A Tricky Saturday and a Panther Hunt

Well, what a weekend. Great stuff on the field, similarly so off the field. Friday night involved a sojourn out to the west burbs for buddy Rip's bachelor party at a, shall we say, establishment of questionable moral standing. But it was good times despite the monstrous cab fare and the party had some great moments. LongMan, K-Rock, and Kelly were along for the ride.

TheDad made a rare appearence in Chicago, after taking in a Pucini opera Friday night he met us at Hawkeye Central before the regular season finale for some beer and brunch.

The Hawks made the faithful proud Saturday, jumping out to an early 35-0 lead on the Gophers and cruising the entire way, paced by "Tricky" Ed Hinkel's trickiest performance ever on his Senior Day: 7 catches, 151 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a great overall comeback performance after breaking his arm against Purdue and watching Iowa's season come apart from the sidelines against Michigan and Northwestern. It was great to see a four-year contributor and on-and-off the field leader have a great day for his swan song at Kinnick Stadium. Fellow senior Adbul Hodge had 14 tackles by halftime, Chad Greenway got an interception, and the offense got big contributions in the running game: 104 yards on 8 carries from up-and-coming Damien Sims and a 103-yard performance from our workhorse and Doak Walker Award semi-finalist Albert "The Matriculator" Young. Each of our running backs matriculated the ball down the field for a touchdown Saturday, but it was all about the seniors and keeping Floyd of Rosedale right where he belongs.

Saturday afternoon and evening was good times, party hosts Gate and Sarah had Thanksgiving dinner for Chicago-area friends before we head our separate ways for the real holiday. It was great times, great food, and devolved into a celebration that lasted long into the night as usual.

And the crown jewel of sporting events this weekend took place Sunday afternoon, as the until-now unheralded Chicago Bears dismantled the NFC favorite Carolina Panthers in a 13-3 drubbing that easily could have been worse. It featured 8 sacks by the Bears defensive line in addition to about a dozen other QB pressures and knockdowns. It was the best four quarters of football the Bears have played this year (with the possible exception of Detroit game No. 1), and it feels good to silence the critics who have complained about the Bears' record being solely a product of an easy schedule and weak division. We've beaten the best team. Now let's have some well-earned respect for this team. We win ugly, but often.

Game balls go to Nate Vasher, two more picks on two absolutely putrid throws by Jake Delhomme, setting up 10 points in the first quarter and giving us the lead for good, and Alex Brown, registering 2 of the 8 sacks, knocking down a pass, getting three tackles, and forcing 2 fumbles. He did everything but sell popcorn in Soldier Field yesterday, and he wasn't the only one. The "You'll Get 'Em Next Week" award goes to Mushin Muhammed, who got 6 catches and a TD against his old team, but with 4 drops he lost almost as many as he caught, and he tipped a slightly-underthrown Orton pass into the arms of Ricky Manning, Jr. for Orton's only pick. I know you were nervous playing against your old team Moose, but we paid you $28 million to make the play each and every time, and we need you to do that. You're too good for those mistakes.

The bottom line is this: If you don't know, now you know. The Chicago Bears have The. Best. Defense. In. Football.

Up next is another big NFC South test: the enigmatic Tampa Bay Bucs, who have shown the ability to beat great teams and get throttled by bad teams this year. We'll see who shows up next Sunday.

Short week for all of us...it's the holidays. TheGirl and I are leaving Wednesday afternoon for St. George for turkey and golf with the InLaws, TheMom, and LittleBro, and then LittleBro and I are setting sail for Mecca to spend the weekend at this little-known establishment. We're going to eat steak, drink cocktails, and recklessly gamble until Sunday morning when we return to the Windy City.

I'll be back with something before I embark Wednesday, but make sure you and your family have a great and happy holiday. Turkey is good. So are green beans.

T