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Since opening on October 9, 1924; Soldier Field hockey happened for the first time in its storied history. 52,000 lucky fans got the chance to be a part of the experience as CCHA rivals 12th-ranked Notre Dame and third-ranked Miami of Ohio began the festivities.
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Celebrations like this should be frequent this year for the Bears.
After the dust had settled following the Bear’s third consecutive season opening win at Soldier Field, there was only one thing going through my mind:
“The Bears are WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!”
But this time, it wasn’t as if Denny Green and the Arizona Cardinals “let us off the hook”.
The Bears couldn’t have had their opening 3 minutes go any worse if they planned to. But the following 45 minutes showed everyone what this team has the potential to do: hang points on people in a hurry, play suffocating defense, and dominate lesser opponents.
People may be quick to point out that the Colts were the worst team in the NFL last year, and that the Bears have gotten out to fast starts before only to flame out when it counts.
But Sunday’s game provided definitive signs to why this success will stick going forward.
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Finally.
After such an incredibly turbulent offseason, perhaps the most turbulent one since infamously moving to Indianapolis in 1984, the Indianapolis Colts finally have a real football game to play today, the first one coached by Chuck Pagano and quarterbacked by Andrew Luck.
A new era. A fresh start.
We certainly won’t learn everything about this majorly overhauled roster after its contest with the Chicago Bears at 1 p.m. at Soldier Field. From what we saw during training camp and preseason action, though, can give us a good idea of what areas to watch specifically as the Colts truly enter a brave new post-Peyton Manning world.
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Will “Da Bears” make a magical 16-0 run in 2012-13?
Week 4 of the preseason is upon us. Veterans and rookies alike will anxiously await the announcement of the final roster in the days following the Bears matchup against the Browns.
The roster will make its way from 75 players down to the final 53, and many fringe players will have to put it all on the line this Thursday to earn the right to continue playing on Sundays.
The final roster is not yet set, but it’s safe to say that this year’s team is one of the most talented groups to don the navy and orange uniforms. Even though the NFC North is one of the most feared divisions in the NFL, general consensus still remains that the Bears will be making a deep postseason run.
But every team’s hopes are high at the moment. Everyone still has a 0 in the loss column and 16 games to play.
So I’ve decided to take an in depth look at the schedule and try to justify the hype surrounding the Bears. I too believe the Bears will win at least 10 games, march into the playoffs, and will hopefully be playing on the Sunday in February that matters most. But maybe I’m just blinded by bias.
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Denis Savard may not have been the perfect coach for the Chicago Blackhawks (but he was a decent bench boss at the time for the team), but he is currently flourishing as the team’s ambassador. The former center was the biggest star on the team in the 1980s, and his stint as coach in the late 2000s helped revive interest in the team.
He just wasn’t the guy to bring them the Cup. But as ambassador, he’s perfect. And I caught up to him last week as he helped unveil the Hockey City Classic, a college hockey double header between the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Miami Red Hawks, Minnesota Golden Gophers and Wisconsin Badgers.
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Outdoor hockey is coming to Soldier Field for the first time in the venue’s legendary history. On Feb. 17, 2013, Soldier Field will play host to the inaugural Hockey City Classic – an outdoor college hockey doubleheader featuring premier programs: University of Notre Dame vs. Miami University and University of Minnesota vs. University of Wisconsin. Game times will be announced at a later date. The Hockey City Classic will be preceded by two weeks of winter festivities, including:
two days of free public ice skating; youth, high school and adult hockey events; private ice rentals; and much more. The Hockey City Classic is being organized by Chicago-based sports and entertainment marketing agency Intersport, in partnership with Soldier Field and the Chicago Park District.
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Outdoor hockey is coming to Soldier Field for the first time in the venue’s legendary history. On Feb. 17, 2013, Soldier Field will play host to the inaugural Hockey City Classic – an outdoor college hockey doubleheader featuring premier programs: University of Notre Dame vs. Miami University and University of Minnesota vs. University of Wisconsin. Game times will be announced at a later date.
The Hockey City Classic will be preceded by two weeks of winter festivities, including: two days of free public ice skating; youth, high school and adult hockey events; private ice rentals; and much more. The Hockey City Classic is being organized by Chicago-based sports and entertainment marketing agency Intersport, in partnership with Soldier Field and the Chicago Park District.
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It’s safe to say the Monsters of the Midway are toiling because their 2011 season is certainly in the toilet.
The Chicago Bears didn’t get the Green Bay Packers A-game, or even their B+game, but they still got beat pretty bad. As my colleague in America’s Dairyland points out, it was an ugly penalty and turnover filled slopfest.
