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Former Bears coach Mike Ditka was not shy about his distaste for domed stadiums — and the Metrodome in particular.
"If they could grow grass, then I know they could use it for livestock," Ditka quipped before the Bears traveled to play the Vikings in 1988. He added later in explaining that the Bears wouldn't practice in the Dome, "I don't want to be in that place any more than I have to."
(The Bears, 12-3 entering that game, lost 28-27 to the Vikings in the regular-season finale).
Bears fans and Packers fans, over the years, have taken great pleasure in decrying the Vikings' indoor facilities (first the Metrodome and now U.S. Bank Stadium) as artificial and sterile in comparison to Soldier Field and Lambeau Field (sometimes, it should be noted, with agreement from Vikings fans).
It was an ironic twist, then, that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Monday introduced multiple iterations of a plan to keep the Bears at Soldier Field that would include an expensive renovation to add a dome to the facility.
Whether that's just posturing in response to the Bears actively flirting with a move to the suburbs or an actual $2 billion-plus project that has viability remains to be seen. But they might not want to invite Ditka, now 82, to the ribbon cutting if it does come to fruition.
*In terms of things that actually definitely happened, Packers QB Aaron Rodgers reported for camp dressed like Nicolas Cage from "Con-Air," the sort of attention-grabbing thing Rodgers is known for but also something that might make you dislike him just a little less.
That the resemblance is so uncanny might be a little unsettling to Packers fans (and possibly Cage fans). If you want to go next-level on it, feel free to analyze whether Rodgers is drawing a comparison between his status with the Packers and Cage's character in a movie who is "trapped in a prisoner-transport plane when the passengers seize control."
Or you could just treat it like Vikings safety Harrison Smith, who said Tuesday, "I appreciated it because I'm a Nick Cage fan myself. It's a good look."
For more hot takes on the Packers, please listen to Tuesday's Daily Delivery podcast, where Patrick Reusse asserts that 10 games will win the NFC North this year, that the Packers have taken one or two steps back and that wide receiver Davante Adams (now departed) was the team's real MVP.
*In order to complete the NFC North loop, I'm sure the Lions did something, too.
