Shortly before the fabled 1985 Chicago Bears (the so-called “Monsters of the Midway,” led by coach Mike Ditka, “Punky QB” Jim McMahon, Walter “Sweetness” Payton and William “Refrigerator” Perry, among others) played the New England Patriots at the Superdome in New Orleans, Glencoe native, magazine journalist (The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Harper’s) and prolific author Rich Cohen (Tough Jews, Sweet and Low) snagged a couple of tickets to the hallowed event.
Author Rich Cohen, via vanityfair.com
But since he was only a high school senior at the time and was barred by his parents from driving south, getting there proved challenging. Finally, a colleague of his mother’s came through with a solution: a chartered plane full of Bears superfans that had a few open seats. Cohen and a pal bought two tickets and wedged themselves between burly men with masculine mustaches for the trip of a lifetime.
And that is how his forthcoming title Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football begins.
Due out October 29 from Farrar, Straus & Giroux, the Connecticut-based Cohen’s tenth book is being marketed as “a portrait not merely of a team but of a city and game: its history, its future, its fallen men, its immortal heroes. But mostly it’s about being fan — about loving too much.”
And this is just a guess, but Cohen will probably land in Chicago for a signing or two. Stay tuned.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11pkx_chicago-bears-superbowl-shuffle_fun
