There's no doubt about that. There was a lot written about the second threepeat Bulls being "rock stars" and a "traveling circus", but they were nothing compared to the '85 Bears. A Bears team could win every game 40-0 and win the Super Bowl and it wouldn't be anything like those Bears. That was a perfect team and I don't even really like football. Even the loss to Miami is part of the perfection. Ditka screaming at Buddy about coverage. Just hard to explain to someone who didn't live it.

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Freedom is our Strength.

Old.

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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!

1985

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Freedom is our Strength.

And the frenzy of these beauties:

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I was probably at my peak in the late 80s until maybe 91 ( ages 11-15 ). I was a college and pro basketball junkie.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami

1984 & 1985.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Probably just after I moved in with my wife to be ('95).

I recall convincing a cruise ship bartender to turn on the Stanley Cup finals so I could watch the Devils pound the Wings . I thoroughly enjoyed the 2nd Bulls three-peat, but without the fellas around like before, I knew my sports fan peak was behind me. 2005 was personal, almost private. The Saints title was nice, but it was dwarfed by 1985.

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There are only two examples of infinity: The universe and human stupidity and I'm not sure about the universe.

I am still peaking during this Blackhawks run.

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Elections have consequences.

October, 2003.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

That is saying something as a Brewer and Hog fan

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

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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

For me it would have been probably 1993 - 2003.

But the Blackhawks run has gotten me back into things more, and this years Cubs season has gotten me more into the Cubs than I thought possible following 03.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

Not reading a print newspaper on a daily basis was the beginning of it all.

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Sex isn't dirty, sex isn't a crime. It's a loving act between two or more consenting adults.

-Hank Kingsley

I'm in my prime.

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Fare you well, fare you well
I love you more than words can tell
Listen to the river sing sweet songs
To rock my soul

1984

Right before my first son was born. There isn't enough time to consume as much as I once did.

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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

1996 Packers season was probably my zenith. Great time for me and my old man, him especially since he'd been suffering for 25 years.

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Back off, Warchild. Seriously.

72 and 10.

I was old enough to appreciate what I was watching unfold while still being young enough to truly feel the joy of my team winning with absolutely no cynicism in my heart. That season was 100% pure joy.

After the Bulls won it all, I realized it would never get better than this. The greatest player of all time on the greatest team of all time belonged to Chicago. As a fan, it wouldn't matter what happened next. That year was and is, forever etched fondly in my memory.

I still love and follow sports like I did as a kid, but I just don't get too upset anymore when things don't go my teams way. Even with the Cub, it's no fun when they lose but I've got perspective on my side these days so it never gets too bad. I'm just enjoying the ride.

Great thread.

I think this is as much about the time in your life as it is the team or sport you were rooting for.

I'll go 2001 with the Bears. Two sophomore sensations in Brian Urlacher and Mike Brown (even though Favrefan thinks he sucked) led the Bears defense to a 13-3 record, culminating in an 80-some yard fumble recovery touchdown by Keith Traylor that was the ugliest and most beatiful thing I've ever watched in one of the last weeks of the season. I was a senior in high school, and it was just a fun year to watch.

Everyone knew the Bears wouldn't do shit in the playoffs, and that was highlighted by the fact that a concussed Jim Miller returned to the game in the second half (after being literally murdered in the first half) of their playoff game against the Eagles to a standing ovation. I mean, come on... we had to all be high on life to act like Jim Miller was gonna pull a Willis Reed and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. I believe he was injured again like three plays later and the Bears lost to Mcnabb. Still, a great fuckin' year!

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Yeah, another great one. I had a great time.

Also, I learned that year that B.J. Armstrong was expendable. Who knew!?

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1985 is the greatest year in Chicago sports history. If you didnt experience it, it cant be explained to you. Its just impossible.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Okay, thanks.

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You're very welcome.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

I think it began to peak for me when it began to become about the side show and the soap opera. When the conversation regarding sports began to become about everything but sports. Once the off the field stuff supersedes the on the field stuff, it was time to take a step back. Contracts locker room and legal issues take precedence over what happens on the field and it has made the actual viewing of the game less enjoyable.

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Do you think your 12 year old self would enjoy sports as much today as you did back then?

When I was a kid we didn't have cable so my sports knowledge came from the newspaper, George Michael's Sports Machine and the few sports radio shows that were out there. It was, or it seemed like it was all about the on field, court or ice matters.

I think I still would've gravitated towards and loved sports if I grew up in today's information age. I probably would've been in every fantasy league imaginable. Hell, back when I was a teen, me and some friends ran leagues on paper using box scores once a week to update our standings. A lot of work no doubt, but thankfully we had calculators.

It's kind of funny you say that. Whenever my wife hears the Score in my car she calls it "soap opera for men".

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Freedom is our Strength.

I think might. I was a true sports nerd and I was proud of it. I would buy Vitale's preseason hoops magazine and Street and Smith's every year. Newspaper everyday that sort of thing. When I discovered sports radio on 780 I called in at 13 to talk one of the hosts. Got into Coppock on Sports in 87 at 14. Remember the "catch" at 7. Big DePaul fan back in the day, hated when the Bulls drafted then later cut Skip Dillard. Damn near cried after Kenny Patterson missed the free throw which cost DePaul and Ray Meyer during his final game.

I have friends that would bet on this type of trivial bulls hit while they were out in the street. I would be the guy that my best friend would call as his source of information. It always made me feel like all that reading and sports watching was not done in vain.

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I think Jay Mariotti popularized that bullshit. Every article was always contained information about stuff that happens off the field or court. It became obvious that he rarely watched the game.
The score kind of picked up this theme at some point. Bernstein was the biggest culprit. They started denigrating the hard core sports fan essentially because they were a hard core sports fan.

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I don't think there was a week that went by during summers in my youth where 4-5 of us didn't get together and trade baseball cards.

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

The 1986 World Series is the first one that I fully remember watching and I was starting to get into baseball cards then. I would read the sports section
and study the box scores and stats. I still have my 1985, 86, 87 and 88 sets in my basement, probably not worth the cardboard they are printed on now.
Would ride my bike to the corner store to buy packs of Topps and eat the gum and then try to make trades with my friends.

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Flew too close to the sun on wings of pastrami