Super Bowl - Then and Now

In 1986, we didn't think it would take this long. All of us in Chicago watched our beloved Bears beat the snot out of the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX, and with the talent we had on that team, we thought we would be watching them the next year, and probably a few more following that as well. We smelled a dynasty with that 45-10 win. And while the Bears still had several winning seasons after that, they never did get back to the Super Bowl.

Until now. But it's been so long since the first time the Bears were in the Super Bowl, that there isn't anybody there that was before. Well, Ron Rivera is still there. But before he was a linebacker; now he's the Defensive Coach. Virginia McCaskey is still there, but she's getting a little long in the tooth, and come to think of it, she was then too. Her son was running the Bears then, though, and now he's just ... in the background after bumbling too many things, including the Dick Jauron hiring.

I shared my VHS tape of the Super Bowl Shuffle with my 13 year old son. He's wasn't even a sparkle in his daddy's eye yet. The Super Bowl was 3-1/2 years before we got married. One month earlier I had moved out of my parents' house, and into my first apartment. I was dating the man that would become my husband, and he had just finished a semester at Western University, run out of money, and decided to finish up his two year degree on the six year plan. I was working full-time as a computer typesetter at a printing company.

Not only do I find myself explaining to my son how different the '85 Bears were to the '06 Bears, I find myself describing life as being different. At home, we were still playing Atari games. If we wanted something more, we went to an arcade or a restaurant with video games, and played Donkey Kong and Pac Man. We didn't have movies on demand on our cable systems, and had no TIVO or DVDs, but we did have HBO that my husband still says seemed to be playing Superman every time he turned on the TV. We could buy expensive VHS tapes, or we could rent them from a local video store. Must See TV on Thursday nights was just beginning with its concept. Mobile phones were things only rich people had, and even then they were nearly so big they took two hands to hold them.

We watched the Super Bowl at my future in-laws house. That day my future father-in-law came home with a puppy that he knew my future mother-in-law didn't want, and years later when we got married, that dog became ours. In this time of waiting for another Super Bowl, she lived a full life and is now long gone, and the two dogs we adopted as puppies to replace her are already 7.

The Bears are, of course, a much different team now than in 1985. While the two teams have endured comparisons all season, this year's bunch just isn't the controlling, dominating force the previous team was. Many will argue you could never duplicate what was the '85 Bears, either in talent or in character. Nearly every player on the defense was at one time a Pro Bowler, and the offense wasn't too shabby either. Of course, QB Jim McMahon knew how to take care of his blockers. He took his entire line out for a steak dinner weekly, to ensure his own safety.

But McMahon never did anything ordinary, afterall his nickname was the Punky QB. Add to him the other characters on the team, such as the legendary Walter Payton, "Speedy" Willie Gault, William "the Refrigerator" Perry, Steve "Mongo" McMichael, Dan "Danimal" Hampton, Richard "Sackman" Dent, Gary "The Hitman" Fencik, etc., and you had the makings for an unforgettable team. This year's squad only has one big name, and that's Brian Urlacher. His only known character trait, is fathering quite a few children. QB Rex Grossman has been making a name for himself as well, but it's not too favorable as some were questioning his play after a few really bad weeks.

Yet, while they aren't bubbling over with personality, and aren't doing the Shuffle down in Miami, you can't argue that the Bears don't belong there. This trip for them seemed much more inevitable at the beginning of the season as it did later on, but nonetheless they beat some good teams on the way there. A Bears fan through and through, I believed every single year they'd get back to the Super Bowl, until they would be mathematically out of it. So, of course, I'm calling for a Bears win over the Colts.

If you're looking to reminisce a little more about the 1980s, try this siteThat Retro Blog