Jitterbugs

This is from Brad Biggs of the Sun-Times:

Peel the puffy white roof off the top of the RCA Dome, and you had Super Bowl XLI -- well, without South Beach a short cab ride away.

No, Brad, no you didn't. We lost Super Bowl XLI. We didn't lose this game. Sure, we had some bad plays - Rex shouldn't have even come close to a fumbled exchange this close to the season - but we beat the reigning Super Bowl champs, and after February's stinging defeat, I'm alright with giving our QB a pass (no pun intended). I do, however, agree with a large portion of other bloggers out there: if he isn't able to step it up in regular season games, changes will need to be made. But don't be too hard on the guy right now. As my buddy Dave said, the guy most likely had a serious case of the Jitterbugs - losing a Super Bowl in part because of your mistakes is definitely enough to instill a little doubt when you're playing the same team at their stadium.

But that's enough of the negative stuff. How about the positive? Grossman had a passer rating of 51.1, and threw 9 for 11 for 59 yards and dove for a touchdown in the second quarter. Dennis Hester had no problem wowing another Bears/Colts audience when he ran for 50 to the Indy 24. I kinda wish Greg Olsen had been able to show off a little more of his potential, but I figure Lovie was worried about him getting hurt before the season even starts. I was also happy to see our own Manning strip the ball from T.J. Rushing, leading to a Mike Hass recovery.

What it really boils down to is this: we're better than we were last year. Our offense is fast and agile, and our defense is, as ever, an imposing behemoth. If Grossman can just keep things together, I think it'll be a great season.

Speaking of great seasons: man what a great time I had at the Gael last night. I ended up getting there at around 6:30, and was met by Bruno (the guy who owns the pizza place next door), anxious about his quickly-approaching first try as a Chicago-style Hot Dog maker. Turns out he's not too bad at it - after demonstrating the fine art of mustard-slathering and celery salt-shaking, I had him whip up a batch of 'dogs, and lo and behold, they were pretty damn good. Not quite as good as, say, a Hot Doug hot dog, but still, quality, and a lot easier to get compared to waiting in line for two hours at Shake Shack.

In a delicious addition to hot dogs, the Gael rolled out their first Goose Island offering last night. Honkers Ale, while not my all-time fav Goose (only 312 holds that coveted position), is still pretty fantastic. Everybody seemed to enjoy them - I think the bar ended up selling at least a couple cases' worth.

And finally, last night was the debut of my Flavor Flav Bears clock. I guess nobody thought I'd actually do it, but I mean, jeez, who can pass up on a freakin' Bears clock hanging around their neck? Nobody, that's who. It was decided by Daria and Jason that the face of the clock should change. Next game: the giant head of Ditka.

Freakin' sweet evening. Who's ready for the Chargers? I know I am.