I love Wisconsin, I really do. And generally Wisconsin people and Packers fans are good people. I think the worst of them are the Chicago Packer fans. So while generally I’m glad the Packers got smoked tonight, once again ending the mirage of the mighty Packer juggernaut, I know there are a lot of true, good Packer fans that are disappointed. So for those, I do feel bad.

But man, what a performance by Colin Kaepernick. I commented while I was out tonight. Imagine the shame in the fact that the Chicago Bears were virtually bare at the quarterback position from 1949-2009, and now it seems that these mobile freaks can be plucked in the second and third rounds at will (by skilled scouts). Jay Cutler is unquestionably the most talented Bears quarterback since the 1940′s (and may break all the Bears passing records before the end of the 2013 Chicago Bears season).  But we will see if his immense talent is finally corralled-and if it isn’t, it will be time to move on with the cupboard bare again.

Two more thoughts on today’s divisional playoff games:

Overall, what an exciting day after an opening weekend of bombs.  I don’t pay much attention to AFC games, but the Broncos-Ravens game was a thriller.  Who would have thought the Broncos would have been knocked off at home after winning eight straight games?  And guess who snagged two interceptions-one returned for a touchdown and another to clinch the win?  None other than five-year Bear Corey Graham, who departed the Bears because Chicago wouldn’t play him enough on defense.  Kudos, Corey.

And it may have just been a small portion of the 49ers game, but for a moment they focused on San Francisco left tackle Joe Staley dominating all-world Packers LB Clay Matthews. And I remember distinctly listening to the 2007 NFL draft on the radio, hoping that the Bears would get the chance to select Staley. But the 49ers picked him two spots in front of the Bears. At the time, I was OK because I thought the Bears were set on the offensive line and needed the playmaker in Greg Olsen more. But I was wrong, it sure would be nice to have that bookend manning the left side in Chicago for a decade.

I guess at this point, I’m rooting for an all-Harbaugh Super Bowl for the second straight season. How cool would that be?

According to various sources, there has been “grumbling” within the NFL about the breadth of the Chicago Bears’ coaching search. (And ProFootBallTalk just can’t resist to continue to use the photo of Phil Emery in which he looks like Maxwell Smart). Teams believe that Emery is using the guise of interviews to glean intelligence from other coaches. I don’t have a problem with this. Nor does Dan Pompei of the Tribune.

What I will have a problem with is if the Bears jeopardize hiring the right coach because of the dog-and-pony show they have always insisted on putting on with final head coach candidates. They did it in 1999, they did it in 2004, when they brought the finalists to Halas Hall for last interviews and press conferences. And Emery already announced in his January 1st conference that the final two candidates will be paraded as such.

Let me just remind everyone that the Kansas City Chiefs, who have been an utterly dysfunctional organization for at least five years, identified Andy Reid as their man and stuck quickly. (I’m not saying I would have wanted Reid as the Bear’s coach-I don’t). But they decided they knew who they wanted, and they landed him without pandering to anyone.

Should the final two candidates be available and ready to take the Bears job, not talking to other teams, I don’t have a problem with seeing the final two being interviewed and paraded.

But here’s my fear. Let’s say when Mike McCoy becomes available (if the Broncos are eliminated from the playoffs), there is fierce competition between the Bears and the Eagles to hire him. This is IF McCoy is identified as the right man. Are the Bears going to lose out simply because the Eagles will hire swiftly and the Bears will lose him because he won’t participate in the final interview and conference with the media?

Based on what we have heard from Emery, I would hope to God that this is not a possibility. But we were also led to believe that this was Emery’s show to run, until we heard that he acquiesced to a McCaskey request to interview Mike Singletary. (Side note, why would Singletary and Keith Armstrong go through the motions to be interviewed when they have to know there is no chance in hell either of them are getting hired?)

Anyway, I believe I heard that based on interview length that Tampa offensive coordinator Mike Sullivan is very high on Emery’s list, if not at the top. I do not know if time will tell this will be the right hire or not. But I still trust that Emery will make the right decision.

(And I may end up being wrong about that too).

I didn’t write soon enough. Ever since Lovie Smith’s firing, I’ve been thinking the same thing that Dan Pompei wrote in today’s Chicago Tribune.

