As Indiana native John Mellencamp likes to sing, I was born in a small town. My mom lives in that same small town.

I was educated in a small town, taught the fear of Jesus in a small town. I used to daydream in that small town, another boring romantic, that's me.

I was born in a now torn-down hospital in Hammond, Indiana in the late 1950s. A day or so later, I went home to Schererville — my small town — and lived there until I went off to college at Indiana University. Schererville was just a small town of 2,500 people when I was born, a place then where the suburbs met the farms just a couple of miles from the Illinois state line.

It's 30,000 people now, a booming suburb. It's in the middle of Lake County, the second-largest county in the state that borders Illinois and Lake Michigan.

It's a part of Indiana that's called ''The Region,'' and it is very much a part of Chicagoland. The cities and towns of Lake County — about a half-million people and growing rapidly — are quote-unquote suburbs of the great Windy City just like Naperville or Schaumburg or Arlington Heights, proud and dynamic places on their own.  They just sit in a different state.

The "Region" is a part of Indiana that's not entirely Indiana. That northwest corner of the state is on Central Time, not Eastern, like the rest of the state. It gets Chicago television stations, not Indiana TV, and when newspapers were once relevant, we read Chicago papers, too. 

I grew up 25 miles from Soldier Field, and was a Bears fan as a kid, though I did thoroughly enjoy watching the Green Bay Packers win the first two Super Bowls while watching on the couch with my Wisconsin-raised grandmother. In Lake County, we were mostly Bears fans. Indiana had no pro sports back then.

We were Blackhawks hockey fans, and the Bulls were our NBA team, without question. We cheered for the Cubs and White Sox during the summers, too, but not usually both of the them. You were either a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan, almost never both. I was a White Sox fan, mostly because they were closer and easier to watch in person. I could drive there in 25 minutes some nights, and buy a ticket for $5 at the old Comiskey Park.

I tell you all of this because Chicago Bears president and CEO Kevin Warren said Wednesday that their decade-long search for a new stadium site might now lead them to Northwest Indiana. Getting more and more frustrated with self-serving politicians in Illinois, Warren said that a move across the state line might make much more sense.

Does it make sense? 

That's in the eye of the beholder on many fronts. The Bears ARE Chicago, but Northwest Indiana, well, that's Chicago, too, just on the other side of the state line. Many in Illinois — especially the politicians — say this is just a ploy. But is it? Is this really possible? 

Damn right it is. 

And there's plenty of precedent behind it.

The Bears have played in various versions of Soldier Field in downtown Chicago off and on for more than a century, and it's been their permanent home since 1971. The city made a decision to keep the existing exterior but basically build a brand new stadium inside of it in the early 2000s, to mixed reviews.

No one really likes the stadium, and Bears ownership has dreamed of a massive domed stadium the likes of AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, or SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., that could do much more than host eight or nine Bears games a year.

The Bears spent $197 million for the Arlington International Racecourse in 2023, and presumed it would be their future home. The Bears proposed building a 60,000-seat fixed-roof stadium within a $5 billion mixed-use development plan, but after a few years of talks, there is a huge impasse over property taxes and other things. 

The Bears have been in a battle with lawmakers over those tax breaks and though saying the stadium itself will be built with private funds, they have asked for $855 million in public funding for costs related to building the new stadium — roads, infrastructure and more.

That's not uncommon.

"We have not asked for state taxpayer dollars to build the stadium at Arlington Park," Warren said. "We asked only for a commitment to essential local infrastructure [roads, utilities, and site improvements], which is more than typical for projects of this size.

"Additionally, we sought reasonable property tax certainty to secure financing. We listened to state leadership and relied on their direction and guidance, yet our efforts have been met with no legislative partnership."

That lack of state partnership has the Bears looking across state lines to Indiana, much like thousands of residents have in the past few decades, fleeing high property taxes and more for Indiana, where communities are exploding with dazzling residential housing to accommodate the migration.

