Chicago Bears vs. Green Bay Packers: Purely Epic

By Derek Crouse Soldierfield_crop_340x234

Soldier Field will be the center of the football world Sunday

The Chicago Bears will face the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship this weekend, and it is perhaps the biggest game in their long and enduring rivalry. The last time these two teams faced each other in a championship game was in 1941. From cheese-heads to meatballs, the fans have clamored for this day for years.

When Lovie Smith became the head coach of the Bears, his goals were to beat the Green Bay Packers and to win the division. Now beating the Packers has even more significance than ever. The NFC Championship game has never been so important in recent history.

This game will go down in NFL lore on both sides of the fence. From George Halas to Vince Lombardi, the history of these teams could make a very long TV miniseries. Grandparents will be telling their grandchildren stories about it and NFL Films will have a special on DVD released with a Sports Illustrated subscription.

Saloons in the Midwest will be filled with Bears and Packers fans dressed in their favorite garb and surely a few fights will erupt before, during, and after the game. While the casual fan will be happy just to watch the game, the hardcore fans who live and die with their team will be locked on to the screen for every inch gained on the field.

The NFL brass has to be drooling over this game. The ratings for the NFL have improved year after year. This game looks to blow out any rating for a conference championship game and maybe could break any programming record besides the Super Bowl last year. That game had over a 150 million viewers!

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With the recent onslaught of consumers purchasing smartphones, laptops, iPads, and TVs, the NFL has never had as much exposure and publicity. America has embraced the NFL with open arms.

This game will even help local economies. Every gas station will sell all of their keychains and lighters with a Packer or Bear logo on it that has been collecting dust since August. The grocery stores will make profits from meat, charcoal, alcohol, snacks, and the occasional cake with a logo on it. The bandwagon fans usually jump on about this time of year so it becomes an event and not just another game.

Bars will have drink specials on Sunday and the places with HDTVs will draw in the crowds. The dives will have to invest in better entertainment and hope that this will happen again in their lifetime even though this type of game hasn’t happened in 70 years. If any company is looking to make a profit on a sporting event, this game is gold in their hand. The high rollers will be putting up big money in Vegas and friends will have their little wagers amongst themselves.

If the Bears and Packers were a stock option, their value would be skyrocketing this week. The prices for a ticket to this game at Soldier Field are inflating like gas prices. At stubhub.com the prices range from $400-$15,000! Surely there will be scalpers pushing tickets like a Columbian drug cartel and many fans will end up buying counterfeit tickets for thousands of dollars only to find out they have been duped just before kickoff.

The hype machine that is the media will build storylines from the past and present to get their respected program, website, or newspaper more exposure this week. While some think of the matchup Sunday at 3:00 pm EST as just another game, a large demographic of the country will spend more money and time on three hours of their life than ever before.

Only time will tell how much this game will mean down the road in NFL history to both legendary franchises.

Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears: A Look Back at the NFL’s Oldest Rivalry

By Andrew Rosten

26 Jan 1986: Defensive lineman William (Refrigerator) Perry of the Chicago Bears watches from the side during the Super Bowl XX game with the New England Patriots at the Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Bears won the game, 46-10. Mike Powell/Getty Images

For NFL Fans

Bears Photos

I don’t know about you, but I’m glad ESPN decided to bring back Frank Gifford for its Monday Night Football broadcasts.

Over the past two years, before Hank Williams Jr. boisterously asked us if we were ready for some football, Gifford has put upcoming MNF matchups into a historical perspective by telling a story about a game from the past in which those two teams met.

With these blasts from the past, Gifford reminds me of James Earl Jones in The Sandlot, giving us stories from the good ol’ days. Not stories about how people used to walk 15 miles through the snow, but stories we actually care about.

In the upcoming NFC Championship Game, the NFL’s two oldest rivals (the Packers and the Bears) will battle each other for the right to play in the Super Bowl. It is perhaps the biggest game in the rivalry’s long history, a rivalry that has met head-to-head 181 times.

Even though I am only 24 years old, I found it appropriate to go back and look at some of the most famous matchups in the history of the Packers-Bears rivalry. So the following are stories of five Green Bay-Chicago matchups from the glorious past.

As a Bears fan (and because the Bears have a 92-83-6 edge in the series), I found it appropriate to only list games in which Da Bears beat Da Pack.

Don’t like it, Packers fans? Then write your own list.

December 14, 1941 (Wrigley Field): Bears 33, Packers 14

Believe it or not, the Packers and Bears have met in the postseason only once in the rivalry’s history.

This playoff game came only a week after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Many players on both teams would soon be drafted into military service, serving the country in World War II.

But first, there was a football season that needed to be concluded.

Both the Packers and Bears finished the season with a 10-1 record. Therefore, for the first time in history, the NFL’s Western Conference title needed to be settled with a playoff game.

In front of 43,425 fans enduring 16-degree weather, running backs George McAfee and Hugh Gallarneau led a Chicago rushing attack that racked up 267 yards.

After Green Bay took an early 7-0 lead with a Clarke Hinkle rushing touchdown, the Bears scored 24 points in the second quarter. From there, they cruised to the victory.

The Bears went on to win the NFL Championship the following week, beating the New York Giants 37-9.

November 17, 1963 (Wrigley Field): Bears 26, Packers 7

Technically, this was not a playoff game.

But with the Packers and Bears both entering the game with 8-1 records each team knew it would gain an inside track toward the Western Conference championship with a win.

