‘Tis the season of mixed feelings if you’re a Bears fan.

Football seasons are hard to settle into. The NFL has done a good job of making the sport a 12-month event. Seventeen games in a season throw off the balance we seek in basketball, hockey or baseball. Those sports have real ebb and flow. That’s not the case with football. It puts us on edge. The games feel urgent, and, in every season, there’s a team that comes from nowhere to be a real factor in the postseason. That parity allows every fan base to dream big when the schedule arrives.

Bears fans have been stuck in a recurring nightmare since January 2019. Watch, I’ll prove it to you. DOUBLE-DOINK! That phrase can give even the toughest -Grabowski a case of hives. And why? -Because it harkens back to the days of trying to figure out if the Bears indeed had a franchise quarterback.

I’m not here to relitigate the drafting nor the development of Mitch Trubisky. We all can admit now that it was a failed experiment conducted by two mad scientists, Ryan Pace and Matt Nagy. Consequences from that experiment reverberate today.

Football is such a team sport that it feels silly for us to put any individual ahead of the rest of the squad. It’s noble to be a “team guy” type of fan but not always realistic. Quarterback is the most important position in pro sports, and the only way that your team has a legitimate chance of winning a Super Bowl is if your front office has gotten that position right.

So you wake up, and it’s 2022. Justin Fields is the quarterback, and you’re not quite sure how to feel about him yet. That’s OK. The sample size is still too small to reach any conclusion, except this one: Fields’ development is more important to the Bears than anything else that will happen this year. Yes, even wins.

Think about it . . . the comeback against the 49ers had you euphoric, but even Zendaya couldn’t save you from the reality of the butt-whuppin’ in Green Bay. The win against the Texans had you singing “Bear Down” on the ride home, but once you got there, it felt a tad empty because Fields was outplayed by somebody named Davis Mills.

Sunday against the Vikings felt more like a win than the actual wins the Bears have. It was the first tangible proof of Fields’ potential. If you were angry at Ihmir Smith-Marsette for having the ball snatched away to end the game, that was the residue of hope.

In the second half, Fields was 12-for-13 for 135 yards and a touchdown and had 36 yards rushing. The Bears’ offense was humming, and Fields was the engine making it go. His play was so good that you were able to visualize a scenario in which they’d complete the comeback with a touchdown. Then maybe Matt “Riverboat Flusy” Eberflus would’ve gone for the two-point conversion and a glorious division victory. That daydreaming was courtesy of Fields looking more comfortable than he ever has as a pro.

It’s key to remember that progress isn’t always linear. Fields could stumble against the Commanders, but his success Sunday allows you to wonder what might be if he’s that dude. The Bears stumbling backward into six or seven victories without Fields growing would be mostly pointless, but think about how you would feel if the light clicks on for No. 1, and this team finished 7-10 because of him. That was the warm feeling in your fallow heart Sunday.

In ”Avengers: Endgame,” a distraught and vengeful Hawkeye softly sighs: “Don’t give me hope.” That’s you — the tortured Bears fan.

Allow me to be your Black Widow . . . I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you sooner.

You can hear Laurence Holmes talk Chicago sports Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on 670 The Score with Dan Bernstein.

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Coach Billy Donovan’s starting lineup for the Bulls’ last preseason game Tuesday had minimal significance.

With Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan given the game off, and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jrue Holiday and Brook Lopez of the Bucks sitting out, the game was essentially a glorified practice.

But there have been two constants in Donovan’s starting five throughout the preseason: Nikola Vucevic and Ayo Dosunmu.

Coming into the preseason, Donovan talked about his options at point guard in the absence of Lonzo Ball, but he has only used one of them — Dosunmu.

“Basically, yes,” Donovan said when asked if Dosunmu had won the starting spot. “Ayo right now is going to be the guy back there for us. He’s done a really good job this training camp and preseason.”

Dosunmu was averaging 11 points, 3.3 assists and 3.7 rebounds coming into the game, which the Bulls won 127-104.

Patrick Williams led the Bulls in his second start of the preseason with 22 points. Dosunmu had eight points against Milwaukee.

The second-year guard has been preparing for this role since he first started playing the game.

He wasn’t necessarily picturing this scenario after a rookie season that saw him juggling a role on and off the ball.

But moving seamlessly between both spots is nothing new to him.

In his freshman year at Westinghouse, he was on the ball. When he transferred to Morgan Park, he was moved off. At Illinois, he played both roles.

“My dad always told me I was blessed to have both intangibles,” Dosunmu said.

The difference between his rookie season and this one is that he came into training camp focusing on initiating the offense with the first unit.

