Why Chicago Must Win Tonight

We all know that Chicago has to win to night for their own good. Being 2-1 is not just the opposite of being 1-2, it is also likely the difference between it being possible for the Bears to take the lead in the NFC North again when they play Green Bay in week 5 and that being a pretty long shot. And probably it will have a big effect on confidence and other things like that, which is way more important that most stat geeks will be willing to admit, as well as way less important than your average NFL head coach will try to convince you of. Especially Herm Edwards.

But I'm more interested in the reasons that Chicago must win tonight for the benefit of the world. First of all, there's this poll at Cold Hard Football Facts, which finds that right now, 49% of their voters think Dallas is going to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Of course, we know that is not going to happen, because it's going to be Chicago. If the Bears win tonight, especially if they do so convincingly, it would go a long way toward changing the minds of many of those poor folks who are living in the haze of the Dallas hype. It might make some of them start to question the information they get from the media, and wonder just why it is that they've been misled to believe that Dallas is truly awesome. Maybe they'll realize that it's largely because the media thinks its good for America if everyone thinks Dallas is a really good team, because Dallas is America's team. Then they'll wonder, "What else has the media misled me about because they believe it is good for America?" They'll start to think that maybe the media has been doing this sort of thing all along. Maybe that's why that thought it seemed like such a good idea to support Bush in the last election, when it obviously has turned out not to be such a good idea. Maybe they'll think that this is exactly the type of thing the media was doing in the run-up to the Iraq war, when most international analysts believed invading Iraq was a terrible idea, but the American media helped its President convince his people that it was a really swell idea. Maybe they'll then embark on a new life of enlightened questioning of received ideas, they'll realize the two party system is what's bringing this country's political world down, that Dane Cook isn't funny, that global warming is a genuine thing that requires immediate collective action like driving less and when they have to using fuel-efficient cars, that Bud Light is actually just piss in a bottle and there are actual beers out there that are palatable. That is the type of world that Chicago could help bring about if they beat Dallas tonight. So, with even greater than normal enthusiasm, right now in my head I'm chanting, "Bear Dooooooooown, Chicago Bears!"