Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD

So here's an interesting blurb from his mayorness himself, Richard Daley:

"We should have a second NFL team in Chicago. If San Francisco has two, New York has two, Florida has three teams … and when you take Washington, Baltimore and Philadelphia, they have three teams there in that region, we could easily support a second pro football team."

Really? Does anyone else think that's a crock of shit?

Look at it this way:

#1. Where the hell would they play? With the Bears' official "home" being Soldier Field, where would this new Chicago team play? In the event that both teams would have a "home" game, it might get a little messy in scheduling. Likewise, having any other team call Soldier Field a home other than the Bears is a bit of a punch in the stomach to Bears faithful.

#2. Fan base. This city loves the Bears EVEN MORE THAN THE CUBS. And dear lord does Chicago love the Cubs. I just don't think that a new team would get the support it would need to survive. Any name given would be bastardized (e.g., "Chicago Intellectuals" becomes "Chicago Homosexuals" ...etc), and with our current bevy of sports teams, I just don't know if there's enough room in our hearts to cheer for ANOTHER team. Oh, and most importantly, the reason that the Sox/Cubs thing works is because of the rivalry. I get the feeling that the new Chicago team would be treated like "The Baby Bears" or some other "Golly we wish we could be as good as the Bears but we'll give it our best shot" sort of crap. You can't have venomous rivalry for a team like that.

#3. Previous failures. You know, this isn't the first case of a new Chicago football team. The Blitz (USFL) and Enforcers (XFL) once toyed with making us give a damn, but with no success. Hell, the Chicago Rush (AFL) won the whole damn thing in 2001 and no one gives a shit about them. Will putting a team in the "Official NFL Family" really make us pay more attention?

#4. Agony. For the sake of Chicago, I don't think we can handle having another bad football team. When ONLY the Bears are terrible in the Winter, it gives us that brief "Ah, what a relief" when we only have one disappointing team instead of the two we usually have in October (the Bulls can't be disappointing - we expect nothing. Plus, the Hawks are actually good, so they cancel it out). Now imagine two bad football teams here. I just don't think I could handle the misery!

Throw in a couple of intangibles (like how we're still trying to get that Olympic bid with a fucked up transit system and nowhere to play the damn games), and this is starting to look like a lot more trouble than it's worth. Instead of a whole new team, can't we just get a few winning ones? Spend all the money that would have gone to the new Chicago team on Julius Peppers and some O-Line help. The city thanks you.