At What Point Are You Done With The Bears?

[BaBaBlacksheep]

A fan who gives up on a team wasn’t a fan in the first place.

This is a little meatballish IMO. You don’t need to put a Bears logo on your tombstone to be a “real” fan. Priorities do change for some people.

 

[Rise]

I’ll always be a Bears fan but I can check out and just not spend as much time following them, which usually means I don’t follow the league in general as much until they are worth my time. But switching to another team just wouldn’t work for me.

I did this with the Bulls the last few years I didn’t watch at all, after a couple months I never thought about them and now that they are good again it’s like a brand new entertainment.

 

[Canth]

I will always be a Bears fan. Even as I have moved around the country, I have stayed a Bears fan and have not switched to any other teams. So, that will not ever change.

However, like others have said, if it gets too bad, I will simply spend my time and energy doing something else. I will keep tabs on the team, but I am not going to let them dictate my Sundays.

 

[SlickWilly]

If any Bear fan can make it through the 90’s, like myself, they’ll be in it for the long haul.

 

[remydat]

While I will always be a Bears fan, The Chiefs have become my AFC and 2nd team owing to my living in KC for 5 years includimg when they drafted Mahomes and because I pretend I live in an alternate universe where the Bears drafted Mahomes and changed their uniforms and team name.

 

[nvanprooyen]

I'll never be "done". How well they are doing just impacts how much I care. I still watch the games, but when they are shitting the bed there's a degree of indifference.

 

[abegibronlives]

Haha. Pretty sure I’m not one of those bandwagon people.

We all gotta be what we gotta be.

 

[abegibronlives]

By being a bandwagon jumper, you also miss the build up. There is something to, as a fan, seeing SOMETHING special on your team, even in one area, and the anticipation leading up to the payoff and being on that journey.

For me, that was the last 4 games of 2004 and seeing the defense finally click - and then seeing that this team, which looked awful all year, actually had a Super bowl caliber defense - they just needed to get used to playing in the scheme.

Told everyone that offseason that the Bears would be in the Superbowl in 2 years. Most didn't believe me because a lot of Bears fans thrive on negativity to the point where it stifles their objectivity.

2 years later, and they were Superbowl-bound.

You just don't get that level of satisfaction from bandwagon-jumping...

Yep.

A lot of people jumping on the Bengals bandwagon now, Last year it was the Bills.

With the right people, it can turn around just that fast.

 

[Bearcub13]

I'm not done with the team by a long shot, but I'm done with the ownership. I feel like they have taken something beloved of mine, locked it up in a cage, and forced us to painfully watch it getting tortured. I don't really want to fill their coffers so they can continue to torment us.

There is a point where the fans can initiate changes. The empty seats at Soldier Field in the 90s, led to decent teams in the 2000s. The empty seats at Comiskey Park, led to a new stadium and eventual World Series champions. Because the Cubs were lovable losers, they could still fill Wrigley with folks playing hooky from work and not have to field a good team until people stopped going to the games.

I love this team, and I know what this team can do for the city and it's expatriates around the world. I've been there when this team was dominant and lit up the town. I grew up with us regularly beating the Packers, and easily shutthing down any cheesehead's smack talk. I remember when we were the dominant team in the division. I remember what it's like to feel awesome most mondays, and confident in a bounce back the week following a loss. Because I know how magical that high is, I know what I have been missing out on the last few decades. I want that again.

I agree that is a reasonable way to look at it, the Bears are the winningest team in the history of the NFL, the Bears have the most players in the Hall of Fame, they have the best winning percentage of the original teams (non-expansion). I believe they will cycle back to dominance, I also agree the current management is pretty bad. Go Bears, oh and go Lions this weekend...

 

[Nail Polish]

I see some guys here talking about how bad the 90s were, and the 90's WERE bad. But if you sat thru some of the teams in the 60's and 70's you were well prepared for the 90's!

My favorite 90s story is how Wanny traded Trace Armstrong to the Dolphins because Wanny said Armstrong was washed up.

Then Wanny got fired and was hired by the Dolphins..He traded Armstrong to the Raiders because he said Armstrong was washed up.

Then Wanny got fired by the Dolphins and was out of the NFL

 

[thenewguy]

While I will always be a Bears fan, The Chiefs have become my AFC and 2nd team owing to my living in KC for 5 years includimg when they drafted Mahomes and because I pretend I live in an alternate universe where the Bears drafted Mahomes and changed their uniforms and team name.

I have somewhat adopted a rooting interest in the Chiefs as my AFC team, mostly because they are exciting and just plain fun to watch, and really everything I wish the Bears would become as a product on the field, I have struggled though, as I was spending some time in KC for work for a bit, and just found their fans to be nasty and completely insufferable. Is that your experience or did I catch some bad timing with my encounters?

 

[DrGonzo]

In the last few years I have already become a fair weather fan. I rarely watch the games live and hardly ever watch them recorded if they lose. The next step away from fandom is more likely to be giving up on the NFL completely rather than finding another team to cheer for.

The nice thing about being a Chicago sports fan is there's almost always something interesting going on. Today it's the Bulls, in a few months the Cubs rebuild might capture my attention.

I used to live and die with the Bears but now it just seems like a waste of time and a poor substitute for having a personality.

 

[kalmavet]

I'll never dump them but at this point, it's a very toxic relationship

 

[pseudonym]

If they do not fire Nagy, I will not watch until they do. SOUNDS like he is gone. I'm not a fan of Pace either, but would tolerate him getting one more shot. But really, he should go. I don't want them to ruin Fields. They say Chicago is where QB/WR/TE go to die, and I'd really love to change that. If the NEW coach didn't work with Fields, it might be hard to watch. But I have to imagine that is a PRIORITY, their bonding, play-calling, approach, and drafting.

 

[iueyedoc]

Never done, just varying degrees of interest. Didn't care about wins and losses even a bit this season. Don't care that Rodgers punks the Bears. When ownership shows it cares greatly about winning, I will likely care more.

 

[circusboy666]

NEVER!!!!!! I miss any family get together no matter the occasion on Bears sundays. They all know where my loyalty lies.

 

[Bearcub13]

I lived in northern Illinois until I was a junior in high school, then my family moved to Az. I was a die hard Cubs, Bears, Hawks and Bulls fan. I still live for the Cubs, Bears and Hawks, but after about two years in Az, I became a Suns fan. They weren't very good at the time, but somehow I got caught up in the expansion team aspect and I have been a Suns fan ever since. Now, I still remember Bulls players I rooted for, Bob Love, Chet Walker, Tom Boerwinkle, Norm Van Lier, Jerry Sloan, I loved those guys, to this day I can't explain the switch. As far as the Bears are concerned, they are part of my Illinois DNA, I don't think I could change it if I tried. BTW, I was a huge Cubs fan when they were winning 50 games a year with about that many people in the ballpark. I'm just weird.

 

[abegibronlives]

I'll never dump them but at this point, it's a very toxic relationship

I'm with you there.

It's been a rocky road since '85.

 

[Calabis]

Real men don't quit!

Well its time to be bitches

 

[freddylamar]

Unfortunately never. It’s in my blood like a bad virus that will lead me to a life of agony. I have started to not invest so much emotions in the team as I did in my younger days. I’m also done walking around wearing the Bears gear. No need to publicize my unfortunate taste in teams, lol.