I realize that some Bears fans will think that any remaining vestige of the Lovie Smith era needs to be eradicated from Halas Hall. This would mean immediately firing the entire offensive and defensive staffs. While the departure of all of the offensive coaching staff (with the possible exception of Jeremy Bates) should be a given, this may not be the right move with the defensive and special teams coaches. I have thought this from the beginning.

As most of us probably know, after Smith’s firing the Bears assistants were told that they remain Bears employees, as all of them were given one-year contract extensions including 2013. I read somewhere that this is standard practice-in fact this provided the assistant coaches with a measure of security if Lovie Smith were not retained for the final year of his contract.

So hoping and assuming the Bears hire a bright offensive mind to be their next head coach, why not (for one more year anyway) try to keep intact the same defensive system that was successful in 2012? Possibly bring Brian Urlacher back for one more year, hoping that if the offense can be improved from its miserable state in 2012, the Bears may actually be able to make one more run? Then if the defense does tank in 2013, the defensive rebuilding can commence in 2014.

I’m sure that Rod Marinelli and staff would prefer to move along with their best buddy Lovie. But the fact of the matter is they are under contract and must coach for the Bears if they want to coach at all. This is not without precedent, I am pretty sure that when Tony Dungy was fired following the 2001 season (under very, very similar circumstances) John Gruden retained Monte Kiffen and staff throughout his tenure.

I agree with Pompei and think this would be the best solution. Unless the new head coach clearly has a better plan.

One more thing from this article. We have all been enjoying the thought that any McCaskey family hands are out of the direct decisions being made as a part of this process. We just started believing that Phil Emery controls the future. If this is the case, then why does Pompei report that Mike Singletary will be interviewed as suggested by the McCaskeys? I am shuddering. Loved seeing Samuari play, but I don’t want him as the Bears’ next head coach.

Back in 1999 and 2004, I followed the Bears’ searches for a new head coach intently to the last detail. Differences at that time were that I had a hell of a lot more time on my hands, and (even in 2004) every tiny detail wasn’t available virtually immediately as it is now. Therefore, I was better able to have a handle at all times on what was going on.

This time around, I’m getting a little overwhelmed by all of the candidates and their statuses. This is a GREAT thing that Phil Emery is overturning every stone in the search for the right candidate. In 1999 and 2004, none of the candidates overwhelmed me. I think I hoped for Brian Billick in ’99, but the Ravens acted decisively while Michael McCaskey waited weeks for his minions to do their work. Then I hoped for Dave McGinnis, but that was only because of his connection to Mike Ditka. So that desire wasn’t necessarily the best thing that could have worked out.

In 2004, I suppose looking back that Tom Coughlin was the best candidate. But again, Jerry Angelo’s comedic search process ruined the possibility of hiring any of the best candidates. When it finally came down to Russ Grimm or Lovie Smith, I preferred Smith.

I can’t believe how different things are going this time around. I don’t have a real preference at this point-there seem to be so many up-and-coming candidates with positive virtues that I just don’t know myself. Thank God for everyone I’m not in charge, and being the General Manager of my own family and life, I have enough of my own to concentrate on.

I only have two thoughts at this point. The first is that I have actually started moving away from thinking that a Holmgren or (John) Gruden would be the right choice. I think that to truly build for the future, the Bears would be better off finding the NEXT Holmgren or Gruden. And second, I can’t believe it, but I actually feel that the General Manager of the Bears is going to make the right decision! How refreshing.

The only slight reservation I am feeling is if Phil Emery hires based on a previous connection, like Joe Decamillis, or a simple obsession with a military background, such as Mike Sullivan. I’m not saying that I think either of these candidates aren’t the right choice-they may be. But I hope Emery isn’t going to use personal preferences such as this as more important than the overall goal of getting the right guy.

But again, the great thing is, Emery has done nothing to make me think that he won’t make the absolute right decision. Whether the new hire might be Mike McCoy, Tom Clements, Bruce Arians, Sullivan, Marc Trestman or Rick Dennison, I really think he’s going to make the right hire.

I also see this morning that Seattle’s offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell has been added to the list. I’m a little concerned there that I don’t remember Bevell having a lot of success unless/until he received players such as Brett Favre or Russell Wilson. But again, I trust in Emery.

I am eager to hear what you think!

Queue up the slide whistle for a look back at the Bears’ organization’s Clown College moments:

(For the record, I’m not taking the “Clown College” comment from WSCR’s recent constant use of the phrase. Commenter “Grabber” and I have been calling the Bears organization a Clown College for at least a decade).

