Top Reasons to Look Forward to Next Season

Here is our list, in no particular order, of 10 things Bears fans can look forward to next season:

1. Brian Urlacher and Olin Kreutz are pissed. If there were any two people in the world I wouldn’t want pissed at me it would be those two guys. Would you want to be on the opposite side of the field from them come next season? (Ray Lewis is also on this list because he seems like he’s pissed all the time. That and he’s a bit stabby…and a bit shooty.)
   
   
2. We’re a young team. The organization did a good job of building this team through the draft. Look at the players we have drafted in just the last three years:
   
   • Daniel Manning
   • Devin Hester
   • Mark Anderson
   • Cedric Benson
   • Mark Bradley
   • Chris Harris
   • Tommie Harris
   • Tank Johnson
   • Bernard Berrian (to be referred to as Bernarrian from now on)
   • Nathan Vasher
   
   Ten impact players that we will have around for a while. That’s not even looking at the players that Angelo locked into longer term deals. Barring injury, or in Tank’s case incarceration, this team is going to be good for a long time.
   
   
3. Jerry Angelo and Lovie Smith are both getting contract extensions. Having a GM and a head coach that are on the same page and don’t butt heads is a rare thing in the NFL, but when you find it you are usually headed for success. While I’m sure there are still monumental egos in the mix here, they both let the other do what they do best and stay out of each other’s hair.
   
   
4. We got to the Super Bowl without Tommie Harris and Mike Brown. Can you imagine what we would have been able to do with them there? As an added bonus, the playing time guys got in relief of those two will be invaluable going into next year.
   
   Is there any way we could preemptively injure Mike Brown during the off season? Maybe with an injury already under his belt he can be available for the entire season next time.
   
   
5. We’re still in the NFC North. Seriously, have you seen these guys? The chances we’ll be able to be able to make it to the playoffs and repeat as division champs are monumentally better because our division sucks. The NFC North is so bad I heard a rumor they were moving Detroit to be part of NFL Europe. Not the team mind you, the entire city.
   
   
6. We’ll find out what Rex is really made out of. He was wildly inconsistent this year. If you average his performances out he was slightly above mediocre. At best, he’ll learn from this past year and be even better and more consistent next year. At worst (see Cade McNown) we’ll know he can’t cut it and we’ll all be able to move on and pretend like it never happened.
   
   
7. We’ll be the best dressed fans in league. With all the frenzy surrounding the Super bowl dying down, all that over stocked Bears merchandise will be going on sale.|
   
   
8. We’ve gotten farther every year under Lovie. In his first year the Bears went 5-11 finishing fourth in the division. In 2005, we went 11-5, took the division and earned a first round bye. This year, we went 13-3, took the division, were best in conference, earned the bye and made it to the Super Bowl. In 2007, Lovie could get this team back to the Super Bowl and win it. Then after that, I say we send him off to North Korea or Iran to solve our problems there.
   
   
9. Did I mention that Urlacher and Kreutz are pissed?
   
   
10. Barring incarceration or death, Chicago’s Offensive Line will be back for another season.

So what are you looking forward to?