The Link

log on and blog on.

I have really neglected this thing for some time now.  I'm not really sure why.  It just hasn't been a priority lately.  Perhaps that will change. 

My friend Jon has been calling to encourage me to 'log on and blog on' for several months now...so here goes.

Hmm...let's see here....I am no fan of fast food.   Its just not that good.   Unfortunately, sometimes I find myself in situations that dictate I put such things into my body....most recently during the drive back from Thanksgiving festivities in Wisconsin.   We pulled off the freeway and had all the usual suspects to choose from....there was McDonald's, Arbys, Culvers, Taco Bell, Wendy's and on and on and on.   Now for whatever reason, Wendy's seems to seen as a 'safe' bet by many of my friends.   They say its good and somehow different from the rest.   I'm not so sure....

Here is my Baconator.   (when faced with the option to order something called the "Baconator"...the choice seems obvious).   It wasn't the worst thing I have eaten...but certainly didn't look like the picture on the wall....
 

Hmmm...what else.  I saw some dead animals strapped to vehicles....

I don't have anything against hunting....Its just odd to see all those dead beasts strapped to vehicles flying down the road....On Wisconsin!

I had the opportunity to spend some time in a few Wausau-area bars over the holiday.   Normally I wouldn't notice the signs displayed below...but this time, we did.   A friend of mine's girlfriend hails from the east and I understand she found great humor in these things.    "What the hell is a hunter's widow?"  seems to have crossed her mind....

Go Bears!

I am a lifelong fan of the Chicago Bears.   

Growing up in my favorite state Wisconsin, this was difficult at times.  I was the kid wearing the Bear hat/shirt/jersey/Halloween Costume in the middle of Cheeseland, the subject of constant bombardment from friends, teachers, everyone.    I am the guy that wore a Bears hat to Menards in Wausau this last summer, only realizing I had the hat on after noticing menacing glares from customers and paint department employees.

Last year, the Chicago Bears went to the Super Bowl.   And lost.   To a quarterback that looks like a horse.   (horse!)   I made the terrible mistake of watching the game with a flock of Packer fans.   They tormented the hell out of me the entire game, presumably not aware that I had only really wanted to just watch the game and relax.   I decided then and there that I would go to Lambert field the next season with a bag of sugar and walk around sweetening gas tanks.   As you can imagine, that never came to fruition, as I am not crazy or willing to go to jail.    

As any person who isn't a complete dolt (no offense Kannenberg) should realize, Brett Favre is one of the best quarterbacks of all time.   He is tough as nails and truly has fun out there on the field.  In a sports world of shitheads leading dogfighting rings and  pumping themselves full of steroids, Favre is a welcome beacon of light.   Unfortunately for me, he plays for the Green Bay Packers.  How can I heap praise on a man that plays for the worst football team in the NFL?   This question is difficult to answer.  Perhaps it is a question that doesn't need an answer.   Maybe it just is the way it is.

This last season, I watched my beloved team fall and stumble around the field (with a few exceptions, such as beating the Green Bay Packers TWICE, yay!).   I also watched the Green Bay Packers enjoy an unexpected resurgence.  They may be for real.   They may be going to the Super Bowl.      

Under normal circumstances (Bears out, other teams in), I would just slip into apathy.   Who cares who goes to the Super Bowl.   Who cares who wins.  This guy will watch it for the commercials and only hope that it is a good game.   This year, however, I am teetering towards something new and on some level personally repulsive.   I may root for the Green Bay Packers.   I have been wrestling with this thought for a week now and my soul still shakes at the thought.   Let me explain myself here. 

1.  I love Wisconsin.  Wisconsin loves the Green Bay Packers. 
2.  Brett Favre is bigger than Jesus and winning a Super Bowl would be a perfect way for him to retire. 
3.  I really don't like the Patriots.  I don't like Tom Brady (last summer I heard he wears capri pants)

Ok.  So there you have it.  Go Green Bay...

Or not?   Maybe this is the wrong decision.  What about those Packer fans that peck peck pecked at me the ENTIRE Super Bowl last year?   What about the years of scoffs and glares?   What about that one time that the Green Bay Packer lineman Charles Martin took the cheap shot on Jim McMahon in 1986, stifling the Bears chances of going back to the Super Bowl and starting the dynasty we all know they deserved?  Then again, fuck Jim McMahon.   What about the fact that a Bears fan should never root for the Packers?  These are all questions that need to be addressed. 

Many of my friends are Packer fanatics.   These are people that believe the Packers will go to the Super Bowl EVERY year.   I give them credit for their enthusiasm.  I have sent emails to many of these people telling them of my intention to back the Packers this one time.   Many have responded with fair acceptance and welcoming words.  They are letting me into their club for a few weeks.   When I say many, I mean nearly all.  I was just coming to accept that I would be rooting for the Packers to win the Super Bowl, when I got an email from one of my best friends.  And this, my dear Cheeseheads, may have changed everything....

This email contained no words, just a picture.

 

GO BEARS. 

   

vinny rottino

In 1998-99, I lived in an overflow dorm room (converted study hall) with three other guys. 

There was Brendan Clancy Cotter, Rob Savaglio, Vinny Rottino and myself.   

Vinny used to practice his swing and sleep with his baseball glove on.   

Cotter was never far from the binoculars.

And Rob....well he was Rob, frequently physically assaulting friends of mine and trying to strangle Cotter with a rubber cord. 

Fun times! 

Vinny is now a Milwaukee Brewer and I wish I still had his contact info....

outside wrigley last saturday

wish i took these pictures

I had plans to go walk around the city today and take pictures of Bears stuff. 

Too bad it is 100 below zero and there are polar bears everywhere. 

So, instead of trekking to the Art Institute to take pictures of the iconic green lions with Bears helmets on them or strolling casually to the Field Museum to see the giant brontosaurus skeleton with the Urlacher Jersey, I sit here in my apartment afraid to go outside for fear of freezing to fucking death. 

So for your viewing pleasure, here are some wonderful pictures I have come across lately.

bear down!

The Sears Tower, antennae lit up in proper Bears blue and orange...

chicago bears

i love the chicago bears. 

i have been waiting for them to be good again for literally decades. 

i find great joy in the chicago bears and cant wait to see them wipe the colts around the field in miami.

go bears.