As far as his leadership role in a lineup that will include veterans DeRozan, LaVine and Vucevic, Dosunmu always has felt like their peer. But he recognizes there is room for growth with a respect-first mentality, of course.

“Talking to them a lot, being a good rookie to them, that all plays a role in [my comfort level being vocal],” Dosunmu said. “Now they give you the respect that you deserve.

”Then when you’re on the court and go out there and play hard, and they see you out there fighting, they’ll do the same thing for you.”

Ball had surgery on his left knee Sept. 28 in Los Angeles and will be re-evaluated in four to six weeks depending on how his knee responds in rehab. There is optimism from the organization that Ball will be back at some point this season, but beyond that, nothing is definitive.

It was Ball’s third surgery on his left knee since he was drafted in 2017. He has been adamant that he won’t return to the court until he’s completely healed and comfortable playing. In the meantime, Dosunmu has proved to be a capable starter in his absence.

But Ball is still dishing out assists, even while sidelined.

“He has told me about the pace of the game,” Dosunmu said. “Also just understanding my teammates, where they like the ball, being a student of the game and managing the game.

“Seeing him here, seeing him get back, it’s all a progression. Brick by brick, I tell him.”

The Bulls open the regular season next Wednesday on the road against the Heat.

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In Notre Dame’s 11 Shamrock Series games, they are now an impressive 11-0 after a big win against BYU.

Notre Dame entered Saturday nights game against BYU at 2-2 but on a 2 game win streak. BYU was 4-1 and ranked 16th in the country. Before the season began, we knew that this year’s Shamrock Series game would be a tough one, especially since ND usually schedules an easy team as their Shamrock Series opponent.

The annual Shamrock Series game seems to be the one game a year where Notre Dame plays its best football in a new stadium each year. The Irish have played in many different stadiums over the last 13 years including The Alamodome, Yankee Stadium, Soldier Field, and Fenway Park. And this year was no different, playing in Las Vegas at the brand new Allegiant Stadium, the Irish went into Vegas and played a complete game against one of the better offenses in the country.

The Irish just don’t lose in the Shamrock Series ️

Notre Dame moves to 11-0 in that game with a win over No. 16 BYU in Vegas! pic.twitter.com/tFfq0nrLxN

— ESPN College Football (@ESPNCFB) October 9, 2022

Over the last two games, the Irish has pivoted to being a run first team, and that is because of the massive success of Audric Estime, Logan Diggs, and Chris Tyree. All three of these guys can go out and rush for 100 yards a game and if Drew Pyne can play decent football, Notre Dame has a great shot at winning a lot of games.

When you’re Irish, you bring your own luck

Thanks you Las Vegas for your gracious hospitality this weekend! We’ve loved bringing the Shamrock Series to you! pic.twitter.com/YBvBVxz7ln

— University of Notre Dame (@NotreDame) October 9, 2022

Now on a three game win streak, Notre Dame takes on Stanford and UNLV for their next two games, which should be easy wins. Notre Dame is going to need to win these next two wins in preparation for 18th ranked Syracuse and 4th ranked Clemson both coming up on the schedule.

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We have arrived at the midpoint of the college football season, or as close as we’re going to get to it, with exactly 100 out of 131 FBS teams having played at least six games.

Some, like 5-1 Illinois, have put their best-laid plans into action. Others, like 1-5 Northwestern, are asking themselves where the heck life went wrong. Nine teams have gotten halfway through the regular season without losing (and six others are 5-0). Mercifully, no team has gotten halfway through without winning (though one, Colorado, is 0-5).

Five coaches — Nebraska’s Scott Frost, Arizona State’s Herm Edwards, Georgia Tech’s Geoff Collins, Colorado’s Karl Dorrell and Wisconsin’s Paul Chryst — have been fired and, combined, are being paid a reported $55 million in buyouts. Great work if you can get it.

Too many outstanding players to list are chasing Ohio State quarterback C.J. Stroud for the Heisman Trophy. How much are they raking in? Probably not enough.

How did we get here? Where are we headed? Read on.

TEAMS OF THE FIRST HALF

Like Illinois, Kansas is 5-1 and in the Top 25. Unfortunately, also like Illinois, Kansas had its starting quarterback knocked out of Game 6 with an injury. How about both USC and UCLA being 6-0? Los Angeles is doing the Big Ten proud.

TEAMS OF THE SECOND HALF

1. Georgia and Alabama: Is it just plain a given they’ll collide again in the SEC title game and both reach the playoff? It would be nice if the season were a bit more dramatic than that. A four-game stretch for the Bulldogs against Florida, Tennessee, Mississippi State and Kentucky could be tricky.