Even better than thinking of a slide whistle sound, please play some theme music in the background.

Clown College Moment 1999: Bears President Michael McCaskey, in his watershed moments after 16 years of dismantling a winning organization, fires Dave Wannstedt, his self-appointed successor to Mike Ditka. McCaskey announces that his personnel VP Mark Hatley will begin a candidate search and bring him finalists. After several weeks, after head coaches such as Brian Billick and Andy Reid were hired, McCaskey decided to hire former Bears assistant Dave McGinnis. (This was after-get this-the Bears asked for permission to hire Jets defensive coordinator Bill Belichick but didn’t interview him!) And according to John Mullin in one of his books, Hatley threatened to resign if McCaskey followed through on his desire to hire Packers offensive coordinator Sherm Lewis. As the story goes, McCaskey announced the McGinnis hiring before the coach had accepted, McGinnis flew back to Arizona, and McCaskey was relieved of his title a short time later.

Clown College Moment 1999: Hatley calls first-round draft pick Cade McNown “a special guy.”

Clown College Moment 2001: Bears President Ted Phillips, who had succeeded McCaskey, takes the podium with Hatley to explain a “mutual parting of the ways.” Hatley goes on to work for the Green Bay Packers until his untimely death from a heart attack. This move comes just weeks after Hatley had engineered the Bears’ 2001 draft. During the press conference, Phillips looks defensive and nervous and his pores resembled Richard Nixon’s as he angrily denies a reporter’s claim that his organization is “in disarray.” In the same press conference, Phillips announces that the Bears would hire an executive search firm to assist with finding a general manager for the team. The new general manager will report to Phillips and McCaskey.

Clown College Moment 2001: Jerry Angelo is announced as the team’s new GM, rocking back and forth on the podium in a strange press conference to discuss his arrival. Some of his first words were that he has no cliches’ in his vocabulary. Then he goes on to utter cliché after cliché not only throughout this press conference but in every press conference he would lead throughout his tenure.

Clown College Moment 2002: Angelo has two key players that are entering restricted free agency, meaning the Bears own their rights for one more year. Meaning other teams can sign the player and the Bears can match or receive draft pick compensation. That is, as long as on paperwork that is faxed to the league, a box is checked indicating the Bears request compensation if they don’t match an offer. Angelo and/or his staff do not check the boxes requesting compensation next to LB Warrick Holdman or WR D’Wayne Bates. Bates and Holdman become unrestricted free agents; the Bears pay more for Holdman to retain him than they would have had to had processes been followed.

Clown College Moment 2004: Angelo fires head coach Dick Jauron and lasers in on hiring LSU coach Nick Saban as his next coach. Saban refuses to work for Angelo without personnel control. Angelo searches the country from coast to coast, reportedly offering the job to college coaches Jeff Tedford and Kirk Ferentz, who refuse. Lovie Smith and Pittsburgh assistant Russ Grimm are finalists. We know how this ends.

Clown College Moment 2007: The Bears hold a press conference to announce contract extensions for Phillips, Angelo and Smith following their Super Bowl 41 loss. Later, Smith has a panel discussion with the Chicago media admonishing them that they must trust all of his decisions.

Clown College Moment 2009: Phillips, Angelo and Smith hold a confusing press conference announcing the dismissal of the offensive coaching staff. Mike Martz becomes the Bears’ next offensive coordinator after several others refuse the job.

Clown College Moment 2011: Angelo works out a trade with the Baltimore Ravens to move to the 26th pick from the 29th so the Bears can select Wisconsin tackle Gabe Carimi. Angelo and/or his staff falter in reporting the trade to the NFL. Thus the Kansas City Chiefs leapfrog the Ravens. The Ravens then select, as does New Orleans, leaving the Bears with Carimi after all. Baltimore appeals to the NFL asking for the Bears to cough up the originally agreed upon compensation: the Bears’ fourth-round pick. Angelo refuses, and Baltimore’s ownership blasts Angelo throughout the NFL, advising other teams to not deal with the Bears.

Turning the corner 2011: While we still had to watch both Chairman of the Board George McCaskey and CEO Ted Phillips talk about it, the Bears announce that they have fired Angelo. They hire Kansas City scouting director Phil Emery as their new GM. Emery goes on to trade two third-round picks for receiver Brandon Marshall, who in one season re-writes the Bears’ record books.

