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It’s May. The off-season is a good time for this shit.

When, if ever, have you ever felt ashamed to be a Bears fan?

I think it’s something we’ve all experienced at one point or another.

For me, the greatest Moment Of Shame I can remember was the NFC Championship game loss to the Packers. I cried that night. A lot. A trip to the Super Bowl with Cutty at the helm would’ve been great. Imagine all the endorsement money Smokin Jay could’ve gotten from Pall Mall.

The shame was two fold in that game. One, our QB couldn’t stay healthy for the most important game in maybe 10 years? Two, it was the Packers.

So anyway, what’s your Moment Of Shame?

I’ve never been ashamed. I’ve been mad and disappointed way too often but not ashamed.

Why would you feel shame when the QB got injured? That’s just bad luck. The Bears handled that injury about as incompetently as possible which was annoying and led to Cutler being unfairly attacked but it’s a tough game so guys get hurt.

I don’t think I’ve ever been ashamed either. The NFL is not that big where I come from so I have a few mates who are fans. It’s more fun and banter to be honest.

Not much of a crier, didn't even at parents' funerals. Frustration and anger at the Bears, hell yeah.

1969 season. The team limped to a 1-13 record, worst in franchise history. Tied with the Steelers for worst record, the Bears lost the coin flip for 1st pick. The Steelers, BTW, took a QB named Terry Bradshaw. Then the Bears proceeded to trade the pick to the Packers (!) for a washed up running back, Elijah Pitts and a couple of crappy picks, which they misused.

1986: The illegal and totally dirty hit on McMahon by a Packers' player after the whistle had blown. Mad Mac was knocked out for the season and a Bears team which was humming along towards another SB was essentially over.

1988 NFL Championship Game. Bears were finally back after several frustrating years following SB20. Freezing ass cold weather, game was at Soldiers Field, just perfect. I had steaks, people over to watch, and the Bears laid an absolute egg, losing 28-3.

2010 NFL Championship Game. Had folk over to cheer, the team spins its gears all game, Cutty goes out, they lose.

It's been really tough for several years when your son is a Packer's fan, particularly since we traditionally watch all the Bears Packers games together.

Walter Payton's last game, seeing him on the bench helmet in hands. Was tough to swallow being I grew up in suburban DC and all my friends were Redskin fans.

Z Bear wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 5:52 pm Walter Payton's last game, seeing him on the bench helmet in hands. Was tough to swallow being I grew up in suburban DC and all my friends were Redskin fans.

SAME - Ellicott City, Maryland here. And there were no Colts then, so it was all Skins fans. I hate that franchise more than the Packers believe it or not, because they beat us every damn time we played them it seemed. I was at a game where we had 5 picks and STILL LOST - I think Mark Carrier had 3 himself. Ugh. The Darrell Green punt return still haunts me.

Hiring Peterson, even as a backup QB who likely won’t ever see the field ranks up there with feelings of shame and dismay

This guy is worse than Glennon and that’s saying something.

south pacific wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 9:55 pm Hiring Peterson, even as a backup QB who likely won’t ever see the field ranks up there with feelings of shame and dismay

This guy is worse than Glennon and that’s saying something.

Weird

i felt immense shame as a bear's fan when i read the horsted thread

Ashamed to be a Bears fan?

Hmm...

I can't say I've ever felt ashamed. After watching Green Bay kick our fucking ass since my youth, I'll sometimes flash back to a family friend's dad (has three daughters) who tried to talk me into being a Packers fan (1992). I didn't listen, but if I did? I'd have 2 Lombardis under my belt

yea, never ashamed, that's kind of an odd feeling to have over an entertainment product like sports. Maybe had we brought in Mike Vick or something like that I'd be ashamed to support the product, but we haven't done anything like that - we've just sucked. I'll get angry during live games when we lose, but that's about it - and maybe a little depressed when our season is over. Those are all my feels...

I don't think I've ever felt shame towards something as trivial as a football team.

I've been disappointed and/or indifferent.

I think the closest I came to anger was when they lost the Superbowl. The DD was the most recent "head shaking in disappointment". Most of the time it's just meh.

But win they are winning, there is no greater joy in sports fandom.

Ashamed? Closest I came to that was during the Dave McGinnis debacle.

Sad? Plenty of times - losing in the playoffs following the 1986 season to Washington with an unprepared Doug Flutie under center; losing to the same Washington team the next season with a rusty Jim McMahon under center and an overrated Keith Van Horne getting emasculated.

The loss in the NFC title game against Green Bay was extremely frustrating. I don't know that the loss was simply because Jay got hurt - before his injury, he was playing poorly, and the pass protection was abysmal. Jay had already embarrassed himself in the last game of the season in Green Bay when the Bears scored all of 3 points in a ridiculous 10-3 defeat. There's no guarantee that Jay was going to lead the bears to a victory a few weeks later. That team was marked by bad personnel on offense - an oline that couldn't protect and mediocre, bargain basement weapons (save for a misused Greg Olsen).

Losing the way the Bears did - against the Packers again - in the final game of the 2013 season, for some reason, stung for a long time.

The season opener in 2019 - another ridiculous 10-3 loss to Green Bay - was VERY disappointing. It was the first real sign that Nagy wasn't all that as a play caller and that Mitch was not going to be a franchise QB.

Oh I've been pissed off and emotionally wounded plenty of times by this fucking team.

Super Bowl loss in 2006, I remember feeling numb. Deflated and numb.

NFC Championship Game loss in 2010, listening to fucking Packers fans yell "Go Pack Go" as I walked out of Soldier Field and through the tunnel.

Double Doink game, I think my fist is still indented on my laptop **checks** yep it sure is.

