A Shift In Focus

Yesterday the regular baseball season came to an end, even though for me it ended a week ago when the White Sox were unceremoniously knocked from their perch as World Champs and cast into the abyss of also rans. Like most sports fans, I was ready for something else to yank me out of my doldrums, and that something has arrived. The Bears.

I was at the game yesterday with all my brothers. If you don't know, the Bears have come out of the gate this season on a tear. They were undefeated going into yesterday's game against the current NFC Champion Seattle Seahawks. Sports geeks and columnists (if I can draw a distinction) were all saying that this was the test for the Bears. They passed with flying colors, opening a can of whoop-ass on Seattle, and putting the Seahawk on the endangered species list. The faithful are being guarded in their optimism. There have been flashes of brilliance in the past, but those proved to be just that, flashes. This team seems to be fully on fire. I haven't booked my rooms in Miami yet, but I have been fitted with my Bear's thong so I can parade around South Beach Super Bowl weekend in style.

As much as I love baseball, there is something primal about going to a football game. My brothers are die hard fans and tailgaters, so we spent four hours before the game eating and drinking in the parking lot. I think it's hilarious to watch tailgaters. The parking lot is filled with guys (there are some women, but most of them look like guys too, although my brothers assure me that if the Bears keep winning, prettier people will arrive.) from all different backgrounds, all wearing blue and orange, laughing, screaming cooking and drinking. It's obvious that this is a passion. Why else would a grown man, who has a presentation the next morning, cover himself in body paint and scream himself hoarse with chants of "How bout them Bears"? There are vans, R.V.s and trucks painted with Bear's logos, full kitchens and bars and guys who have hooked up satellite dishes and generators for their parking lot soiree. The menus vary from the basic to much more elaborate. Yesterday we feasted on smoked ribs, king crab legs, beef tenderloin and chicken livers. Just because you're drunk in a parking lot, doesn't mean you have to give up the finer things.

The Fall is here, and football is in the air. It's one of the benefits of moving back to the Midwest. There was something unsettling about watching football in L.A. when it was 87 degrees. The Monsters of the Midway are back and again lifting the hopes of a city. You'll know I've given myself completely over when I get waxed to better show off my thong. Go Bears! Later...Brian