Sing it loud, sing it proud

Ed Hoepper of Montgomery is such a big Bears fan that he called The Beacon News twice this week, urging us to run the words to the Bears fight song.

Hoepper, 43, will be celebrating Super Bowl Sunday at a social club in Oswego. He says he'll be easy to spot: "I'm the guy who'll be waving the Bears flag every time they score."

To Ed and all you Bears fans, this one's for you.

Bear Down, Chicago Bears.

Make every play clear the way to victory! Bear Down, Chicago Bears. Put up a fight with a might so fearlessly! We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation, With your T formation. Bear Down, Chicago Bears. And let them know why you're wearing the crown. You're the pride and joy, of all Illinois. Chicago Bears, Bear Down!

 

The fight song, by the way, was composed in 1941 by Al Hoffman, a Tin Pan Alley veteran who had little connection to Chicago.

The Bears commissioned Hoffman to write the song after the team won the NFL championship in 1940.

Born in Minsk, Russia, Hoffman later had a part in composing the monster-hit novelty song Mairzy Doats, as well as other popular tunes including Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo and Papa Loves Mambo, according to the Songwriters Hall of Fame.

But it seems Hoffman, who died in New York in 1960, wasn't that proud of his paean to the Bears.

He wrote it under a pseudonym: Jerry Downs.