The Chicago Bears want to move out of downtown Chicago and head for the burbs. Leaving the lakefront and their home since 1971, which is Soldier Field. The Bears want to purchase Arlington Racetrack and build a brand new state-of-the-art stadium on the grounds. Arlington Race track is in its last year of horse racing. The suburb of Arlington is North of the city of Chicago. The town of Arlington has made it clear they want the land to either stay a horse racing venue, a casino, or football stadium. That’s where the Bears come into play. The Bears have made a proposal for the land so you are thinking a slam dunk. The problem is the Bears would have to break their lease at Soldier Field, which has about another ten years on that deal. The Mayor of Chicago could be a problem with the idea of the Bears playing their home games in the burbs and not by the lake front. Is the interest in Arlington from the Bears a ploy to get what they want from the city of Chicago? Can you renovate a stadium once again that already had a makeover in 2002? Sounds to me like the old saying, putting lipstick on a pig. Could a move to Arlington get the state of Illinois the Superbowl?

Originally Soldier Field was called Municipal Grant Park when it first opened in 1924. Then the name changed in 1925 to Soldier Field as a memorial for troops who died in combat. I would say I’m a purist and love the old time history, especially in Soldier field which has lots of football history. From hosting the 29th annual Army Navy game as well as Notre Dame playing a season by the lake. Besides college football, Soldier field was also the host to the Prep bowl. For decades hosting the best public high school football team meeting the best Catholic high school football team. Every year both teams squared off in a big game for all the marbles. Once upon a time ago, Chicago had two NFL teams as the Cardinals played at Soldier Field one season. Cardinals played most of their years at Comiskey Park when they were in Chicago back then. Then all those other football leagues that did not last very long. The WFL in the 1970’s had the Chicago Fire and a name change at some point to the Chicago Winds. The Fire seems like a popular choice in Chicago, besides the WFL they had same nickname in the AFA. The soccer team presently is the Chicago Fire who have recently moved back to Soldier Field as they abandoned a newer stadium in Bridgeview, built for them. During the 1980’s, the Chicago Blitz of the USFL. The first XFL league, we had the Chicago Enforcers. Let’s not forget the Chicago Owls of the CFL. The Bears have the richest history in Soldier Field, especially that awesome 1985 team that won Chicago’s only Superbowl. Then the 2006 team that made it to the big game only to lose to Peyton Manning and the Colts. Love the history of that old building with greats like Walter Payton running for pay dirt. Great defenses. Still no quarterback.

Some reasons why the Bears should leave down town Chicago. One big reason is the invasion of the rats. Not talking about Chicago politicians either. Lots of big rats have taken over the streets of downtown Chicago. Since the Covid shut down, many businesses have functioned with their people at home. So why waste money on office space as downtown has become a ghost town? The rat problem is out of control. Then many of the people that walk the streets are homeless and some of them are just crazy. I hate making fun of the homeless, but it looks like the walking dead. One of them killed a young lady from the state of Maryland who was in town visiting weeks ago as she was stabbed multiple times. Let’s continue to talk about all the crime. Carjackings that turn very violent. With all those riots which led to looting in 2020, no one feels safe down there as businesses had fled to reopen in safer areas like the burbs. If I was the Bears, these are big time reasons where I say, “See you, it’s been nice.” With relocation to Arlington, you’re not going to have to deal with the downtown madness.

The problem with Soldier Field is during the renovation in 2002, is they had to rip out many seats. Soldier Field is a landmark and it should be, with the architecture of those pillars surrounding the stadium making it look Greek or Roman like. The renovation gutted out everything inside the stadium leaving those pillars and the walls of Soldier field. Then they looked like they parked the mother ship from another planet on top of the old war memorial. Soldier Field became the stadium that holds the least amount of fans across the entire NFL. The NFL and the Bears included, are all about the almighty dollar. A new state of the art facility could have many more seats and of course private skyboxes.

I feel if the Bears did leave Soldier Field they would have to build a stadium with a retractable roof. I would be crying in my beer every Sunday if I had to watch them play in a dome like the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings. Leaving Green Bay the only manly team left in the division. With a retractable roof, Chicago can still play in Bear weather.

Then the Bears can closed the roof to lure the Superbowl to Chicago. Plus, then you have have other venues in the stadium such as concerts. We come back to the Mayor of Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot. All that money the city would be losing & then seeing the Bears make out like bandits living it up in the burbs. The Mayor should be concerned with Chicago turning into Detroit; that should be her first concern. Losing the Bears to the burbs should be the least of her concerns. She may be too busy changing the name of Lake Shore Drive.

I do not like change. Da Coach, Mike Ditka, raved that the Bears should stay at Soldier Field. Yes, it would be nice if Arlington race track would remain for horse-racing and the Bears could stay put on the lakefront. The Bears are like the United Nations in the Chicago sports landscape. Wherever they play, fans will come. I weighed the pros and the cons of this idea of the Bears mixing it up in Arlington. This move to Arlington, if it happens, could put the Bears back on the map and bring them into the modern world away from Bedrock. Arlington has so much land you can have a race track with a football stadium, which would be the best scenario. Bears could even add their headquarters and they still have plenty of parking for fans. Being a fan, Arlington would be much easier to get to, than Soldier Field. Much easier to park and tailgate. It beats trying to maneuver downtown, even on a Sunday. Most of the Bears fan base has to be adult men from all the surrounding burbs. These are the majority of season ticket holders. Then all the other NFL teams that have stadiums in the burbs, it seems to work for them. Can you picture in 5 seasons a brand new state of the art stadium for the Monsters of the Midway? Can you picture Justin Fields with 5 seasons under his belt? Could the Bears have their cake and eat it too. Justin Fields leading the Bears to the next Superbowl the year they play in the mother-ship of all stadiums. Minus the actual mother-ship parked on top of the stadium. Soldier Field would still have the soccer team, the Fire. Maybe Mayor Lori Lightfoot can get on board with a new XFL team from the Rock’s revival in 2022. I say let the Bears move to on up to those deluxe apartments in the burbs. Because beans don’t burn on the grill.