The CSL begins once you understand

I turned 7 in the middle of the 1988 Bears season http://www.thebearslockerroom.com/authentic-brian-urlacher-jersey , which put me right on the cusp of what I call a sports fan’s Conscious Sports Life. the broader context of the games, teams and players who already have you fanatically obsessed. Before the CSL, you get pumped up and ride the emotional waves, but you don’t understand how a team’s momentum fits into its greater franchise story, or sometimes even how a team fits into the league landscape. You don’t really understand that an old player who just came to your team was a star earlier in his career. You don’t really understand that while you’ve been waiting seven years for a championship, your parents have been waiting 37 years and your grandparents have been waiting 67 years.Back to ‘88. My CSL formation period went from probably 1989 (when I started filling in the blanks on the Cubs history because of our division title, and when the “will they or won’t they?” talk around the Bulls began to build) to 1991 (my first CSL championship and the release of Tecmo Super Bowl), with my CSL finalization period running through the end of 1992 (second Bulls championship and my first CSL bad Bears season).In 1988, right on the cusp of that sports fan transformation, I was just beginning to understand the Bears’ history, but mostly that meant hearing my dad talk about the ‘63 championship and remembering Richie Petitbon’s interception.By 1988, the Bears were a sustained powerhouse, albeit with only one championship. We were riding a wave of five straight division crowns. We had the Super Bowl Shuffle and everything around ‘85. We had two other NFC championship games. We entered the playoffs in ‘85, ‘86 and ‘87 ASSUMING we would win a title, and we went into the playoffs in ‘88 with just about the same feeling.Here’s the difference though between a CSL Bears fan in 1988 and a pre-CSL Bears fan in 1988 Womens Leonard Floyd Jersey , such as yours truly. A CSL Bears fan in 1988 knew what happened in the pre-Ditka days. They had the scars from Gibron and Dooley. They knew the horrors of 1-13. They appreciated ‘84-’88 more than I ever could because they understood it better than I possibly could.My mindset was just as real as theirs. But it was limited. And that gave me a supernatural confidence about the Bears that was rooted in truth yet bereft of context.Okay then, let’s talk about the Lions.In my mind, the Lions are one of the two saddest franchises in the NFL, along with the Browns. Those are the only two teams that existed prior to the Super Bowl to never play in a Super Bowl. The Browns last won an NFL championship in 1964, but you have to go back even further to see Detroit’s last NFL title. That would be 1957, the franchise’s third title in six years, and all with Bears-castaway and Hall of Famer Bobby Layne at quarterback, no less.Since 1957, Detroit’s best sustained run of success came in the 1990s with Barry Sanders, Herman Moore, Chris Spielman and a host of average QBs. The Lions went to the playoffs six times between 1991 and 1999, peaking with an appearance in the 1991 NFC championship game.The point is, any fan with any context knows the Lions are like a hermit alcoholic: they pose no danger to anyone but themselves. Bears fans over the age of, I dunno, 15 probably don’t sweat the Lions at all.The problem is that young Lions fans don’t have that context Eric Kush Jersey , and we are now in danger of a new generation of Lions fans growing up believing that they “own the Bears.”Seriously, check out the smack talk Lions fans lay on Twitter and elsewhere about the Bears. Our WCG colleague Aaron Leming is duly fighting back, looking like Neo when he realizes he can control the Matrix.Yet from the perspective of Lions fans, Leming and others like us don’t look like Neo at the end of the Matrix. To them, we look like Neo jumping off the roof on his first attempt and crashing to the ground.Can you blame them? They are 9-1 against us since 2013. Nine and one. That’s five seasons! That’s the equivalent of seven-year-old Jack getting amped in ‘88 because of everything since ‘84!The trend started bothering me entering the first Lions game of 2016. I wrote a piece here called “We need to talk about the Lions,” and sure enough the Bears went out and knocked off Detroit by three points. I thought it was something to build on. Instead it was a blip in a hideous chart.Seriously, look at this madness:Screenshot from Pro Football Reference.The non-head-to-head picture is rough too. Since our last playoff appearance in 2010, the Lions have the edge over us in wins (60-50), playoff seasons (3-0), winning seasons (4-1) and 10-win seasons (2-1).Oh, and here’s the worst one.Last place finishes, NFC North, since 2011:Bears: 4Vikings: 2Lions: 1Packers: 0That’s right: we are the NFC North’s most frequent cellar-dweller since 2011. And with no NFC North team reaching the Super Bowl in that time, a pre-CSL Lions fan actually thinks he/she roots for a WINNER.It’s enough to make you sick.And that’s why I’m stoked for Sunday.One of the best experiences as a sports fan is seeing a young, hungry Stephen Denmark Chicago Bears Jerseys , momentum-shifting team come along and start flipping depressing trends like an Othello board. Obviously there are big trends like winning our first Super Bowl since 1985, reaching our first postseason since 2010 and bagging our first winning record since 2012.Then there are the seemingly smaller yet in many ways more personal trends that speak to the larger experience of fandom. One of those trends is getting the Rodgers monkey off our backs. That’s still to come.Another is digging ourselves out of this embarrassing Lions rut.The Lions problem is real. The change starts Sunday.To my fellow CSL Bears fans, your smiles are coming.