2. Ohio State and Michigan: Will each be 11-0 when they meet in Columbus on Nov. 26? That would be one spectacular scene.

3. Clemson: Can the Tigers win ’em all even if they don’t seem to be quite as good as any of Dabo Swinney’s six playoff teams?

PLAYERS OF THE FIRST HALF

A tip of the helmet to Illinois’ Chase Brown, who leads the nation in rushing yards with 879. The crosstown sack race between USC’s Tuli Tuipulotu and UCLA’s Laiatu Latu has been a riot. And everybody’s talking about Stroud, who has 24 touchdown passes and a preposterous 207.6 passer rating and hasn’t even gotten lathered up.

PLAYERS OF THE SECOND HALF

1. Will Anderson, LB, Alabama and Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia: Forget the Heisman race — these are the two best players in the land. Pick your order.

2. Hendon Hooker, QB, Tennessee and Will Rogers, QB, Mississippi State: Each tremendous passer leads an excellent team and has upset shots at both Alabama and Georgia to come.

3. Blake Corum, RB, Michigan: The other elite teams revolve around their quarterbacks. The Wolverines need Corum to be great.

COACHES OF THE FIRST HALF

Kansas’ Lance Leipold, Kansas State’s Chris Klieman, UCLA’s Chip Kelly, Wake Forest’s Dave Clawson and Illinois’ Bret Bielema all deserve some midseason recognition. So does Ryan Walters, coordinator of the Illini’s astonishingly good defense. Walters to Colorado — his alma mater — makes too much sense not to happen.

COACHES OF THE SECOND HALF

1. Kellys: Not just Chip (is he suddenly one of the best in the business again?) but also LSU’s Brian, whose Tigers have two losses already, including Saturday’s 40-13 embarrassment against Tennessee. As if winning over the maniacal LSU fan base wasn’t going to be hard enough.

2. Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame: Maybe he’ll be better than Kelly, Lou Holtz, Ara Parseghian, Frank Leahy and Knute Rockne put together, but first he has to get through a bumpy Year 1. A three-game winning streak since a galling loss to Marshall has been encouraging.

3. Jim Leonhard, Wisconsin: His audition for the job on a permanent basis continues. Bet on him to nail it down.

GAME OF THE FIRST HALF

Has to be Northwestern’s 31-28 win against Nebraska in Dublin, right? No, not really. Nothing topped the tension of Alabama’s 20-19 win at Texas in Week 2, though the Tide’s 24-20 escape against Texas A&M in Week 6 came very close.

GAMES OF THE SECOND HALF

1. Alabama at Tennessee, Saturday: A Rocky Top upset? This is the No. 6-ranked Vols’ moment.

2. Ohio State at Penn State, Oct. 29: The Buckeyes are aiming for perfection. It would be such a shame to see them trip up here.

3. Clemson at Notre Dame, Nov. 5: Whatever the Irish’s record going in, Freeman could be a star coming out.

PLAYOFF PROJECTIONS

Semifinal 1: Ohio State vs. Alabama, Atlanta, Dec. 31.

Semifinal 2: Georgia vs. USC, Glendale, Ariz., Dec. 31.

National championship: Ohio State vs. Georgia, Inglewood, Calif., Jan. 9.

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DENVER — The Blackhawks are universally expected to be one of the NHL’s worst teams this season, if not the absolute worst. After all, they were not-so-subtly designed to be.

But Patrick Kane raised a fair point Tuesday: Preseason expectations for the Hawks haven’t proven correct in years.

In 2017, 2018 and 2019, the Hawks were a projected playoff — or at least bubble — team entering each season, but underperformed significantly each time. In 2020, the Hawks were a projected bottom-feeder, but actually overperformed and hung around in the race for a while. And in 2021, the Hawks were projected to return to the NHL’s upper echelon, but immediately fell on their faces.

So Kane quietly dismisses all the recent chatter about how terrible this team will be. It’s not that he doesn’t understand the logic behind the skepticism, but he has learned never to believe in the illusion that hockey is predictable.

“The past five or six years, people were picking us to make the playoffs or win the Cup,” he told the Sun-Times. “It’s easy to say those things or get excited about those things, but you have to put the product on the ice. It’s the same thing right now. A lot of teams are projected to be ahead of us, but it’s all about what we do on the ice.”

Kane, of course, was the subject of just as much offseason chatter as the Hawks as a whole.

At the start of training camp, he and Jonathan Toews both insisted they hadn’t talked to the Hawks — nor had Hawks general manager Kyle Davidson talk to them — about potentially waiving their no-trade clauses. Neither admitted then to having seriously contemplated leaving Chicago or where they might end up.

