50 for 50: 1985
YEAR: 1985 (and one month of 1986)
AGE: Turned 15 on Nov. 6
LOCATION: Chicago, Rascher Avenue
BULLS' RECORD: 38-44
SONGS I LIKED: "Shout" by Tears for Fears; "Bobby Jean" by Bruce Springsteen
MOVIES I SAW: "The Breakfast Club," "Back to the Future"
TV SHOWS I WATCHED: "Miami Vice," "Growing Pains"
MUSIC VIDEOS I ENJOYED: "Raspberry Beret" by Prince; "Just a Gigolo" by David Lee Roth
VIDEO GAMES I PLAYED: Super Basketball, River Raid
For the first 15 years of my life, my hometown teams had never secured a championship. The Sting, who won the NASL in 1981, don't count (even though they got a parade that drew 100,00 fans). The closest any other team had gotten was DePaul making the Final Four in 1979, but in true Chicago fashion, the Blue Demons were incredible the next three years only to be ousted in their first NCAA Tournament games.
In 1985, we finally got a winner. The Bears capped an incredible 15-1 season and won the Super Bowl on Jan. 26, 1986. For the generation that grew up seeing Chicago team after Chicago team lose (including the Cubs, who choked in the playoffs the year before), there was nothing like the magical '85 season.
A 16-0 record looked possible, but on Dec. 2, a Monday night, Miami handed the Bears their only loss on an otherwise unblemished season. I was so distraught -- and so obviously invested in the team -- that I went to bed early and listened the rest of the loss on the radio. They actually didn't look that great the next two games, and I can remember my grandfather lamenting that they might actually blow it.
Near the end of the year, "The Super Bowl Shuffle" was released and was an instant hit in Chicago. I can sing you ever lyric, 35 years later, even the part of the rhythmically challenged Steve Fuller.
The dominating playoff run was impressive to watch. Chicagoans were then partying -- both in town and in New Orleans. I remember seeing Mayor Washington being interviewed on TV the afternoon before the game started, and he was clearly drunk and happy.
We were at a cousin's house for the Super Bowl -- the poor kid, it was his birthday and no one paid attention to him -- and the Bears fell behind 3-0 early after a turnover. I started thinking, "Oh no, this is the collapse." But it wasn't: The Bears scored the next 44 points. I finally witnessed a Chicago championship.
Since that fateful Sunday, I've seen the Bulls win six titles and the Cubs win one (and yes, the Sox won one, too -- big whup -- and the Blackhawks won three, though I was never much of a hockey fan). The Bears are in the middle of a another dry spell that has been longer than the last one. I sort of got to enjoy the Packers winning a Super Bowl in 1997 -- I get endless grief about that from some of my Chicago friends, but we sold newspapers and my job as a sports copy editor in Wisconsin was awesome because of it -- but it was nowhere near the same.
My life in the fall of 1985 -- and into the winter -- wasn't all Bears. I actually had sort of, kind of, nearly a girlfriend; the music that was popular was memorable; and school was going well. But damn, that magical Bears season made it all the more fun.
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