The Bears weren’t the only ones in the Chicago land area to play football on Christmas Eve. A group of 14 guys, most old high school friends of mine played in the 7th annual Bevier Bowl held at Bevier Park in Waukegan, Illinois. The biggest difference between the team that represents the city of Chicago and our guys – we at least showed some fight.
At 10:30 a.m. the ball was thrown off, it may have not been televised but there was still, for a brief amount of time, two people on the sidelines watching the game. Two isn’t that bad considering the Bears had 21,663 vacant seats at Soldier Field and had 39,837 people show up to see the Christmas beat down that the Redskins gave to them, 41-21.
Still, the group of primarily college students came out and played a competitive game. I ended up having two touchdowns on the day, one being a kickoff return that I capped off with high-step into the end zone. That was my last highlight due to the ankle sprain that I suffered and possible knee sprain. Both were self-diagnosed.
But, I sat out for the entire second half until the last two drives of the game.
With the cap set to 15 and each touchdown accounting for one point the game came down to the final closing drives. With both teams tied at 13, I came back in despite the injuries. I wasn’t too effective in the game, but I didn’t need to be because my team ended up getting a score and causing the first turnover of the game – an interception return for the win.
While my team was crowned champions for the 7th annual Bevier Bowl the Bears were in the process of being dethroned in their own stadium. I checked the Bears app on my phone right after the game and saw the Redskins were up 14-0 in the first quarter.
We all know the end result. Old Saint Pick, aka Matt Barkley ended the day with five interceptions, the defense was in the giving mood allowing 41 points and the Bears received their 12th loss of the season.
Don’t you just love the holidays?
But, at least the Bears showed some effort, right? That has been the constant saying from the entire team all season long. Well, that effort has translated to three wins. With less than 10,000 fans still in the stadium for the closing minutes of yesterday’s game, Bears’ fans are getting pretty old of the team just showing effort.
Prior to the game, the Redskins only had eight interceptions on the season – one more than the Bears. The Redskins’ defense hasn’t created many turnovers from interceptions, but somehow managed to get five.
Seems like to me there wasn’t any effort given from the entire team, maybe there were a few exceptions like Jordan Howard. He ended the game with 119 rushing yards, making it his sixth 100-yard rushing game in 12 starts. Howard has 1,178 yards on the season and needs 61 yards against the Vikings to break Matt Forte’s rookie record. Now, Howard is a gift we can all appreciate.
But, I could just be speculating I didn’t watch the entire game or most of it for that matter. I was spending time with family, eating some holiday ham and didn’t mention anything about the Bears. For a lot of my family me not talking about the Bears is the best way to keep up the holiday cheer.
If the Bears get another opportunity to play on Christmas Eve or Christmas next season maybe they will show some more effort and maybe the fans will too by filling the stadium. But, with how the Bears have been playing the fans might be better off heading to Waukegan next year to see a real football game.
Leave a Reply