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Monday, Sept. 9

Big fourth-quarter comeback
sends Bears fans home happy

By Greg Taylor

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  For most of the game on Sunday in Champaign, it appeared the Minnesota Vikings would upset the favored Chicago Bears in their first regular-season game in Champaign. However, led by Jim Miller, Marty Booker and an inspired defensive unit, the Bears rallied from 10 down in the final nine minutes and won 27-23 in dramatic fashion. Miller found second-year receiver David Terrell for a 9-yard touchdown with just 28 seconds left in the game to give the Bears their first lead of the second half and their first season-opening victory in three seasons.

Click here for more photos

The Bears, now 1-0, will travel to Atlanta next Sunday to face the Falcons, a 37-34 overtime loser to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday. Game time is set for noon, and the game will be televised by Fox.

The Bears showed Sunday they still have much to work on, as they struggled to run the football for much of the game, and their vaunted defense looked like the Bears defense of the late ’90s, as Minnesota made several big plays in the first half to score 20 points on the Bears. Last season, the Bears gave up double-digit points in the first half only four times, and the most an opponent scored was the 14 points by San Francisco, seven of which the 49er defense tallied.

The Vikings drew first blood as Doug Brien booted a 30-yard field goal midway through the first quarter to give the visitors from the north a 3-0 lead. Chicago responded quickly, as Miller found Booker from 30 yards out, giving the Bears a 7-3 lead.

[Photos by Tom Seggelke]

The Bears seemed to focus so much on Randy Moss and the so-called "Randy Ratio" (a ploy to get Moss 40 percent of the offensive touches in a game) they forgot about Michael Bennett and Byron Chamberlin. Bennett ran for most of his yardage in the first half, and Chamberlin broke free for a 61-yard reception that Minnesota turned into their first touchdown early in the second quarter — a Dante Culpepper 3-yard run.

The Vikings would relinquish the lead until the final minute of the game. Minnesota and Chicago traded field goals over the next two possessions, Brien from 22 yards out and Chicago’s Paul Edinger hitting from 49, before Culpepper found Moss from 34 yards out in the final minute of the first half to give the Vikes a 10-point lead at the break, 20-10.

The Bears could manage only another 49-yard field goal from Edinger in the third quarter, and when Brien nailed yet another 3-pointer with just over nine minutes left in the game, Jeff Mayfield and I headed for the field, wondering what excuses we would find in the Chicago locker room.

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However, what Jeff and I found was a Chicago team that would refuse to lose. First possession after the final Minnesota FG found Miller connecting with Booker for 54 yards and the A-Train, Anthony Thomas, running well, getting a 1-yard TD at the 6:13 mark of the game to pull the Bears within three points.

Next, it was the Bears defense that decided to step up. With Minnesota facing a third and 13 from midfield at the 2:45 mark, Culpepper decided to go for the home run to Moss. However, Chicago hero and safety Mike Brown intercepted the ball around the Chicago 20 and returned the pick 30 yards to midfield.

From there, Miller took over, hitting a variety of receivers, including Booker, who finished the day with eight catches for 198 yards and a touchdown. Miller worked the clock to perfection, and when he found Terrell in the end zone with just 28 seconds left, the Champaign crowd exploded with a noise few NFL staffers claim to have heard from an outdoor stadium. Roosevelt Colvin caused and recovered a Culpepper fumble on the second play of Minnesota’s last chance, and the Bears were on their way to victory.

After the game, the resounding theme in the Bears locker room was "we really wore them down." Minnesota was outscored 17-3 in the second half, and the Bears head north to Chicago happy and victorious.

While the Bears won the game 27-23 in dramatic fashion, many questions were raised about the 2002 Chicago team. Will the defense dominate as in the past? It did not look so on Sunday. Will the A-Train avoid the sophomore slump and become yet another in a long line of excellent Chicago running backs? The Train really struggled for most of the day but got it together when it mattered most. Will offensive coordinator John Shoop open up the offense? Sunday told us maybe yes, maybe no.

The bottom line is this: BEARS WIN! But efforts like this will not get it done against Green Bay, Philadelphia and New England, not to mention St. Louis.

[Greg Taylor]

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  Probably too much has been made of the Bears’ bashing of central Illinois up to this point in the proceedings. They sure seemed to like the Memorial Stadium crowd on Sunday.

Click here for more photos

The reported crowd of 63,226 was as loud as we’ve heard since the Illinois-Michigan game two seasons ago.

A former NFL ref sitting right in front of the LDN/FIX 96 staff told the LDN that the noise level was the loudest he has ever heard outside of a domed stadium!

So, despite the fact that David Terrell has issues with Champaign and Decatur (what does he know anyway? where did he play college football?) most of the players and coaches felt pretty good about their surroundings on Sunday.

Defensive coordinator Greg Blache went so far as to call the crowd "unbelievable." He told us that he just didn’t expect it to get that raucous and that he thinks the Bears will really have a "12th man" in Champaign this season.

