Bang bang bang, bang bang bang It’s Christmas time in the city Bang bang bang hear them shoot Soon it will be Christmas day
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks Dressed in holiday style In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas Children dying, people wounded Meeting scream after scream And on every street corner you hear bang bang bang, bang bang, bang It’s Christmas time in the city Hear them shoot Hear the screams Soon it will be Christmas day
Strings of street lights, even stoplights Blinkin’ bright red and green As the shoppers get robbed of their treasures Hear the gun shots, see the kids die This is the robbers big day And above all this bustle you hear
Bang bang bang Bang bang bang It’s Christmas time in the city
Bang bang bang, it fills the winter air Hear them shoot, you hear it everywhere Soon it will be Christmas day
City sidewalks, busy sidewalks Dressed in holiday style In the air there’s a feeling of Christmas Children dying, people screaming Seeing wounds and murder Very soon it will be Christmas day
His name was Joseph Kromelis. Mr. Kromelis is known as the “Walking Man” or “Walking Dude.” He was a regular presence for forty years, walking and peddling around downtown and North Michigan Avenue. Mr. Kromelis was recognizable by his shoulder-length gray hair, prominent mustache, and clothing. Except on the hottest days, he wore a sport coat or overcoat. Sometimes he added a boutonniere.
Mr. Kromelis never bothered people. He was not a panhandler. He rarely talked to people. Once, someone asked him about his meanderings. He merely said he liked to walk.
Chicagoans knew little about Mr. Kromelis until he suffered a beating in 2016 and made the news. He made the news again in May of this year. While sleeping in the Underground Wabash near Trump Tower, a man doused a flammable liquid on him and lit him on fire. Security guards extinguished the fire and called the police.
Mr. Kromelis was not expected to survive. He suffered burns between 50-65% of his body. He survived and after being released from the hospital, they sent him to an assisted living and rehabilitation facility. Joseph Guardia was charged with attempted murder and arson.
Chicago, like any major city, has and had its share of colorful or oddball characters. Occasionally they made the news or the obits. No one knows what caused their idiosyncrasies. No one knows why Joseph Kromelis, “The Walking Man,” spent his years daily walking around, other than he liked to walk. Chicago knew Mr. Kromelis because of his constant presence, yet we knew little about him. Not who he was, but why he was.
“Christmas Day will always be just as long as we have we.” (Narrator, The Grinch Who Stole Christmas)
I get nostalgic as Christmas approaches. I remember the Christmases past. My folks, dedicated foodies, prepared days ahead for the feasts on Christmas Eve and Day. I would accompany my dad on sometimes citywide excursions to buy the various food items needed.
I remember the look of pure joy on my parents’ faces as they prepared the feasts. On the two days, buffet tables groaned with enough food to feed an army. The relatives came over and the feasts began. On Christmas Eve, there were trays of clams and oysters, calamari, and cod poached in water and olive oil with garlic.
On Christmas day, a roast or ham, turkey, dressing, salads, lasagna, and other side dishes. After the meal, there was a tray of fruit, fennel, and nuts. Dessert and coffee were served later.
Over the years, I prepared feasts, or we went to others’ homes where a feast was held. During the past few years, we simplified our holiday dinners. We get the best ingredients we can afford, prep and cook. The cooking takes way less time, as there are not as many people taking part. I take the same care and feel the same joy my parents felt all those years ago. I will make gravlax again like I do every year. Christmas Day will be a small roast with some sides. Maybe roasted vegetables and some kind of potato dish.
PHOTO” PV Bella
I no longer decorate for the holidays, except for the Santa doll, plate, a bottle of Bourbon, and a two-pound package of bacon. Screw those little crumb-crunching, nose mining spawns of Satan and their oh so precious parents with their cookies and hot chocolate. I am never disappointed on Christmas day. I made my yearly donations to charity. Just one this year, but one well worth it for what I get in return.
Next week I will start listening to Christmas music from many genres, including punk and metal, to get into the supposed festive joy of the season. My shopping is done, except for the gift I buy for myself every year. All I must shop for is the food.
I worked many Christmases, Eves, and Days as a Chicago police officer. A local restaurant would send pans of turkeys, hams, sides, and dessert to the station. We would come in shifts to eat. The owner was kind enough to feed us every year. I will never forget their generosity or the camaraderie of sharing a meal.
