Just in time for the holiday shopping season arrives the year’s best football book, “Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football” by Rich Cohen.
Published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux and released on Oct. 29, this 338-page book gives us an inside look into what many consider the greatest football team of all time, the 1985 Chicago Bears. Beginning with a history of the franchise, Cohen takes readers on a journey that ends with “where are they now” interviews with the players he could track down 25 years after their iconic Super Bowl win. Along the way, he touches on a wide variety of entertaining subjects, including the playing and coaching careers of Mike Ditka, the rise of William “Refrigerator” Perry, the exploits of controversial quarterback Jim McMahon, feared safety Doug Plank, the life and death of record-setting running back Walter Payton, the “Super Bowl Shuffle,” the famous, game-changing “46 Defense,” the McMahon headband controversy and the long-lasting effects of career-ending injuries.
Cohen is uniquely suited to tell this story. A native of Chicago, he’s a lifelong Bears fan, who attended the 1985 Super Bowl as a 17-year-old high schooler. For Cohen and millions of other Bears fans, the 1985 Bears were the greatest football team ever, and Cohen’s book is a great tribute to that team’s only championship season.
“Monsters” takes its title from the nickname of the Bears, that is, the “Monsters of the Midway,” and between its covers, Cohen attempts to answer all the questions he’s ever had about the 1985 Bears – What was it like to win? What was it like to lose? Did they really hate their opponents? Were they ever scared? What goes through your mind when you’re lying broken and injured on the field? How do you go on with life after you’ve already lived your dream?
In the end, if you’ve got a football fan on your holiday shopping list, I highly recommend that you put a copy of Cohen’s book in their Christmas stocking. They won’t be disappointed, and they’ll thank you for it later. Copies of it are available at all major bookstores and online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
For those of you who have already read “Monsters,” you might want to check out some of Cohen’s other books. He’s written 10 others, including “The Fish That Ate the Whale,” “Alex and the Amazing Time Machine,” “From Hither to You,” “When I Stop Talking, You’ll Know I’m Dead,” “Israel is Real,” “Sweet and Low,” “Machers and Rockers,” “Lake Effect,” “The Avengers” and “Tough Jews.” If those books are as good as “Monsters,” then they’re definitely worth reading.
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The 13th week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest has come and gone, and here’s how the Top 10 standings looked after the final game on Saturday.
Hunter Norris remained in first place for the fifth straight week, and Jeremy Matheny went from fourth place to second place. Ricky Taylor remained in third place for the second straight week, and Aaron Albritton moved up from sixth place to fourth place. I went from sixth place to fifth place, and Mike Dailey dropped from fifth place to sixth place.
Steve Stacey went from ninth place to seventh place, and Sharon Peacock went from tenth place to eighth place. Terry Peacock reentered the Top 10, finishing the week in ninth place, and Joey Matheny rounded out the Top 10 in tenth place this week.
With only two weeks left in the contest, we’re getting down to the short rows. Only time will tell who will remain at the top in two weeks, but if Norris remains on track, he’ll take home the bragging rights this year.
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College football action continues this week in the SEC and this weekend’s slate of games will feature five head-to-head conference match-ups. Those games will include Alabama at Auburn, Ole Miss at Mississippi State, Arkansas at LSU, Tennessee at Kentucky and Texas A&M at Missouri. Other games involving SEC teams this week will include Florida State at Florida, Wake Forest at Vanderbilt, Georgia at Georgia Tech and Clemson at South Carolina.
For what it’s worth, here are my picks for this week’s slate of games. I like Alabama over Auburn, Mississippi State over Ole Miss, LSU over Arkansas, Tennessee over Kentucky, Missouri over Texas A&M, Florida State over Florida, Vanderbilt over Wake Forest, Georgia over Georgia Tech and South Carolina over Clemson. Last week: 6-2. So far this season: 86-17.
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Week 13 of the NFL regular season schedule kicks off today (Thursday) with a game between the Green Bay Packers and the Detroit Lions. That game will kick off at 11:35 a.m. at Ford Field in Detroit. Later in the day, the Raiders will play the Cowboys and the Steelers will play the Ravens. Twelve games will follow on Sunday, and the Monday night game will feature the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks.
Today, I like Detroit over Green Bay, Dallas over Oakland and Baltimore over Pittsburgh.
On Sunday, I like Indianapolis over Tennessee, Denver over Kansas City, Cleveland over Jacksonville, Carolina over Tampa Bay, Minnesota over Chicago, Philadelphia over Arizona, the New York Jets over Miami, Buffalo over Atlanta, San Francisco over St. Louis, New England over Houston, Cincinnati over San Diego and Washington over the New York Giants.
In the Monday night game, I like Seattle over New Orleans. Last week: 6-8. So far this season: 117-59.
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