From: bohnert@leland.Stanford.EDU (matthew bohnert)
Subject: Comments and insight needed from BEARS fans
Organization: DSG, Stanford University, CA 94305, USA
Date: Thu, 8 Oct 92 12:40:13 GMT

Some comments from some old Bears fans are appreciated.....

I've lived in San Fran for the last four years, so I don't
get to see many Bears games.  I'm in Europe now, so it's even worse.
I've watched them slide downhill (at
varying speeds) since the Super Bowl year.  I think Ditka's got to go.
Oh sure, he was a great personality, very entertaining, always good
for a funny TV or radio soundbite, but I just don't think he knows
how to manage personnel. 

The Bears' fundamentals just suck, plain and simple.  Who the hell are
their assistant coaches these days?  Ever since Neal Anderson became a
starter, their special teams are absolutely godawful.  The offensive
line is just that.  The most painful to watch is the tackling on defense!
These guys make mistakes your highschool coach would bench you for...
sloppy arm tackles, biting on every out move, fake, and play action...
overpursuit by the linebackers, it goes on and on, and I can tell these
things just by watching 3 or 4 games a year. 

In the 80's they had so much freaking talent that the above were just
taken for granted.  Buddy Ryan was the real genius on defense.  I don't
know what Ditka did on offense, but basically it was simple running plays
that worked because of Payton and the (then) All-Pro line.  What the hell did
he ever do, except maybe bring a little `fire' to the players?  Hell,
McMahon and Singletary took most of it anyway, or served as go-betweens
between Ditka's ravings and the rest of the team.

Then, they had some good players that were let go because they `wouldn't
listen to Ditka'.  One of my favorites was McKinnon.  This guy was tough,
the biggest badass blocking WR in the league.  Ran back punts, too.
Jeezus, it's 50-50 that whoever receives a punt these days will fumble
the damn thing.

In recent years, it was obvious that they were just holding on,
scraping by with a few fading veterans and, as a result, getting their
butts occasionally whipped by a superior team, ala the 49ers MNF drubbing.
A clutch play would bail them out now and then, like McMichael's fumble
strip.  But now it's all over.  Ditka can yell and yell and it isn't going to
make a rat's ass bit of difference.

They need to get back to what made them great.  First of all, get a
good f***ing general manager.  Vanisi was let go because McKaskey is
a little spoiled brat who wants to pretend he's a football exec.
We need that guy back.  Start drafting quality linemen, intelligent
guys who will play hurt and have good fundamentals.  Get some decent
assistant coaches who aren't afraid to yell at the players when
their fundamentals suck.  I actually liked the Carrier move.  Draft
a solid player (maybe not `spectacular') high, get him signed, and
get him into camp where he can start learning.  Maybe keep Singeltary 
on as an assistant when he retires, I don't know.

In my opinion, both the Steelers and Cowboys hung on to `popular'
managers too long, although that's easy to say in hindsight.  I hope
Chicago doesn't make the same mistake.  Who would do the actual firing,
I wonder?  If it's McKaskey, there's no chance.  He's a complete wimp
and I think Ditka would threaten to beat him up if he didn't want to
go. :-)

Comments, criticism appreciated.

Matt