I bought myself a new Bears hat for Christmas

[bearfan454]

They had hats 2 for $15 in the mall at Lids hat store. It's a nice one too.

[VTdem]

1. The bears have an outside shot at the playoffs don't they.

Goes to show u how much the NFC is struggling this year

[bearfan454]

2. If certain other teams lose, yes.

I still love them no matter what. My hero:

[VTdem]

3. I'm a Sweetness fan myself

I'm too young to have ever seen him play live but the highlight reels are awesome. I was pretty sad when Emmitt broke his record.

[kittycat1164]

4. I grew up downstate IL.

and watched the Bears since I was a kid. I loooved Payton. It was fun watching him extend his arm *every* time he went down just for a few extra feet. Loved him. My brother lived next door to him in the Chicago burbs.

[St. Jarvitude]

9. Walter Payton used to run up+down the hill at the end of my street

It used to be a garbage dump, but they threw dirt and sod over it and turned it into a park. When he was running up it, it was barely a park - pretty much just grass. Sometimes he'd carry someone on his back.

Now it's a really beautiful park/golf course with black pavement paths running every which way. The hill has been rechristened as "Payton's Run" after his death :( (but the park still has its original name)

[Devil Dog Dem]

5. I almost named my kid after Payton

Jake Payton Devil-Dog-Dem would have been his name.

Instead we went with a war hero with whom my uncle/Godfather served at Iwo Jima.

But Payton was tempting.

[JohnKleeb]

6. who was that war hero?

A distant relative of mine was a war hero at Iwo Jima, Mike Strank. Payton was a great guy, I remember the day he died, watching it on ESPN, so sad.

[Devil Dog Dem]

7. John Basilone, but you'd be happy to know Mike Strank was considered . .

. . . for my next kid. Unfortunately, we just thought it didn't have a nice enough ring to it. He is one of my heroes though.

That's great that you are related to him. You should be quite proud. If you haven't read Flags of Our Fathers you need to! The author (the son of one of the other Flag Raisers on Iwo) adored Sgt. Strank.

On Edit: FYI, my uncle also served with Strank, or course. Both on Iwo in the 5th Marine Division and in "the chutes" when they both served as Paramarines.

Also, John Basilone is the most decorated Marine of WWII, having won the Medal of Honor at Guadalcanal and the Navy Cross (some say it should have been a second Medal of Honor) and Purple Heart at Iwo (where he was killed). When they heard he had been killed my uncle and his buddy left their positions and crawled down the beach to pay their respects to Basilone's body (as did many other Marines).

Semper Fi,
Devil Dog Dem

[JohnKleeb]

8. yeah I am proud

very. Glad you considered, he was a hero, and not even a US citizen.

[Devil Dog Dem]

10. He was Czech, wasn't he?

But he was American as you or me. The fact that he never got sworn in was a mere formality, as far as I am concerned.