Question: What sports franchise announces the hiring of a new head coach without actually offering him the job first? Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Monsters of the Midway … the Chicago Bears.

Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Dave McGinnis, a former linebackers coach for the Bears during the heyday of Mike Singletary, Wilbur Marshall and Otis Wilson, was set to become the head coach of the Bears when the team set up a press conference to announce his hiring.

But wouldn’t you know it, the Bears got so misty-eyed while dreaming of another Ditka-esque dynasty that they forgot to offer their newly appointed savior the job.

McGinnis was enraged and withdrew his name from consideration for the job.

A franchise that was once among the most respected teams off the field and feared on the field has fallen into one of the most disheartening declines I’ve ever seen.

The days of the Super Bowl Shuffle and William “Refrigerator” Perry G. I. Joe action figures have long since passed the Bears by, and names like Butkus, Payton and Ditka are merely footnotes in the team’s history.

Dave Wannstedt came to the Bears as one of the brightest assistant coaches in the game six years ago and left a battered and dejected man.

However, this fall from glory may have started back in Mike Ditka’s last year as head coach of the Bears.

Perhaps the game that sealed Ditka’s fate in Chicago was a 1992 road game at Minnesota. The Bears entered the fourth quarter with a 20-0 lead and the momentum in their favor.

Bears quarterback Jim Harbaugh dropped back in the pocket and let fly with a historic pass. Vikings strong safety Todd Scott intercepted that ill-timed pass and returned it for a touchdown. Ditka and Harbaugh argued vehemently on the sidelines about the play, which could be seen for days afterwards on many sports programs.

The Vikings won that game 21-20, went on to win the NFC Central title, and Ditka was fired at season’s end. Since then, things have never been quite the same for the Bears.

In six years on the job, Wannstedt’s Bears had four losing seasons and just one playoff appearance, in 1994. That was also the last year the Bears had a Pro Bowl pick.

Wannstedt’s legendary personnel and draft decisions (Rick Mirer, Rashaan Salaam, Bryan Cox and Marcus Spears, among others) have become legendary in the NFL as some of the biggest blunders in recent history.

Mark Hatley was brought in to help in that department as vice president of player personnel, but thus far, the Bears’ biggest personnel decision has been the hiring of a new head coach, Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator Dick Jauron. Not exactly a momentum-shifting move, huh?

I have nothing against Jauron at all, and maybe he might be the guy who can return the Bears to their previous glory. However, I yearn for the days of the Super Fans and chants of ‘Da Bears’ echoing in a frenzied unison among the Soldier Field faithful.

I dream of a day when the ghosts of Neal Anderson, Matt Suhey, Tom Waddle, Jimbo Covert, Dave Duerson and other Bears of past glory will be exorcised with a playoff run and possible Super Bowl victory.

I wish that young fans will hear of the exploits of Bobby Engram, Curtis Enis, Jim Flanigan, Tom Carter, Alonzo Mayes and the rest of the current Bears squad and believe that maybe, just maybe, they too can be a Bear someday.

Alas, my ‘Rozelle’ headband has grown too small for my head, and my all-time favorite Bear, Steve “Mongo” McMichael, has turned to professional wrestling for employment. These are dark days for the Chicago Bears.

But, there’s always hope for the future. If seeing perennial cellar-dwellers like the Atlanta Falcons and the New York Jets play for their conference championships and the Falcons play for the Super Bowl crown cannot give the Bears optimism, then I don’t know what can.

They do have a nucleus of decent young players like Enis, Engram, Curtis Conway, Tony Parrish and Marty Carter to build around. However, there is no young franchise quarterback in sight to relieve Erik Kramer.

For now, the Bears will be forced to rebuild themselves once again. Like most sports, success seems to run in cycles, and the Bears will catch their break eventually.

Offering Jauron the job before announcing him as the new head coach was a nice start.

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Justin South is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Ankeny.