I’m still recovering from the chaotic and roller coaster of a game that was the NFC championship yesterday between the Bears and Packers.As a third generation Bears Fan I really wanted that one bad for the Bears and it didn’t happen.  And now Chicago is in the middle of a Chernobyl-esque meltdown.

Bears fans on twitter have become a digital lynch mob looking to string up the quarterback who let them down through ineffectiveness and injury and the coaching staff who got burned by some foolish moves.Nevermind that I only heard ONE media person or fan at the beginning of the season even pick this team to have more than 5-7 wins.  It was shocking that the Bears were even in this position.

Here’s a quote I used in a older post called “Scapegoating: 1862 Style”, but it’s appropriate to use here.  It’s from Goodwin’s Team of Rivals documenting Abraham Lincoln’s selection and leadership of his cabinet through a critical point in history.  The quote itself refers to public reaction against Edwin Stanton,  but the last 24 hours it applies pretty well to what’s going in Chi-Town.

“The first necessity of every community after a disaster, is a scapegoat. It is an immense relief to find some one upon whom can be fastened all the sins of a whole people, and who can then be sent into the wilderness, to be heard of no more.” – New York Times, July 7, 1862 (on pg. 447 in Team of Rivals)

The addendum to this is that once a scapegoat is sent to the wilderness, another one must ultimately take his or her place because that’s the role of a scapegoat in an anxious community or social system – to give the community an excuse for not seeing and dealing with reality and taking personal responsibility to function maturely.The “Jay Cutler controversy” as it’s been dubbed is a fascinating test case of how social media can provide the kerosene to fan the flame to burn someone at the stake or provide the ropes to hang people from the trees.

One thing might be worse or more toxic than a mob mentality – and that’s an anonymous mob that is protected from consequences.  Maybe that’s why a lot of mob’s back in the day sported hoods.  It’s cowardice.  It’s dark in its nature.  It’s humanity at its worst.

I was utterly disappointed by the game.  I, along with the rest of Bears fans, threw up in my mouth a bit when Todd Collins the backup came in after his showing earlier in the season and began going through the stages of grief while still in the third quarter. It was a very bad way to end a season watching your 3rd string QB try to pull off a miracle against hated rivals for one of sports ultimate achievements.

But some of the darkness of scapegoating, which is on display now shows up in a couple ways.  First, there is an obvious effort to not just put the blame at Jay Cutler’s feet, but to punish him deeply even before all the facts are presented.   That’s where “venting” shifts from making people accountable to attacking them.   And secondly, there have been blatant demonstrates on twitter and elsewhere of people and players attacking Jay to build up their own self-perception as a tough guy or ultimate competitor.  Again, at the core it’s reinforcing your own desired image at the expense of another person.  The more cowardly or weak you make someone else, the stronger and more awesome you can believe yourself to be.

Jay needs to be held accountable for what he was unable to do when he was competing, but no person needs to be crucified by a mob – faceless or otherwise.People are disappointed (I am) and should be – but how we as people handle our disappointments reveals a lot about who we are as people.  Do we take our disappointments out on other people (or God) or do we deal with them like adult human beings?  There’s no shortage of people using God or other people in their lives as an excuse for their own immature or even caveman behavior in relationships and community.

Handling disappointment and learning to grieve maturely is a part of being a grown up.  But it doesn’t seem like there are too many grown ups in Chicago today…But look at the bright side, maybe Steve Bartman can come out of hiding and move back to Chi-town!

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Tagged as: Bears, Family Systems, Scapegoating, Sports