Nothing has changed on that front over the past month; no trades are brewing yet. But it’s a fact they’re both entering the final years of their contracts, and their career trajectories don’t match that of this deeply rebuilding organization beyond next summer.

So in all likelihood, this will be Kane and Toews’ final season with the Hawks, meaning Wednesday’s game against the Avalanche will be Kane and Toews’ final regular-season opener in a red-and-white sweater.

They know that; everyone knows that. And that thought has indeed crossed Kane’s mind, even if not with quite the degree of sentimentality and emotion one might expect.

“It’s just kind of natural to think about, especially given the position that I’m in,” he said. “But I don’t know. I’m not thinking about where I’m going to finish [the season], or if this is my last season in Chicago — nothing like that. It’s just more like focusing on starting off well. … It’s a long season, so I try not to get ahead of myself too much.”

Whether one believes him or not, that way of thinking is undeniably on-brand for Kane. While Toews constantly weighs big-picture implications and ponders long-term outlooks, Kane focuses without distractions on the day-to-day nuances of his job. That yin-yang dichotomy has contributed to their success for 14 years together and counting.

And thus, most of Kane’s present thoughts center on rapport-building with new linemates Max Domi and Andreas Athanasiou, who collectively deferred to Kane far too often during the Hawks’ ugly 1-5-0 preseason.

“You don’t want to overload these guys with information,” Kane said. “You want them to play the game and be able to make the reads themselves. The first thing I told them when we came to camp was, ‘Let’s be shooters. Let’s not look to over-pass.’ And we did that anyway to start.

“Once we get going and realize how each other are going to play and gain that chemistry even more than we have now, it could be a good line. … Both those guys skate so well. They could bring a whole new element to the game that I’ve never really had, as far as [them skating] up the middle with that speed and pushing the ‘D’ back.”

Even during the Hawks’ dynasty years, Kane himself rarely reached his ‘A’-game during the preseason. He has approached camps in various different ways over the years, futilely hoping one way would lend better results, but now — at age 33 — has accepted it just takes him “a little while to get going” each fall.

Kane eventually finding his form and racking up points — no matter the situation around him — is one hockey-related thing that has always been predictable, though, and he’ll almost certainly do it again this season.

Even within last year’s team-wide trainwreck, Kane tied a career high with 66 assists and recorded his third-highest season point total (92). Going from Alex DeBrincat to Domi and Athanasiou is a downgrade, but he has repeatedly established an ability to dominate alongside just about anyone.

It’s much harder to fathom the rest of the Hawks replicating Kane’s capacity to thrive amid chaos. Any objective analysis of the roster reveals a dire lack of game-breaking talent.

The “vibes” in the locker room have nonetheless been positive so far, Kane said, and sometimes even the surest analyses miss something unquantifiable — just look at the 2017-18 Golden Knights, for example. Every once in a while, hope without reason becomes self-fulfilling.

Will that work for the 2022-23 Hawks? Probably not. But Kane, feeling the gears starting to spin beneath him on his final trip around the Hawks rollercoaster, is simply ready to stop wondering and start finding out.

“We’ll see how we start off,” Kane said. “The feeling with our team, our coaches, the players, is that we’re going to be better than a lot of people think, and I think that’s true. But it all depends on what the performance is on the ice. We can say whatever we want, but it’s important to see how we do once we get out there.

“Enough talk for now.”

Note: The Blackhawks’ plague of injuries to defensemen continued at practice Tuesday when Connor Murphy and Alex Vlasic both left early.

Murphy, bloodied by a puck that deflected into his face, received stitches and will be fine, coach Luke Richardson said. But Vlasic feels discomfort from a shot-block in practice Monday and could miss Wednesday’s game. That’ll thrust waiver claim Jarred Tinordi, with just one Hawks practice under his belt, into the lineup.

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New Orleans Saints workout Former Bears RB Tuesday

The New Orleans Saints waived running back Tony Jones on Saturday before their Week 5 game. The Seattle Seahawks promptly snatched Jones up after their running back, Rashaad Penny, sustained an injury this weekend. That left the Saints looking for a running back to add to their practice squad. The team reportedly worked out several running backs, one a former Bears fan favorite.

According to Aaron Wilson of the Pro Football Network, the Saints worked out Jordan Howard.

Howard was a 2016 fifth-round draft pick by the Bears. He played in Chicago for three seasons. Howard made the Pro Bowl as a rookie. Howard accumulated 3,370 yards rushing and 24 touchdowns with the Bears. The Bears traded Howard to the Philadelphia Eagles in 2019 for a sixth-round pick. Howard spent 2020 and 2021 oscillating between the Eagles and Miami Dolphins. He never had the same success after he played with the Bears.