Aside from the religious significance and various traditions, Christmas is about “We.” It is about sharing gifts and meals with family, friends, or co-workers if they must work on that day. People need the “We” in this world, even if it is just one day a year.
As Christmas nears, I think about how fortunate I am. I have a family. I have friends and acquaintances from all walks of life. They are my “We,” and I am grateful to have them in my life.
Buckminster Fuller said it best. “Man was not meant to be alone.”
Ald. Jim Gardiner is taking a page out of his predecessor, John Arena’s, term in office. He is living the aldermanic thug life. Who knows, maybe he will release a drill rap campaign video.
“Gardiner is facing multiple lawsuits and a series of allegations that include withholding ward services from his critics, using foul language to describe women and potential misconduct. The FBI, the Chicago Board of Ethics, the Circuit Court Clerk’s Office and the Office of the Inspector General have launched investigations into Gardiner’s conduct in office.” (Block Club Chicago)
Gardiner is once again under investigation for his thuggery. Gardiner is accused of harassing volunteers seeking petition signatures for his opponent, Marina Tomic. A Ring camera caught part of the altercation.
One canvasser accused Gardiner of threatening to punch them. Gardiner thinks he is a tough guy, a thug, a brawler, and above the law. He believes intimidation is the way to make friends and influence people ala the Chicago Outfit. In reality, Gardiner is a two-bit cowardly punk. Only punk cowards make threats they cannot or will not deliver.
In the video, Gardiner states, “Run a clean election.” His interference in the canvassing shows his hypocrisy. By harassing canvassers, he is running a dirty campaign, the Chicago Way campaign. What next? Will he hire armed goons to make sure people vote for him? Will he recreate the Pineapple Campaign of the 1920s? Will he send his precinct worker toughs out to intimidate voters? Will he hire gang members, like other alderpersons have done to menace voters?
Gardiner is a disgrace to the City Council and the City of Chicago. He has no business being an alderman. He defeated a thug, and he turned into a thug. Maybe he was a thug all along.
His predecessor, John Arena, was no better. He, too, was a thug. It appears that a few aldercritters are acting no better than gangbangers. They use intimidation to fight opponents. Gardiner, with his past actions under investigation, is a proven lager lout. He is also a charlatan and a fraud. He proves it every day he holds office.
The 45th Ward deserves an alderman who will represent the community, listen to critics, and respect the electoral process. That person is not Jim Gardiner. The only reason he is an aldercritter is because it pays more than being a firefighter, which was his career before becoming an elected thug. He could not care less about public service or his constituents.
Gardiner believes he can ride roughshod over the people in his ward. He believes he can do whatever he wants. Hopefully, the Feds will have enough to nail him before the election and take him out.
Chicago had its share of thug politicians in the past. Many thought that sordid past was long gone. That past reared its head in Aldercritter Jim Gardiner. He is living the thug life large and enjoying every minute. So, when does the drill rap video drop?
I found the above picture amusing. Yet, it rings true. Aaron Rogers owns the Ken Dolls. Since the McCaskeys are moving the supposed team to the suburbs, the change honoring Rogers is appropriate.
Maybe one day soon these tables will turn.
Maybe one day the Chicago Bears will again be the dominant team in their storied rivalry with the Green Bay Packers.
Maybe the Bears will become the group making game-winning plays on the regular rather than stumbling into so many game-losing mistakes.
“Maybe. Perhaps.” Is the repeated theme of the piece. While a rebuke, it is not a total rebuke, but it is better than their slobbering sports writers’ past adoring opinions turning the Ken Dolls losses into wins and treating QB Justin Fields like the one and only god to be worshipped.
After eight straight losses, it is about time the Tribune allowed honest, objective reporting on the Ken Dolls versus obedient adoration. Listening to Matt Eberflus, the coach, one would think the Dolls are heading into the postseason versus into obscurity.
Another report claimed that the most sold Ken Doll jersey is Number 1, Justin Fields. By season’s end, those jerseys will fill Goodwill bins, selling for a couple of dollars. But the McCaskeys are happy. They made big bucks off the quarterback they are ruining. Big bucks are all they care about. Winning not so much.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is in full campaign mode. She is touting her continual string of failures as successes. Lightfoot is claiming promises made during her last campaign are promises kept instead of every promise being broken.
