Hoge's Bears Things: Packers beat the Bears at ... practice?

Good morning!

The Bears are off today, but the #BearsThings newsletter is not.

So let’s get feisty on a Monday…

The Bears and Packers both held their family fest practices at their respective stadiums this weekend, which naturally led to the always fun viral photo comparison of the crowd sizes. Spoiler alert: The Packers won again. 

Never question the difference between these two franchises. pic.twitter.com/yKMSi15Csp

— Brandon Sneide (@Brandon_Sneide) August 6, 2023

Of course, Bears fans understandably fought back. Herb Lawrence, my fellow White Sox sufferee at CHGO, submitted this response:

People with plenty of entertainment options vs people that have very few

This isn’t hard to understand

There’s a wildly popular music festival, a great mlb game, countless neighborhood festivals, etc. going on a rainy day

Vs Green Bay, which has the Packers

Stop the nonsense https://t.co/BV6qjm7Bx3

— Herb Lawrence (@Ecnerwal23) August 6, 2023

A few things from me on this:

1. Herb is, of course, right about all that.

2. Legitimate respect to Packers fans for filling their stadium for a practice. They do it every year and it’s impressive.

3. I’m not sure why any of this matters. When the games are played, both teams fill their stadiums and have unbelievably loyal fan bases.

As Allen Iverson would say, “We’re talking about practice.”

But hey, this is what makes rivalries fun. Remember what Bears defensive tackle Justin Jones said back in June?

The good news is that we only have 34 more days until the Bears and Packers meet at Soldier Field to kick off the 2023 season. 

Justin Fields vs. Jordan Love.

No doubt Soldier Field will be packed on Sept. 10. Can’t wait.

ICYMI: The CHGO Bears crew recapped Family Fest Sunday afternoon with special guest Herb Howard. Watch it here!

Up Next: The Bears are off Monday, but return Tuesday for their next “stack” of three practices at Halas Hall. We’ll have you covered with training camp recap shows at 3 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday. 

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