Bears win, but Packers lose. So now, it’s “Go Huskies!” for gridiron fans

26-24 was good. But the 37-34 score on Sunday was bad, very bad – at least for those individuals who derive any joy from the game of football and the "Monsters of the Midway" (who make the Cookie Monster look terrifying by comparison).

The end result being that the Chicago Bears’ season came to an end. No playoff appearance. The one time that Bears’ fans wanted the Green Bay Packers to do something, they blew it.

CAN’T COUNT ON a “cheese head” to do anything. It seems that even the Hoosiers are more reliable (the Colts managed an end-of-season victory over Houston).

Personally, I can’t get too worked up – and not just because I have never gotten into the game of football (futbol is a totally different story).

Let’s be honest. Even if the Bears had managed to creep their way into a playoff slot, they would have been the team that deserves to lose in the first round. Now we can all move on to more sensible (only 52 more days until the first exhibitiongames of baseball spring training) pastimes.

Although for those of you who have to have more of the gridiron activity, let’s not forget the Orange Bowl game on Tuesday.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY’S Huskies have spent the past few days in Florida acclimating themselves to the surroundings before they take on Florida State University.

Personally, my only tie to NIU is that I have a step-brother and two cousins who received an education there. Also, my step-mother’s father, Meyer, was an alumnus and long-time fan of the University of Florida. I remember the most angry he ever was at me was one time when I said something that besmirched the image of the Gators.

So somewhere, I suspect his spirit will be watching the bowl game on Tuesday, and eagerly rooting for the Huskies to defeat his arch-rival Seminoles. Maybe all of Chicago ought to join in rooting for the boys from DeKalb. It’s not that far from us.

So come Tuesday, the call goes out. “Go Huskies!!!!”

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