The Bears also find very willing business partners with state and local governments in Indiana. Earlier this year, the Northwest Indiana Professional Sports Development Commission was created to attract pro teams to the state. The Bears are that first target, and now they have a willing listener.

“We’re looking at opportunities that may exist in the Chicagoland area, including Northwest Indiana,” Warren said. “We still believe that Arlington Park is the most viable location in Cook County, but now we’re putting everything back on the table and exploring all options.”

Back at square one, in other words. Arlington Park might still be the best final solution, but there is a huge gap between what the Bears want and what the state wants.

Indiana seems prepared to close that gap. And Illinois governor JB Pritzker pushed back immediately on the potential move.

"Suggesting the Bears would move to Indiana is a startling slap in the face to all the beloved and loyal fans who have been rallying around the team during this strong season," Pritzker spokesperson Matt Hill said in a statement. "The Governor's a Bears fan who has always wanted them to stay in Chicago.

"He has also said that ultimately they are a private business."

Within hours of Warren's comments, Indiana officials were reaching out to get the wheels in motion. 

“The Chicago Bears recognize Indiana’s pro-business climate, and I am ready to work with them to build a new stadium in Northwest Indiana,'' Indiana governor Mike Braun said. "This move would deliver a major economic boost, create jobs, and bring another premier NFL franchise to the Hoosier State. Let’s get it done.” 

No specific sites have been named in Indiana, but Hammond sits between Interstate 90 and Insterstates 80-94 just southeast of Chicago. Their mayor, Thomas McDermott Jr., is on the newly created sports commission and wants this to happen.

“I would bend over backwards to do anything I can to help the Bears come here,” McDermott Jr. said.

The pro sports landscape in Indiana has change dramatically since my boyhood days. The Indianapolis Colts moved to the state from Baltimore in 1984, and when quarterback Peyton Manning arrived in 1998, the true love affair with the Colts exploded. They became the state's team, though Northwest Indiana is still very much Bears territory, and a lot of Hoosiers in southeast Indiana still root for the Cincinnati Bengals.

There are the NBA's Indiana Pacers, too, and they've been a huge draw the past few years, coming one game away from winning the NBA Finals a year ago. Indianapolis is also home to the WNBA's Indiana Fever, far and away the most popular franchise in that league thanks to superstar Caitlin Clark.

Indianapolis has always been the focus of sports facilities in the state of Indiana, and they've done a fabulous job. Lucas Oil Stadium is the beautiful home of the NFL's Colts, but the retractable roof building also hosts many other high-profile events. The Big Ten Championship Game between No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2 Indiana was just played there on Dec. 6, and the 2026 NCAA Final Four will be hosted there as well.

Gainbridge Fieldhouse, the home of the Pacers and Fever, is one of the most popular arenas in the country and the city is the home to the NCAA and huge Olympic qualifying events as well.

Bloomington, West Lafayette and South Bend are great college towns. Fort Wayne is a quarter-million people, and Evansville is over 100,000.  Neither are major pro sports towns.

What makes Lake County different, of course, is its proximity to Chicago. The New York Giants and Jets NFL teams play in East Rutherford, N.J., and it's no big deal. New Yorkers have all learned to adjust. The Rams and Chargers are in Inglewood, not downtown Los Angeles, in California. The Cowboys, Cardinals, Commanders and Dolphins all play in the suburbs.

It's just not that uncommon.

Can it happen? Sure it can.

But will it? There are still many questions to be asked, with many unclear answers.

That is, very clearly, the most important question. The obvious answer today is that this is merely a ploy by the Bears to get a better deal from Illinois.

Warren, who used to be the Big Ten commissioner, understands all the extras that a state-of-the-art domed stadium can bring. Their broad ideas for the property in Arlington Park are about much more than just the stadium. It's about a massive retail-residential mix, a boom town build around the stadium.

Building this gem in downtown Chicago just has too many obstacles, especially from city government. Lack of space is also a concern. The Arlington project runs into problems in the same way with politicians unwilling to get out of each other's way, though the amount of land available to build their big project is not an issue.

