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Courtesy of Jonathan Bender

It doesn't look like Jonathan's wife, Kate, is cheering for the same team.

At a time when men must choose between being metrosexuals and unabashed chauvinists, the Chicago Bears offer the average guy a chance to appreciate what it really means to be a man. No other team in professional football has maintained its character and understood what drives its fan base better than the Bears. They represent tough-nosed, hard-fought winning, in which will remains as important as athletic talent.

It's no accident that the Bears overcame a 20-point fourth quarter deficit earlier this season against the Cardinals without scoring an offensive touchdown; it's the character of this team. There are no easy wins in Bears football, and that makes them all the sweeter. People credit the New England Patriots with winning ugly, but it was the Bears who, long before they thumped the darlings of the Northeast 46-10 in Super Bowl XX, were only concerned with the scoreboard.

Dick Butkus, Mike Singletary, and Brian Urlacher have made opposing players afraid to step onto the field. They turned defense into a weapon, leading my friend Andy to encourage the Bears to shun offense and get "our point-scoring unit out on the field."

Of course, nobody had a better combination of size and speed than running back Walter Payton. Despite those nightmare-inducing thighs that he bared for Sports Illustrated and "Dancing With The Stars," Emmitt Smith is no Sweetness.
The Chicago Bears transcend football, defining our culture. I wouldn't know how to dance, what to eat, or when it was okay to cry if not for the Monsters of the Midway. The Grammy-nominated "Super Bowl Shuffle" taught me it was OK to bite my lip while I dance. My mom had a crush on Gary Fencik. The SuperFans made "Da Bears," a catchphrase and shortened my lifespan considerably with the introduction of Polish sausages. "Brian's Song," the movie inspired by the friendship between Gale Sayers and Brian Piccolo, has left tearstains on my couch.
Today, pro football is about what have you done for me lately, but the Bears are about what it means to stay the course.

Look for writer Jonathan Bender in a day-glo orange uniform.

Freeman

And yes, Rex Grossman's 18 for 42 passing and three-pick performance was putrid! The only fallible pick was to Jason Taylor who was invisible as "Sexy Rexy" only had eyes for Desmond Clark. Taylor was easy to miss: He is vertically challenged at 6-foot-6, far below Grossman's intimidating height of 5-11 (NFL.com lists him at 6-1, but that must be with cleats and Dr. Scholl's insoles).

BUT ...

Let's throw Rex a bone. It was one loss. The Bears should have learned their lesson against the Cardinals, but no one is perfect. I did not expect them to go 16-0. The Bears lost as a team. The defense was gashed for 162 rushing yards. Devin Hester went from a hero to zero with a fair kick fumble inside the 10-yard-line. The offensive line was manhandled by a strong and athletic Dolphins D-line. Receivers broke off routes as if they were playing streetball. Rex was not the only Bear who struggled.

The winds swirl for Rex's benching, but doing so would be a detriment to his psyche and maturation process. You cannot bench the future of the team just because he struggles. It's like learning that something is hot and will burn if touched. Rex has to learn from his mistakes. Don't just pull him because he makes a few mistakes.

Benching then starting again the next week could lead him to overthink and fear for his job, leading to more mistakes. I don't think any Bears fans want a doppelganger of A-Rod. Rex is a good quarterback with tremendous potential and has much to learn only with experience. Now that he is injury-free, he can get in-game experience rather than watching from the sidelines as a cheerleader.

Dec. 4: I think I may be hearing the footsteps of the Four Horsemen. Despite playing well enough to win against the Giants and Jets, Grossman was a mess against New England (three crippling interceptions) and absolutely putrid against the Vikings (1.3 quarterback rating).

This downward spiral is unbelievable. He is quoted as "thinking too much ... making it more complicated than it is." These are words of a head case. We may have the A-Rod of the NFL right here in Chicago minus the sensitivity to the media and fans. He is not going to play through this slump. He needs to sit for a game or two to refocus. That way he can see the game without being behind center and notice routes, check downs and scrambling opportunities that he has missed. He may not get this opportunity because of Lovie's persistent belief that he will right the ship.

Lovie's confidence in Rex might be the Bears demise. He is exposing his team to the rest of the league. The Bears cannot rely on the defense and special teams to make up for the handful of turnovers, otherwise it will be another short postseason.

Vinnie Freeman is a fan of all things Illinois football.

Courtesy of Alex Ruppenthal

Alex's favorite class might be tailgating.

In Illinois, high school football serves as a reward for a hard week's work. This is a blue-collar state. From metropolitan Chicago to rural central and southern Illinois, people work extremely hard. Friday night (or Saturday afternoon) football is the light at the end of a long tunnel.

I started going to Naperville Central football games in fourth grade, and I've only missed a handful of games since. And I've never even played football.

Going to see your high school football team is just something people young or old do here. That's not to say that the whole town shows up at every game, but there is a fan base that follows the team, year after year after year.

At every game you'll see the students who have watched nearly every game since their freshman year. I think this is the true mark of a strong high school football area. Kids can do a million things on a Friday night, but in Illinois many of them simply enjoy watching high school football.

Rivalries are passionate and exciting here. Each year, when Naperville Central (my school) squares off with cross-town Naperville North, everyone watches. Everyone attends, football fan or not. The game dominates Friday night. Illinois has an abundance of rich rivalries like Naperville's, and the football field is the greatest stage for claiming bragging rights.

People make Fridays or Saturdays an experience and not just a game. At my school, a group of students tailgates before many of the games. My friends and I tailgated before some playoff games this year, and we loved it. What better way to spend your time than grilling burgers and tossing around the pigskin in 30-degree weather?

The dedication of Illinois fans through frigid weather is unbelievable. It gets pretty darn cold here, especially with blustery winds that numb your face in about 10 minutes. But this doesn't deter fans. You won't see much of a difference in game attendance in mild or freezing weather; the stadium is always full.

But more important than any other aspect is the play on the field. I often see more heart and emotion from Illinois high school football players than I do from professionals. Kids here play hard, and they play at a high level.

Illinois may not be Texas or Ohio, but it is certainly one of the top 10, if not top five, football states in the country.