OB is older and had health problems before doug. It was a reasonable assumption.

What is the point in life you stop making long term plans?

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

For me, yesterday.

I don't get your point. Doug's understanding of football far exceeded Bernstein's. He was passionate, but he certainly wasn't a "meatball" as Bernstein defined the term.

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how do you find an ex-Bear who had a good career that stayed in chicago that cares about the team and has a fun personality?

prolly nobody else fits those criteria

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Reality is your friend, not your enemy. -- Seacrest

Peanut Tillman will be back after he finishes his career and fits your criteria perfectly.

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as others have detailed here, doug's passions overrode his logic when it came to the Bears, especially in season.

Russ Grimm knows more about football than Dan as well.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Peanut would be a much better choice than Urlacher. Although, that might mean involvement from Peanut's BFF Leary.

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Good people drink good beer - Hunter S. Thompson

<º)))><

Waiting for the time when I can finally say
That this has all been wonderful, but now I'm on my way

Your comments illustrate that you don't understand the definition of a "meatball" as it has been defined by people like Bernstein.

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doug's meatball label is incorrect. he was well versed with current trends in the nfl. meatball is being confused with passion.

I always thought that Bernstein's definition is "anyone who disagrees with me."

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You know me like that.

Exactly.

Bernstein originally began using "meatball" in place of "blue collar fan" to describe modestly educated, working-class fans who advocated kneejerk and/or populist views of the Bears because they were incapable of thinking in appropriately "nuanced" terms. He substituted "meatball" for "blue collar" to conceal his class biases, and his deployment of the "meatball" neologism marked the completion of his transition from a populist to a neoliberal sports ideologue.

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It started out that way but the definition gradually broadened, first to mean anyone who was actually passionate about something as silly as sports and then ultimately to the definition provided by Doc- anyone who disagreed with bernstein.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Well, if we're simply using meatball as a synonym for passionate, then everyone is a meatball.

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I think in bernstein's mind, passion with regard to sports means caring about a team at an irrational level, often to a degree where one's rooting interest and his self-worth become linked. By being Really Smart Fans we can temper these base tribal urges.

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Ecclesiastes 5:8

Everyone but Ten Foot Midget, Schmutzie, Ethan Skolnik and a limited few others.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Midget, this works for everybody but Dr. Ken. Not sure what you call him.

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2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

you can only root for sports teams in a cool, detached manner

Well, I hope Midget gives you a nice tip for teeing that ball up.

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You know me like that.

_________________
2018
#ExtendLafleur
10 More Wins

To me, studying pitch sequences on Fangraphs, poring over reams of statistics for the likely top twenty receivers in a draft, or watching college sport for no other reason than to "scout players for the next level" is far more irrational and goofy than a guy yelling at his TV when Jeff Samardzija allows another home run.

_________________
Ecclesiastes 5:8

If this were 30 years ago he'd be bitching about kids collecting full sets of baseball cards.

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Proud member of the white guy grievance committee

It aint the six minutes. Its what happens in those six minutes.

Remember, even as a child, even one that never played a down of football, Dan was the one kid who watched the lines instead of the ball. That is not some contrived complaint. He has said this.

_________________
O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.