Feelings Of Shame: It’s OK To Cry

[otis]

imo, being ashamed means you did something wrong and got caught. i think the closest i ever felt ashamed of the bears was when they traded for mirer. that was a crime. second would be trading up for trubisky. those moments seemed like the bears were actually trying to ruin the team. everything else they do is just sad, exasperation, realizing that the bears don't know i exist or care what i think. walter's last game is really sad. i still miss him.

[Heinz D.]

I've never felt "ashamed", as such, that...seems kind of extreme. To me, at least. The organization's unwillingness to solve their quarterback problem (up until Fields, hopefully) is kind of embarrassing. And a real mystery.

I do get mad about Bears related stuff quite a bit. Don't get me started on Ditka.

I think the Pace/Nagy regime may have made me the angriest I've been as a fan, though. Both of those guys were always so slimy, and dishonest. Nagy seems like he's just a bad human being, too.

[BreadNCircuses]

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.

I'm as much a Prince fan as I am a Bears fan, and that halftime show is probably my favorite halftime show of all time. I've never gone back and rewatched the game, but I've watched that whole show multiple times over the years.

[BreadNCircuses]

Moment of Shame:
The Rick Mirer trade.

[Heinz D.]

Moment of Shame:
The Rick Mirer trade.

That was an exceptionally painful moment in Bears history. But for me, I had totally given up on the Wannstedt regime to get it's high draft picks right--so I just kind of shrugged.

"Ok, trade for Mirer? Why not? They'd just pick a different bad player otherwise."

[Grizzled]

Moment of Shame:
The Rick Mirer trade.

I was living in Seattle at the time, just hoped that the rumors weren't true. They were.

[dave99]

Moment of Shame:
The Rick Mirer trade.

I was living in Seattle at the time, just hoped that the rumors weren't true. They were.

You kind of got he feeling that GM's around the country would look at their draft boards and say "Sure let's take a flyer on the guy, we can always trade him to the Bears for a fistful of draft picks"

[Grizzled]

I was living in Seattle at the time, just hoped that the rumors weren't true. They were.

You kind of got he feeling that GM's around the country would look at their draft boards and say "Sure let's take a flyer on the guy, we can always trade him to the Bears for a fistful of draft picks"

That trade and the picks traded to San Fran to move up 1 pick for Trubisky still make me cringe (as well as passing on Watson).

[Heinz D.]

That trade and the picks traded to San Fran to move up 1 pick for Trubisky still make me cringe (as well as passing on Watson).

That might've been a blessing in disguise, though.

On a side note--anybody else out there had the thought that once Watson finally suits up for the Browns, some defender (maybe one with sisters, or daughters?) says, "To hell with the fines, and the suspensions?"

And then just absolutely DESTROYS Watson with a cheap shot? I can easily see it happening. The Browns are idiots, if you ask me.

[BreadNCircuses]

That trade and the picks traded to San Fran to move up 1 pick for Trubisky still make me cringe (as well as passing on Watson).

That might've been a blessing in disguise, though.

On a side note--anybody else out there had the thought that once Watson finally suits up for the Browns, some defender (maybe one with sisters, or daughters?) says, "To hell with the fines, and the suspensions?"

And then just absolutely DESTROYS Watson with a cheap shot? I can easily see it happening. The Browns are idiots, if you ask me.

Even there, I'm ok with the thought process, -- what we gave up to move from 3 to 2 (and, in theory if not in fact prevent someone else from jumping in front of us) to take the guy we thought was the best QB in the draft would have been acceptable if we'd hit. The team just ultimately picked the wrong guy. In hindsight, if that draft were replayed, Mahomes goes #1 overall without a question, but I'm not convinced Watson goes #2. Had we made the exact same move, gotten Mahomes, there would have been a similar media shitstorm, but after the fact it would have been seen as maybe the most important move in franchise history.

I continue to suspect that Watson's behavior didn't start after he became a pro, and if that's the case, I have to believe that some teams sniffed something out in their background investigations and added a risk flag to him, which would have impacted where he was drafted. Certain teams (e.g. the Bengals, Cowbows, and yes, the Texans) are more likely to take a swing at a guy they have character concerns over than others.

[Bearfacts]

I've never been ashamed of the Bears but I also disconnected my emotional attachment to their being a winning organization long ago and replaced it with the far more effective apathy. That won't change until I see some fundamental change in the Bears.

[dplank]

I can never achieve apathy. Especially game day, no chance. It does confuse me to see so many identify as apathetic on a Bears Fan board of all places. How can you spend time posting on a fan board and claim apathy at the same time? Do you have other non interests that you spend message board time on?

