Friday, January 21, 2011
Packers fans here and Bears fans in Wisconsin share how they handle an apparent identity crisis.
To say Sunday's playoff matchup is a game with arch rivals is the understatement of the decade. There is some major animosity between the Bears and Packers, like the Hatfields and McCoys, only worse. And when fans take their seats for the 2 p.m. kickoff Sunday, some might seem like they're suffering an identity crisis. Packers fans in Bear Country? Bears fans north of the Illinois-Wisconsin border? But it's true; separated by not much more than 200 miles, these two cities (including Milwaukee, where there are many Patch sites) boast a lot of transplants who kept their loyalty, even if it means going behind enemy lines. It's hard enough to cross that line, but the pressure comes from both sides when you're in a "mixed-fan" relationship. New…
Blue and orange bus brings diehard Mokena fans together.
Right after the Chicago Bears made it to Super Bowl XLI in 2006, Andy Griffiths, President of Lionheart Financial Ltd., and Dr. Garnet Patterson, owner of Patterson Dental Center, partnered up and bought themselves a Bears tailgating bus. Five years later, the bus can still be found at almost every Bears home game at Soldier Field. As Griffiths put it, “We are just two Mokena nutters who are massive Bears fans.” Griffiths said the inspiration to buy a tailgating bus came when the two visited Soldier Field for a game and noticed everyone else’s tailgating vehicles, which ranged from old ambulances to RVs. Griffiths said they realized they could do something like that. “My wife said 'no' to an RV, and we weren’t sure where to get an …
41.530965
-87.887777
Lionheart Financial
11146 Front St, Mokena, IL
/articles/bears-fans-keep-hometown-spirit-alive-with-da-bus
325465
/locations/3121078
41.530468
-87.889395
Patterson Dental Center
19721 Wolf Rd, Mokena, IL
/articles/bears-fans-keep-hometown-spirit-alive-with-da-bus
325253
/locations/3121079
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Thanks to their customers, Buffalo Wild Wings in Frankfort and Tom Kelly's in New Lenox are caught in the Chicago-Green Bay rivalry.
For two area bars, this week's Bears-Packers game might well be the equivalent of being caught in the middle of epic feuds like the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, Aliens vs. Predators, or Brett Favre vs. Jenn Sterger (except without the inappropriate texting). Managers at Buffalo Wild Wings in Frankfort and Tom Kelly's Chophouse & Pub in New Lenox say they have a large contingent of Green Bay backers who come in to watch the games. "We didn’t realize we had so many Packer fans until this year," said Kelly Trumpey, manager and owner of Tom Kelly's. "I'm surprised that we have so many, being in Chicago." The Green Bay fans were out in full force at Tom Kelly's last Saturday, when the Packers defeated the Atlanta Falcons. As soon as the Pack had…
41.516095
-87.84973
Buffalo Wild Wings
20596 S la Grange Rd, Frankfort, IL
/articles/bears-to-the-left-packers-to-the-right-two-local-bars-stuck-in-the-middle
324389
/locations/3106462
41.51771
-87.98805
495 Degroate Rd, New Lenox, IL
/articles/bears-to-the-left-packers-to-the-right-two-local-bars-stuck-in-the-middle
/locations/3106463
The loser will have to wear the other team's gear at the next board meeting.
Now it's really on. New Lenox Patch has teamed up with Port Washington-Saukville Patch in Wisconsin this week to have a little fun before the Bears-Packers game. Local Editor Lyssa Beyer and I already have our own wager: whoever's wrong will have to publish an apology video on our sites next week, decked out in the other team's gear. But now our mayors are getting involved. New Lenox Mayor Tim Baldermann and Port Washington Mayor Scott Huebner have a friendly wager in which the loser will wear the other team's gear (a shirt or hat, for example) at his next board/council meeting. "I'm not even worried," Huebner said. Baldermann said Huebner shouldn't be worried, either. Not because he'll win, but because the Bears' colors are a lot better …
Jon
8:29 pm on Monday, January 31, 2011
I'm a HUGE Bears fan, I bought a Bear suit for the '06 super bowl, but you guys are awesome!!!! more ›