New Clothes, Old Boss, Same Old Same Old

The Bears finished the season Sunday with their tenth straight loss, 29-13, to the Vikings. In his postgame comments, coach Matt Eberflus did a pretty good Matt Nagy imitation, talking without saying anything. General manager Ryan Poles followed that up by deigning to meet the media yesterday, the same way that ex-GM Ryan Pace used to, as if he were being docked $1000 for every comment of substance uttered. Poles wasn’t happy with how the season went; pretty much thinks Justin Fields is his quarterback; and wants the team to do better next year. So do we all. What kills me is how the Chicago media reacted. Oh, plenty of people let Poles know he’s on the clock, the honeymoon’s over. But I’m not aware of anyone who asked Poles why he can’t bother with the Fourth Estate the way that Jed Hoyer and Rick Hahn do. Yes, Hahn does a rope-a-dope to tire out reporters, but he’s there facing the heat. Heck, he even says something substance on occasion. With Poles, the next time will be the first time. Yet, no one will call Poles out, or just call him, for that matter. Instead, newspapers; news sites; the radio; and TV will be rife with speculation: What will the Bears do with the first pick in the draft? With other teams, journalists look for players, coaches and execs good for a quote. With the Bears, nobody thinks to ask. Politicians would give their right arm for that treatment. Only in Chicago.