The Chicago news media is gleefully echoing and cheering for her in their reportage. No editorials are calling her out for her dishonesty. No criticism that Lightfoot broke every promise she made when running for her first term. She had to return a large campaign contribution because of an ethics violation and may have to return another large contribution for the same reason. Yet, it is reported as a minor blip, an oversight.
The Eleventh Commandment is, “Thou shalt not get caught.” The Thirteenth Commandment is, “Thou shalt not talk.” I wonder if there is a Fourteenth Commandment, “Thou shalt not bear harsh witness of the Chicago’s mayor, City Council, and Chicago Sports teams.”
Chicago is known as the city of scoundrels. We can add the Chicago news media to the scoundrel list for joyfully and willingly ignoring failures in local political and sports reportage while hyping them as successes.
“Oh, bring us some figgy pudding Oh, bring us some figgy pudding Oh, bring us some figgy pudding And bring it right here…
We all like our figgy pudding We all like our figgy pudding We all like our figgy pudding
With all its good cheers”
(We wish you a Merry Christmas/Arthur Warrell 1939)
The late comedian, George Carlin, posited, ‘Just think of how stupid the average people are and realize half of them are stupider than that.” The gag is proven repeatedly in good ole red, white, and blue ‘Merica, Land of the less-on* and Home of the Half-wit.
Yes, my fellow “Mericans, you proved once again how utterly stupid you are. It is not bad enough you vote to elect the worst of the worst to public office. It is not bad enough you gleefully pleasure yourself with pumpkin spice everything in the fall, especially the creator of that crap, Spewf**ks, or whatever that crappy coffee chain is called.
You, my fellow citizens, outdid yourselves in the stupidity, absurdity, and ridiculous factors. How you ask? Hormel, who makes SPAM®, introduced SPAM® Figgy Pudding on November 15th. They sold it through SPAM.com, Amazon, and Walmart.
https://youtu.be/rCx_vL5t3GQ
According to the company, “SPAM® Figgy Pudding brings a blend of warm spices and seasonal ingredients that will be the star in many wintertime recipe favorites. With notes of cinnamon and nutmeg combined with fig and orange flavors, you’ll taste true holiday comfort that will have you caroling all season long.”
The great mass of “Merican chromosomal defective, gullible bark chewing pecker headed rubes bought it. It sold out within days of its introduction. For you dullards who missed out, you can find it on the secondary market at twice the price.
Naturally, this will soon be a Christmas tradition, dating back to the jolly olde age of Dickens. Scrooge will be portrayed as giving out SPAM® Figgy Pudding instead of the Christmas goose. Ads will portray people unwrapping cans of SPAM® Figgy Pudding under the tree with joy and glee. Large mockups of the cans will be placed alongside public nativity scenes, or maybe a can will replace one of the gifts of the Magi.
There will be images of SPAM® Figgy Pudding, ala Norman Rockwell, proudly brought to the Christmas table on a fancy China plate. It will become the national centerpiece of holiday fare. ‘Mericans throughout this country will make this a national holiday treasure. When Food & Wine has an article on it, you know foodies will try to score it.
SPAM® is counting on this great ‘American Public of clodpoles and chowderheads to make this product a holiday tradition while they laugh all the way to the bank. Maybe next year, they can issue people tee-shirts emblazoned with “I’m with stupid,” along with the product’s image. Now mall shoppers have a reason to wear their cargo shorts. They can stuff the large pockets with SPAM® Figgy Pudding for a light snack between holiday shopping and hitting the mall’s junk food joints.
Members of the Christian Nationalist Crystal Methodist Church of America will proclaim SPAM® Figgy Pudding as a gift from above, manna from heaven. They may even offer it at Communion., the Great Comedian’s holy joke.
The idiocy of the ‘Merican consumer never fails to disappoint.
Annnnd theiiiiiiir off. The list is the finalists running for mayor of Chicago. They are the only candidates to submit nominating petitions out of a predicted 15 or more. Kudus to the eight candidates who had the stomach to campaign against Lori Lightfoot. It takes a certain type of person to run for elected office in this city. The hurdles are high. Just getting and staying on the ballot is a tough slog because of the antiquated petition signature ploy and challenges to the petitions.
Which one of the eight can turn this city around from the stream of Lori Lightfoot’s continual failures? Who can attract the most votes and money and last until the election in February?
