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The Bernstein Brief: Bears Football Is Back, Sort Of

By Dan Bernstein--
CBSChicago.com senior columnist

(CBS) It's not entirely real, but it's something. There were those admittedly crazy enough about the NFL that the cancellation of the annual Hall of Fame Game on Sunday night was actually a disappointment, so we'll be mindful of their addiction when we welcome the Bears back to the TV tonight.

Something football-y enough will be happening, or football-ish. Tackling is nice. Blocking, too.

Preseason NFL games are the imitation crabmeat of sports, the turkey bacon, the light mayo or the unsalted peanuts. Perhaps it's a big plate of all of it, presented by a local broadcast crew doing its level best to imitate the look of the network show without the resources to do so.

Don't blink or you'll miss the players who will matter. But if it makes you feel better, you can know that the bottom-roster scrubs will be starters in January if injury history is any guide. So start sorting out your Deons from your Diondres and your Deandres.

To paraphrase the Sunday night invocation, "Are you ready for some ... mostly unsatisfying product somewhat resembling football?"

Dan Bernstein is a co-host of 670 The Score's "Boers and Bernstein Show" in afternoon drive. You can follow him on Twitter  @dan_bernstein and read more of his columns here.

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