It remains to be seen if the New Orleans Saints decided to sign Howard after the workout.

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Justin Fields had just finished his first-ever NFL preseason game when someone asked him how he was adjusting to game speed.

“It was actually kind of slow to me, to be honest,” he said after facing the Dolphins on Aug. 14, 2021. “I think I was expecting it to be a little bit faster. But practicing, game speed, going at it with my teammates … it definitely slowed the game up a little bit for me.”

Two days later, ESPN’s “First Take” did a seven-minute segment about his comments. At one point, the show’s chyron read: “Do You Like Justin Fields Saying This?”

The talking heads didn’t seem to notice when Fields returned to the topic Sunday. After the 29-22 loss to the Vikings, Fields said he was as comfortable as he felt all year long.

He reiterated Tuesday that, for the first time, he feels like he’s playing at his own pace.

“I think it came with time, to be honest with you. Came from mistakes …” he said. “Last year I felt like sometimes I’d speed up myself or be crazy pumped up because everyone else is.

“But I think playing quarterback, the more you can stay calm, the more you can stay relaxed, the better you’ll play.”

Despite what Fields said as a rookie, he couldn’t be expected to learn how to handle game speed in practice. Fields didn’t learn it last year, when he cobbled together 10 starts amid injury, illness and Matt Nagy’s refusal to name him the starter.

What was encouraging about Sunday’s showing –in which Fields posted a career-best 118.1 passer rating and 71.4 completion percentage — was that offensive coordinator Luke Getsy was comfortable letting Fields develop his identity as a passer.

“That’s part of playing this position,” Getsy said. “You can’t say or feel those things unless you experience it in the games. He’s got a few more reps under his belt now, so I think he’s starting to play within his style and his ways, and he’s finding his own way within our system and helping his teammates around him.”

And playing within himself.

“Playing quarterback, you have to have a rhythm,” Fields said

Fields credited breathing exercises he learned from the Bears’ yoga instructor, who works with players at Halas Hall two days before every game.

On the field against the Giants, he tried deep breathing — in for four seconds, then exhaling — a few times. He did so more often Sunday. Fields noticed that when he breathed deeply immediately after his 52-yard touchdown run — which was wiped out by Ihmir Smith-Marsette’s illegal block in the back penalty– that he felt less tired.

In other moments, it relaxed him.

“Doing that automatically keeps me more calm in the pocket,” Fields said.

Fields’ long-term growth matters more than immediate success, though his performance against the Vikings was a welcome respite after four weeks of struggles.

Getsy doesn’t like to make grand statements –“I’m just not that kind of person,” he said — but was willing to say his quarterback improved Sunday.

“There’s been progress, right?” Getsy said. “And we’re sticking to the plan. I thought he did a really nice job in that game in the sense of he kept his composure. They got off to a big lead, he kept the team together. …

“We’re getting a little bit better each week. And that’s truly our purpose, that’s our goal.”

He hopes it’s just the start.

“That’s the experience part of it that’s hard for everybody to have patience with,” Getsy said. “It’s cool that he’s seeing that or saying that, but hopefully what he sees and how he views everything 10 games from now … Hopefully he can even say that more dramatically.”

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The Bears will wear orange helmets Thursday for the first time in franchise history, and the player they chose as their model for social media marketing had some jokes ready.

Linebacker Roquan Smith said Tuesday he was fired up wear the uniforms. The Bears will have orange helmets, orange jerseys and white pants against the Commanders.

“It’s pretty sweet,” he said. “It’s a helmet. It’s orange. It’s different. But I think it’s pretty cool just to go out looking like a highlighter or something.”

The Bears will wear this uniform combination again on the road against the Cowboys on Oct. 30.

Smith also weighed in on what many considered to be egregious roughing-the-passer penalties over the weekend.

Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady drew one when he got tackled by Falcons defensive tackle Grady Jarrett, who appeared to do nothing more than wrap him up and wrestle him to the ground. Brady later described it on his podcast as “a long hug.”

But Smith was even more appalled by the flag against Chiefs defensive tackle Chris Jones on Monday when Jones stripped Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, recovered the ball and landed on top of Carr.

“Some of them calls — like personally, not even being biased for any team — I think were some bad calls,” Smith said. “Those refs were in tough positions, so they were forced to make some tough calls, but I definitely don’t agree with some of them.”

He continued, “The Carr one was worse. Come on. I’ve never seen a guy called, with the ball in his hands, for roughing the passer… You should be able to tackle. And if you have the ball, yeah. But that’s not my job.”

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