Listen, life is tricky for everybody.  Some folks have parents to take care of, entering those complicated years of their lives that Shakespeare called “second childishness and mere oblivion.”  Some folks have banks bearing down for the mortgage, universities sending tuition letters and not enough coming in to cover what’s going out.  Some people are losing love.  Some don’t know why they can’t find it.  Some people can’t seem to find the right job, get the right grade, kill the right pimple.  Some people can’t figure out the dramatic impetus for a character to sing in a particular scene (okay, that’s just me).  We all have things, the banalities, the minutiae, the annoyances in life.  It’s what Mel Brooks was thinking about when he called the movie “Life Stinks”. 

Then we have this thing.  This little thing.  This football team called the Chicago Bears.  We’re given sixteen times a year to sit and let the world be about fifty-three men most of us have never met.  We let our emotions be swayed and our lives be altered, even in the slightest way, by a group of men that represent us on the gridiron.  For some of you, that representation is about geography.  I’ve always been jealous of that but one day I’ll be in Chicago more than I am now.  For others, like myself, that representation is about how we live.  The Bears aren’t a football team.  The Bears are get down to it and do your fucking work.  That’s Halas.  That’s Ditka.  That was Payton – though I’m not sure he cursed.  

Why am I awake?  Because I know today could be the first day of THAT year.  And I can’t wait till twenty years from now when I remember writing this post at 5 AM.  Having the first ever breakfast burrito at Josie Woods.  Pacing around the pool table while the rest of the league takes care of its business.  Hugging Brian and Noah and Stephanie at 11:59 PM and knowing we’ve got something special.  This can be one of those days.

I love this feeling.  I love this team.  And some folks might find that insane but believe me…I’ve been called worse.  Kurt Vonnegut (two literary quotes in one post?) said, “The insane, on occasion, are not without their charms.”  Wherever you are tonight, charm the shit out of everybody around you.  Charm them with your insanity. 

And while you’re at it…bear down.