The Bears went to the open-air University of Minnesota stadium tonight, and actually clinched the NFC North title tonight, largely on the efforts of Devon Hester.

It's not how they did it that surprises me, it's that they did it at all.

While I've qualified other posts on other topics with lines like "I'm not a _____ fan, but..." I must confess that I've long been a proponent of the idea that "if they ever bring professional football back to Chicago, I'll gladly be a Bears fan again."

Despite last week's drubbing they got from the Patriots, the Bears appear to have actually found something offensively while under the tutelage of Offensive Co-ordinator Mike Martz.

However, I did chuckle quite a bit when reading another post in another thread which openly included the Bears as one of the "best teams" at some point this season.

So, I have to ask myself, "are the Bears good, or was the North simply THAT bad this year?" A few weeks ago I would have landed on the second position, but, to rebound the way they did after the whipping they got a week ago, maybe it's time to rethink my position.

Of course, if you're a Lions fan, you're still smoldering with "we beat the Bears twice this year, but they had the ref's steal the wins from us." And, you likely have a point.

One thing for sure, this year's Bears team has never inspired a lot of confidence in anyone, including long-time Bears fans, so again, that they won the division crown does surprise me.

But, it IS a nice surprise.

Here's hoping for more of them in January.

Joe