With the exception of a few years when we traveled over Thanksgiving weekend, I’ve been fortunate to work on Black Friday. For a dozen years or so, I even served people enjoying the faux holiday. Someone will correct me if I’m forgetting the obvious, but I believe today is the first time the Bears will be playing on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

While the 330-900 shift isn’t my favorite, I don’t mind that I’ll miss most of the game. I’ll probably watch a little before catching a little on the radio. What I’m dreading is coming into work and having to listen to a co-worker whose fandom is a little out of kilter with reality. He still thinks the Cubs had a better record than and beat the Brewers in the playoffs. His take on the Bears is guided by sports talk radio and doesn’t have room for other Bears fans’ opinions.

In the “it takes all sorts” world of sports fandom, I have Bears fan friend who believes that this version of the Bears has unjustly benefited from poor refereeing. He’s also the only guy I know that is completely underselling the current coaching staff.

While hardly a hallmark of sports bar conversation, nuance often plays a role in these kinds of discussions especially since most fans insert caveats without thinking. The one thing that the two guys have in common, is the inability to explain how the (improving) Bears and defending Super Bowl Champions-Eagles have the same 8-3 record.

I hope you find your Black Friday deal!

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