Chicago the New Boston?

I read a couple articles in the past week which made me realize how much Chicago sports teams have taken from Boston teams in the past year or two.  The connections I am aware of:

Bulls - Coach Thibodeau, assistant under Doc Rivers with the Celtics
Cubs - President of Baseball Operations Theo Epstein and crew, former GM of the Red Sox
Bears - GM Phil Emery, who's scouting philosophy is "rooted in the 'Patriot system'"

Now I know the Boston teams have been successful in the past decade...
Celtics - 2008 NBA Champions; 2010 Eastern Conference Champions
Patriots - 2001, 2003, 2004 Super Bowl Champions; 2007, 2011 AFC Champions
Red Sox - 2004, 2007 World Series Champions
Bruins - 2011 Stanley Cup Champions

But something just makes me cringe a little bit when I read articles like this.  Bears GM Phil Emery is rooted in Patriotic approach or Emanuel’s ‘Fenway Plan’ for Wrigley is a hit at Fenway.

I think Belichick bothers every non-Patriots fan with his Patriots hoodie and cutoff sleeves.  Part of it is jealousy, which I admit, part of it is annoyance with commentators crowning him a genius, and part of it is SpyGate.  The Belichick  - Genius thing just gets under my skin because you know that its partially true, that the Patriots have been successful and his unconventional thinking has seemed to work.
 

The example of the Patriot system in the Bears article bothered me because it just reminds me of the Genius - Belichick thing again.  From the article,    

"When the Patriots stacked their draft board, Belichick often would get frustrated because the game had changed, emphasizing and de-emphasizing different positions. The third cornerback, for example, could play 60 percent of the defensive snaps in a game."  

“So the third corner is a starter in today’s game,” Pioli said. “We were talking about guys who were third corners and weren’t given high-enough grades.


“It’s not anything that’s genius. It’s just trying to look at today’s league and understanding matching value versus just saying, ‘He’s a starting running back.’ ”


I would have hoped that the Bears had taken examples like this this into account before.  Like it says, "It's not anything that's genius."  It seems like a common sense philosophy, not a Boston or Chicago Philosophy.  

I also have to mention a classic Lovie Smith quote from the article:


“I don’t know what the Patriot Way is,” coach Lovie Smith said. “But I know about the Bear Way, and I’m excited about that."

You wouldn't even have to tell me it was Lovie.  It sounds like a classic Lovieism.  You have the (1) side step of the issue and (2) the ending of the quote with a positive but general sentiment.  But its the last part I agree with.  I would be excited about the Bears being successfully following the "Bear Way".  I'm just less excited about the Bears following the "Patriot Way"  

Really, its the Bears and Cubs connections which bother me.  Although Thibs is associated with Boston, I feel that his coaching method seems in line with the Bulls overall philosophy of player accountability and character.  With the Bears and Cubs its seems as though we are just trying to replicate the Boston success in Chicago.  I would love to see a World Series or Super Bowl champion, but it just seems like we are selling out to win a championship.  Don't get me it seem like the smart thing do to, I just wish we would do things the "Chicago way" (cue Sean Connery well the phrase, not exactly the actions) rather than the Boston way.