There are so many ups and downs in the news about the Chicago Bears. Good news about the Bears drafting a superstar college quarterback and a superstar college wide receiver. Very good news. But, for the Bears, there’s bad news about their plans to build a $4,700,000,000 stadium on Chicago’s beloved lakefront, a plan that’s causing Chicago’s two most-often-read and therefore most-powerful newspapers, the Tribune and the Sun-Times. telling the Bears to cool it, slow down. Too many problems you’re not solving. An editorial headline in the Tribune says the Bears are planning a “distasteful football palace, groveling for taxpayer subsidies” despite the overwhelming negativity of Governor Pritzker and prominent members of the Illinois General Assembly advocating protection of the lakefront. The Tribune also says, “The Bears may stir Chicago’s blood with a splashy pitch for a lakefront stadium. We at the Tribune are not convinced.” An editorial headline in the Sun-Times about the Bears plans for a new stadium cautions the Assembly to “slam on the brakes.” Considering those headlines and the muscle of the media printing them, it is safe to speculate the Bears will change their plan or give up on a lakefront stadium. Power politics in Chicago are important to consider and oh so much fun to watch.

Walter Jacobson gives his Perspective: