Cool End to Packers Season (Well, for Bears Fans)

January 6, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

Monday meanderings: Sunday was about as good as it gets for Chicago Bears fans. At least for the 2013 season. More specifically, the 2013 postseason. By failing to defeat the Green Bay Packers in the regular-season finale and capturing the NFC North title, the Bears did not reach the playoffs. A cold finish indeed — though not as cold as the weather Bears fans would have faced at Soldier Field on Sunday, if their team actually did reach the postseason and a “Wild-Card Weekend” game against the San Francisco 49ers. A Packers loss on a game-ending field goal at Lambeau Field certainly had to be heart-warming (among other body parts) to a segment of Bears fans whose second-favorite team is any playing the Pack.

Maybe this picture of Dessie Mitcheson will warm things up today — provided that you stay inside in certain parts of the U.S. She’s also in a video below.

* With a 23-20 victory vs. the Packers, coach Jim Harbaugh’s team advances to play at the Carolina Panthers, coached by another former Bears player Ron Rivera. Meaning a team coached by a former Bear will play for the NFC championship. Which is about as close as Bears fans can hope to being there any time soon.

* One of the challenges former linebacker Rivera’s team will face against former quarterback Harbaugh’s team will be controlling QB Colin Kaepernick’s running as well as his passing. With a team-leading 98 yards rushing Sunday, Kaepernicks has 279 vs. the Packers in two postseason games. In four postseason games, he has 362 to rank No. 5 all-time for QB rushing yards in postseason contests. The leaders: Steve Young (594 yards; 20 games), John Elway (461; 22), Roger Staubach (432; 19) and Donovan McNabb (422; 16).

* Speaking of impressive numbers (and even if we weren’t), everyone involved with the ElliottHarris.com web site (which is mainly me and a few other folks) would like to thank the wonderful people and/or bots who stop by here on a regular — or even irregular — basis. Our numbers for December were the best of the year with 1,055,304 hits (which the computer says is 34,042 on a daily basis. Of course, the statistical analysis department — among others — has no idea what that means. But we all will labor under the impression that they are impressive. Thank you, one and all.

* Reliable reports say it will be bitterly cold Monday across parts of the United States. Please take that news seriously. The Southern Illinois University men’s basketball team spent more than five hours Sunday stranded on a bus on Interstate 57 on its way back to Carbondale from Bloomington, Ill., where it had played Illinois State on Saturday night. The bus had sufficient resources to handle the delay before it was towed out of a snow bank. Most of the rest of us do not have such luxuries. Please be careful.

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Here is where to go for a daily dose of non-gratuitous video (thanks to the entertaining efforts of the editorial and video departments at ElliottHarris.com and their commitment to excellence; in fact, there are some who believe all parties involved should be committed — but seriously …):