The turf at Soldier Field is among the worst in all of sports, but it was so bad yesterday that it necessitated a stoppage in play. The surface is a fine metaphor for the style of the game, and the Bears 2011 season prospects- all of them resemble excrement.
Also resembling excrement is the statistics surrounding the Bears running game and Matt Forte.
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For some reason, every time the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears meet at Soldier Field, it ends up being an absolutely ugly game that makes fans from each side very frustrated.
The 183rd meeting between division rivals was no different as the Packers (3-0) drudged out a 27-17 victory over the Bears (1-2) in a game which contained 17 total penalties and four turnovers.
Despite the ugly nature of the game, it didn’t stop tight-end Jermichael Finley from having a beast of a game with seven catches, 85 yards and a career-high three touchdowns.
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Chicago’s Soldier Field has sold out for the international soccer match featuring the World Cup-bound Mexican national team and the African nation of Senegal, scheduled for this upcoming Monday, May 10 (9 p.m. ET), organizers announced today. The second consecutive sell-out in “El Tri’s” May tour matches prior to traveling to South Africa, over 60,000 fans are expected to attend the game in the Windy City.
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By Alex Simon
It was an ugly performance by both teams’ backlines Saturday night. However, a late inexcusable mistake by a Fire substitute let the visiting TFC (Toronto FC) side off the hook. Thus, the Fire played to a 2-2 tie against Toronto.
While Chicago’s playmaker Cuauhtémoc Blanco was sidelined with a strained hamstring, TFC’s star player, DeRo (Dwayne De Rosario), made his presence felt from the get-go. In the 6th minute, DeRo scored off a defensive blunder by C.J. Brown and Wilman Conde.
“We’re gift wrapping goals. It’s like Christmas time. If they beat us with a good goal, fair enough, but quit giving away easy goals and putting ourselves behind the eight-ball. That’s the bottom line,” said Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch after the match.
DeRo was able to pick apart the shaky Fire defense once again, this time coming in the first minute of the second half. The Fire D failed to get back on a TFC counterattack as DeRo sent a beautiful cross in the box, scored by unmarked ex-Fire forward Chad Barrett.
Fortunately for the Fire, as bad as their defense was, Toronto’s Nick Garcia was worse. The Fire’s first goal came on a TFC own goal in the 14th minute, when Garcia chested the ball into his own net. Then in the 78th minute, Garcia was caught ball watching and left Brian McBride wide open for the easy header from a Justin Mapp cross, equalizing the game at 2-2. (Garcia’s lackadaisicalness on McBride’s goal was frighteningly similar to an Eddy Curry box out). 
The Fire had several scoring opportunities late in the game. None would be as good as the one the Fire had in the last play of the game. With the game level 2-2 in the 93rd, Fire forward Patrick Nyarko beat his defender and passed to a running teammate. Unfortunately, that teammate was late sub, Calen Carr. With the goalie nowhere to be found, Carr just needed a simple tap in from a foot away from goal to be the hero. Carr hit the ball wide of the goal, leaving 16,890 Fire faithful dejected with how the game ended.
Chicago vs Toronto Highlights 9/26/09
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly against TFC
The Good
Justin Mapp:
He was tremendous. This was the best I have seen Mapp play since the Soldier Field days. IF Mapp can play at a similar level in the remaining games of the regular season, he can expect major minutes in the playoffs.
Brian McBride:
Back in August, team doctors thought McBride would be out for the season after having shoulder surgery. “Superman” is back and most importantly, healthy. I asked McBride how the shoulder felt after last week’s game against Columbus, saying the shoulder was a non-issue. He proved that against Toronto, giving TFC fits all night.
The Bad
Injuries:
With only three games remaining in the season, now is not the time to be dealing with injuries with the playoffs coming up. Rolfe was a late scratch but the Fire said it was just precautionary. Ward and Woolard are still out, but players I think we can do without. Although Banner played well at left back, a healthy Segares is a major step up. The same goes for Thorrington. Not only is Thorrington a good player, but also provides toughness and grit that this team is lacking without him. With Soumare gone, Thorrington would be a huge help to Conde and C.J. With that said, if Blanco is not ready to go come playoff time, it does not matter how the other Fire injuries play out. Blanco is without question our best and most valuable player, and without him, there will be NO deep playoff run.
The Ugly
The D:
The Calen Carr rant and why the f#$% Hamlet put him in the game to begin with is ridiculous, but I think and pray that the Calen Carr era is over. (Carr’s miss was equivalent to a kicker missing an extra point to win the game) Carr won’t matter in the playoffs, but the defense will, and they really need to figure their s— out.
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