Candidates and their staffs must be multi-taskers. They need to raise big bucks, do the rubber chicken circuit, get on the street to press the flesh, get their messages out to the media, allay the fears of the business community, give interviews, and did I mention raise big bucks? It is seven days a week grueling grind from dawn til past most people’s bedtimes.
The word campaign is derived from the Latin word campania- open field battle and the French, campange and Italian, campanga- field military operation. It is rooted in the military and wars going back to ancient times. In Chicago, politics is warfare. Political campaigns are wars of attrition and battles for the hearts and minds of the public. It is a war for money. It is a war to attract the powerful and prominent people in the city and the neighborhoods to support you.
Chicago politics is a battle against your opponents and their supporters in and out of politics. It is a battle for who can last the longest and make it to election day. Chicago politics is brutal. Only the strong survive. It will be interesting to see how many of Lightfoot’s eight challengers stay the course. If they drop out, who will they support? Or will they disappear?
Lightfoot lost Chicago. She and her incompetent mercenary Superintendent of Police, David Brown, lost the city in 2020 when rioting and looting broke out from one end of the city to the other. Brown had no strategy to deal with the mass peaceful protests, looting, and rioting. Businesses of all sizes were furious. Residents were furious. The world watched as Chicago descended into mob rule. Lightfoot should have fired Brown then. But Lightfoot’s policy is failure is an option, and failures, like Brown, are successful.
The love is not there. She lost the police and fire communities. She lost the teachers and their formidable union/political action committee with big bucks to spend. Past mayors like Daley and Emanuel stumbled but recovered. Lightfoot keeps stumbling from one failure to another.
“I know how to build coalitions. I know how to bring people together,” Lightfoot said. “Every single time there’s been a challenge and you all are speculating, ‘She can’t get it done because of this, that and the other and people don’t like her personality and whatnot,’ we deliver, every single time. So print that.” (Chicago Tribune/Emphasis mine)
The Chicago Tribune dutifully printed that. The paper has been Lightfoot’s water carrier since her election. Chicago news media reprints press releases or dictates and calls it journalism. You will know who not to vote for if any of the Chicago news media endorses Lightfoot or ramps up positive stories about her. This is the same news media that slobbers and drools over the McCaskey Ken Dolls and the McCaskeys like hormonally overcharged teenagers.
Make no mistake, anyone but Lightfoot is not an option and could be worse. We need a mayor who can relate to the entire city, not just certain blocs like race, ethnicity, or progressives. Chicago is a mix of political ideas. No one dominates. A mayoral candidate should be able to appeal to the cross-section of political ideals across this city. Every neighborhood is unique. Chicago needs a mayor who can unite us instead of dividing us. Lightfoot is divisive. However, the voters in Chicago are not the brightest bulbs. Half are even dimmer. Look who they elect as aldercritters.
We need a mayor who can put public safety first. The next mayor should be able to relate to the business community, bringing in businesses and ensuring businesses of all sizes can thrive and remain here. We need a mayor who can treat the city council respectfully instead of publicly berating and insulting members while violating council rules.
The key is to vote. Get your family, neighbors, coworkers, friends, and acquaintances to vote. We cannot afford to go into a runoff election if no one gets over 50%
Out of the eight, I do not know who can turn this ship around. When it comes to politics, I am jaded. All modern fairy tales should start with, “If elected, I promise…”
I am a recovered Bears fan. I am slowly recovering from being a “professional” football fan. The hindrance to my full recovery? I keep rooting for whatever team plays the Bears. I have a Jones to see those Ken Dolls soundly defeated every week.
On Sundays, I must put up with screaming, brain-dead zombie Bears fans at my local saloon. We need to bring back asylums to house and medicate these people. Getting the bartender to put on a soccer game is nearly impossible when football is on television. Golf, yeah. Soccer no.
I picked up an interest in soccer a while back. After watching the World Cup, especially the game between the USA vs. Saudi Arabia, I am hooked. I realized watching that game and others that soccer players are true athletes, sometimes with gymnastic abilities, like the image above. Not one professional football player can make that flying kick. That takes skill, artistry, and athleticism.
Not one “player” in the NFL could last 90 minutes on a soccer pitch. Soccer players run from one end of the field to the other and back throughout the game. There is contact. The players do not wear equipment or helmets. Just shorts, jerseys, and thin shin guards under their stockings.
