Shakeia Taylor: Hope in sports is believing you’ll one day find your team in the win column again. Just ask Bears fans.

CHICAGO — Hope is a funny thing. Sometimes it defies logic. It can require you to look past wrongs, faults and glaring issues. It means putting your faith in the unknown and waiting for everything to turn out all right.

And for the last 30 years or so, Chicago Bears fans have clung to hope.

Lovie Smith, Marc Trestman, John Fox and Matt Nagy. Coaches have come and gone. With every new quarterback, from Kyle Orton to Rex Grossman to Jay Cutler, fans have been sold a dream, And they’ve had to grin and bear it for years while it constantly was brought up that the Bears had a chance to get Patrick Mahomes or Deshaun Watson and instead took Mitch Trubisky.

For a while, the defense was the one phase to rely on because of players such as Brian Urlacher and Lance Briggs. But they couldn’t do it all. The duo’s prime years were spent alongside a struggling offense that often couldn’t stay on the field long enough to give the defense more than a three-and-out rest.

And for a brief moment in 2018, it seemed as if things might have turned around … but a double-doink knocked fans back to reality.

“Can it please just happen in my lifetime?” fans asked.

The dark clouds seemingly had moved in for good and settled over Halas Hall. Some started to wonder if being a Bears fan would ever get better. Hope was long gone and misery had arrived. Games devolved into hate-watching the team you loved and having to endure Aaron Rodgers telling fans “I own you!” It was the worst of times.

All fans could do was watch. There was no defending what was happening out there.

Maybe you stopped wearing Bears apparel on Sundays. Maybe you started tackling that list of chores you had been putting off. Home projects and family trips seemed far more enjoyable than giving that team in navy and orange three hours of your life a week. In the words of U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters, you were “reclaiming your time.”

Some bailed on the Bears for greener pastures. And who could blame them? Everyone loves a winner.

Then, in April 2021, the Bears moved up to pick a quarterback out of Ohio State in the first round of the draft. Misfortune once again turned to … hope? A guy the team could build around. Or could they? Would they?

In Justin Fields’ first two seasons, it seemed as if he was the reason Bears fans were tuning in and showing up at games. The team still wasn’t great. Hell, they weren’t even good. But there was a young quarterback to develop. Let him get as many reps as he can. And he could run! But there was still work to be done.

And there was another regime change. Coach Matt Eberflus and general manager Ryan Poles were joined by President and CEO Kevin Warren, and the Bears this offseason made moves via trade, free agency and the draft. This time, it looks pretty damn close to a full rebuild. Maybe Fields won’t get hit as much or have to run so frequently. Because now there’s someone to protect him — and someone for him to throw to.

With the offseason additions — most notably wide receiver DJ Moore, linebackers Tremaine Edmunds and T.J. Edwards and defensive end Yannick Ngakoue — things don’t look perfect but don’t seem as bleak as before.

There’s no telling how this season will go, but in some fans’ minds, it couldn’t possibly be as bad as last season, right?

After the first preseason game Saturday, fans on social media were excited but trying to temper that with realism. Sure, it’s early and there’s still work to be done, but why should that stop them from experiencing a little football joy until the dread creeps in again?

That’s what hope in sports looks like — believing you’ll one day find your team in the win column again.