It’s good that the Pope is from Chicago.
At this point, Illinois may need divine intervention to get a stadium deal done for the Bears before the current legislative session ends on May 31.
“I’ve seen miracles happen every year,” Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker said Friday regarding the possibility of the legislature passing a bill to keep the Bears from moving to Indiana, via Olivia Olander of the Chicago Tribune. “Every single year. I feel confident that there will be a bill that gets brought up in the Senate, and then hopefully they’ll pass it and send it over to the House, and that bill will be about whether or not we’re keeping them in the state of Illinois or letting them go to Indiana.”
The clock is ticking. The Bears have gotten from Indiana that which they want from Illinois. And now that the Bears have slammed the door on the notion that a new stadium in Chicago is possible, the options are simple: Arlington Heights, Illinois, or Hammond, Indiana.
The overriding question is whether Indiana is a bluff. A leverage play. A border bridge the Bears won’t cross.
If the powers-that-be in Illinois find out too late that it isn’t, the Bears may be lost not only to Chicago but also to Illinois entirely.
For now, it’s up to the Illinois legislature. Over the next eight days, the process may need a little help from the native who has shown a sudden affinity for 6-7.
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