Football is as fake as “Professional wrestling.” There is no elegance, intricacy, or art to the game. It is a staged and choreographed act. The winners are the team that can out-fake their opponents in stuntman form.
Soccer players use their feet, legs, knees, chests, and heads to move the ball. Only the goalie can use their hands. The footwork can be as intricate as a dancer when watched close up. Soccer is as much an art form as a sport.
Soccer was dubbed the beautiful game in the late 1950s. Two British reporters are credited with coining the phrase. Famed soccer player Pele made the phrase synonymous with the game and used it in the title of his autobiography.
No one ever called the game of football beautiful. It was a game of brutes played by mindless sides of beef. Back in the day, football players could have been loan shark collectors, a job requiring only brutishness and mindlessness.
Now, Ken Dolls play football, pretending to be brutes. No one ever claimed football was a beautiful game. It has no grace or style. One Brit presenter called soccer “Feet with brains.” No one ever referred to football players as even having brains.
As Laura Washington points out in her column, soccer is the most popular sport in the world. On any weekend day, drive through Chicago, and you will see people playing soccer in many of the larger parks, even on the lakefront. There are many ethnic soccer clubs in Chicago and the suburbs. Soccer is popular in high schools and colleges, with male and female teams. Some teams are mixed.
Soccer is n international sport. Football is confined to the states. Probably because other people are not as stupid as the average American football fan. You know, people who think fast food is haute cuisine and Olive Garden, is real Italian food.
Soccer is so popular with the young that “Soccer Mom” entered the lexicon. Soccer drove the sale of mini-vans so “soccer moms” could haul their children, their teams, food, and equipment to games all over the area. There is no such thing as a “Football Mom” and football never drove the sale of specific vehicles.
America needs to wean itself from football and support professional soccer. Put butts in the stadium seats, watch the games, and demand more televised games and sports media coverage. Soccer should supersede football as one of America’s favorite past times. It could and should put the NFL- National Fake League- out of business.
City Hall should dump the Bears and throw their full support to the Chicago Fire. Their recent owner, Joe Mansueto, has two exceptional qualities. He has money and is not afraid to spend it. He has a deep passion for the sport. The only qualities the McCaskeys have is how cheap and chiseling they are and embarrassing our great city with their passion for mediocrity. Bears fans should abandon the team. All they provide is heartbreak year after year.
With municipal support and fan building, Chicago could become the center of professional soccer in the country. The Bears can waste away whenever they move to Arlington Heights.
The proud politician who famously said there are only three ways to exit the City Council: “The ballot box. The jury box. Or the pine box,” instead chose the box that read, “None of the above.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
14th Ward Alderman, Ed Burke, did not file nominating petitions by yesterday’s deadline. He is not running for reelection. Burke, 78, is the longest-serving alderman in Chicago history. He has been an alderman for over fifty years, since 1969, surpassing alderman “Bath House” John Coughlin, who served for 46 years, from 1892 to his death in 1938.
Burke decided not to run for a 15th term. Like Coughlin, history will remember Burke as one of the most influential and powerful politicians in Chicago. Like Coughlin, Burke’s influence and power faded to a mere shadow. Coughlin’s downfall in stature was due to age, health, and changing political winds. Burke’s downfall was caused by federal indictments. Burke was known as the dean of the City Council.
Ald. Ray Lopez (15th), Burke’s ally and City Council seatmate, said Burke’s outsized “footprint” is all over legislation that has “impacted everyday life” in Chicago. That includes a trailblazing ban on indoor smoking and Burke’s campaign to mandate carbon monoxide detectors and defibrillators and help championing a ban on phosphates.
“I don’t think anyone truly understands the magnitude that was Ed Burke in terms of shaping the laws and creating the city of Chicago that we know,” Lopez said. (Chicago Sun-Times)
Burke and Coughlin shared a peculiar trait, their sartorial choices. Both were known for their dress. Burke was on several of Chicago’s best-dressed lists, noted for his accessorizing. Coughlin was known for his loud, colorful sartorial style.
Burke shared another trait with Coughlin. He has been embroiled in corruption controversies for decades. The chickens came home to roost in 2018 when the U.S. Department of Justice indicted him for corruption and the following year for racketeering. Part of his ward was gerrymandered, and they carved his vote-rich precincts out. A double body blow to the formidable politician.
