The 85 Bears: We Were the Greatest: 25th Anniversary

The 85 Bears: We Were the Greatest: 25th Anniversary Review

The Chicago Bears are not my favorite team, and I'm not from Chicago... but what true old-school football fan doesn't love Mike Ditka? The player... the coach... the TV analyst? If my team isn't involved of course I love to see **DA-BEARS** win. Just like in baseball, if my team isn't involved who in their right mind wouldn't nostalgically want the "Cubbies" to win? So, mainly for my love of Ditka I ordered this book commemorating the 25th anniversary of the 1985 Chicago Bears Super Bowl Champions. When I ordered this "book" I was expecting to receive a true, real... book. I must admit when I opened the package from Amazon I was very disappointed to find that instead of a true "meaty"... "real" book... I received what I would more aptly describe as a hard cover super charged "yearbook". As I started to read this "super-yearbook", my disappointment disappeared as I was engulfed with Coach Ditka's no- holds-barred... straight from the heart... insiders look of everything that led up to the dazzling victorious run of the 1985 Super Bowl Champions... **DA-BEARS!!**.

From the crushing loss to the 49ers in the 1984 NFC Championship Game that in a way was the final catalyst and motivation for the historical season that followed... to Ditka's flashback's to his playing days... not only with the Bears but with the Cowboy's and his personal letter to the "old man"... Papa Bear himself... George Halas... while Ditka was a lowly assistant coach with the Cowboys he wrote a letter to Mr. Halas telling him that he was not ready to coach the Bears yet, but one day he would be, and he would hire him as the Bears coach... and he did! Ditka had such pride in being a Bear and said: "I ALWAYS FELT LIKE I WAS DEFENDING THE ENTIRE HISTORY OF THE FRANCHISE."... "ALL I WANTED TO DO WAS MAKE *THE OLD MAN* PROUD. MAKE MYSELF PROUD. NOT MAKE NEW MAN McCASKEY PROUD."

It's all bared on these pages. The constant clashing between Bears defensive coach Buddy Ryan who openly felt he should have had the head coaching job instead of Ditka... and Ditka, who against his wishes, had to have Ryan remain as coach when he took over. Ditka takes you inside the trenches during brutal practices as well as games. The battles every day between Ryan's defense and the Bears offense. Battles that actually turned into riotous fights. Ryan refused to let up, leaving Ditka screaming "I don't see the Chicago Bears on our schedule!" You'll learn of a head case known as Jim McMahon who despite his lifelong problem with authority figures... earned Ditka's respect by playing through injuries that would probably put a whole team on the disabled list. McMahon also won the respect of his teammates along with his coaches not only with his courage... but his almost photographic memory regarding every aspect of the mental part of the game... despite his enormous "quirks"!

Readers will also learn how the entire *REFRIGERATOR-PERRY-PHENOMENA* got started from day one. And once again the Ryan-Ditka feud was involved in that as well. Every game of the season is reviewed with a final "BOTTOM LINE"... "KEY PLAY"... and "KEY STAT". There is nothing grander than countless quotes... right from the chest... heart... and soul of Ditka. But a close second in this superb commemorative are the *REMEMBERING `85* double pages interspersed throughout the book. Each *REMEMBERING `85* is dedicated to an individual player such as... Jim McMahon... Ron Rivera... David Duerson... Dan Hampton... William Perry... Emery Moorehead... Richard Dent... Willie Gault... and many more. These two page retrospectives are a conglomeration of bullet-quotes that span a player's lifetime... not just the championship season... and they're priceless.

And through it all... the most valuable gold of all are quotes reinforcing why Ditka is Ditka... and you (I) gotta love him whether the Bears are your favorite team or not.

As an example: "WE HAD MIKE SINGLETARY IN THE MIDDLE ON DEFENSE, A GUY THEY'D TELL YOU NOW WAS TOO SMALL TO PLAY OR SOME DAMN THING. RIGHT. BECAUSE THEY DON'T MEASURE YOUR FRICKING HEART! AND, OF COURSE, WE HAD WALTER PAYTON IN THE MIDDLE ON OFFENSE. HE IS TO THIS DAY THE GREATEST FOOTBALL PLAYER I'VE EVER SEEN. NOT THE BIGGEST. NOT THE FASTEST. NOT THE ANYTHING. JUST THE BEST PLAYER WHO EVER PLAYED."

And then of course there was the time a carpenter was working on a roof near the Bears practice field and he yelled something at Ditka... "SOMETHING ABOUT HOW STUPID IT WAS TO TRADE AWAY SAFETY DAVE DUERSON." ... "THERE WAS MUFFLED YELLING, AND THEN THE CARPENTER CAME SWINGING DOWN FAST FROM HIS PERCH, LOOKING TERRIFIED. WHAT HAPPENED?"...

"DITKA YELLED AT ME," he said, pale as drywall.

"WHAT DID HE YELL?"

"USE YOUR HAMMER, NOT YOUR MOUTH, JACKAS-!"

The 85 Bears: We Were the Greatest: 25th Anniversary Feature

• ISBN13: 9781600785085
• Condition: New
• Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! BUY WITH CONFIDENCE, Over one million books sold! 98% Positive feedback. Compare our books, prices and service to the competition. 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed

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*** Product Information and Prices Stored: Nov 05, 2010 01:08:05