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10:24 p.m. - 2007-01-23 A Story from 20 years agoWell thank you all for your nice notes congratulating Chicago's big win, especially Shear-Madnez on her gracious note, considering that it was the Saints whom the Bears beat. Actually though, to be honest�.I personally am not that big a football fan�.As a matter of fact, I don�t even understand football. The closest I get to it is every Sunday during the season when my husband dons his Bears sweatshirt and decorates our living room with everything he has collected over the years that says �Bears� on it, and I have to listen to shouts of �PICKED OFF� and �TOUCHDOWN BEARS� followed by a THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP on whatever hard surface is within his reach. What I enjoy is the atmosphere that takes over Chicagoland when one of our sports teams wins the rare championship or playoff. Us Chicagoans aren�t used to our sports teams winning things. I mean, come on�.we are home to the Chicago Cubs�the doormat�s of the National League and bearers of the curse bestowed upon them by Billy Goat Tavern owner Billy Sianis in 1945 when they wouldn�t let him bring his goat into the last World Series game the Cubs have had the pleasure in playing in...and I might add...lost. The fact is, Chicago is still celebrating Super Bowl 20 which was the last time we went to the Super Bowl, 21 years ago and you�d think there�s never been a Super Bowl since. Every Chicagoan remembers the Super Bowl Shuffle like it was yesterday. Ah Yesterday��.take a trip back in time with me will you. (Making odd undulating time machine noises while the room spins around and a spiral appears before you, pulling you through it and back into 1985.) Daughter Michelle�now an old lady of 26 was a 5 year old kindergarten student with morning kindergarten. I worked part time and got off of work just in time to pull up to the house as the school bus was dropping my little bundle of joy off. It was the day the Bears were coming home from the Super Bowl, which was played in New Orleans by the way, to a ticker tape parade downtown Chicago. I pulled up, Michelle got off the bus and we didn�t even bother going inside. Listening to the talk of the festivities planned downtown on the radio, I just buckled her into her booster seat and said��Come on�we�re going downtown.� There were millions of people there and everyone in a festive, cheerful mood. There were people clinging to the tops of lamp posts and kids on the shoulders of their parents. There was shredded paper falling all around us from the tall skyscrapers. The buses bearing our heros rolled through to screams and cheers and more and more and more shredded paper. A shredded paper blizzard . The buses rolled through and most of the crowd ran after them following to the point about a mile down where speeches were to be given and I believe there was going to be some music too. Michelle and I just let the crowd go, we came to see the buses and the tickertape parade and that was enough for us. Several other people remained too, standing almost waist deep in the biggest pile of shredded paper I have ever seen in my life. It was one of those rare times where you feel such brotherhood and camaraderie with complete strangers. We had wadded up paper fights with people we didn�t know. Michelle was giggling uncontrollably as she ran up to a young man and threw a wad at him. He scooped up an armful and dumped it on her head and ran. She ran after him with an armful of her own and all you could see was this little blond peanut�s head above all this paper. All of a sudden, like from out of the very cement the buildings are made of, appeared these little blue bobcats. They started scooping up that paper and those streets were clear faster than you could say �Go Chicago.� Michelle and I left for our car and I will always remember that as one of the most spontaneously fun things I have ever experienced. OK�.you can take the next spiral thingy back to the present....thanks for coming along. P. I. Yarnsmith.
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