Bears Score 31 Points. And Win

Since I moved to Chicago, the Bears haven’t given their fans much to root for.  Devin Hester running back the opening kickoff for a touchdown in Super Bowl XLI in 2007 was an electrifying highlight, but there have been few winning seasons and little offense ever since.

The comings and goings of quarterbacks has been a particular source of pessimism among Bear fans. Recent first-round draft picks Mitch Trubisky and Justin Fields started with promise but fizzled out, giving the Bears the reputation for the place where quarterbacks (not to mention receivers) go to die.

The latest hope is Caleb Williams, the first choice overall in last year’s draft. He had a rough rookie year, sacked 58 times, leading to the firing of offensive coordinator Shane Waldron and head coach Matt Eberflus. 

This year, with former Detroit Lions play-calling wizard Ben Johnson as head coach, the Bears enjoyed rare pre-season optimism. The bubble seemed to burst after a last minute loss to Minnesota and giving up 52 points to Johnson’s old team in week 2. Both opposing quarterbacks won offensive player of the year thanks to the Bears’ defense.)

This week the Bears faced the Dallas Cowboys at Soldier Field (above), another storied franchise with little recent success. 

Before the game started, Fox showed the end of the Jets game against Tampa Bay. The Jets were my team as a kid but since Super Bowl III (1969) they’ve been hard to root for. The Jets gave up a fourth quarter lead and lost on a last-second field goal, reminding me why I mostly keep my Joe Namath jersey in the closet.

The Bears did better, In the first half, they scored on a long pass to Rome Odunze and then an unlikely flea flicker to Luther Burden III. Caleb Williams' pass flew 62.1 yards in the air according to Next Gen stats, the longest throw of the year.

By the end of the game, the Bears had scored 31 points–a landslide for them–and Williams had four TDs. (That triggered free hot dogs at The Wiener’s Circle, the notoriously hostile Chicago hot dog joint.)

Oh yeah, the Bears won. I remember once the Mets scored 19 runs and everyone asked "did they win?"

So . . . are  the 1-2 Bears worth watching? Do they have a shot at a decent season? Do they finally have a quarterback? Folks calling in to sports radio are skepitcal, but maybe this time. . .

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Cal Raleigh, the switch-hitting catcher for the Seattle Mariners is setting home run records and might be the AL MVP.

He’s also inspiring new food items at the ballpark. 

At T-Mobile Park they’re selling Lil’ Dumpers, a play on Raleigh’s nickname, the Big Dumper (after his ample posterior). Lil; Dumpers are hot and fresh steamed pork dumplings served with sesame and hoisin sauce, according to MLB.com.

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One of the coolest things about minor league baseball is the funky  team names and logos. 

Next season, the Ontario Tower Buzzers will be playing  in the California Leagues as a single-A affiliate of the Dodgers.

First of all, no it’s not Ontario in Canada. Ontario is a town in California' s San Bernardino County.

That Ontario has a legacy of aviation. It is home to an international airport and back in the 1940, Ontario’s airport was an operations base for the Army Air Corps.

According to MLB.com, that’s where the new team name comes from. Remember in Top Gun, when Tom Cruise buzzed the tower, rattling the windows and spilling coffee? Cruise did that again in Top Gun Maverick. That’s what the team is going for.

The Tower Buzzers’ mascot will of course be a goofy looking bee named “Maverick.”

The team had an event hosted by Mario Lopez to announce the team’s new name and  8,000 people showed up. Also in attendance were Dodgers broadcaster Jaime Jarrín and former players Steve Sax, Bill Russell, Eric Gagne and Joe Kelly.  There was a drone show and rock band Ozomatli performed.

The team hasn't started to play yet, but merch is already on sale. Go Tower Buzzers.