Hello,
Each year since the Bears moved to Bourbonnais my family and I have attended the Appreciation Day held at Olivet Nazarene University. The 2002 experience was incredible, we paid the extra money for the paid admission and got an up close seat to see the Bears practice. After practice, the spectators that participated in the Appreciation Day event got an opportunity to go to a special meet and greet session with the players. Although it was awkward to see all of the players having to stand and meet their fans directly after practice, it was a nice opportunity for the fans to get close to the Bears players and wish them well on the season. It afforded me a memorable opportunity to tell Brad Maynard how much he meant to the team the year before. The players signed autographs and shook hands with fans from behind a yellow roped off area for 45 minutes (I know that because of overhearing a conversation between Jim Miller and Chris Chandler while they were signing autographs).
The Appreciation Day was repeated in much the same manner in 2003 as fans were treated to the same meet and greet session after practice. In 2003 however, the players were comfortably seated in groups of two at folding tables while signing autographs and shaking hands. That year, I got to see the humanity of several players and I appreciated the interaction that I had the opportunity to witness between fans and the players. There was a young boy who was concerned he would not have time to wait in the line to get an autograph from Kordell Stewart while getting an autograph from Ted Washington. Ted Washington overheard this and took the page from the boy and handed it to Kordell for him to sign for the boy. In another memorable moment of interaction between the fans, the same Ted Washington laughed out loud as a fan lauded Adrian Peterson as he was going to go to the pro bowl after the upcoming season. I got to kid Chris Villarrial about how the media pointed him out as him being the strongest Bear player to which he said it was actually Rex Tucker who was the strongest player. I remember thinking that they should have had their numbers on the tables though as we hardly have the opportunity to see many of the players with their helmets off.
Last year, as we drove down the same hour drive with six of us in the minivan, we were pleased to park in a special section reserved for the fans who had pre-paid their admission. We piled out of the minivan decked out in Bears attire such as Enis, Urlacher, Payton and Waddle jerseys and entered through the special entrance reserved for VIPs. As we entered, we were given a scratch-off card for a chance to win an autograph by one of the players, unfortunately none of our group was a winner. We got to our seats in plenty of time and as the players came out we cheered, because they are our home team, the only team, the Chicago Bears. We stood and cheered when a long pass was caught and voiced disappointment when a pass was dropped. The bleacher seating afforded an excellent vantage point at which to view all of the activities going on.
I want to stress how impersonal the end of practice was compared to the past two years. The experience was drastically different and I am wondering why. If it will be the same as last year, I probably will not attend the Training Camp in 2005. Instead of the special meet and greet session that we had come to look forward to every year, there was an odd march of winners in a single file line. These lucky few were separated into groups of 10 winners separated by a ONU employee. These lucky winners were paraded out to the edge of the practice field and the players came over to the sideline, signed the piece of paper and turned and went to the locker room. Oh yes, they were given a t-shirt as well. One of these winners was a 11 year old boy, whose mother works with me, and had gone to the training camp on my recommendation based on the two previous years. Although he won and he received other autographs from the other players who hung around, it was definitely not at all like I had described to his mother. I am not bitter because I did not win the scratch-off game, but more disappointed for the boy who did not get his wish fulfilled to meet all of the players like he had expected.
As there was a coaching change from the 2003-2004 season to the 2004-2005 season, we were left to wonder if that was the reason for the change or was it some policy shift that Olivet Nazarene had for the Chicago Bears. More importantly, we were wondering what to expect for the upcoming training camp in 2005.
Thank you for your time,
A Concerned Bears Fan
- SlimTim
Downers Grove, IL
I found a picture that I took during the Appreciation Day on August 14th, 2004. This picture illustrates the winners of the contest being paraded along the sidelines to get their autograph.
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