CHICAGO — No one tells you the side effects when you’re growing up a Chicago sports fan.

It’s something you just have to experience on your own, the nausea, the headaches, the loss of appetite and the overeating, the anger and depression, the utter feeling of helplessness and the occasional bouts of euphoria that make it all worthwhile.

In recent years it has been a particularly difficult slog, thanks to inept decision-makers, unreliable athletes and owners who take fans for granted by increasing ticket prices, begging for stadium subsidies and generally lacking accountability by avoiding the media. All five of our legacy teams have gone through hard times in the last decade or so, with playoff wins few and far between, making this era the Dark Age of Chicago sports.

Maybe that’s why Saturday’s miraculous Bears comeback win over the Green Bay Packers in an NFC wild-card game at Soldier Field, combined with the miraculous opening of Tom Ricketts’ wallet for the Cubs to sign free agent Alex Bregman, was being heralded by some as the greatest day in Chicago sports history.

Throw in a Bulls win over the Dallas Mavericks at the United Center and a Blackhawks win in Nashville, Tenn., and it was a near-perfect day in Chicago. The city couldn’t have celebrated any more unless Border Patrol jabroni Gregory Bovino was sidelined with gout.

No matter where you were Saturday night, chances are you were tuned in to the Bears-Packers game while texting with family and friends or describing your roller coaster emotions on social media. During the nauseating first half, veteran Chicago sports reporter George Ofman posted on Facebook: “So far, this game is on the head coach!” Most everyone agreed, and one follower wrote: “A lesser coach would get fired immediately from this horrible coaching.”

WGN-TV reporter Jarrett Payton, son of Bears great Walter Payton, posted, “I’m sick right now,” and invited his followers to send GIFs to describe their feelings at halftime. Most were of someone crying or destroying something, and there was also Charlie Brown falling on his head after Lucy pulls away the football. One follower wrote: “As I expected a soft lazy organization.”

A friend sent me a Reddit post that featured a video of a famous postgame moment from a Bears playoff collapse in 1987, when legendary WBBM-TV reporter John “Bulldog” Drummond jostled with drunken Bears fans outside Soldier Field. Drummond compared the exodus of Bears fans in the fourth quarter to the sinking of the Titanic, which did not seem like hyperbole at the time.

The reaction early Saturday from Soldier Field and from bars and living rooms across the city was nearly unanimous. Where was the pope and his divine intervention? How could this happen to us again?

Even though fans had seen six improbable comeback wins in a Bears season that defied belief, the idea they would come back from a 21-3 deficit the way they were playing — and coaching — seemed ludicrous. The disappointment over the lack of execution was made worse by years of Bears failures dating back to ’87, and the anger was no doubt exacerbated by ownership’s recent threat to move the team to Indiana if they don’t get help building a stadium in Arlington Heights.

Somewhere in the third quarter, however, the defense stiffened, the mood softened and the Bears began to look like they were up to their old tricks. But it was still an uphill climb, and the doubters still outnumbered the optimists by a good margin.

Then, out of nowhere, a tweet from MLB Network insider Jon Heyman appeared on many fans’ timelines with the breaking news that the Cubs had signed Bregman to a five-year, $175 million deal. It was like standing in line at a wake to pay your last respects and finding out you’d hit the lottery.

It was as unlikely a signing as there was. The Cubs had whiffed on Bregman a year earlier when they were outbid by the Boston Red Sox, and chairman Ricketts had repeatedly expressed his revulsion for going over the luxury tax. His credo of “just get in and you can win” was on full display, and missing out on starting pitcher Dylan Cease this winter was yet another example of the Cubs’ willingness to finish “in the mix” on the top free agents.

When President Jed Hoyer stood in front of reporters at spring training last year to discuss the swing-and-miss on Bregman, he looked like he wanted to punch a wall. But the Cubs wound up going to the postseason anyway, and Hoyer was awarded a contract extension in midseason, giving him more opportunities to come close.

The timing of the Bregman news leak was curious — and too difficult to process while the Bears were making their incredible comeback.

The Cubs and Bears haven’t had two huge stories compete for the public’s attention at the same time since Oct. 7, 1984, when Walter Payton broke Jim Brown’s all-time rushing record at Soldier Field on the same day the Cubs were on the verge of their first World Series in 39 years before losing to the San Diego Padres in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series. As Jim McKay always told us, it was the proverbial thrill of victory and agony of defeat on a day Chicago sports fans never would forget.

Now it’s Jan. 10, 2026, that will go down in Chicago sports history.

Bears coach Ben Johnson was vindicated for his horrible decision-making in the first half and added to his growing legend with an emotional “(Expletive) the Packers” speech in the postgame locker room. Hoyer made amends for his quiet winter by signing Bregman and acquiring starting pitcher Edward Cabrera in the same week, and Ricketts was absolved by finally opening his wallet and deferring $70 million like a real large-market owner.

All the built-up anxiety from the miserable first half of the Bears game had dissipated, and angst over the Cubs’ lack of spending was mitigated. It was perhaps the greatest mood swing in Chicago history — and another reminder that keeping the faith in this town is easier said than done.

Don’t worry, Chicago. In the end, pope springs eternal.

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