[Heinz D.]

Even there, I'm ok with the thought process, -- what we gave up to move from 3 to 2 (and, in theory if not in fact prevent someone else from jumping in front of us) to take the guy we thought was the best QB in the draft would have been acceptable if we'd hit. The team just ultimately picked the wrong guy. In hindsight, if that draft were replayed, Mahomes goes #1 overall without a question, but I'm not convinced Watson goes #2. Had we made the exact same move, gotten Mahomes, there would have been a similar media shitstorm, but after the fact it would have been seen as maybe the most important move in franchise history.

I continue to suspect that Watson's behavior didn't start after he became a pro, and if that's the case, I have to believe that some teams sniffed something out in their background investigations and added a risk flag to him, which would have impacted where he was drafted. Certain teams (e.g. the Bengals, Cowbows, and yes, the Texans) are more likely to take a swing at a guy they have character concerns over than others.

I was fine with the trade up for Trubisky (even though I preferred Watson as a prospect), and I've never bought into the "Pace was fleeced" narrative--as we simply don't know if that's the case, and probably never will. The Browns may well have been looking to trade up to #2. A couple of talking heads claiming otherwise (with no real proof to back that up) ain't enough to convince me.

And I think you may be right about the character concerns surrounding Watson...although, obviously, if that was the case, there was a concerted effort by the league to keep that quiet.

Full disclosure--I'm a white guy who's about the farthest thing from a racist you'll ever come across. Others already on this board can vouch for that.

Why do I bring this up? I truly think that Watson's character concerns were buried by the league, as THEY didn't want to seem racist by judging him "too" harshly. (So, Pace had some big red flags the general public was not privy to.) I hope...well, first of all, that Watson doesn't get absolutely destroyed on field next year, but beyond that, gets himself together, psychologically. The league is certainly better with Deshaun Watson in it.

[Heinz D.]

I can never achieve apathy. Especially game day, no chance. It does confuse me to see so many identify as apathetic on a Bears Fan board of all places. How can you spend time posting on a fan board and claim apathy at the same time? Do you have other non interests that you spend message board time on?

With you there, dude!

My apathy for the Bears begins when I'm six feet under. And maybe not even then. Who really knows, right?

[UOK]

I can never achieve apathy. Especially game day, no chance. It does confuse me to see so many identify as apathetic on a Bears Fan board of all places. How can you spend time posting on a fan board and claim apathy at the same time? Do you have other non interests that you spend message board time on?

I have a job, a wife, two dogs, numerous friends and family, video games, movies and shows, blogs and hobbies, etc etc - all of which bring me infinitely more joy and satisfaction than anything the Bears have mustered. I’m delighted when they put some pieces together and are fun, but 3 hours a week for 5-6 months adds up, especially when the Bears are their usual middling/boring/terrible selves.

I watch as much as I can, but I have given them over 20 years of my attention, and all I have to show for it is a handful of playoff teams, and a runner up trophy.

I care about the Bears greatly, and I’ll certainly tune in and give them a slice of my enthusiasm as always, but to get worked up about them, to let them bring frustration, anger, and disappointment into my home? Nah. I’ve let them do that for decades now.

If that makes me, in the eyes of some, a lesser fan, so be it. I run this board because I have the time and enjoy being an admin of a forum. Discussing the Bears, especially after the endless agonies of dumb debate regarding Jay Cutler and Mitch Trubisky, took it all out of me.

It’s the same old shit, all the time, always. And I’ll leave that up to you all, and whatever the Bears do, the Bears do, and I’ll be there all the while to observe it, but they’ll not get my whole heart again until they prove they’re not a bullshit franchise.

[Bearfacts]

I can never achieve apathy. Especially game day, no chance. It does confuse me to see so many identify as apathetic on a Bears Fan board of all places. How can you spend time posting on a fan board and claim apathy at the same time? Do you have other non interests that you spend message board time on?

Apathy, in this case is more or less a defense mechanism against being overly invested in needing to have a winning team. It's been very useful throughout most of the McCaskey Era. My loyalty to the Bears should never be questioned. After all how many others here can lay claim to what I endured for about 18 years of living in and around Green Bay as an ardent Bears Fan.

Let's add to that two daughters and a grandson who are ardent Packer Fans and dozens of friends and classmates from Wisconsin who are also ardent Packer Fans. They couldn't convert me no matter how much they tried and although I've lived in Colorado for 40 years I've never favored the Broncos over the Bears either. Not even as multiple Super Bowl winners.