[Photos by Tom Seggelke]

This is the second time this year that the LDN has had an opportunity to hook up with Blache. Let us just see that he is one of the real rising stars in the NFL. We really like his no-nonsense approach.

Example: Instead of giving us coach-speak for the many breakdowns on defense as the Vikings ran over and around the Bears, when asked how they did it, he said, "They blocked us!" That was the end of the explanation. And as a somewhat impartial observer, I think it would have been hard for him to have been more accurate.

One guy that we think deserves more kudos is Bears place-kicker Paul Edinger. We felt he kept the Bears in the game and gave them a chance to win even though he did miss one field goal attempt of 40-plus yards. When the kicking team and all special teams for that matter rise above just an average performance, they give you so many more ways and chances to win a football game. We felt Edinger and the kick coverage teams did just that on Sunday.

Hats off to the offensive line as well. In the first half they seemed to get manhandled by Minnesota’s defensive push. But the O-line stayed with it and kept punishing. They wore the Vikes down in the second half and made some nice holes for Anthony Thomas.

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We asked Thomas if he could have ever imagined so many Illini fans ever cheering for him. He got a big laugh out of that!

We felt Thomas gave the Bears a huge lift in the second half. He seems to be developing a Michael Jordan-type attitude, where he really wants the ball late in games. We mentioned to him that his knees seem to be pumping and driving higher and stronger in the third and fourth quarters, and he told us that is a result of conditioning and getting inspired by his offensive line.

QB Jim Miller told the LDN that there is no panic on the Bears even when they weren’t playing well for most of three quarters. He went on to say that they are really comfortable playing in tight ballgames and feel that they will always find a way to win. He believes that the character on this team is what gives them an edge over most teams in the NFL.

Bulletin to NFL teams for immediate release: You cannot cover Marty Booker one-on-one! We don’t know who suggested that idea anyway. And after the Vikes saw how bad it was in the first half, why didn’t they change that up in the second half? And why are they throwing the football when running it eats up the clock and forces the Bears to burn their precious timeouts? Those are just two of the many questions we would ask if handed the microphone.

All in all, a great day and a great start for Bears football in central Illinois. The LDN did receive several exclusive interviews with Bears players, and we’ll provide some morsels later on. But hang on, this season could be a wild ride!

Several Lincoln and Logan County folks were on hand at the Bears’ home opener, including a new bride and groom, several Lincoln businessmen, a local doctor, two ministers that we saw (how did they get out of church that fast?) and a few others who asked to remain anonymous!

[LDN sports]

Lincoln’s wooden bats split doubleheader with Normal

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  NORMAL — Lincoln split a doubleheader with Normal in the wood bat league at the Illinois State baseball diamond Sunday afternoon, winning the first game 3-1 before losing the second game 5-3. Lincoln, 2-2, will play at Clinton Sept. 15 at noon.

[Bill Martinie]

LC vs. Cincinnati State in final of soccer classic

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  Cincinnati State handed Lincoln College a 4-2 setback in the championship game of the Bonanza-Domino’s Classic men’s soccer game at Lincoln Sunday afternoon. East Central defeated South Suburban 8-2 in the third-place game.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

LC scores winning goal in overtime

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  Lincoln College defeated South Suburban of Chicago, 6-5, in overtime of the opening game of the Bonanza-Domino’s Pizza Classic men’s soccer game at Freesmeier Field in Lincoln Saturday afternoon. 

[to top of second column in this article]

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

LC plays in 16-team volleyball tourney

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  Lincoln College played in a 16-team volleyball tournament at McKendree College over the weekend, defeating Lewis and Clark before losing to John A. Logan, Vincennes and Meramac Community College.

Lincoln, 2-6, will play a home match against Parkland College at 6 p.m. Wednesday. That match will be at the Lincoln Christian College gym, due to a conflict at the Lynx gym. Lincoln will be at Carl Sandburg Thursday and will again call the LCC gym home on Saturday in a tri-match with Rend Lake and the Millikin JV team.

Coach Mark Tippett said, "We lost to some good teams and played very well in our last match against Meramac. The high level of competition at the tournament gave us a clear indication of what we need to work on and I believe will make us a stronger team later in the season."

Lincoln College defeated Lewis and Clark 30-22 and 30-28 before losing to John A. Logan 30-19 and 30-16. The Lynx then lost to Vincennes 30-16, 30-27.  Lincoln then bounced back to beat Meramac 30-23 in the first set before losing the next two 30-28 and 15-10.

Amanda Hansen collected 13 points, 10 kills and nine blocks to pace the Lynx, while Beth Guy contributed 50 set assists, eight digs, 24 points and six aces. Janine Buettner had 19 kills, 12 points and seven digs.