Professionals in 2012?: The Bears swiftly dismiss Smith just one day after the end of a season in which the Bears didn’t make the playoffs, for the fifth time in six years. The following day, Emery alone speaks to the press to explain the move. No McCaskey or Phillips needed.

I think we’re on to something?

After 33 seasons of watching the Chicago Bears, I’ve gotten a little cynical, admittedly. In those 33 seasons the Bears have made the playoffs 13 times. Having been through watching the pre-Phil Emery Bears step all over themselves and screw up important decisions repeatedly, I find it hard to believe the organization will handle this properly. But I hope they will.

In fairness, it is not lost on me that Lovie Smith did field consistently competitive teams, and that’s something we have not always seen in Chicago-not by a long shot. But while being consistently competitive is a step up from being a Wannstedt or Jauron-led team, it’s far short of what the Green Bay Packers have done over the last 21 seasons (I believe only missing the playoffs three times).

So, although there is an even chance that the Bears will go downhill in the short term, and an even chance their next coaching hire will never be successful, in my opinion it was the proper decision.

I am hoping the Bears will choose an offensive-minded coach with a strong potential for (and record of) success in that area. But I will state right now that as long as their next coach commits to concentrating on improving the offense, it’s not necessarily the wrong hire to bring in a strong coach that wasn’t necessarily an offensive mind. As long as he finally commits to fixing the problems in that area for the Bears. (I can already hear fans screaming if a defense-centric coach is hired).

My only fear is if the Bears continue with their insistence on hiring an “even-tempered, soft-spoken players coach” as they have their last three times. It has seemed to me that after they rid themselves of Mike Ditka, they committed to never hiring a disciplinarian that speaks his mind ever again.

That, to me is the greatest risk to this critical hire, if they exclude candidates simply because they speak their mind and don’t go to church as much as the McCaskey family would like to see.

But let’s hope those days are finally over.

In 2008 the Bears blew a perfectly arranged opportunity to make the playoffs. Will they avoid that fate today?

Had a long drive this morning and I admit that my thinking I’ll speak to here was motivated by the WSCR morning crew of Dan Hampton, Matt Bowen and Connor McKnight. But the more I listened-the more I tend to agree. Agree with the thinking that Phil Emery has already made a decision on Lovie Smith’s future with the Bears. And all likelihood is that he’s coming back in 2013.

Let me back up a bit. A few weeks ago, I predicted that the Bears would be in this exact spot. Needing a win at Detroit to get in and possibly some help. At that time, my prediction was that the Bears will blow it. As they did in 2008, when Chicago needed something like three different things to happen in their favor along with a win at Houston. All three things fell their way, and they blew it. (I don’t have to remind everyone who their head coach was at that time).

Look, I hope the Bears win, Green Bay beats Minnesota, and the Bears go to San Francisco and pull off a major upset. But I’m just not so sure that the Bears will take care of business when the chips are down. I know there are some fans that would say no Bear fan should ever think their team isn’t going to win. But that’s not me-I can’t help it-sometimes I just get that feelin’.

If nothing else other than I want to have a good time today before starting my New Year’s resolutions, I certainly hope the Bears win so I have a reason to want to watch the Green Bay-Minnesota game and pull for the Packers for one of the first times I can remember in a long time.

Getting back to Lovie, now I honestly believe he’s coming back no matter what. Why? Because as Hampton and the gang said, Bears GM Phil Emery hasn’t had time to put his mark on the team. And keeping Lovie for one more season buys him one more year of pinning failure on someone else. Makes perfect sense to me, unfortunately. I smell at least two more losses to the Packers coming, unfortunately.

Hey, I’ve been wrong many, many times. But this is the feeling I’m getting at this time. And time will tell.

All I will say as I’ve said again and again and again…if the Bears have decided to fire Lovie if they miss the playoffs, for God’s sake they better have already reached out to their candidate of choice and gauged his interest. And if a move is made make it DECISIVELY for once. The dog and pony shows that went on before the hirings of Smith and Jauron were nauseating, and should that happen again, kiss Bears’ success goodbye for another decade.

Chicago Bears players in the 2012/2013 Pro Bowl:

WR Brandon Marshall: First Bears receiver honored since Marty Booker in 2002; only second since 1971.