So.......my belief is that by now I'm entitled to my own feelings.

And yes I do spend some time on non-sport message board where no one else seems puzzled by my apathy about certain things those members are all hot over. I haven't always been apathetic and I may not always be apathetic towards the Bears but that emotion or lack thereof seems to describe my attitude pretty well. There are so many more important things to be concerned with.

[The Marshall Plan]

I can never achieve apathy. Especially game day, no chance. It does confuse me to see so many identify as apathetic on a Bears Fan board of all places. How can you spend time posting on a fan board and claim apathy at the same time? Do you have other non interests that you spend message board time on?

With you there, dude!

My apathy for the Bears begins when I'm six feet under. And maybe not even then. Who really knows, right?

This franchise has some sort of witches' spell on me or something.

I gave up on the Cubs after 2003.

I hated the Bulls only until this very season because of what that asshole Krause did to Jordan, Jackson and Rodman.

Yet year in and year out this franchise shits in my mouth and I call it Thanksgiving Dinner. Why? What is wrong with me? Probably a lot. But there has to be a name for this?

I still yell at the TV. Scream and swear.

I've missed or been late to funerals, weddings, and who knows how many family events to watch the game. When we play on Thanksgiving I eat in the living room by myself and ignore my family.

My best friend's sister got married almost 20 years ago on a Sunday where we were playing the Raiders. I snuck a Walkman into the church and listened to the game in the back row.

I think it all goes back to my childhood. I was a little kid when we won it all in '85 so I grew up around the legit Monsters Of The Midway. I met Mike Ditka at a Carson Pirie Scott. Walter Payton numerous times at the Chicago Auto Show. A random Bears player would be at a grocery store or a hardware store to promote something and my Mom would take me to meet them.

And you know what? Every single one of them. All of them. The nicest people you'd ever meet. I was probably 8 years old when I met Ditka. I was terrified because he was the guy that screamed and yelled all the time. He let me see the Super Bowl ring. He was great.

[UOK]

Yet year in and year out this franchise shits in my mouth and I call it Thanksgiving Dinner.

I’ll address the rest of your post later, but for now I’m struggling not to laugh my ass off in bed, as I’ve never heard this expression before and it’s cracking me up.

[Grizzled]

If that makes me, in the eyes of some, a lesser fan, so be it. I run this board because I have the time and enjoy being an admin of a forum.

However much you want to put into the Bears is a personal decision influenced by many things as you so aptly put. It doesn't make you a lesser fan. I see college games with fans stripped to the waist, painted in team colors, etc. etc. Do I consider them superfans? Another word comes to mind that they need to get more out of life.

[Yogi da Bear]

To each their own.

I don't judge other fans. For myself, when I should be embarrassed, like the Halloween Game or watching Trestman's defense or going through one win for a year, I force myself to watch it to the end until I feel only disgust and anger. A whole helluva lot of anger. My kid's the same way. I have to make sure he doesn't put any holes in the walls. lol

[UOK]

Apathy, in this case is more or less a defense mechanism against being overly invested in needing to have a winning team. It's been very useful throughout most of the McCaskey Era. My loyalty to the Bears should never be questioned. After all how many others here can lay claim to what I endured for about 18 years of living in and around Green Bay as an ardent Bears Fan.

Let's add to that two daughters and a grandson who are ardent Packer Fans and dozens of friends and classmates from Wisconsin who are also ardent Packer Fans. They couldn't convert me no matter how much they tried and although I've lived in Colorado for 40 years I've never favored the Broncos over the Bears either. Not even as multiple Super Bowl winners.

So.......my belief is that by now I'm entitled to my own feelings.

And yes I do spend some time on non-sport message board where no one else seems puzzled by my apathy about certain things those members are all hot over. I haven't always been apathetic and I may not always be apathetic towards the Bears but that emotion or lack thereof seems to describe my attitude pretty well. There are so many more important things to be concerned with.

Being a Bears fan in the Green Bay area must've been obnoxious, but in my personal experience with the rivalry, it's far easier to hate the person than the team. Like I don't like the Packers at all, but I *hate* Aaron Rodgers. I hated Brett Favre. I hate a lot of their players, because they're the ones who make my Sundays against them miserable, not the fans. Fans of the Packers are the same as the fans of the Bears, just in different colors and a larger degree of good fortune.

That said, I would get irritable right-quick if I had to see Packers horseshit everywhere all the time.

