Charles Rex Arbogast/Associated Press
Visitors pose for pictures with the bronze lions fitted with oversized Bears helmets that stand outside the Art Institute of Chicago yesterday. The Bears will take on the Indianapolis Colts in the Super Bowl at Miami’s Dolphin Stadium on Sunday.
“Bears would likely win any encounter with colts in the wild.”
No NFL team that plays its home games in a domed stadium — as the Indianapolis Colts do — has ever won a Super Bowl game outdoors.
Not that this means anything whatsoever to any of us, but I thought I’d mention it anyway as I search, hunt and stretch for tidbits of information that support my theory that the Chicago Bears will upset — or at least stay relatively close to — the Colts in Sunday’s Super Bowl in Miami.
And, hey, you just have to admire a football squad whose coach is named Lovie. What fond memories this name conjures up for me. There’s Thurston Howell III on Gilligan’s Island, gritting his teeth, clenching a tropical drink, relaxing in a bamboo lounge chair, praising his wife, whom he affectionately called Lovey, and muttering something like, “No one can pull the wool over my eyes. Cashmere maybe, but wool, never.”
And, clearly, this little recollection that I’ve chosen to share with you is in no way relevant to Sunday’s Super Bowl. Lovie’s not Lovey, and it turns out that his parents weren’t Gilligan’s Island fans at all.
Thinking they were having a girl, his parents planned to name their baby Lavana, after an aunt. Because that seemed unsuitable for a boy, they went with Lovie instead.
And Lovie loves Rex Grossman, who’s a bad quarterback in the minds of astute football followers and a below-average QB in the minds of those who know little or nothing about football. Grossman completed no touchdown passes and threw four interceptions in a memorable Monday night tilt against the woeful Arizona Cardinals in the past season.
But Lovie has loved, or at least tolerated, Grossman all along because he did just enough to help the Bears get to the Super Bowl. And, believe it or not, Grossman has been more efficient than Indy’s star QB, Peyton Manning, in the post-season. Seriously. Grossman has a better passer rating (75.4 to 66.8), the same number of touchdowns (two) in one fewer game, and five fewer interceptions.
And this Chicago defence, led by linebacker Brian Urlacher, is darned good.
Oh, and one other vital point, courtesy of World Wildlife Fund president Carter Roberts. “Bears would likely win any encounter with colts in the wild,” Roberts suggested, and, heck, Miami can be pretty wild.
So there you have it. Take the Bears plus the seven points and live on the wild side.
