[CBFF] All Is Not Lost

[Tom Shannon]

http://bloggeddrain.typepad.com/cbff/2007/11/all-is-not-lost.html

by Tom Shannon

There was a time, seemingly a very long time ago, when I would use the
bye week to write something encouraging for Bear fans.  It was almost
a given that they were losing and I would tell them that, even though
they were stuck with John Shoop or Dave Wannstedt, that there was much
to be proud of, even in continued defeat.

How times have changed.  They've changed with our expectations.  After
two straight playoff appearances, including one trip to the Super
Bowl, effort in defeat seems to be little comfort for most - including
the players.  But it seems to me to be time to remind everyone that,
despite the disappointments, the effort was still there the vast
majority of the time, especially on defense.  And though it may be
little enough to grab onto, it was an almost heroic first half in a
lot of ways.

Consider the case of Tommy Harris.  The guys goes into the season with
an iffy hamstring and promptly injures his knee.  Does he beg off?
Does he sit on the sideline and nurse the injury while his teammates
fight for their football life every week?  The hell you say.  He goes
out and suffers and plays with it because he knows that with other
injuries they are already short handed.  He also knows that, even
injured, he's better than the other guys on the line.  Brian Urlacher
has an arthritic back.  In constant pain every week he goes out and
fights for his team.  Does he get praise for this?  The hell you say.
People everywhere, including here, criticize his play as not being up
to his superior standards.

It's cases like this that have typified our Bears for as long as I've
lived.  It's not just about wins.  It's about sacrifice.  It's about
effort.  It's about guts.

Is it enough?  I'll say this.  There's still talent on this team and
as long as it continues to play hard, as long as it's fortified by the
character of players like Harris, Urlacher and Olin Kreutz, it's still
very possible that they'll make the playoffs.  The defensive play is
coming around and getting better.  Offensive coordinator Ron Turner
sat down over the break and reviewed the tapes of every game.  He said
that without the excess in turnovers, the Bears would be 6-2.

William Hazlitt once wrote, "Man is the only animal that laughs and
weeps, for he is the only animal that is struck with the difference
between what things are and what they ought to be."  I don't know what
will be.  But I know that if there's anything to be said for the
triumph of the human spirit, the Bears will March into the playoffs,
go to Arizona in February and win that damned trophy.

-- 
Appreciation is a wonderful thing: It makes what is excellent in
others belong to us as well.
            -- Voltaire