When the experts get it wrong

Here’s hoping Michael Moore is to politics what LeAlan Jones is to football. [READER]( The Daily Reader A word or two or three about experts . . . The Bears had a game Monday night. Against New England, whose owner is a megalomaniac pal of Trump. But I digress . . . Their coach is Bill Belichick. One of the game’s great tacticians. He’s coached for over 30 seasons and has won 324 games. The Bears are coached by a rookie with a funny name that I won’t mention ’cause most, if not all of you, would instantly forget it. So why bother. I will tell you that the rookie coach of the Bears has won all of two games in his very short career. So you have one coach with 324 wins versus another coach with two. Moreover, the Bears have been stumbling. Still don’t want to talk about their last game. The one where the quarterback threw a totally catchable pass to the best receiver in the end zone for what would have been the game-winning touchdown, except . . . Wait! I wasn’t gonna talk about it. Since that game the Bears have been trashed by folks in the know. And that brings me to the experts—the sportswriters of Chicago. Every week these experts make their predictions. And every single expert—from both downtown dailies—predicted New England would win. Every single one, people! Nine in total. Six from the Sun-Times and three from the Tribune. I’d tell you their names—but it would just be more sports information you’d instantly forget. So why bother? Plus, I’d probably misspell one or two, what with my dyslexia. My point is, these are Chicago’s smartest football minds. And having spent every waking minute of every day for the last week studying football, they concluded—all nine of them—that New England would win and the Bears would lose. The only “expert” I know who predicted the Bears would win is LeAlan Jones, a former Green Party senatorial candidate and frequent guest on my podcast. So, technically, he’s really not an expert on football at all. Nonetheless, he’s also a football fanatic who used to coach the game. And he’s been telling me all year that the “experts” have underestimated the Bears. And that the Bears would beat New England, even with their great coach. And guess what? LeAlan was right! The Bears did beat New England! 33-14. A solid thrashing that, again, no “expert” even remotely saw coming. As I write this, the game concluded about three hours ago and I’m still flying high. Also, my beloved Bulls thrashed the Celtics. Yes, on the same night! I got so happy with the wins that I was tempted to dash over to Rush Street and overturn cars. So, what does it mean that all the experts predicted the wrong team would win? It means no one really knows anything, even the experts. It’s sorta the same with the upcoming midterms. All the experts—in, say, the Washington Post or New York Times—are predicting the Republicans will win. And MAGA will seize control of the capital—having failed to do so on January 6—just in time to impeach Biden. Probably in a trial overseen by that bare-chested, face-painted, spear-carrying insurrectionist in the horns. Just telling you what the experts have been predicting. Except for Michael Moore, who, come to think of it, is really not an “expert,” but a leftist documentarian. Here’s hoping Moore is to politics what LeAlan Jones is to football. The guy who got it right, when all the experts got it wrong. Listen to [The Ben Joravsky Show]( [What Ben's Reading] Harlan Coben’s latest thriller, [The Match](. After every book I’ve read by Coben, I swear that’s the last book I will read by Coben! And, then, I see one on the shelf at the library and . . . they’re like eating M&M’s. [Taylor Moore]( on cinnamon rolls and campaign petitions—Alderperson Tunney’s mayoral run [Ben Joravsky]( on Tom Tunney’s first campaign for alderperson [Best of the Ben J. Show]( [Damien Perdue]( QAnon files [Rummana Hussain]( politics Alderperson [Jeanette Taylor]( the stand [Saxophonist Patrick Shiroishi brings his shape-shifting sound to Chicago for the first time]( by [Bill Meyer]( [Windwalkers offers a tantalizing pile of questions]( The latest Impostors show is messy but exciting. by [Dmitry Samarov]( [Patching things up]( Two exhibitions aim to repair broken connections. by [Isa Giallorenzo]( Want more Reader in your inbox? 📰 [Issue of Oct. 13 - 26, 2022 Vol. 52, No.]( [Download Issue]( [View this e-mail as a web page]( [@chicago_reader]( [/chicagoreader]( [@chicago_reader]( [Chicago Reader on LinkedIn]( [/chicagoreader]( [chicagoreader.com]( [Forward this e-mail to a friend](. Want to change how you receive these e-mails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](. Copyright © 2022 Chicago Reader, All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: Chicago Reader, 2930 S. Michigan Ave., Suite 102, Chicago, IL 60616