Don’t be suckers about the Bears

Maybe I shouldn't be but, I'm still shocked at how willing the Chicago area press is to lap up the Bears' poorly constructed PR campaign against Illinois. They botched the age-old American “getting the public to fund my private stadium” play from the start by purchasing the land before they negotiated tax breaks, and now Kevin Warren is trying to work the process in reverse on the fly with a clear lack of leverage.

The Illinois legislature, to its credit, has held the line on gifting the Bears billions of taxpayer dollars. Indiana has come along to play the patsy, and the press eats it right up. It's pathetic. Until the Bears put the land in Arlington up for sale, all of this is a ruse by a desperate franchise that hasn't effectively monetized its business over the last 40 years, and we should treat it accordingly.

I am pleading, begging in fact, for everyone to stop being such suckers about this.

Joe Bauer, Naperville