1/28/2007

This is just....wrong.

I was at the Quad City Times looking for any news on the sale of the SWING.

Instead, I found this disturbing AP report...

Platteville hopes to build Bears museum

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. — Platteville is about 25 miles north of the Illinois-Wisconsin state line, but this Wisconsin town considers itself Bears territory.

In fact, Platteville officials hope their town will be the site of a Chicago Bears training-camp museum in the next year or two.

“Platteville is part of Chicago Bears history. And the Chicago Bears are part of Platteville’s history,” said Kathy Kopp, the chamber’s executive director. “It’s something that this community is very proud of, the fact that the Chicago Bears trained here for 18 years.

”The team relocated its training camp to Bourbonnais, Ill., in 2001 after the Illinois state legislature asked the Bears to move as part of a deal to fund improvements to Soldier Field.

Instead of feeling jilted, local residents say they still consider their town the Bears’ home away from home. Posters and signs supporting the team adorn downtown shops six years later.

The affection was apparently mutual. Before the Bears left town, the team bequeathed a $250,000 computer lab called the Bears Den to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville.


I walked through the Bears Den during a trip back to the alma mater a few years ago. I was physically ill for two reasons. The first was: They didn't have anything this cool when I went there. The second was: It was called the Bears Den for crying out loud.

Look. I'll tolerate them being in the Super Bowl. I'll work with a Bear fan. But, I will not stand for a Bear museum (of any kind) on Wisconsin soil.

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