McCaskeys need to give Bears fans something they can believe

That was a great article.  I had no idea that the annual revenue of the business was now $385-Million dollars a year.  It is the 8th richest NFL franchise.  Bigtime money maker.  Yet a perennial crap team.  They can afford to eat Fox's salary and not bat an eye paying him to go away.  That kind of money could buy the best coaches on Planet Earth.

I hope every single sports writer steps up like David Haugh did here.  The article was not a rant.  It was just an outstanding piece (and I am not a Haugh fan at all... but give the man credit, this was an excellent piece).

We can all debate the various reasons for the Bears franchise becoming so bad.  But regardless of the various reasons, the bottom-line is that the franchise is an embarrassment.  Yet the franchise has gone from a team purchased by George Halas for $100, to a team valued at close to $3-Billion dollars now.  

Here's an interesting blurb about ownership I found on Wikipedia tonight.  It looks like Virginia personally controls this team (see the bold red part below):


"Ownership

Virginia Halas McCaskey, her children, and grandchildren control 80 percent of the team, and Mrs. McCaskey votes her children's stock as well as her own. Patrick Ryan, executive chairman of Aon Corp., and Aon director Andrew McKenna own 19.7% of the club.[55] In a Crain's Chicago Business article, one businessman described his wishes for the team to maximize its potential. In 2009, Yahoo! Sports listed the McCaskeys as the third worst owner in the NFL, stating "[T]hey get less for what they've got than any team in our league."[56] There have been rumors that the McCaskey family might split up over the team."

Here's Brad Biggs take:

First of all I'll applaud David Haugh for writing much of what I've been posting about.  Its not like I'm the only guy whose been griping about this team and it's upper management.  Owners should be held accountable for how well they own too and for over 30 years the McCaskeys have not owned well. 

Unfortunately it's tough to actually fire an owner but there are other was fans can show their displeasure and lack of support.  No shows are just one and another is a refusal to purchase Bears souvenirs and jerseys or attend team sponsored dog and pony shows and also to express displeasure by not doing business with their corporate partners.

Teddy Bears and the McCaskeys may not know much about football but they do know how to count money and the objective of fans should be to give less to count.  Even a small decline in revenues and/or the worth of the franchise will get the point across.

So here are 50 questions facing the Bears and as a fan I'm ashamed to say that far more than half of them shouldn't even have to be asked this far into what was sold as a complete turnaround for this team from top to bottom.



Blitz Package: Fifty questions with no clear answers for Bears
Bears head coach John Fox

Dan Wiederer Contact ReporterChicago Tribune

The 2016 season was supposed to provide answers, a year in which the Bears figured they could learn a lot more about their identity and overall direction. Yet here, in the final days of December, as they limp toward a New Year’s Day finish in downtown Minneapolis, the last-place Bears seem buried beneath a mountain of confounding questions.

When the clock strikes midnight Saturday, only two teams will have completed the 2016 calendar year with fewer wins: the Browns and 49ers.

For every issue the Bears thought they’d solve this season, two or three others have sprung up. The current struggle feels like the most brutal of Chicago winters, cold and harsh and unrelenting. And as a new year closes in, significant questions continue piling up.

With one meaningless game left and a critical offseason about to begin so many questions need to be asked.

Here are a half-a-hundred for the Bears, presented without answers.

1. With John Fox constantly reinforcing that professional football is a results-based business, what significance should be attached to his .290 winning percentage as Bears coach?

2. Among the six other NFL head coaches who were hired in 2015 – Gary Kubiak, Jack Del Rio, Dan Quinn, Rex Ryan, Todd Bowles and Jim Tomsula – where does Fox rank? (In victory total alone, he’s sixth.)

3. Should it be alarming that 2016 head coaching hires Adam Gase
 and Ben McAdoo already have more wins in their first seasons than Fox has in two years with the Bears?

4. With an offense that has scored only 28 touchdowns in 15 games, has coordinator Dowell Loggains shown enough to keep the controls for a second season?

5. Will Fox and defensive coordinator Vic Fangio remain united in 2017?

6. If not, what in the world went wrong?

7. How quickly and gracefully will the Bears cut ties with quarterback Jay Cutler this offseason?

8. More importantly, how will they chart a new course at the most important position on the roster?

9. Is drafting a quarterback in the top 5 a practical path given this year’s mediocre crop of passers?

10. Who would the Bears rather keep: Brian Hoyer or Matt Barkley?

11. Can either become a successful bridge starter in 2017 if the Bears opt to draft and develop a younger quarterback?

12. With 11 turnovers in five starts, have Barkley’s biggest flaws been exposed? Or with added experience, would he make dramatic improvement?

