Imrem: Virginia McCaskey does Papa Bear proud

Let's get all the cutesies out of the way first.

You go, girl!

Yes, Bears fans, there is a Virginia.

Now the best of all: “She's pissed off,” George McCaskey said late Monday afternoon at Halas Pall.

Uh, sorry, make that Halas Hall.

“She” is Virginia McCaskey, who was referenced in a way that made her sound like a chip off the old man's block.

Mrs. McCaskey is the daughter of the late George Halas, the Bears' founder and fabled Papa Bear.

George McCaskey was asked about how his mother felt about the Bears' dismal showing this season. He paused a long pause, almost a pause within a pause, and maybe choked up a bit.

“She's been very supportive and agrees with the decisions made,” he said, meaning Monday morning's firing of Phil Emery and Marc Trestman.

George McCaskey then mentioned that his mother has been alive for eight of the Bears' nine championships and “she wants more.”

“She thinks it's been too long since the last one,” he said. “She's fed up with mediocrity. She feels Bears fans everywhere deserve better.”

Bravo!

All this feels a lot like when Papa Bear was fed up in 1982 and hired Mike Ditka to whip the Bears back into playing Bears football.

“There's no (bleeping) senility in this carcass,” the 87-year-old Halas said back then.

No, but there was considerable fight, and now we find out that Virginia McCaskey has her share.

It's about time somebody associated with the Bears demonstrated a combative nature instead of a gentlemanly approach.

Starting at the top with the club owner ain't bad.

Wanting to win is one thing, and all the McCaskeys want to win. Being ticked off enough and smart enough to do something about it is something else.

So now the Bears are on their third method for hiring a general manager in recent years.

First there was a consulting firm. Then George McCaskey and club president Ted Phillips winged it. Now there is Ernie Accorsi as an adviser.

(By the way, one reason Accorsi is so respected within the NFL is that he started out as a sports writer and was smart enough to get out before it was too late.)

Quite an odd couple they are, Mrs. McCaskey and Mr. Accorsi, though she will retreat into the background now.

Virginia soon will be 92 years old, and Ernie is 73. That's 165 years of odd couple that will receive considerable credit if the Bears win a Super Bowl anytime soon.

Mrs. McCaskey knows what the Bears' identity should be, having grown up with it. So does Accorsi, having witnessed it after entering the NFL in 1970.

Phillips and George McCaskey believe Accorsi “gets what we're looking for.”

“We need to re-establish our identity,” George McCaskey said. “People have to know that when they played the Chicago Bears, they've been through hell.”

Accorsi will sort out candidates, relay them to the Bears' bosses and make recommendations.

The only thing that can go wrong is if George McCaskey and Ted Phillips reject Ernie Accorsi's ultimate advice on whom to hire as general manager.

“The final decision,” Phillips said, “will be made by George and myself.”

That's scary in itself in that there has been a clamor for the McCaskeys to dismiss Phillips along with Emery and Trestman.

So there still is much mystery here. The Bears have to hire the right GM, who has to hire the right head coach, who has to instill the right culture, which has to start with figuring out what to do with Jay Cutler.

If that doesn't happen, somebody is going to get a spanking from Mama Bear.