Yesterday, Ryan Poles, Kevin Warren and Thomas Brown met the media. Here are my thoughts.

Warren and Poles.

• Two words strike me every time I hear Kevin Warren speak: empty suit. When he says things like the Bears “have the greatest fans in all of sports”…does anyone actually believe him? In what world is that even on the periphery of accurate?
• Warren made it a distinct point to confirm Ryan Poles will remain the GM of the franchise moving forward and will be the “point person” for the head coaching search.
• Warren said that Caleb Williams is “special” and can “become more special.” Yes, he actually said that. I’d like to be more special.
• Warren lists a bunch of platitudes he’s looking for in the next head coach. My favorite? “A decisive decision maker.” Isn’t making a decision, by very definition, decisive?
• Poles cites the “end of game detailing” as the reason for firing Flus.
• Warren keeps repeating that “today” is when the Bears trajectory starts pointing upwards. What has he been doing for the last two years?
• Warren said the Eberflus decision was not made when Flus met the media Friday. This is also what I was told by several people. But still…why not just have Flus delay his media availability until the afternoon if you’re discussing his fate?
• Poles seems deflated, beaten down. He has every right to be disappointed with the result on the field, but this is a moment to put on a show for the cameras.
• Poles was asked about the Shane Waldron experience. He paused for about three minutes before not answering.

Read More …

This is not going to be a post, or a column. This is just going to be a comment, a statement that I believe should be made and I want it to sit as the main post on this site for the entirety of this Wednesday.

To George McCaskey. To Kevin Warren. To Ryan Poles.

You’re losing.

Losing games. Losing the fans. Losing every drop of momentum built up over the previous two off-seasons. You’re losing me, a dedicated supporter and someone who has relentlessly watched this team every week since Bears football was available on the east coast and covered them diligently (at a personal financial cost) since 2005. I’m not abdicating my fandom by any means. What I am beginning to abandon is the burden, the burden of the Bears. You’ve become a chore, and one I am refusing to prioritize moving forward.

I don’t care who the offensive playcaller is. Matt Eberflus is still the coach. Today. But if the Bears watch the Green Bay Packers leave Soldier Field Sunday victorious again, that must change. No more “we don’t fire coaches in-season” bullshit. That’s what you have always done and what you have always done is fail. If the Packers win Sunday and you don’t make an immediate change in the leadership of this franchise, you are displaying (again) a glaring lack of awareness.  If the Packers win Sunday and you don’t make a seismic shift on the coaching staff, don’t be surprised as fan anger turns to apathy for the remainder of this campaign and into the off-season.

You’re losing. Again.

When will you finally have enough of it?

Sincerely,

DBB.

With Hard Knocks in town

Expect to see way too much…

…of Kevin Warren.

Coverage Monday!

This is a special piece from DBB contributor Chris Marrs. Marrs doesn’t cover the Bears professionally. He’s just a fan who spends too much time thinking about this team. Longtime reader, first time caller, he looks forward to contributing to DaBearsBlog, which he considers the ’85 Bears of blogs.

There is something magical about that navy backdrop in the press room at Halas Hall – you know, the one behind the podium, featuring the iconic logo that stands unmistakably for pride, tradition, and the excellence we’ve come to expect from Hyundai (the Bears’ logo is on there too). When otherwise bright, accomplished men sit in front of it, they magically transform into clumsy, tone deaf, empty suits in orange ties, barfing so many corporate clichés that you’d swear they were doing shots of them backstage.

It has been a few weeks now since the Bears latest autopsy press conference on January 10th. This one was bigger, though, serving as an introduction of sorts to Bears fans’ most recent knight in shining armor: new Team President Kevin Warren. This moment would be his first true time-of-crisis Q & A as the boss.

There was such hope for Warren. First new president in 25 years. Accomplished. Connected. Dynamic. Ted Phillips was The Penguin. This was Batman.

We all saw Warren’s comments days earlier at Lurie Children’s Hospital – by the way, cheers to Warren and his family for their support of Lurie. Good people. Wonderful gesture. Makes these next several paragraphs tougher, but such is life. Because five days later, sitting in front of that navy backdrop, Warren’s ideas weren’t fresh or new or encouraging. To put it as elegantly as I can, Warren swung a two-by-four into the nuts of Bears fandom.

Read More …

A lot going on when it comes to the periphery of the Bears these days.

• Broadcast Data! Our man appeared on something called Bears on Tap to talk all things Bears, and he was fantastic. (How many Bears podcasts and YouTube shows are there now? 500? How do any of these folks expect to get traction in such a crowded marketplace?)
• Yesterday I completed a three-week intensive course studying the work of British filmmaker and playwright Mike Leigh. If you’re interested in all in film studies, or just an intrigued human, our unique experiences from Leigh: Topsy-Turvy (1999), Another Year (2010), Secrets & Lies (1996) and Vera Drake (2004). Click those links to locate where the films can be found streaming.
• This piece from Laurence Holmes in the Sun-Times is absurd, as he argues Kevin Warren has ushered in a sea change at Halas Hall re: their (verbal) pivot away from Arlington Heights. There is no sea change. Ted Phillips fought with mayors for decades on behalf of the Bears and got what the team could get. This, now, is a negotiation about tax assessments. NFL franchises want states, counties, municipalities, etc. to bend over financially, and they almost always get what they want. Holmes also includes this nonsensical phrase: “I want what’s good for the Bears. I truly do, as long as it doesn’t infringe on the pockets of unwilling taxpayers.” In what world will it not?
• The joint statement from Warren and the new mayor after their meeting: “Today we met and discussed our shared values and commitment to the City of Chicago, the importance of deep roots and the need for equitable community investment throughout the city,” read the statement, which was credited to both Johnson and Warren. “We are both committed to the idea that the city and its major civic institutions must grow and evolve together to meet the needs of the future. We look forward to continuing the dialogue around these shared values.”
• The early buzz out of the Bears? D.J. Moore has changed the entire offense, and raised expectations for this unit can be in 2023.
• ACTUAL BEARS NEWS: Here’s video of a bear being rescued in Colorado after “breaking into” a food truck. I put that phrase in quotes because can we really accuse a bear of “breaking into” anything? Does it know the food truck is “closed”?
• Jaylon Johnson missed voluntary practice sessions because he just being a dad and Twitter spent a week arguing about it. (Once again, Twitter sucks.) Johnson is part of a union. That union collectively bargained when Johnson is responsible to report to work. Why on earth would he report on additional days? Would you?

Monday: Data takes a thorough look at the tight end position, as we INCH closer to the start of training camp.

Due to my relationships within the Chicago Bears organization, I have essentially kept DBB out of the Team President hiring process. But here are a few thoughts:

• Ted Phillips has been planning this retirement for nearly two years. George McCaskey convinced him to stay on a bit longer than he originally intended as the Arlington Heights situation developed.
• Ted had zero interest in overseeing the move. For years Ted has been communicating the team’s concerns to the city re: Soldier Field and for years he’s been ignored. The city never believed the Bears would leave the lakefront. Now, they’re panicked and proposing billion dollars of renovations.
• George stating that Poles and Eberflus reported to him, and not Ted, was theatre. Ted was still running the building. George is the owner, but he doesn’t run anything. He’s a fan.
• Bears have not hidden their love for the ballpark the Vikings built, and that was a huge factor in the Warren hire. Warren was enthusiastic about the move in his interviews, understanding the financial ramifications of a new building on team property.
• At the onset of the process, ACC Commissioner Jim Phillips was the front runner for the position, with many in the building seeing him as a foregone conclusion. But the Bears had a process and Warren emerged in that process.