13. Can Alshon Jeffery remain healthy and available for a full season without running afoul of the NFL’s rules on performance enhancing drugs?
Bears wide receiver Alshon Jeffery

14. How big of a factor should Jeffery’s four-game suspension be in the team’s decision to re-sign him or let him go?

15. Ultimately, do the Bears need Jeffery more than Jeffery needs the Bears?

16. If so, what price should they be willing to pay to keep him?

17. Has there been a better diamond-in-the-rough find for the Bears than receiver Cameron Meredith?

18. Along the same lines, how can general manager Ryan Pace find more draft prizes like running back Jordan Howard, a fifth-rounder last April?

19. With the growth center Cody Whitehair has made since September, should we use Sharpie to scrawl his name onto the long-term depth chart?

20. With two concussions in the past five weeks, is there reason to start worrying about Leonard Floyd’s long-term well being?

21. With Floyd likely to miss four full games this season and at least half of two others, are concerns about his durability entirely justifiable?

22. And on that front, how should we contextualize the 28 games receiver Kevin White has missed over his first two seasons?

23. When you look at the remaining members of the Bears’ 2015 draft class – White, Eddie Goldman, Hroniss Grasu, Jeremy Langford and Adrian Amos – who is ascending at the end of Year 2?

24. In that context, should we then be wary about attaching too much significance to the success of some of this year’s rookies?

25. Nineteen players on Injured Reserve? For real? Nineteen?

26. Is that just bad luck or a sign of a deeper systemic issue?

27. How will guard Kyle Long handle the physical and mental taxation of an offseason that will require rehabilitation from two major surgeries to two different body parts?

28. Will linebacker Danny Trevathan be back on the field at any point in Bourbonnais after rupturing the patellar tendon in his right knee in November?

29. Can anyone make sense of Kyle Fuller’s lost 2016 season?

30. Of all the players on IR, is the mystery surrounding Fuller’s lingering knee injury the most confounding of all? With a year still left on Fuller’s rookie contract, what should the Bears do now?

31. Has Fuller suddenly surpassed Shea McClellin in terms of disappointment from a first-round pick?

32. If turnover margin is one of the most vital pieces in the football puzzle, should the Bears’ minus-16 ratio this season be seen as a major indictment of the team’s defensive flaws?

33. If so, who deserves more of the blame: Fox, Fangio or general manager Ryan Pace?

34. Did the 2012 Bears really have more takeaways in an eight-game span than the current Bears’ defense has had in the past two years?

35. Can Fox and/or Fangio get that problem fixed in 2017? If so, how many more difference makers will the Bears need to acquire?

36. Is this season over yet?

37. If one position group on the roster had to remain untouched through the 2017 offseason, which would it be? Running back? Inside linebacker?

38. If one position had to be the focal point of the Bears’ offseason efforts to upgrade, which would it be? Cornerback? Safety? Tight end?

39. Is Pernell McPhee, with 10 sacks and two forced fumbles over two seasons, worth the $6.95 million base salary the Bears will owe him next season?

40. Has the September signing of left guard Josh Sitton – for three years and $21 million with $10 million guaranteed – provided an acceptable return on investment?

41. In 23 months on the job, who has been Pace’s best free agent signing? Akiem Hicks? Tracy Porter?

42. Which of Pace’s moves – signings, cuts, trades or draft picks – has been his worst?

43. If given the opportunity to spend a week in January coaching at the Senior Bowl, should the Bears staff pounce?

44. Wouldn’t that offer the coaches and front office decision makers invaluable behind-the-scenes insight into the wiring, work habits and motivations of 50 draft-eligible prospects?

45. In this spring’s draft, who would you rather have: Texas A&M defensive end Myles Garrett or Alabama’s Jonathan Allen?

46. What about Michigan defensive back Jabrill Peppers?

47. If the Bears wait until Day 2 to draft a quarterback, who makes the most sense?

48. Clemson’s Deshaun Watson? Texas Tech’s Patrick Mahomes? Miami’s Brad Kaaya?

49. Is the draft really still 17 weeks away?

50. What now? No really, what now?


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Very good article that asks hard questions. While Foxy baby may be dancing and skirting questions the press is slowly turning on the McCaskeys. I am not sure it will amount to much but the negative publicity should serve as the desperately needed kick in the ass this comatose franchise needs. I have been saying we really need new ownership.