O’Donnell: LaFleur’s tie summons recall of Halas and the ‘63 champion Bears
WHAT IS SO FAIR — OR SO ENERGIZING — AS THE FIRST OF TWO CRITICAL NFC North games between the Bears and Packers in December?
To say The Windy City and Titletown U.S.A. are wired for sound, video and fury is an understatement.
Even Ben Johnson — the first-year grand master of surging Chicago — has stoked the fire in his own youthfully assertive manner by throwing down the word gauntlet toward Packers peer Matt LaFleur.
FOX SPORTS WILL DO ITS PART, televising the game to more than 90% of its NFL Nation (3:25 p.m.; Tom Brady, Kevin Burkhardt).
The shutout sliver of America will get Cardinals-Rams, a shadow covering only much of southern California and all of Arizona. But even San Diego will get CHI-GB.
THERE ARE NO GREAT BETTING ANGLES to the wintry tussle in Green Bay.
The Bears have been holding as 6½-point underdogs. That despite the fact Chicago has been receiving about 70% of all money wagered and 75% of all bets.
That suggests the country is on to the victor's vibe of Caleb Williams.
FOR NFL HISTORIANS, the specter of a tie possibly playing into the final standings of the Bears (9-3) and the Packers (8-3-1) recalls a memorable closing month in 1963.
That included an ending five-game span that led to the last great afternoon in the coaching career of George Halas and included one of the saddest days in the history of the American presidency.
CHICAGO (8-1) and GREEN BAY (8-1) were deadlocked atop the NFL's Western Conference.
In front of a frenzied crowd at Wrigley Field, Bill Wade and a smothering defense crafted by George Allen and Jim Dooley throttled the Pack 26-7.
FIVE DAYS LATER, PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY was assassinated. The nation was violently blindsided by shock, grief and disbelief.
The upstart American Football League canceled its four games. The NFL waffled, telling all seven teams scheduled to play on the road to proceed with Saturday travel plans.
THAT PUT THE BEARS IN PITTSBURGH, where a 2 p.m. kickoff was scheduled for Forbes Field. A multitude of '63 Bears — including Mike Ditka, Johnny Morris and Ed O'Bradovich — still expected the contest to be postponed.
It wasn't. At a subdued ballpark, Buddy Parker's Steelers summoned enough verve to lead 17-14 with less than six minutes remaining.
THEN, IN ONE OF THE MOST DRAMATIC catch-and-runs in NFL history, Ditka took a short curl from Wade and turned it into a 63-yard gain.
(Since it wasn't televised, the play gained no great national exposure until five years later when Rise shaving cream used it in a TV commercial; YouTube “ditka run” — it's worth it.).
Shortly after Ditka's heroics, Roger LeClerc kicked an 18-yard field goal. The Bears escaped with a 17-17 tie.
Four days later in Detroit, the Packers — a 9-point favorite — were all out to salvage a 13-13 tie vs. the Lions on Thanksgiving Day.
THEN, TO CAP THE UNUSUAL SEQUENCE, back at Wrigley Field the following Sunday vs. the Vikings, a stellar defense — and second-half touchdowns by Wade and Joe Marconi — enabled Halas and Co. to record a second consecutive 17-17 tie.
Final Western Conference leaders: No. 1, the Bears (11-1-2); No. 2, the Packers (11-2-1).
On the last Sunday in December, Wade, Larry Morris and all engineered a frigid 14-10 win in the NFL title game over Allie Sherman, Y.A. Title and the visiting New York Giants.
THOSE CHAMPIONSHIP BEARS closed their regular season with a 3-0-2 run. Both Ditka's 1985 Super Bowl titlists and Lovie Smith's SB XLI participants finished their last five 4-1.
This time around, any Bears fan worth his burning orange prayer candles will gladly take a 4-1 close by B.J and the Bears beginning Sunday at Green Bay.
And don't necessarily hold all ties.
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DIAMOND ANTICIPATION CONTINUES ABOUT a five-part documentary scheduled for release next year titled “My Father, Dick Allen.”
Among the producers of the tribute to the charismatic White Sox slugger are Richard Allen Jr., Sharon Pannozzo and David Fletcher, the Downstate doctor who was relentless in his 15-year campaign to get Allen Sr. into Baseball's Hall of Fame.
A five-minute extended trailer of “My Father” will premiere at The Pitch & Hit Club's winter banquet on Jan. 18 in Tinley Park. Full info is available at dickallen15film.com.
The participation of Pannozzo gives the project a platinum big-league veneer. She made a star's mark in Chicago as the media relations director of the Cubs (1982-2006) and followed with an extraordinarily distinguished turn as VP/East Coast Entertainment Publicity for NBC Universal (2008-21).
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.