Imrem: Chicago Bears more Mistakes than Monsters of the Midway
The Chicago Bears' problem isn't merely a "Sunday Night Football" embarrassment at Dallas, a three-game losing streak or even another squandered season.
It's a New Tradition at least a quarter-century in the making, more generational than annual, more overall franchise than single team.
The latest results of the McCaskey ownership is an 11-24 record since Game 1 of the 2014 season, including 3-14 at home, not to mention one playoff appearance since 2006 and none since 2010.
The Bears no longer are the Monsters of the Midway; they're the Mistakes of the Midway.
It's easy to lament that the current Bears are soiling the franchise's storied past.
But what past would that be? The multiple championships of the 1940s? Their reputation for beating up opponents even if they didn't beat them in the '50s and '60s? The successful run in the '80s?
Those glory days aren't even historic anymore; they're prehistoric.
The last time the Bears were all they should be for more than a year or two at a time was when the faces of the franchise were Walter Payton, who died 17 years ago, and Mike Ditka, who is endorsing merchandise for senior citizens.
Yes, it has been three decades since the 1985 Bears won the franchise's only Super Bowl championship.
Da Bears!
Woof! Woof! Woof!
Wheeze! Wheeze! Wheeze!
The Bears are a lower end-of-mediocrity franchise striving to reach the middle of mediocrity.
This season's goal is incremental improvement that might translate into a victory, one victory, any victory.
Be still our hearts.
It's called rebuilding, though nobody at Halas Hall dares use the "R" word.
Bears fans aren't dumb, however, and they're consuming the process with wandering eyes, huge yawns and shopping trips to the grocery store during games.
Fans are asked to be patient until the kids grow up, the veteran quarterback reaches his elusive potential and the Bears' growl returns.
Yeah, right.
The Bears aren't "Papa Bear" Halas' club anymore. Nor is their offense the one that "thrilled the nation with the T-formation." Nor is their defense the "46" that tormented opponents from coast to coast.
Now they're the Bears of the McCaskey family, fine folks but not exactly football savants. They own the New Tradition, whether they want to claim it or not.
This decade alone the Bears have had a series of general managers and head coaches … with the McCaskeys the constant.
Youngish GM Ryan Pace and oldish head coach John Fox are in the early stages of peddling a fresh heap of hope.
They might be the right guys for the job, but nobody associated with the Bears is afforded the benefit of doubt.
With every passing week the 2016 edition looks more like the Bears are rebuilding down instead of up.
The question is, "Why in so many seasons are the Bears merely trying to be better instead of trying to be Super Bowl champs?"
It's not like the Bears' latest rebuild began after a recent championship. It began after more of the same old New Tradition.
With all the resources that the NFL's best market affords the McCaskeys in Chicago, the Bears should win two or three Super Bowls every decade.
Instead, the wait continues for this franchise to be what fans pay and pray for the Bears to be.
mimrem@dailyherald.com