So here I sit dreaming again… dreaming of a championship for Chicago. No, not just one. I want the Grand Slam of Championships. That’s right. How about one year where the Bears, Bulls, Hawks, and Cubs (Sox if you prefer) ALL win championships? Are we best positioned for this to happen now more than ever? Sure, I’ll settle for ANY championship, but I’m dreaming here, so hear me out.
In my lifetime (post 1976), our Chicago teams have made the playoffs a combined 78 times. You can double check me if you’d like. Here’s the breakdown by team: Hawks 29, Bulls 25, Bears 14, Cubs 6, and Sox 4. Pretty impressive numbers for the Bulls and Hawks. Out of those 78 playoff appearances, we have a total of 9 championships. Here’s the breakdown as if you need it: Bulls 6, Hawks 2, Bears 1, and Sox 1. Oh yeah, Cubs 0 by the way. We talked about who will win the next World Series between the Cubs and the Sox… how about who will win the next championship period.
Let’s look at the upcoming year, and see why I’m dreaming more than ever. The Bears (pre week 1 meltdown) were one of the top favored teams in Vegas to win the Super Bowl. Yes, that’s skewed due to the public money, but they have been mentioned as a sleeper by many “experts” this year. OK, so they have a better than average chance to win this year (again, I’m trying to erase this week’s loss to the Bills). OK, so maybe it’s a long shot for the Bears, but a little less of a long shot than normal.
Next we get to our 2 best shots at a championship this year with the Hawks and the Bulls. I don’t think I’d get much dispute there. The most dispute would probably come with the final part of the Grand Slam with our baseball teams. We can argue about that another day, but you know how close I feel the Cubs are. So are we really that close to a Grand Slam? How close have we been before?
This has been found a leading factor to cause sexual problem cialis without prescription Going Here in today’s working generation. This lead me to generic sales viagra start to think that if this man is having an affair. How to expel harmful cialis generic online toxins? It is possible to do so. The most useful icks.org purchase generic cialis remedies at present is the ayurvedic remedies. I looked at all the playoff appearances, and there were 6 years when multiple Chicago teams have made it AT LEAST to the championship round of the playoffs (not the finals, the championship round). 5 of those years it was 2 Chicago teams making it. In 1983, it was the Hawks who lost (got swept) in the Conference Finals to the Oilers, while the Sox lost to Baltimore 3-1 in the ALCS. The very next year, we had 2 more teams come up short. The Cubs lost in the 1984 NLCS while the 84 Bears lost to Frisco in the NFC Championship game. 1992 was the closest we got to 2 championships. The Bulls won their 2nd, while the Hawks went to the Stanley Cup finals only to lose to the Penguins via sweep again. The very next year, 1993, the Bulls hoisted their 3rd straight, while the Sox went to the ALCS again, losing to the Blue Jays 4-2. The most recent occurrence came in 2010. The Hawks won their first Stanley Cup in my lifetime, while the Bears lost to the Packers in the NFC Championship game later that year.
The 6th time we had multiple teams reach at least the championship round was in 1989. 4 teams made it to the championship round! The Bears started off in 1988 when they advanced to the NFC Championship game played on January 8, 1989. That was ugly when the Niners came into a negative 26 degree wind chill day at Soldier Field and pasted us 28-3. The Hawks and Bulls continued the success only to fall short in their Conference Finals series. The Hawks lost 4-1 to Calgary in a series I remember very little about, while the Bulls lost to the Pistons 4-2 in their first Eastern Conference Finals battle. The Cubs were the 4th team who made it to the championship round, coming up short yet again, losing 4-1 to San Fran. We had 4 chances that year, but came up empty. While close to the ultimate multiple times, and many great moments during the season and playoffs, 1989 had to be a painful year for a lot of people. I was turning 13 that year, and remember all of them clearly except the Hawks. So close, yet so far.
1989, the closest we came to the Grand Slam, while 1992 was the only year in which 2 of our teams were in the last game played that year for their sport. What will 2014 hold? The Bears lead us off like a bunch of jerks last week, but I’m not folding just yet. If they could… maybe… just maybe, then the Hawks… Bulls.. Cubs. Well, that would be fun wouldn’t it?
The fact is, I’ll settle for 1 championship, and the best chance for that this year is the Blackhawks again. The fact is, the only championship that I haven’t seen is the Cubs; that’s the one I’m really waiting for. When they win, hell will freeze over as they say… but what if all 4 teams brought the title home in one year? What will happen then? I hope I’m alive to see it… at least to see hell freeze over. Time to wake up.
nostradummass
Has any city EVER won all four championships in the same year??
JEFFK
Closest thing to the Grand Slam was Detroit in 1935. Actually, it was the trifecta for them since it was pre-Pistons. The Tigers, Red Wings, and Lions all won championships that year. 15 other times 2 teams won championships in the same year/calendar year. So multiple championship can be done, but all 4 has never happened. I thought based on your name you would know this… or maybe not. Thanks for the question.
bullwinkle
Keep dreamin’ Homer………if not, then what???