Can the Kick

Sunday at Soldier Field against Detroit, Bears’ kicker Cody Parkey missed two extra points and two field goals; each time, Parkey clanked the ball off an upright.  How do you say, “Getting rid of Robbie Gould in 2016 was a big mistake”?  Oh, I just did.  Gould has made 70 of 73 field goal tries since being cut and this year has missed one extra point.

But wait, it gets better.  Unlike Gould, Parkey had never practiced kicking at Soldier Field, which is strange given the stadium’s location on the lake and its well-earned reputation for being a (lake-induced) wind tunnel.  You see, it’s thirty-nine grueling miles from Halas Hall to our stadium by the lake.  Oh, the traffic, the traffic.

You’d think someone who signed to a $9-million guaranteed contract would camp out at his home field six days a week to get his kicks right, but the Bears, even when good like they have been this year, do things differently.  (See Robbie Gould.)  They did, however, finally consent to having Parkey practice at Soldier Field on Wednesday, at which time the media fun began.

Two local stations sent helicopters over the field.  Somehow, the Bears didn’t have the right to control airspace over Soldier Field put in their lease, so they had to allow live shots; tape of Parkey practicing, though, they were able to keep from being broadcast.  Why?  Because stations sign an agreement letting the Bears determine how much of a practice can be shown.

According to marketwatch.com, the public kicked in $387 million of the $587 million—65.9 percent—spent on the 2003 Soldier Field renovation (and I suspect that remaining 34.1 percent private contribution is just smoke).  That makes it more public than private, which should mean we should have the right to see what goes on there, practice included.

I mean, don’t you want to see if the guy can kick the ball through, not at, the uprights?