From what I heard on local sports talk radio this morning, the happiest people in Chicago are not Bears fans, but rather sports editors and those assigned with writing headlines.

The Bears acquired a defensive lineman from Washington for some magic beans. Nobody has any idea how good Montez Sweat will be or how long he’ll play for the Bears. What we know for certain is the obvious headlines for the duration of his Bears career. Imagine all the clever and obvious phrases. I’m not sure if the name Sweat inspires confidence or is even a classic football name.

The Bears recently lost a franchise great, Dick Butkus. He also had a truly great football name, as it was darn near onomatopoeic. While it might be heresy to say so, Ray Nitschke was another player of that ilk. He can be excused as a local native (Elmwood Park and Proviso H.S) despite his HOF career with the Packers. Footbally names don’t necessarily equate with greatness, but they help in crafting clever headlines.

Whatever one’s feelings for the ’72 Dolphins, they had two aptly named stars. Larry Csonka look aed and played like his name sounds. Likewise with the elusive and flashier, Mercury Morris.

With a nod to Halloween and the perpetual question of chocolate v. sour, I got to thinking about former ML’er and minor league, managing lifer, Rick Sweet. Sweat v, Sweet.

As a big leaguer, Sweet was probably best remembered for his bushy mustache. Years ago, someone penned an article about the best mustaches in the game as captured by Topps baseball cards. His playing career only covered 7 seasons so it’s hard to say that it was remarkable. However, he’s been managing in the minors since 1987 and has impacted legions of ballplayers and fans. My mind drifts to lifers like Sweet all the time-for better or worse. Since I’ve been following the blogs, Jim Everett Table Toss and Coco Crisp’s Afro and am more prone to flashbacks and random ballplayers. The brains behind both of those blogs, is the same guy, Gary Trujillo, whose foci are the L.A Rams and Athletics respectively. In his humorous posts, he’s not afraid to reflect on the past, as his teams’ present aren’t the most positive.

Early on in this postseason, the media harped on Bruce Bochy’s experience and grey beard-especially as compared with his individual foes. Nobody is going to say it, but another big win by a baseball lifer like Bochy should represent a win for lifers like Sweet as well. From the looks of it, the other managers in the postseason appear to be headed on the same track.