Pregame

So here we are …

Super Bowl Sunday …

Bears. Colts.

… Cheeseheads or not, we’re still close to Chicago and sometimes considered a far north suburb. And for the last two weeks, not to mention most of the season, it’s been like nothing else watching and hearing people get excited for the big game …

It’s hard not to get caught up in it.

… A few people I work with wore Bears garb to the office every day last week … At Kates’ school, each day’s morning announcements included the Bears fight song and on Friday the classes had a door decorating contest to commemorate the Bears’ run … And Friday, during a visit to the police station, guys and administrators I’m used to seeing in uniforms or office attire were instead dressed in navy and orange sweaters, ties and Bears jerseys …

Earlier in the week, a cohort and die-hard Bears fan came to us and said he had the weather forecast for Super Bowl Sunday. Then he deadpanned, “They’re calling for a Bear-icane” and held up an image with the orange and blue Bears logo embedded into a hurricane cloud spinning toward Miami.

And later in the week, another big time fan came, saying he’d come across a class picture from a Chicago school. He held it up -- The class of elementary kids were standing together, proudly on the gymnasium risers, smiling. And about five feet to their left, looking sad and sitting alone on the bottom step, a little boy wearing a Packers jersey … The photo had us laughing out loud.

Bears Inspire A City Still Reeling From Great Chicago Fire Of 1871

CHICAGO—As Brian Urlacher triumphantly hoisted the George Halas Trophy Sunday, it was a symbol of more than just the Bears' 39-14 victory over New Orleans—it was a symbol of hope to the thousands of Chicagoans who are still struggling...

And then you consider our proximity to Indiana, and stories start coming out about married couples who have ties to both teams and they can’t decide who to root for …

The last couple years have sure been fun for Midwest teams making championship runs. From the White Sox in the World Series and the Fighting Illini in the NCAA tournament a couple years ago, to Detroit and St, Louis in the World Series last fall. And now the Bears and the Colts in the Super Bowl … and hey, the Badgers aren’t looking too bad either …

I’m eating it up …

Good reads ...
a Super Bowl champs still the toast of Chicago
a Old song gets revival with Bears in Super Bowl