I still yell at the TV. Scream and swear.

I've missed or been late to funerals, weddings, and who knows how many family events to watch the game. When we play on Thanksgiving I eat in the living room by myself and ignore my family.

My best friend's sister got married almost 20 years ago on a Sunday where we were playing the Raiders. I snuck a Walkman into the church and listened to the game in the back row.

I think it all goes back to my childhood. I was a little kid when we won it all in '85 so I grew up around the legit Monsters Of The Midway. I met Mike Ditka at a Carson Pirie Scott. Walter Payton numerous times at the Chicago Auto Show. A random Bears player would be at a grocery store or a hardware store to promote something and my Mom would take me to meet them.

And you know what? Every single one of them. All of them. The nicest people you'd ever meet. I was probably 8 years old when I met Ditka. I was terrified because he was the guy that screamed and yelled all the time. He let me see the Super Bowl ring. He was great.

I used to be the yell-and-scream guy about the Bears. My brother's still that way, and likely always will be. That's how many fans are across all of sports. It's simple passion. That said, I'm the type of person who despises being around others while watching sports.

I see college games with fans stripped to the waist, painted in team colors, etc. etc. Do I consider them superfans? Another word comes to mind that they need to get more out of life.

The way I see that is if it's not hurting anybody, more power to them. But to get into a genuinely angry argument with somebody over sports, especially while drunk, is one of the most embarrassing, cringey things I can imagine.

I don't judge other fans. For myself, when I should be embarrassed, like the Halloween Game or watching Trestman's defense or going through one win for a year, I force myself to watch it to the end until I feel only disgust and anger. A whole helluva lot of anger. My kid's the same way. I have to make sure he doesn't put any holes in the walls. lol

Fans punching walls and breaking stuff should be a phase, not a tradition. I hope people always grow out of that. If they don't, yikes.

[dplank]

Grown men fighting at sports events is peak stupidity IMO. I yell at the TV when watching at home, but when I’m at a game I basically just sit there quietly and cheer when good plays happen.

Also never understood the whole cosplay element either, dressing up or face/body paint. Just, why?

Then David Puddy told us why

[Yogi da Bear]

I'll have you know that I haven't broken anything because of the Bears in at least eight months. lol

[BreadNCircuses]

I truly think that Watson's character concerns were buried by the league, as THEY didn't want to seem racist by judging him "too" harshly. (So, Pace had some big red flags the general public was not privy to.) I hope...well, first of all, that Watson doesn't get absolutely destroyed on field next year, but beyond that, gets himself together, psychologically. The league is certainly better with Deshaun Watson in it.

I think it's always the case, unless it's unavoidably public (e.g. charges filed, suspensions, news stories). The league is in the business of selling a spectacle. The teams are in the business of building teams and finding talent that isn't likely to self-destruct -- the content of the private background investigations almost never surface into the media unless someone who paid for that investigation specifically sees value in leaking it.

[thunderspirit]

To each their own.

I don't judge other fans.

Pretty much this. As long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, enjoy the game however you wanna enjoy it.

[The Marshall Plan]

I'll have you know that I haven't broken anything because of the Bears in at least eight months. lol

True Story:

Before I redid my house I had an eight person hot tub inside. This used to be by a big screen TV.

I'm watching the game (I can't remember which one specifically) and having McDonald's for lunch at the same time. This would've been during the John Fox Era or late Trestman.

We wound up losing a close one and I got so pissed I threw a Diet Coke and it went into the area where the hot tub was.

I forgot about the Diet Coke. A week goes by and I see a trail of ants coming from the area of the hot tub into the living room where the TV is. I went up there and found the Diet Coke container.

Now that my kid is older I don't throw things anymore. It's too immature for my tastes given that I'm a father. However I still swear like a sailor. That won't stop.

[The Marshall Plan]

Grown men fighting at sports events is peak stupidity IMO. I yell at the TV when watching at home, but when I’m at a game I basically just sit there quietly and cheer when good plays happen.

Also never understood the whole cosplay element either, dressing up or face/body paint. Just, why?

Then David Puddy told us why

I've never painted myself for a game, but I paint my face as Gene Simmons when I see KISS in concert.

LOL, KISS brings it out in me.

