O’Donnell: Song of media choir, Bears ‘won’ offseason
IT'S TRUE, IT'S TRUE — the fan-a-kins in the press room have made it clear.
The Bears have “won” the offseason.
Ryan Poles and associates are in the process of signing three free-agent linemen and have traded for two more.
So the war is over. Chicago wins.
But what?
FORGET ABOUT THE HUMILIATION of last season's 5-12 record.
Or the 10-game losing streak that leveled November and December and sent season-ticket holders scurrying to find more pliable buyers.
Or Tyrique Stevenson's gaffe that enabled Washington's Jayden Daniels to nail a once-in-a-lifetime Hail Maryland! pass last Halloween weekend to completely flip the Chicago season.
WITH 1,500 POUNDS OF ASSORTED NEW MUSCLE headed for Halas Hall, the media fan people are dancing on their laptops and microphones.
It's downright infectious. Strike up the band.
So only guard Joe Thuney owns Super Bowl rings. And aged defensive tackle Grady Jarrett — king of the aching-muscle Icy Hot in the Atlanta locker room — hasn't been to the playoffs since 2017.
Defensive end Dayo Odeyingbo and center Drew Dalman never have.
Guard Jonah Jackson's been in the last two. But the Rams found him expendable.
BUT NONE OF THAT MATTERS!!!
The Bears have “won” the offseason.
Just ask the press-row people whose deflective professional compliance helps enable sub-mediocrity to dominate the Chicago sports terrain.
Their catatonia even makes that average hike of 10 percent in Bears season-ticket prices go down so much easier.
Their kings have made it clear.
STREET-BEATIN':
Struggling Audacy has announced the layoffs of close to 300 employees nationally. Impact on the excessively budget-friendly WSCR-AM (670) is expected to be minimal, especially as long as Craig Karmazin continues to treat arced-out rival WMVP-AM (1000) as a flattened whoopee cushion. The Audacy-Chicago station that continues to circle the drain is the once mighty WBBM-AM (780). …
With the Big Ten men's basketball tournament to begin Wednesday in Indianapolis, why does back-channel chatter about Chris Collins being lured from Northwestern continue? Collins turns 51 in April and few have been as loyal to The Enchanted Lakefront. But his most ardent supporters would argue that Collins deserves the chance to win big somewhere else because it's not going to happen in Evanston. …
The Cubs' spring fake next week in Toyko vs. the Dodgers will require almost 30 hours of travel for two synthetic trans-Pacific openers. Plus, with young Kevin Alcantara now not scheduled to make the trip, there's no organic sub behind Pete Crow-Armstrong in CF. Craig Counsell needs every edge he can muster to chase that 87-win season. …
When the Jets agreed to terms of a two-year, $40M deal with Justin Fields Monday, Las Vegas yawned. Odds of New York winning Super Bowl 60 dropped from 180-1 to 150-1. Intriguing if new OC Tanner Engstrand — Ben Johnson's passing game coordinator in DET — can tailor an offense to Fields. (Say what you will, but the spunky QB showed extraordinary resilience surviving Lake Forest.) …
Also from the quarterback recovery file, news of Jimmy Garoppolo re-upping for one year and $11M with Sean McVay's Rams brought some time passages into frame. The Arlington Heights native is entering his 13th NFL season, has grossed more than $250M as a quarterback and is 43-21 as a starter in the NFL. (That's long green from the traveling little-league Arlington Cowboys.) …
Gary Duch, once racing secretary at Hawthorne Race Course and Tom Hagen to Chris Polzin at Arlington, is spotlighting a lot of reasons why some Bob Baffert runner will win the Kentucky Derby on May 3. Baffert, 72, can compete in the race for the first time since a three-year ban by ChDowns Inc. was lifted. He needs one more Derby victory — No. 7 — to dust Ben Jones and become the all-time leader. …
Five seasons into his MLB career with the White Sox, Andrew Vaughn could write a treatise on managerial styles. Will Venable will be the sixth that he's played for, following: Rick Renteria (2020), Tony La Russa (2021-22), interim Miguel Cairo (2022), Pedro Grifol (2023-24) and interim Grady Sizemore (2024). It's too bad that Vaughn missed Al Lopez, Chuck Tanner and Ozzie Guillen. …
The six championship banners of the Bulls were missing from the rafters of the United Center Monday night because of a weekend concert featuring the Chicago-spawned heavy metal band Disturbed. The event was also heavy with pyrotechnics. The banners should be back for Thursday's tip vs. hopeless Brooklyn. Maybe the losers can close out the season touring with Disturbed. …
And the late, keenly insightful Jimmy Cannon, quoted in a fascinating piece titled “The Last Sportswriters of New York” in the current New York magazine: “A sportswriter is entombed in a prolonged boyhood.”
Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Wednesday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.