It’s so funny, they are an actual true example of underhanded and unscrupulous Irish families using their low cunning and brutality to steal what others have earned. It’s like an 1860’s stereotype come true. But also George is peak woke, a new grift.

All this work to usurp the Bears for a bunch of stupid kids who don't even want it. Michael wanted to teach at business school. George wanted to be the funny weatherman on the local news in Phoenix. It's like Succession but they're all Connor.

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And an incomprehensible 3-24 vs Green Bay.

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What happens when you take a brood of absolutely knuckledragger-tier Irish and raise them in a 1%er lifestyle before putting them at the helm of the cultural behemoth of America’s third largest city? It’s a twisted, backwards version of an Adam Sandler movie plot.

Czech-Irish must be a cosmically cursed mix for some reason.

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If you watched Hard Knocks you came away with the impression that the Bears organization is incredibly inept, much more concerned with appearing to be woke than actually hiring competent people.

The clips they decided to show, Poles crying over cutting a journeyman DB, emphasizing that you staff is given books on leadership, showing Warren talking about seats at a potential new stadium, showing Warren wandering around aimlessly with apparently not much to do, and the staged Eberflus meeting with Caleb where he spouts out footbally cliches, monumental editing efforts that made the teams leadership look like total goofs.

That level of micromanagement shows an ownership group that is more concerned with appearances than winning football games.

George wants to win a very certain way with a very certain team identity. Lots of DEI hires, lots of passing, and Black Quarterback Magic. He would rather the Bears lose than win any other way.

Michael Mc Caskey was Harvard educated and taught in its business school. He did a Peace Corps mission. He grew up with George Halas as his grandpa. On paper, he should have been perfect for his role.

but as I have written before, imagine going into the fourth generation of a family business and not one of the kids in the group over all those generations has cared enough to immerse themselves in the business of football. It just isn't that difficult. You take one boy who shows adequate intelligence, have him play football through high school then put him in a college where he can be a student assistant while going to business school. Upon graduation, send him to learn scouting for a few years then come back home for law/business school while learning about the management side. That kid should be ready for the role by 35. This isn't difficult stuff and is the dream of many boys in this country.

Instead, these kids want learn to be ticket reps for the team.

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

and, while we are at it, it is ridiculous that a Halas/Mc Caskey doesn't have direct access to the mayor of chicago and governor. They should be on a first name basis having casual lunches multiple times per year. Then you don't need intermediaries.

They Rooneys get to be US Ambassadors. The Mclaskeys are waiting in the hallway, like frank pantangeli.

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

The McCaskeys have been the nicest owners in all of sports. They have the worst stadium deal you can possibly have. It's remarkable they pay $6.5 million a year to use Soldier Field and lose half the parking lots, and can't sell the naming rights to the stadium.

That's why even now the city and state is laughing at them and basically saying "Just play in Soldier Field as it is now for the next 50 years".

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Fear of success, or maybe fear of being around / bringing in the sort of people who make a team successful endemic among NFL owners.

Titans owner shit-canned one of the best HC's in the game to bring in some O-Line coache's son.

Jerry Jones would rather watch Mike McCarthy spit the bit every post-season than hire a Sean Payton or even a Gruden, never mind a Harbaugh or Belichick.

How many teams had HC openings last off-season and took a pass on Belichick/Vrabel? 8 new HC's in 2024, but NE and Titans. So 7 NFL franchises passed on each -- Panthers, RAIDERS, Chargers (tho Harbaugh's a better hire), Redskins, Seahawks and Falcons + either NE or TN -- needed a HC last off-season and none of them hired Belichick or Vrabel.

it should be a source of embarrassment to the family of the guy who started the nfl needs to use a consulting firm to find football hires. they should know the league so well and be plugged into other teams to the point that they have a perpetual short list for coaches and administrators

but look, I get it, if I had several hundred million of inheritance coming my way no matter if I worked hard or took life easy, I might also take the easy path. A lot of "football guys" end up in bad marriages with kids who hate them and unhealthy obsessions with a game. Mc Caskeys are good people and an apparently happy group.

but, Lord, please give us just one obsessively driven child and pardon him because of the good works his passion allows everyone else to do

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

I always figured the Ford fam would have to sell the Lions before they'd have any shot at success. Clay Ford Sr operated as principal owner for fifty fucking years of failure, 1964 to 2014. His wife took over on his death in 2014 and continued her husband's losing tradition.

Then their daughter Sheila Ford Hamp took over from her Mom/Clay Sr's wife in 2020. Daughter of the Ford family and daughter-in-law of the Firestone family, Sheila brought fire and passion to the Lions' front office--or at least a recognition of when shit's not working and willingness to move on from it. She immediately fired Quinn and Patricia, hired the current crew after some interims during the season, and it has been unbelievably successful since.

Holmes probably should get more credit for the Lions success than anyone. His first week as the Lions GM Holmes traded Stafford for Goffard and a grip of picks and hired Dan Campbell.

I agree. They should play the Indiana card, but they're too nice to do that. This is the NF fuckin' L.

It's like they think they're too high-minded for the muck of politics. They seem embarrassed to have made their fortune the way they did, so it follows that they wouldn't want to get into the thick of it by cultivating political relationships, either. They just want to float by.

I'm not sure I'd call their behavior "nice," though. Their lack of cutthroat negotiation isn't really out of any sort of benevolence or noblesse-oblige. It's more that they're disengaged and sort of incompetent.

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Wasn’t George notorious for being a micromanaging asshole during his stint running ticket sales?

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This is likely made-up but imagine getting chewed out by a 100yr old lady.

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Not sure about micromanaging, but he was a dick. My ticket partner got personal calls from him several times threatening to pull our tix even though we paid. The Bears somehow deposited our $2300.00 payment as $.23 cents. The only person who could correct it was on vacation. Season ticket renewal time is not more than a few weeks. Who lets a key employee take time off when it is the busiest time of year?

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You cannot make me care about the WNBA.

How'd you find my twitter account?

at every aspect of this anecdote. Imagine spending thousands a year on watching the Chipmunks.

This is like a Why Your Team Sucks anecdote that wandered off from Deadspin and landed here.

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Why WOULDN'T it land here?

This would never happen on Prussian Blue Sky.