[Cartman]

I've never felt ashamed (or cried for that matter) over the Bears. But I have gotten to the point that I think I'm done with the team. Never gotten that far before. But at this point, it's just been too much. I wasn't excited about the draft. When I saw they ignored the Oline until the 5th round, something just switched off. I'm sitting here thinking, they trade up to get their "Franchise" QB last year. They let their best offensive lineman leave, they have no marquee WR for Fields to throw to. It doesn't appear they've drafted any immediate starters to protect him. This team will not score at all in 2022 and I doubt Fields will make it through the season healthy. How can you hang your offense out to dry like that. And then it occurred to me, the ownership doesn't really care. So why should I?

In case any of us forgot, here is their record over the last 9 years. It hardly inspires hope.



At this point, I think I'm done. I'm not embarrassed. I'm not ashamed. I'm not sad. I'm just disappointed and frustrated. Why follow a team that can't put a winning product on the field? Abuse me all you want. But I've been a diehard fan for 40 years. The McCaskey's have taken enough of my time and money. Time to stop following one team and just follow football in general. I guess you can only kick a dog so many times before he learns.

[Bearfacts]

Apathy, in this case is more or less a defense mechanism against being overly invested in needing to have a winning team. It's been very useful throughout most of the McCaskey Era. My loyalty to the Bears should never be questioned. After all how many others here can lay claim to what I endured for about 18 years of living in and around Green Bay as an ardent Bears Fan.

Let's add to that two daughters and a grandson who are ardent Packer Fans and dozens of friends and classmates from Wisconsin who are also ardent Packer Fans. They couldn't convert me no matter how much they tried and although I've lived in Colorado for 40 years I've never favored the Broncos over the Bears either. Not even as multiple Super Bowl winners.

So.......my belief is that by now I'm entitled to my own feelings.

And yes I do spend some time on non-sport message board where no one else seems puzzled by my apathy about certain things those members are all hot over. I haven't always been apathetic and I may not always be apathetic towards the Bears but that emotion or lack thereof seems to describe my attitude pretty well. There are so many more important things to be concerned with.

Being a Bears fan in the Green Bay area must've been obnoxious, but in my personal experience with the rivalry, it's far easier to hate the person than the team. Like I don't like the Packers at all, but I *hate* Aaron Rodgers. I hated Brett Favre. I hate a lot of their players, because they're the ones who make my Sundays against them miserable, not the fans. Fans of the Packers are the same as the fans of the Bears, just in different colors and a larger degree of good fortune.

That said, I would get irritable right-quick if I had to see Packers horseshit everywhere all the time.

In that era UOK neither the Bears or the Packers were winning all that much. Minny was dominating the NFCN. But.....Packer Fans will always be who and what they are. If they lost it was because of the refs or we beat you badly but we gave the game away or some other fantasy they'd come up with to rationalize away the fact that GB was not a very good football team either.

I moved from GB to Madison around 1981 and to Colorado in 1983 so that by the time the Bears were dominating the NFCN and GB I was no longer there to gloat. Once the '90s and Brett Favre appeared it was all over for the Bears and IMHO whatever imagined bad calls GB had been getting before swung 180 degrees in the opposite direction so that John Madden could constantly praise Farve and not look like an idiot doing it. Farve's interception % is identical to Cutler's and his TD ratio only slightly higher but he's Brett Favre and won far more games with far better support. But I digress. This isn't about either of those two former QBs.

For the last 30 years GB has enjoyed two HOF level QB in a QB driven league while all we've had to enjoy ( ) is an occasional presser with either GMcC and Teddy Bears and the GM of the moment telling us how they planned to make things better going forward and of course never did because they never really knew how to do it or hold anyone accountable for not doing it. It took Phil Emery's total incompetence to get them to make a move and then screwed that up too by manipulating Pace into hiring Fox. While the Bears may not be the worst team in the NFL historically they have been one of the worst managed teams due to the McCaskey's.

But it's the dawn of a new day......or so we'd like to believe. Let's see whether or not it is truly that.

[dplank]

I've never felt ashamed (or cried for that matter) over the Bears. But I have gotten to the point that I think I'm done with the team. Never gotten that far before. But at this point, it's just been too much. I wasn't excited about the draft. When I saw they ignored the Oline until the 5th round, something just switched off. I'm sitting here thinking, they trade up to get their "Franchise" QB last year. They let their best offensive lineman leave, they have no marquee WR for Fields to throw to. It doesn't appear they've drafted any immediate starters to protect him. This team will not score at all in 2022 and I doubt Fields will make it through the season healthy. How can you hang your offense out to dry like that. And then it occurred to me, the ownership doesn't really care. So why should I?

I hear you man, the only thing more frustrating for me is listening to fans justify it. But what the hell, at this point I’m gonna settle in for the rebuild and see what happens.