New Soldier Field was built in 2003, inside the original walls of the Stadium built in 1924. With just 61,500 seats it is now the smallest stadium in the NFL. But it has history, great site lines, and passionate Bear fans. I mean really, if you were going to pick an NFL rivalry game for the Bears who would it be? The Packers of course. And honestly, that could be one of the biggest rivalries in all of the NFL and maybe one of the top 10 rivalries in all sports.
When we first arrived at the Stadium I couldn't believe how foggy it was....oh no, that's just the barbeque smoke from the 30,000+ tailgaters!! Awesome.
The new stadium is built right inside the old concrete walls so the history of the building is still evident. 
Our first half seats (for Shaun and I) were on the Bears sidelines at about the 25 yard line. Luckily for us the Packers were on fire early and spent most of the 1st quarter in our end. Actually, the very first play from scrimmage for the Packers was a 65 yard TD run by Ryan Grant. I thought that was an early sign it was going to be a blowout. Didn't happen...thank goodness. I was also lucky enough to have a hot blonde sit down beside me. She was with her boyfriend and they had the beers going and the flask of something that smelled a lot like gasoline. Anyways, she was chatty, flirty, and pretty darn good looking. We had decided that we would switch seats with Ben & Trev for the 2nd half so Benny would have the pleasure of looking at this chick. Little did I know what would happen. I should mention the one negative about Soldier Field...the bathrooms. There aren't enough. The guys bathroom is so small that the lineups spill out onto the concourse level and it literally takes 30 minutes to take a leak. I missed almost all of the 2nd quarter waiting to take a leak - good thing they have TV's everywhere so I could witness the Bears make a game of it.
Our 2nd half seats look like this....we were now on the Packers side at the 20 yard line. That being said, the 1st half seats were much better because you had a view of the whole stadium. From the 2nd half seats you couldn't see the big screens because of the over hang. Anyways, the Bears briefly had a lead at 14-13 and looked like they could play spoiler. But then Cutler reverted to his bad habits and threw a couple of bad picks and Green Bay survived with a 21-14 win. The weather co-operated and the temperatures were right around 0 degrees. The experience was a blast...unlike any other sporting event I have attended. When the Bears make plays you are high-fiving everyone around you. Everyone is friendly with you...maybe because they are all wasted. But you all become part of this Big Bears family and everyone has a blast. Good times I tell ya.
Now, what I found out after the game was that my hot blonde friend (who I sat beside in the 1st half) was actually all over Benny. She was chatting him up, rubbing his leg, and even trying to make out with him. She was telling Benny about how many Packers she'd screwed and how Mark Chimura pissed the bed on the night they hooked up. You know she's telling the truth when she confesses that Chimura is a bed-wetter. She gave Benny her email address (which because of my job I now know who she is) and she even called her Mom and let Benny talk to her Mom. Apparently all of this attention she was giving to Ben didn't go over with her somewhat aggressive and larger boyfriend. Benny thanked me for the warning...hey, I had no idea she was gonna try and molest him...I'm pleading ignorance my friend. Anyways, the Bears game and experience was incredible...and if you are ever going to see a Bears game...get 200 level Media Club seats...awesome.
That night we went back to the United Centre to check out the high-flying Hawks. I have to say what a different customer base for the Blackhawks compared to the Bulls. (No kidding Sherlock). Surprisingly fellas, we didn't see any black guys watching the 'Hawks. And there were no Corporate suits there either...we're talking die hard Hawks fans. The building is loud and they love their Hawks. The team is young and fast and very easy to like. They destroyed the Lightning 4-0. Poor LeCavlier didn't know what hit him.
Our Sunday night ended in a pub just down from our hotel where we pounded back some beers, ribs, and hot wings.
Our wake up call for Monday morning was 5am Chicago time and we were on the plane at 8:15am flying home to Seattle. Benny was flying back to Halifax through New York. Before we left we reminded Benny to make sure he had his gloves. He had tried to lose those babies at least 4-5 times and we were there to save the day.
We landed at SeaTac around 11:30 and we left the airport at noon and I was actually home picking up Ryan from school at 3pm. Nice driving and border lineup. Sometime that afternoon I texted Ben to see how his day was going...his texted response was this....
1) Sitting at Wolfgang Puck chatting with Dave Andreychuk
2) left my gloves in the cab
Oh Benny.
Anyways, those were the highlights of the trip - at least the ones I could remember and felt like typing about. It really was a great time and the best sports roadie I've ever done. Benny and Trev - thanks for the memories - it was awesome.
So...how do we top it???
And what's going on in the JBL???
Who will make the next big trade?
What will Seoul do with that mediocre squad?
Will he really trade Lebron?
We have 3 distinct tiers in the JBL right now...
French and Golden are the in the top tier...but under 900 points (as of Dec 17th at 4:47pm PST)
We have 5 teams in the 700's and we have 5 teams between 400 and 600.
So, what does that mean?? I'll tell you..it means we have a tight race and no one is out of it.
Who makes the next big move in attempt to save/change their teams' fortunes?
Which big name player gets hurt next and could change the landscape of the JBL?
We're at the 1/3 mark of the JBL season and it looks like this will be a great battle all year...
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