Chicago Honey Bears

The Chicago Honey Bears were a cheerleading squad for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League during the late 1970s and early '80s. The group performed at Bears games at Soldier Field until Super Bowl XX, which was their final appearance, as well as having done modelling, including an incident when a member of the squad appeared topless in a Playboy magazine.^[3] After Super Bowl XX, the squad was disbanded, and the Bears, to this day, are one of the 6 NFL teams that do not have cheerleaders, along with the Detroit Lions, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, New York Giants, and the Green Bay Packers. As of 2012, the Bears, Steelers,^[4] and Packers are the 3 teams that formerly had cheerleaders (the Packers used collegiate cheerleaders for a limited time^[5]).

History

Beginnings

In 1976, after a disastrous 1975 season for the Bears, owner/founder George Halas decided to bring "dancing girls" to the Bears, after the success of other cheerleading corps like the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders, Washington Redskins Cheerleaders and other squads prompted Halas to get the Bears a squad as well, and requested general manager Jim Finks to find a director. During the search, Finks was given a recommendation for former cheerleader and choreographer Cathy Core, who had recently moved to Chicago from New Jersey. However, when Finks asked Core about choreographing the squad, Core thought it was a prank and hung up. After some verification, Core accepted. During the meeting with Core, Halas stated that "As long as I’m alive, we will have dancing girls on the sidelines."^[6] Halas was true to his word, as the Honey Bears were around for the rest of his life until his death in 1983. After 28 girls were selected, they became an instant hit. However, the job did not pay much, as they were only paid $15 a game ($5 for gas, $5 for parking and $5 for uniform cleaning). (By 1985, the wage was extended to $20) Despite this, over 5,000 ladies auditioned in 1985. Unlike current squads, the Honey Bears performed more actual cheerleading stunts than dance moves that other squads perform.

Final season

Even though the Honey Bears were a hit, after Halas' death, his daughter Virginia Halas McCaskey attempted to sever all ties with the group. However, she was unable to legally fire the group, as the group had a contract extending into 1985. The attempts to disband the group came in the early 1985 season in papers. Core was quoted saying

The Chicago Honey Bears had their final performance in Super Bowl XX in the Superdome in New Orleans,^[8] performing at halftime to Prince's song Baby I'm a Star. After the game, the Honey Bears were terminated, due to them being sexist and degrading to women and calling them "sex objects", according to McCaskey, as well as costing up to $50,000.^[7] General manager Jerry Vainisi stated that the team could possibly replace the squad with a high school band, despite having not done so.^[9] The other factor in the squad's termination, Michael McCaskey, stated that the squad is not an acceptable part of the gameday experience.^[10]

Curse of the Honey Bears

Many Bears fans claim that their team lingers under a "Honey Bear Curse", as the team still has yet to win a Super Bowl after the group's termination (as of 2012).^[11] The Bears came close in Super Bowl XLI, but lost to the Indianapolis Colts. Despite the Bears not having the Honey Bears, the Bears unveiled a mascot in Staley Da Bear in 2003.^[12][13]

As of the team's 2011 campaign, the Bears have gone 5-9 (.357) in the postseason, compared to the team's 4-3 record during the squad's tenure (.571), as well as 216-199 (.520) in the regular season after the squad's termination, a .30 winning percentage differental than during the squad's existence (82-67).^[14] The team has also gone 35-76-1 (.317) in the eight years before the squad's existence.^[15]

Attempted revivals

Despite numerous attempts to bring back the Honey Bears and fan polls supporting the squad 3 to 1, Virginia McCaskey has let it be known the Bears will not have cheerleaders as long as she owns the team. A small group of Bears fans created an unofficial Honey Bears who appeared at the team's training camp in 2010 as part of the unofficial web page to bring back the squad, which also has petitions that fans can sign to bring back the group.^[16][17]

Another homage to the Honey Bears is with "Honey Bear", a superfan for the Bears done by Lena Duda, who has been active in the Bears stands and tailgate scene since 2007. Honey Bear's "uniform" consists of white hot pants, white go-go boots, pom poms, and white vest; all being recreations of the squad's trademark uniforms.^[18]

A year after the squad's disbanding, a producer named Greg Schwartz trademarked the name, purchased a federal registration, and eventually turned the once-cheerleading squad into a song and dance group.^[19] The group has performed for various Fortune 500 companies and has done modelling.^[20]

Uniforms

The squad's uniforms, like the Bears, experienced very little changes. From the squad's inception in 1976 to 1980, the uniform was a white bodysuit with navy blue sleeves. From 1980 to 1984, the squad once again wore a white bodysuit, but with orange sleeves instead, with the navy blue being moved to the trim. In the group's final year, the uniform was completely revamped, with an orange sequin vest.^[7] In cold weather games, the Honey Bears wore an orange tracksuit.^[21] Former Indianapolis Colts and Indiana Firebirds cheerleader Carey modeled for prototype Honey Bears uniforms for the unofficial squad website, taking her ideas from current NFL cheerleading squads.^[22]

Notable members

• Cathy Core - Director of the squad and current Luvabulls (Chicago Bulls cheerleaders) director^[23]
• Cheryl Burton - WLS-TV news anchor^[24]

References

Further reading

• Zorn, Eric (January 10, 1991). "Honey Bears Have Never Been Sweeter". Chicago Tribune. 

External links

• Chicago Honey Bear Dancers
• Chicago Honey Bears page on Bears History
• Chicago Honey Bears all-time roster