I'm not sure I follow that. In the huge bear-market rally that started 9/24/2001, the VIX dropped from 48 to 22 (granted, the post 9/11 numbers were unnaturally inflated). In 2002's Feb-Mar rally, it dropped 3 points, and in the brief May rally, it went from 24.5 to 20.3. Maybe most of the bears were getting complacent as the Market rallied, but I know that this bear was not.