I've realized what a strange league the NFL is in the last few weeks. It just does not operate under the same societal norms as the rest of the country. Here are some examples: Wall Street executives of major public companies pissed away trillions making risky bets, and still got praised for their efforts with seven-figure bailout packages. Anyone with a career in HR knows that it takes at LEAST several mistakes (and a mountain of paperwork) to fire an underperforming employee at a company. Hell, even people who flip burgers tend to have no consequences for their rude 'tudes. But the NFL? If you have one bad season, your job is seriously IN JEOPARDY. For realz. In America, the land of second changes, the stark consequences for sucking seriously threw me for a loop.
The reason I mention this is because Lovie Smith, the Bears head coach, has set the city abuzz with his underperformance. There was a week or two when every guy in Chicago was just waiting with baited breath for the announcement that Lovie had been given his walking papers, along with the Bears' "offensive coordinator." (I put that in quotes because I feel like it's something like "extraterrestrials" or "Operation Iraqi Freedom" -- a murky concept I've often heard about but still have no idea what it really means.)
It was announced earlier this week (after some serious rampant speculation) that he was not fired, and he has since publicly mentioned several goals for next season. This seemed to shock sports fans - that he narrowly escaped the NFL guillotine so often inflicted on losing head coaches. But then the team did a peculiar thing: it took out a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune to apologize to the fans for its substandard performance this year.
I'm just stunned. Accountability? Remorse? Humility? Granted I'm sure the bright idea didn't come from the Bears owners or even coaches - more likely the public relations department - but still. And I'll run the risk of sounding like a curmudgeon by saying that "people these days" don't often display accountability and definitely avoid admitting failure at all costs. Take, for example, flacks who say things like "Heckuva job brownie" and "The system worked" and "Our client denies all charges and asks that you respect his privacy at his time." It's not often that people can come right out and admit they sucked. So I guess what I'm trying to say is that I appreciate the candor. There's nothing worse than untalented people who are praised and tricked into thinking they are actually good at what they do. And although Lovie Smith still retains his throne, at least the Bears will approach the 2010 season with humility and their minds open to changing things up.
(P.S. I still think the tagline at the bottom of the open letter should have been "Second City. One team." But that's the copywriter in me.)
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