All of that is exactly why the Bears are reaching out to Indiana. We know it can work logistically because it works in New York with the Giants and Jets. We're talking 20 miles here, that's it. A state line is just a line on a map. 

Oh, I know. It's much more than that. The idea of the Chicago Bears having an Indiana address is ludicrous — and stomach-churning — to most Illinois residents. 

For a couple of decades now, Indiana has been proactive in inviting businesses and residents to cross the border for a better life of lower property taxes, business incentives and more. And it's worked. Attracting business from Illinois to Indiana — even if it's the Bears and another NFL franchise for the state — is already very much in Indiana's playbook.

Braun's initial comment is one thing, but what happens next when the Bears come calling with hat in hand? When it's time for Indiana state politicians — and taxpayers across the entire state — to start ponying up money, is there really an appetite for it?

Politics certainly will play a part here. Indiana has become a very red state, with Republicans in complete control of every part of government. Their pro-business approach has worked, and even with much lower taxes than neighboring states like Illinois — and Ohio and Michigan, too — the state runs budget surpluses in the billions every year. That's billions with a B. Every year.

So if the state had to offer up a package that includes maybe $1 billion or so for infrastructure, roads, amenities and more to get a stadium built, the money is there to attract a major business like the NFL.

Here's a big question, though, and it gets back to my first few paragraphs on living in Northwest Indiana. That place, it's just different to most Hoosiers. NWI is built on industry — steel mills and oil refineries and all that comes with it. It's the outlier in a state full of farmers and isolated small communities. 

When it comes to voting for state funding for this project, how much will legislators from the southern part of the state really care about doing something for northwest Indiana? That is yet to be determined.

What is interesting — at least at this moment in time — is that Indiana legislators can put Indiana first when they need to, like the did a few weeks ago in voting no on a redistricting plan forced on them by president Donald Trump and his majority in Washington.

Can there be consensus on helping with building a stadium in a far corner of the state? That's the  great unknown.

Since 1984, the Colts have been the one NFL team in Indiana. Would the Bears moving across the state line affect them in any way?

My first thought is that it would have a minimal effect. That corner of the state has always been Bears fans and hasn't really changed in 40-plus years. Maybe the Colts outdraw the Bears now in Lafayette or Rensselaer as the line of demarcation moves further north up I-65, but that's negligible. 

Sure, there is something of a rivalry when fan bases collide, but Bears fans care about the Packers and Vikings and Lions far more than they care about the Colts, because they only play once every four years. The fact that they actually played each other in a Super Bowl — the Colts won February 2007 on a rainy night in Miami — is more coincidence than a built-in reason for hatred.

It's highly doubtful that the Colts would lose fans or business clients to the Bears. And it's not like the Bears want to build in Carmel or Fishers. They are still 150 miles away.

The city of Indianapolis might be more concerned than the Colts. Would a beautiful domed stadium in northwest Indiana compete with Indy for things like the Final Four or the biggest college football events? The biggest concerts, conventions or even a Super Bowl?

Part of the talk about a Bears domed stadium from the very beginning what that they could finally host a Super Bowl, which was never possible in the dead of winter in an outdoor stadium. 

That's where the backlash might start in Indiana. Does a congressman from Richmond or Bloomington or Jeffersonville really care about this? Does the farmer in Austin or mechanic in Martinsville really care?

When we make the argument that Northwest Indiana is really part of Chicago, the rest of the state hears that logic — and doesn't disagree.

For today, we start with that simple question of if this is just a ploy by the Bears. It might end with a beautiful stadium in five years, and a completely different — now we're really big time — look for "The Region.'' 

The NFL is a multibillion-dollar industry every year. This is huge, and it's a story that will be tracked every day. There are new stadiums on the way in Nashville and Buffalo, and Cleveland, Kansas City and Washington, D.C. are finalizing stadium plans as well.

This is going to happen for the Bears, some how and some way. But where? It's going to be a fun journey to the finish line.