Posted by Bud on September 19, 2009 at 13:53:45:
The legendary Chicago radio & TV sports host, Chet Coppock, talks about seeing the Bears' home opener for 59 consecutive years in today's Chicago Sun-Times:
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59 home openers, and still counting
September 19, 2009
BY CHET COPPOCK
When the Bears go to work Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, for most folks in attendance it will be just another day in the house that Ted Phillips built after Michael McCaskey fumbled the renovation project so badly that mommy Virginia should have left him face down afloat in the Chicago River.
For me? Much different feel. My boyhood hero George Halas could never lay claim to this. I'm not sure if anybody can. I will be attending my 59th consecutive Bears home opener.
That tells you a few things: One, I came out of the womb wondering why Sid Luckman had begun to lose arm strength. Two, I knew the legacy of Red Grange before I had my first tricycle. Three, before I knew the alphabet, I knew about a jet stream wide receiver named Harlon Hill. Harlon, if you're scoring at home, is the most overlooked player in Bears history, a guy who averaged more than 20 yards a catch running down George Blanda's and Eddie Brown's bombs.
Dare I say Harlon was slightly more gifted than Devin ''I'm confused'' Hester?
Sound like fun? It has been. But it does come with a few pieces of heavy baggage. I recall vividly telling my ex-wife Anna how proud I was when I attended my 45th consecutive home opener.
Her response was beyond heartwarming. As I recall, Anna said, ''That shows just how limited your life has really been.''
The former Mrs. Coppock remains on my alimony payroll through 2010, and that, quite frankly, hasn't done me a lot of favors under the salary cap.
My streak began Oct. 24, 1951, when the Bears toppled the long-gone New York Yanks 24-21. I would like to say the day was special, but it really wasn't for a simple reason. My old man bet the Bears minus-8. As Vince Lombardi or Jakey ''The Lakey'' Cerone once said, ''Covering isn't everything, it's the only thing.''
Dad was do darn obsessed with the Bears that he went to his grave screaming that Ed Brown and Zeke Bratkowski ranked above motherhood and apple pie on his all-time list.
A few scraps from the opening day notebook.
* * OCT. 6, 1963: En route to an NFL championship, the Bears, under a blazing sun, beat the Baltimore Colts 10-3 in a game as listless as it sounds. The crowd was described as mostly drunk and disorderly.
* * 1975: THIS WAS A DANDY. The Bears lost to the Baltimore Colts 35-7. Bobby Douglass took the punch. Douglass, who could have been All-Pro at about seven positions but had no grasp on the NFL ''back of center,'' and, shall we say, no receivers, was cut by general manager Jim Finks the next day. After that cruelest cut, Bobby the Blond Bomber told a sportswriter that ''Jim Finks was so cold he could chill a case of beer by placing it next to his heart.''
* * 1987: WRESTLEMANIA COMES TO MNF. The Bears, in a showdown between clubs that had won the previous two Super Bowls, crushed Bill Parcells and the Giants 34-19. Dennis McKinnon was the shining star. Silky ''D'' returned a punt 94 yards to the house. It was, and this includes the magic of Sayers, Payton and Neal Anderson, the single most athletic play I've ever seen at Soldier Field or good old Wrigley Field.
* * 1996: THE WORLD CHAMPION DALLAS COWBOYS with their offensive line in tatters came limping into Soldier Field and were mugged by the Bears 22-6. Wise guys knew the win really carried no special value. The 'Boys didn't have the bodies to make it a show. Bears fans -- and this is tradition -- went delirious. Guess who had the hook? The Bears finished the season 7-9.
* * 1979: THE BEST OF THE WORST or the Worst of the Best. I was handling public address when the Bears knocked off Green Bay in an offensive thriller 6-3. I think ''futility'' is the word best used to describe an event that had to turn at least a dozen spectators into soccer fans.
So on Sunday ... the big 5-9. Sorry, while I hum ''Bear Down Chicago Bears,'' I have to go with the chalk.
Call it Pittsburgh 24, Bears 20.
Chet Coppock's book Fat Guys Shouldn't Be Dancin' at Halftime will be in book stores Sept. 28. It can also be purchased early online through a 40% discount link posted earlier here on chicagomedia.org.