[Bill Martinie, Lincoln College
sports information director]

Articles from the past week

[SEPT. 9, 2002]  I think that sentiment best describes the emotions and feelings we’ve been able to pick up from area residents describing this past weekend. With the exception of one hiccup and too much heat, everything else went pretty well this past weekend. Our only regret is that you can’t be everywhere and you can’t do everything.

For instance, we wanted to go to the Railer game on Friday. But when you try to be involved in the community and support the town and county, sometimes schedule conflicts do arise. Before we even realized that the game was in Chatham, we had already promised some friends that we would meet them in Mount Pulaski for the good ol’ fall festival. It didn’t feel much like fall, but it’s a great festival and we had a great time over there in the Mount!

At any rate, we still want to offer up congratulations to all of the Railer football players and to the coaching staff and to anyone else who has anything to do with the program. If you’ve never played or been around a high school football program, you probably have no idea how much work goes into the entire operation. These people spend hours practicing, working, poring over game films and scouting reports, going to scout other teams; it’s an incredible procedure. That is why we are so happy for this group of Railers! They have weathered lots of storms and now are finally seeing some of the fruit of their labor.

It is encouraging to see that many fans have not turned their backs on the Railers and have ridden the proverbial wagon through thick and thin. I’m sure that has been a great source of encouragement to players and coaches alike. We were always taught to root for "our" team whether they were 10-0 or 0-10. I guess for some people that’s just not fashionable enough nowadays. Whatever, we here at the LDN are always proud of our hometown teams, and we couldn’t be prouder of this group of Railers! We look forward to the next win come Friday nite!

We sometimes get accused of only reporting on the so-called major sports of football or basketball, etc. Let’s be clear on what happens here. We get so many reports on this stuff from coaches, parents and sometimes even the players that it makes it easy to do the reporting. In an ideal world where budgets are no object, we would simply assign a reporter to cover every sport, and then every local athlete would get covered in some way. However, we don’t even have a budget to cover the stuff that we’re covering! Virtually everyone that works here already has a full-time job. They cover sports on the side. So, If you’re involved in an individual sport, write us at ldneditor@lincolndailynews or fax 732-9630 and let us know how you did or how you are doing. Make sure that we have a schedule of your stuff, a team roster and a phone number to reach YOU or your coach. You can mail that stuff to LDN Sports, 601 Keokuk St., Lincoln, IL 62656.

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To my knowledge no one who has followed this prescription has been denied yet. And not only that, it is good for you. I found out in my days as a player and a coach that the best promoter of YOUR team is YOU!... or YOUR mom! So, call us and send us your stuff, including pictures, and you’ll see your smiling face on the cover of the LDN. What’s really great about that is that your grandparents and your family and friends around the country and around the world can just click on the LDN to see you; isn’t that great?!

Not those Redbirds! We’re talking about the ISU Redbirds! ISU put a 55-10 hurtin’ on Quincy Saturday night in Normal before an excitable crowd of 8,234. The home-opening rout featured 210 yards rushing and two touchdowns by Quincy Washington. Vito Golson grabbed four catches, 63 yards and two touchdowns. And how ’bout the kicking of sophomore Stephen Carroll? Carroll booted a 48-yard field goal but later added a 53-yarder, which is the longest in Hancock Stadium history. The record is now even at 1-1, while Quincy slipped to 0-2. Carroll and Washington have already been rewarded for their efforts by being named Gateway Conference Players of the Week! Lots of Lincoln and Logan County fans were on hand for this one.

Our new favorite player is ISU punt-return specialist Dennis Butler. This kid can shake and bake you before you can shake hands with him. Talk about exciting. Every time he touches the ball something exciting is just waiting to happen. We see good things in this young man’s future!

Isn’t that what Ed Sullivan used to say? We’re sure our show will never reach that level of performance, but it is a lot of fun nonetheless. Tonight, we’ll be talking about the Bears’ exciting win, the Railers’ exciting victory at Chatham, the ISU win, the woes of the Illini, the incredible St. Louis Cardinals, and we hope to do a feature on Railer volleyball. So log on this evening at 6 p.m. to "Hear it Here!" or tune your TV to CITV Channel 15 or your radio to FIX-FM 96.3 if you want to talk sports. More giveaways and more trivia questions coming right at you.

If the records were reversed, we would want the Cubs to win these three. Why? Because we don’t want to see Houston or Cincinnati winning the division. It’s just that simple. We’ve been waiting for the Cardinals to collapse all year. It’s hard to mourn the loss of so many loved ones and then try to do something as meaningless as playing a game. Then try playing 162 of them. No matter how far these Birds go, we will always remember their gritty determination. BTW, nice article on former redbird Mark McGwire in ESPN. I don’t usually recommend articles, but this is a good one!

Lot’s more going on, but we’re outta time. Hope things cool off for everyone so that ya all have a great week. See you in the funny papers!

[Jeff Mayfield]

[Sept. 3 column: "Labor Day mutterings"]

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