DT Henry Melton: Vindication that Melton indeed has entered elite status. Sure to help his push for a major contract upgrade as he becomes a free agent following this season.

DE Julius Peppers: Peppers’ second time honored as a Bear.

CB Charles Tillman: Tillman rewarded for the second straight year.

CB Tim Jennings: Honored for leading NFL in interceptions, starting with his teammate Tillman. I cannot remember another time when two Bears cornerbacks made the team. Surely never both as starters, which both are.

A notable player missing is LB Lance Briggs, who doesn’t make the Pro Bowl team for the first time since 2004, I believe. Will be interesting to hear the speculation on why Briggs was snubbed. Wonder if it has anything to do with the fact that Briggs would not participate in the game year after year?

Watching the Sunday Night Football game last night, when the Seahawks continued their run of fire since beating the Bears, I wondered why I felt like the Bears had lost. Thankfully they didn’t, but I just couldn’t shake that unhappy feeling.

Must have been because after starting 7-1, the Bears find themselves needing to win at Detroit and help from Green Bay, of all teams, to make the playoffs as a wildcard.

All I will say today is that I still have an opinion about how this is probably going to shake out. I said a few weeks back that I foresaw a scenario of the Bears having to win in Detroit in order to make the postseason. And I still feel the way I did about what’s going to happen. Certainly also the Bears could beat Detroit, then watch Minnesota beat Green Bay in the dome. Talk about something that could make me hate the Packers even more than I already do.

But I won’t go into that today, it’s Christmas Eve after all. Happy Holidays to everyone.

To quote an old phrase I heard somewhere, sometime in the past, the Bears’ offense certainly has not been what we thought it would be in 2012, has it?

So as the Bears ready themselves to play at Arizona for the first time since the 2006 “miracle in the desert,” common wisdom is that the Bears should easily handle the 5-9 Cardinals.

But after reading this article by Adam Jahns in the Sun-Times yesterday, I’m not so sure. (Honestly I was never sure-I put the Bears odds of being eliminated from playoff contention on Sunday as equal to their odds of winning).

Jahns points out that the Cardinal defense is strong, and excels at exactly what the Bears are good at: throwing interceptions and allowing sacks. Most telling is what Arizona’s defense did to Aaron Rodgers (46.7% completions), Matthew Stafford (three interceptions and a 37.6 rating) and Matt Ryan (five interceptions).

Granted, Arizona’s offense is more putrid than the Bears’. But one person out there tell me that they can’t visualize Cardinal cornerback Patrick Peterson dancing back with a pick-six after Devin Hester or Kellen Davis bobble a pass?

The Bears aren’t officially eliminated with a loss on Sunday unless the Minnesota Vikings pull off a huge upset at Houston. But for all intents and purposes they will be. Should the Bears lose Sunday, they would have to win at Detroit and several crazy things would have to happen, starting with several teams ahead of the Bears losing their last two games. I know that the last three years have proven that anything can happen in the NFL. But COME ON, if the Bears offense stinks at Arizona and they sneak in to the playoffs to lose immediately, all that does is ensure one and possibly two more years with Lovie Smith and his entourage.

I’ll say what I believe I have said before. If the Bears win out, look like they’re getting better on offense and they win a playoff game, I would support Smith coming back. If that happens, I would rather see the Bears make one last final one-shot attempt with this roster, IF they are able to add a few more pieces. Another receiver and a tight end to replace the incompetent Davis and Hester, a couple of pieces on the offensive line, etc. Go for broke.

The reason I say this is if Lovie goes (and he should if they miss the playoffs or sneak in and get crushed), it will be time to start from scratch. And that will undoubtedly mean the Bears will be in for some lean years not seen since the “Jauronstedt” days. I’m afraid the Chicago Cubs’ rebuilding process will look swift compared to what will happen to the Bears. Especially given the draft incompetence shown consistently over the course of 20 years.

The last time the Bears had to tear down an old team and build from scratch was in 1993 under Wanny. Remember how long it took for the Bears to get back to at least finishing around .500 year after year? 13 years. I also think of Matt Millen being hired to re-engineer a Detroit Lions team that barely missed the playoffs in 2000 (thanks to the Bears), and we all know how that has gone for them.

In two days, we’ll all find out whether the Bears continue to dangle from a thread, or they officially start the plunge to the Earth.

Hey, at least the world still exists today!