable. Many people come to Chicago from other places to see their home teams play the Cubs. They leave their money in Wrigleyville instead of downtown.

The Bears organization and the McCaskey family have no love for or civic pride in Chicago. If they did, they could have put an emporium-style stadium in the city wherever and whenever they wanted.

Another new stadium would be a boon for any neighborhood they chose. The McCaskey’s decided to bring economic development dollars to the suburbs. Like the Bears, Chicago will be the losers.

If the Bears move, we, as a city, should not wish them well. We should wish them the worst. Our news media should stop their gloating over the move or leave with the Bears. They are doing a disservice to the city. They could be replaced in a heartbeat by civic-minded news organizations who care about Chicago and its future.

Et Tu McCaskey’s

Published by pvbella on September 29, 2021
Image: PV Bell

Away, Chicago Bears
Make every day clear for treachery
Away, Chicago Bears
Put up a flight with a might so cowardly
We’ll never forget the way you duped the nation
With your $$$ formation
Away, Chicago Bears
And let ’em know why you’re clowns with no crowns
You’re the shame and misery of our city
Chicago Bears, away!

The Bears want to leave Chicago and move to the former Arlington Racetrack. They signed a purchase and sale agreement with Churchill Downs, the owners of the property. The Bears wanted out of Chicago long ago. But the dimwitted politicians got money to revamp Soldier Field, never realizing the sleazy McCaskey’s cannot be trusted and would stab them in the back.

Take Chicago off the team’s name. The Bears disgraced this city. The McCaskey family is a disgrace too. Their patron, George Halas, must be rolling and roiling in his grave. If he could come back, he would slap Ted Phillips and George McCaskey until they came to their senses. 

I saw all those arguments in favor of the move because other teams do not play in their cities. Other cities do not have the pride Chicago does. If you want to use Chicago in your name, you better f**king play in Chicago. Unlike the McCaskey’s, born to the manor suburbanites, we love and are proud of our city. Arlington Heights is not Chicago. It does not even abut Chicago.

The Chicago Bears are looking for all the future money to be made. Money is all they care about. McCaskey’s greed is more important than winning games since they suck. It is hoped the city soaks the Bears for the remainder of their lease on Soldier Field- $84 million. No negotiations, pay up, and go away. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. Chicago does not need the Bears or the McCaskey’s. The McCaskey’s only needed Chicago to soak us for tax money.

The last time the Bears threatened to leave Chicago, it cost about $690 million, with public financing (taxpayer) at $432 million to retrofit Soldier Field. Chicago will be left with a white elephant on the lakefront. Like thieves in the night, the McCaskey’s are slinking away.

The Bears could have stayed in Chicago. There are miles of vacant land in the aggregate in this city. They could have bought a large enough tract of land years ago in the city to develop a world-class large domed stadium and all the attractions needed to enrich the McCaskey’sfurther. They could have controlled their own destiny. It would have been a win-win economic boom for the city and the Bears.

The South and West sides have plenty of vacant land. There is land along the river. There is that huge tract of vacant US Steel property on the southside. They could have worked with or partnered with developers who own huge tracts.

We have land. We have public transportation. Chicago has all the infrastructure in place to support a new stadium and the will to create more, if necessary.

The Bears could have worked with the city to find a solution instead of stabbing us in the back. The Bears are the lowest form of traitors. Et Tu McCaskey’s?

The McCaskey Bears decided to move to the suburbs to build a grand stadium. The move will not make the Bears a better team because their family and management suck. They will wallow in mediocrity while the fans suffer season after season. The only people happy about the move are northwestern suburbanites. They will not have to suffer the indignity of leaving their cultural wastelands to watch a lousy team play.

Ever since George Halas died, the McCaskey’s were only concerned about their own greed. Like their team, they suck- they suck as much money as they can from this city and the fans. There is no reason for any Chicagoan to stay a Bears fan now. No reason to buy their crappy branded paraphernalia, from which they profit from. No reason to watch them play or buy tickets to the games.

Granted, it will take several years for them to build and make the move. But the derision should start now. The Bears should feel economic pain. They should become the most hated team in this city. 

Time Flies

Published by pvbella on August 31, 2021
Image: PV Bella

And just like that, summer is almost over. In a few weeks, autumn will be upon us. This summer blew by like a derecho.  I remember the first day of summer like it was yesterday. Labor Day, the harbinger of Autumn, is right around the corner.

Speaking of Labor Day. It is a day we usually recognize Organized Labor. This year we should expand the celebration to honor all the essential workers who risked their health to keep the rest of us going during the COVID pandemic. Medical professionals and personnel should be singled out for special praise for their heroic round-the-clock labors.

School started Monday. Parents are relieved their children will be out of the house yet concerned that schools may cause further spread of COVID. Their fears are not unfounded since CPS and CTU complicated the return with their petty bickering. No one knows how safe the precautions are.

Football season is nigh, though the Bears are not near and dear to my heart due to the terrible management by the bumbling McCaskey Family. Baseball season will continue until the boys of summer become the boys of fall. The Cubs are being flushed down the toilet. Sunday’s 13-1 loss to the Sox was an embarrassment. The Sox are going into the post-season. Maybe Chicago will see another World Series.

Fall is the time of year when the multi-ingredient coffee aficionados start adding f**cking pumpkin spice to their concoctions. Pumpkin spice will be everywhere and in everything. The stuff is fake, synthetic. It was developed in a lab, not a kitchen. It tastes horrible, but stupid lemmings have no taste. If someone told them they could get high on pumpkin spice, they would snort or shoot it. Someone in Bubbaland will promote pumpkin spice to prevent or cure COVTD. At least it is safer than horse dewormer.

The willingly unvaccinated in Chicago are helping drive up the COVID numbers. Mask wearing, social distancing, and stay the f**k away from me are my mantras again. It could be a long fall and winter if the cases keep rising.

Luckily our elected officials and most of the citizens in Chicago are not freedumb lovers. We do not see the dramatic rise in numbers like parts of Illinois, the South, and Southwest portions of the country.

Handling COVID is the only positive thing Chicago politicians and bureaucrats did during this summer of violence, incompetence, stumbling, and bumbling. The mayor is out of touch, the city council is useless, and parts of the city are turning into third-world type war zones, especially at night.

The leaves will start changing colors, then dropping off. The weather will cool down, and when all is baren, we will prepare for winter. COVID is not going away, and with the fall comes flu season. It is a pity our politicians and public health officials must beg people to get vaccinated. Maybe they could promise people a pumpkin spice non-dairy soy vegan mocha decaf latte made with socially conscious sustainable beans if they get jabbed.

Yeah, winter is coming too. I m hoping the days and weeks slow down. Summer blew by way too fast. I want to enjoy a long mild fall before the blast of winter drives us indoors.