Rick Mirer

UConn's old standby, an effective offense, came back like a long lost friend Saturday. In a 42-34 victory over Hampton University in the first round of the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs, the Huskies scored in every quarter, including four touchdown passes...

The Cubs haven't won a World Series since 1908 and, in that time, it's become a common exercise to inspect teams playing in the World Series for their relative ex-Cubness. As the theory goes, the more ex-Cubs, the worse a team's chance to win. Since the...

The Bears aren’t playing the Super Bowl, but what's happening in San Diego still involves Chicago. For example, did you know that the Raiders have a couple of Brian Piccolo award winners? And that the only school with more players on the Tampa Bay roster...

Yet another season ends with the Bears showcasing a horrible offense and dismal talent at the QB position. What I want to know is why some teams always seem to be strong (or at least acceptable) at QB, while this is never a position of strength for the...

The Bears welcome the Oakland Raiders and their supremely refined fans to the second game in the new Soldier Field. It's a beautiful day in Chicago as the Bears look for their first win against the defending AFC champs. If any of your valuables were...

No longer does it matter how the Bears' quarterback competition is defined or where its genesis can be traced. For the first time since Rick Mirer was acquired from the Seattle Seahawks last winter, all the principals involved are acknowledging it. More...

Try as they might, it just didn't feel like an NFL game. The constant throbbing of rock music pumped through sideline speakers between each play made it sound more like the NBA. The cheerleaders, on loan from the World League of American League,...

So, maybe Curtis Conway had a point. Less work, not more, the wide receiver said a week ago, was just the tonic a lethargic and recently defeated Bears team needed to find itself. And lo and behold, after a week in which travel time from Ireland exceeded...

The Bears' quarterback derby took a sudden and dramatic turn Sunday night at Soldier Field, and it had nothing to do with the play of Erik Kramer or Rick Mirer. Rather, it is the broken collarbone sustained by their most potent weapon, wide receiver...

They were too weary to do much more than raise their grimy arms in triumph, too relieved to keep from falling into their teammates' giddy embraces. This victory could not have been any bigger, any sweeter, any more dramatic for the Bears than if they...

They might as well be wearing leg irons. Or scribbling their game plan on their foreheads. Handicapped by their personnel, burdened by their limitations and apparently convinced that their options are few, the Bears are no longer playing not to lose....

Here's the update you've been waiting for: The Soldier Field crowd cheered respectfully for Mike Ditka. Ditka shook hands with Mike McCaskey. The Saints can't score and the Bears can't tackle. And, oh yeah, Dave Wannstedt made the right decision on...