The San Diego Chargers abandoned their home for over half a century this week — they told the world that Los Angeles is the place they ought to be.
At which point I was reminded — our own Chicago Bears made their own threat a few years back, too.
In 1995, the McCaskey family had grown tired of Soldier Field. It was in a word — old. In order to entice taxpayer funds to keep them in Chicago, they began talks with a group from of all places — GARY, INDIANA — to build them a new home.
That new home would have been called “Planet Park.” A revolutionary idea of the time, it would have created an entire entertainment complex around the new Bears stadium — shopping, bars/restaurants, hotel and camping accommodations, and a nine hole golf course.
Mayor Daley hit back at the proposed move, hinting that the Bears would not be missed because of a possible Canadian Football League expansion franchise coming to our fair city. Canadian Football! Their receivers don’t even come set before the snap of the ball. The audacity!
In the end, Lake Country officials wouldn’t pass the new tax that would fund the project. And now, we are left with a spaceship squatting on Greek colunnades.
Bear down, Chicago. Bear down.