Like Coughlin, history will remember Burke as one of the most powerful, if not the most powerful, alderman and politician in Chicago. Until his indictment, Burke served for decades as the Chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee. It was the most powerful position on the City Council. The committee had the largest budget and controlled a $100 million city Workers Compensation Fund.
Burke leaves behind a mixed legacy. He championed many ordinances for the betterment of Chicago. He was also a brutal political infighter, most noted for his participation in blocking most of former Mayor Harold Washington’s agenda. This was and still is a stain the African American political community remembers and will not forgive.
Chicago politics is cutthroat warfare. Burke was a master combat tactician and fighter. He knew and used city council rules to fight aldermen and mayors. He usually came out victorious. Times changed, politics changed, and the City Council changed. Many members were not born when Burke first took office in 1969.
Burke prides himself on being a Chicago historian. His historical legacy is mixed. He is known for championing causes and ordinances for the city’s betterment while fending off accusations of corrupt practices and abuse of his formidable power and knowledge of City Council rules.
Like many Chicago politicians, Burke was one who Chicagoans loved to hate and hated to love. There was the good Eddie and the bad Eddie. He fought good and evil battles, usually winning both. He was a man of power, prestige, and derision. According to news reports, he is no longer the center of attention. His council seat is next to the exit of the chamber. He is the first one out the door when meetings end. He sits silently and does not use his knowledge of City Council rules or oratorical skills to thwart policies he may disagree with. Burke does not battle the mayor when she flaunts city council rules, running roughshod over alderpersons.
Burke is married to retired Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke. Four years ago, during a speech at the City Club of Chicago, “Choking back tears, the normally stoic alderman said, “For half a century, Anne has been my partner in this life through thick and thin. How blessed I have been. Anne, I love you. Thank you for being my partner in life.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays the Bears from the swift losses of their appointed games.
As a fully recovered former Bears fan, I take great delight when the McCaskey Ken Dolls lose games. I reveled in watching the Ken Doll’s humiliation on the field. Sunday. They played the Jets in the rain and looked miserable, losing their fifth straight game. The only team they might beat at this point is a high school football team, which is a big maybe.
Week 12 recap: Starting QB confusion and injuries mark Chicago Bears’ 31-10 loss to New York Jets(Chicago Tribune Headline)
It did not take long for the Tribune to come up with a crock of bull droppings for the Bear’s loss. Like the rest of the supposed sports journalists, they keep making excuses for this horrendous team. At least the Trib did not make the loss look like a win, as they did in the past weeks. But their reportage is still lame.
If ever there was fake news, it must be Chicago’s sports media. There is not one credible journalist among them. The sports media are silent about McCaskey’s horrendous ownership of this team. They are merely McCaskey propagandists. They dare not cross their masters with criticism of McCaskey’s stewardship.
At least we will be spared the media lionizing Justin Fields and his meaningless, irrelevant statistics and records. They treat Fields like he is the second coming of the Great Comedian’s Son. It would be a different story if the team won games while Fields performed those feats.
Bears fans who continually support this team, cheer for them, and buy their branded crap are blissfully stupid or genetically defective. They refuse to understand the McCaskeys do not care about winning. They make the same money if they lose. All they care about is the money, and the NFL money pot gets bigger every year.
The only way the Ken Dolls can improve is if the fans abandon them. A total boycott, including not watching the games on television. There should be a total abandonment of the Bears by the fans and this city.
Chicago owes the Bears and McCaskeys nothing. The team and owners have not earned the city’s loyalty and respect. They spurned us. We should turn our backs on them. There are other Midwest teams we can support whose owners at least try to win and get to the postseason. There is no shame or sin in abandoning the McCaskey Ken Dolls. My recovery and rehab were painless. There were no withdrawals or even guilt. There was just a feeling of satisfaction. It was the right thing to do at the right time.
Walk away people. The Ken Dolls are not worth all the emotion you invest in them. They do not deserve your love or money. They only deserve derision. Free yourself from the clutches of Bear’s addiction. Toss out and burn all the Bears merchandise and any other memorabilia. After a while, you will feel free, and your thinking will be clear. You will recognize those responsible for this miserable team, their owners.