Never ashamed. Quite often angry. Probably the angriest was the Halloween Game when we were retiring Butkus and Sayers numbers and the Packers fucking killed us.

G08 wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:29 am
Double Doink game, I think my fist is still indented on my laptop **checks** yep it sure is.

HAHAHA...my garage fridge used to be in my kitchen. It caught a nice fist sized dent right after the ball hit the ground after coming off the crossbar. Wife immediately grabed my credit card and went to shopping.

G08 wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:29 am Oh I've been pissed off and emotionally wounded plenty of times by this fucking team.

Super Bowl loss in 2006, I remember feeling numb. Deflated and numb.

NFC Championship Game loss in 2010, listening to fucking Packers fans yell "Go Pack Go" as I walked out of Soldier Field and through the tunnel.

Double Doink game, I think my fist is still indented on my laptop **checks** yep it sure is.

I’ll never forget being on Discord for the Double Doink.

Z Bear wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 10:47 am

G08 wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 9:29 am
Double Doink game, I think my fist is still indented on my laptop **checks** yep it sure is.

HAHAHA...my garage fridge used to be in my kitchen. It caught a nice fist sized dent right after the ball hit the ground after coming off the crossbar. Wife immediately grabed my credit card and went to shopping.

So a double whammy then?

Z Bear wrote: ↑Thu May 12, 2022 5:52 pm Walter Payton's last game, seeing him on the bench helmet in hands. Was tough to swallow being I grew up in suburban DC and all my friends were Redskin fans.

I was at that damn game, thanks for the flashbacks.

Ashamed? No.
But i remember the time when the weather matched my feelings, when the Bears were on the biggest stage.

PURPLE RAIN, PURPLE RAIN
[the clip does have commercials]



Probably one of the most extraordinary halftime shows, and the Bears were f#@n' losing. I still can't enjoy that song anymore because of this bad memory. Do you remember how high you felt when Hester took it to the house to start the game!?!

Losing to horseface Manning didn't make it any better. If the Bears had any resemblance of an offense they could have had that game. But clueless Lubbie along with Grossman made it too difficult to overcome. Still remember the defense and Chico getting upset when Lubbie took over the defensive playcalling in the second half.

Top 5 greatest guitar players ever. Wasn't even that big a fan, but the talent is undeniable.

Never been ashamed to be a Bears fan. It’s frustrating as hell at times, especially when it seems we’re on never ending hamster wheel. But ultimately, there’s always going to be teams/franchises way worse than the Bears. No reason to be ashamed.

Never ashamed, more like getting kicked in the nuts repeatedly. The closest I ever got to shame was the 2010 NFC Championship game. My wife is from northern Wisconsin and is a die-hard Packer fan. Her loud and obnoxious brother was watching the game at our house in their stupid green and yellow trash bags they call jerseys. My son was about 7 at the time and I had already infected him with Bearsfan Disease ( I hung an old Bears banner I got from a bar over his crib in order to imprint on him early). Near the end of the game, once it was already over, I looked over at my son and he was hunched over the couch, hiding his face from everybody with tears streaming down his cheeks. Alone in a room full of people, crying in silence..... the most Bears thing ever.

At that point I felt terrible for forcing the Bears on him. He could have picked GB.... grandpa sends him a new Rodgers jersey every Christmas that I get to use for toilet paper. He could go with the Cardinals since most of his friends are fans and we live here and can go to games. But he's as stubborn as me and bleeds navy blue and orange, so I guess I'm either a good dad or a terrible dad.

Whenever things get really bad for the Bears I always comfort myself with one simple thought - it could be worse, I could have been a Browns fan.

HisRoyalSweetness wrote: ↑Fri May 13, 2022 7:39 pm Whenever things get really bad for the Bears I always comfort myself with one simple thought - it could be worse, I could have been a Browns fan.

I got self conscious about being a Bears fan when the Browns finally started to get good or how about respectable.

But yes, overall, at least we aren't Browns or Jets fans.

We have that much going for us.

Double Doink was my “I genuinely don’t care about football anymore” moment, and I’ve only given the minimum as a fan ever since.

4th & 8 Rodgers to Cobb was my “I can’t do this anymore” moment where I had some serious internal dialogue about abandoning the team.

NFCCG vs Green Bay was my “I chose pain, didn’t I?” moment.

The SB loss to the Colts was still probably more painful than all of that.

I dunno. The Bears have been my emotional abuser for decades now, and I am so completely ambivalent to their existence anymore. They will need to earn their place back in my life and until then I’m just following them at a huge remove because they’re too painful to endure.

I can really see what UOK says. But my feelings take a different tone than "ambivalent". I DO care and pay close attention to what they do. Too much, actually. it's more like I've just completely and utterly lost faith in their turning it around. I can 100% relate to the "replacing Nagy is instant improvement" arguments that I used to use. That is gone for me today. Like UOK, they will need to show me a reason to get excited about them other than hope, change or potential. In conversation, when my Bear fandom come's up, I often use the line, "I'm a serial masochist."

I don't think I've ever felt shame, just anger. Maybe I'm an eternal optimist or just a relatively "young" fan compared to some old-timers here (been a fan for the last 20 of my 40 years) but I still get excited around this time when the new draftees are getting their chance to prove themselves.

I also think it's due to my lack of knowledge of how football teams are run. For example, I have no idea how to tell how this new regime is going to turn out so I'm just waiting to see how it unfolds. Others who do have a huge historical knowledge and understanding of stats try to leverage that to predict how a season will go and end up getting invested to the point that they get into heated debates.

TLDR, ignorance is bliss in my case.