Jim O'Donnell: Under the 'D,' the Bears are turning September into desolation row
WHO SAID THAT THE BEARS DIDN'T flash a lot of "D" at Soldier Field last Sunday?
Disgraceful … distasteful … disgusting.
The team appeared about as prepared for their 38-20 loss to Green Bay as J.B. Pritzker suddenly being called up to sing with Death Cab for Cutie at Riot Fest '23.
It was a grand day not to be a Bears season-ticket holder.
One northwest suburban couple dashed through two separate realities:
They showed up to tailgate with pals in the South lot at Soldier Field around noon. They then zipped for kickoff to a watch party at a baronial mansion in Barrington Hills.
BY THE FOURTH QUARTER of the debacle, the wide-screen TVs at the mansion were playing to crickets and empty bottles of Koia Protein chocolate peanut butter.
A few bars of brief Bears realities:
• The franchise is moribund;
• That suffocating malaise begins with the McCaskeys (same as it ever was);
• The vast majority of residents of Arlington Heights don't want this brand of Dollar Vine refreeze soiling any of the 326 acres that once housed Arlington Park.
THE WOE SHOW CONTINUES Sunday at Tampa Bay (FOX, noon; Joe Davis and Daryl Johnston). The Bucs are holding as 3-point favorites.
Baker Mayfield is likely to wind up looking like the second coming of Jordan Love.
The stoic face and body language of Justin Fields is probably going to continue to be that of a gifted young athlete who has been repeatedly thrown onto a play-call pyre.
As all appears, a 7-10 season might command some sort of civic parade.
With J.B. Pritzker up, up and singing away on the Death Cab for Cutie float.
STREET-BEATIN':
The Jets-Bills Monday nighter drew 22.6M viewers, the most for a "MNF" game in ESPN history. Now with Aaron Rodgers out, an antsy NFL still has the NYJ in no fewer than six TV showcase windows. (Is All-Pro DT Quinnen Williams ready for his king-sized closeup?) …
For some L-Vegans, the hot crosser Monday night was that the Jets (+2½) - after losing Rodgers four snaps in - were an outright winner. That despite officials clearly missing an open-field leg whip in OT during Xavier Gipson's walk-off punt return. Another takeaway was the New York head coach Robert Saleh is ready to play the bold bullethead in an episode of "Chicago P.D." …
The September call-up of rising Cub Pete Crow-Armstrong adds even more variety to a steady list of 2023 storylines on the North Side. His Hollywood tag "P-C-A" has followed him to Chicago airwaves. Dean Martin would shorten it even further to "Pecca." (The late Martin's Rat Packese for the old MGM Grand in Las Vegas was "the Meggum.") …
Who can question that Deion Sanders is the new magic man atop college football's rapidly evolving transfer portal/ NIL green fields? He's made-to-order for the role of bring-bling pied piper. Star QB son Shedeur Sanders doesn't hurt. ESPN will continue to ride the Sanders golden buffalo in prime-time Saturday night with the Colorado-Colorado State "Rocky Mountain Showdown" (9 p.m.) …
A terrific piece of Chicago-tinged journalism by Brittany Ghiroldi of The Athletic: She presented a Q-and-A with David Wilder, the former White Sox player personnel ace who was convicted of defrauding the team of $400K targeted for Dominican-spawned prospects. (He did two years in a Club Fed.) Wilder asserts that far too many Sox baseball decisions are ground through Jerry Reinsdorf. ...
And full-frontal Bernie DiMeo, all too accurate about the executive realities of Halas Hall: "If the McCaskeys bought a funeral home, people would quit dying."
• Jim O'Donnell's Sports and Media column appears each week on Sunday and Thursday. Reach him at jimodonnelldh@yahoo.com. All communications may be considered for publication.