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Dan, I know you're Bear Boy who will insist Chicago should be a one-NFL team town. You know I love the Bears , too, but there are at least 20 different reasons why Chicago should have two NFL franchises. Don't forget, we did have two at one time.

There were the Chicago Cardinals, and, yes, you can go home again. Ask Washington D.C., which has had three different franchises grace their city. New York has two teams, San Francisco and Oakland are only a few miles apart, and that makes their teams essentially in the same city. It all gives credence to Chicago being a two-team town.

We have two baseball teams and support them with no problem. Besides, wouldn't it be good to have one team in the NFC and one in the AFC? Season tickets would sell out in minutes. A brand new stadium would be on the boards. We all know Mayor Daley has made no secret he would like another team.

Besides that, the Bears need some competition. They are a monopoly. Papa Bear did help found the NFL, but does that mean another team should never be added? Now would the new team be the second team in town? There is no doubt. And by the way, that hasn't worked out bad for teams like the Mets, the Jets, the Clippers and, of course, the White Sox. Two baseball teams do very well in Chicago, and the ''second'' team draws 2.5 million fans or more.

The tradition of the Bears with guys like Halas, Ditka, Sayers, Butkus, Payton and Grange is as strong as it gets, but the arrogance of the Bears' front office and the aloofness of the organization would have a lot of people rooting for the new guys in town. But why not ROOT for both? Bears fans who can't get season tickets could get them for the new team. C'mon, Dan, double your pleasure, double your fun -- and I'm right.