---Jack M Silverstein is Windy City Gridiron’s Bears historian, and author of “How The GOAT Was Built: 6 Life Lessons From the 1996 Chicago Bulls.” He is the proprietor of Chicago sports history Instagram “A Shot on Ehlo.” Say hey at @readjack. LAKE FOREST, Ill. (AP) — Chase Daniel promises to be ready to step in at quarterback for Mitchell Trubisky on Thursday when the Chicago Bears play the Detroit Lions.The Bears’ backup might need to clear away some rust.Daniel hasn’t started or played extensively in an NFL game since 2014, and might start for Trubisky because of a right shoulder injury sustained in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s 25-20 Bears victory over the Minnesota Vikings.“This week is a little bit different just because it’s a short week, but I really haven’t changed the way I prepare,” Daniel said. “I prepare like a starter every week, so for me it’s just another game.”Coach Matt Nagy is holding out hope Trubisky can play even without practice.“I’m saying cautiously optimistic, but I can’t make any promises,” Nagy said. “I hope he does. But it’s a day-to-day thing for us.”The Bears had walkthrough type practices Monday and Tuesday, and on Wednesday have meetings before leaving for Detroit.Nagy wouldn’t describe the injury beyond saying Trubisky is ” … in pain, which is normal.”Nagy stressed it isn’t a long-term injury, or one requiring surgery, but the Bears will be prepared if Daniel plays.“I know that Chase Chicago Bears Jerseys 2019 , this is one of the reasons why he’s here, if we get in a situation like this where we have to make a decision one way or the other,” Nagy said. “This is why you have a guy like Chase.“You feel very comfortable with him. Chase understands; he’s the oldest guy on our team (32), so he’s got experience.”Daniel hasn’t thrown a regular-season pass since 2016. He hasn’t thrown more than two passes in a season since 2014 in Kansas City. However, he has extensive knowledge of the offensive system after being in it from 2013-15 with the Chiefs.“Nags and I go way back, he was my position coach for three years in Kansas City, obviously, and we stayed close for my time away,” Daniel said. “Yeah, we have a great relationship, so when it comes to that we trust each other pretty well. So we know what each other likes, and I think we can just roll.”Daniel has a 1-1 record as an NFL starter and has completed 51 of 78 for 480 yards with a touchdown pass and an interception. He also played for the Saints, Chiefs and Eagles.“The No. 1 thing that you learn about Chase when you’re around him is that in a really good way, he’s extremely confident in how he plays because he’s so smart,” Nagy said. “The game is not fast to him when he plays.”Daniel started at the end of the 2013 season on short notice when Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith suffered a lacerated spleen. Daniel completed 21 of 30 for 200 yards and a touchdown in a 27-24 loss to San Diego.“I got called by Andy Reid on Thursday night late Youth Stephen Denmark Jersey , so really that week I only got a red-zone practice on Friday and a walk-through on Saturday,” Daniel said. “So similar timeline (to this week), yeah.”One of Trubisky’s strengths has been his mobility, even if it did land him on the injury report. He leads all NFL quarterbacks in rushing with 363 yards.Offensive coordinator Mark Helfrich sees no reason for play calling to be altered even if Daniel isn’t a scrambler.“They’re not that significantly different,” Helfrich said. “Certainly, you’re going to tailor things to one person or another absolutely, but within the same structure.“We’re not going to change the offense if something happens. You can’t do that.”Trubisky’s best game yardage-wise came against the Lions on Nov. 11; he threw for 355 yards on 23 for 30 with three touchdown passes.Nagy avoided calling the penalized hit by Minnesota’s Harrison Smith on Trubisky a dirty play. Trubisky was struck on the left shoulder but landed on his right shoulder while sliding.“It wasn’t intentional,” Nagy said. “Again, it is football. It is an illegal hit. You always want to look at things from both sides and you hope it’s not malicious.”Trubisky’s slide left something to be desired. He seemed to want to lunge more than slide.“He’s good at it,” Nagy said. “Because he’s running more often than others, there’s different times that he slides and different ways that he slides.“I’ve been around some bad sliders, including Michael Vick, and he’d laugh at it. He couldn’t slide to save his life. We used to go out and put the slip and slide out after practice and try to teach him, and he couldn’t do it.”