Green Bay, under the legendary head coach Vince Lombardi, won the NFL Championship the previous two years. Under George Halas, however, the Bears were determined to knock them off the throne.

They had a good chance to do so, as Bart Starr was out with a broken hand, and Paul Hornung was serving a suspension for gambling.

Right from the opening kickoff, the Bears, dubbed the “Team of Destiny” by former Chicago Tribune sportswriter George Strickler, dominated. Chicago defensive back J.C. Caroline hit Herb Adderley with a bone-bruising tackle inside the 20-yard line, and from there, the Bears took over the game—and the NFL Championship race.

Packers running back Jim Taylor was held to 23 yards, as Green Bay was held to 71 yards on the ground and 232 total. The Bears’ defense also forced seven turnovers, intercepting five passes from Green Bay quarterbacks John Roach and Zeke Bratkowski.

Meanwhile, Chicago’s offense gained 248 rushing yards. Willie Galimore led the way for the Bears with 79 yards on 14 attempts.

Thanks in part to a 27-yard touchdown by Galimore, the Bears built a 26-0 lead and never looked back.

With a record of 11-1-2, the Bears won the NFL Championship, beating the Giants 14-10. The Packers finished the season with an 11-2-1 record, their only two losses coming against Chicago.

October 21, 1985 (Soldier Field): Bears 23, Packers 7

With the reference to Frank Gifford, you had to know that I was going to include a Monday Night Football game in this list, right?

On this fateful Monday, William “Refrigerator” Perry officially became a household name.

Mike Ditka originally got the idea of using Perry as a fullback from the previous year’s NFC Championship Game. With the San Francisco 49ers’ victory over the Chicago Bears in hand, 280-pound Guy McIntyre was put in at fullback for the 49ers, a move that did not sit well with Da Coach.

“I don’t hold grudges, but I have a good memory,” Ditka said on “America’s Game.”
In a rematch with San Francisco, Perry was used as a fullback late in the game as the Bears won 26-10.

Now Chicago got a chance to utilize “The Fridge” on the national stage. First, Perry bulldozed Packers linebacker George Cumby in the second quarter to make way for a two-yard touchdown by Walter Payton.

Then, less than five minutes later, he rammed through Green Bay’s defense for a one-yard touchdown of his own.

And a star was born.

November 3, 1985 (Lambeau Field): Bears 16, Packers 10

Before the game, the Bears found some horse manure in their locker room.

“I showed it to the team and told them that this is what [the Packers] think of us,” Ditka said on “America’s Game.”

Despite what Green Bay thought of them, the Bears won this rematch, thanks in part to another touchdown by their famous fullback.

We all know “Refrigerator” Perry can rumble into the end zone. But can he catch the ball?

Perry proved the answer to be a resounding yes, catching a touchdown pass from the red zone and adding to his legend.

And, as Harry Kalas said in his narration of this game for NFL Films, “giving new meaning to the term wide receiver.”

In the fourth quarter, Bears defensive tackle Steve McMichael sacked Jim Zorn in the end zone for a safety. Chicago went on to score the game-winning touchdown on a 49-yard drive following the safety.

Payton ran for 27 yards to get the winning score. He finished the game with 192 yards rushing.

September 19, 2004 (Lambeau Field): Bears 21, Packers 10

In his introductory press conference, newly-hired head coach Lovie Smith said he had three goals for the Bears under his regime:

1. Beat Green Bay; 2. Win the NFC North; 3. Win the Super Bowl.

In his first game against the Packers, Smith’s Bears accomplished his first goal, thanks in large part to what was our first taste of the opportunistic defense that the Bears would become under Lovie.

In the second quarter, Brian Urlacher stripped the football away from Ahman Green with the Packers deep in the red zone. Safety Mike Brown scooped up the pigskin and returned it 95 yards for Chicago’s second touchdown of the game.

Thomas Jones led the Bears’ ground attack with 152 yards and scored Chicago’s final TD on a 54-yard run.

I find this game to be significant because before Lovie Smith was hired, the Bears had only one playoff appearance since 1994.

Since winning this game, the Bears have won three NFC North division titles, appeared in a Super Bowl and is now one win away from going to another Super Bowl.

Say what you will about Lovie, but he knew going in that beating Green Bay would start the foundation for success.

Now the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears renew their rivalry at Soldier Field. This time, for the first time in this storied rivalry’s history, with a trip to the Super Bowl on the line.

In the words of Frank Gifford, “Are you ready?”

Don’t let Bears mania bite back

From Submitted Reports .hideTime { display: none; } Jan 18, 2011 09:05PM

It they’re not careful, fans looking to purchase tickets to Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers could get faked out worse than would-be tacklers on a Devin Hester punt return.

That warning comes from the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and northern Illinois.

According to StubHub.com, the secondary ticket market is a $10 billion-a-year industry that involves professional brokers, speculators and season ticket holders, a BBB press release notes. Because many of these sellers are not licensed or bonded and often are found on unregulated online auctions, online classifieds, and bulletin boards using person-to-person sales, sports fans need to be more skeptical and on the alert, the BBB said.

“Chicago Bears fans need to do their research before spending large amounts of money on NFC championship tickets,” said Steve J. Bernas, president and CEO of the local Better Business Bureau. “Sports fans are often blinded by their devotion to their team and run the risk of putting their trust in a seller that doesn’t deserve it.”

In the past year alone, there have been 171 complaints filed and more than 20,000 inquiries to the BBB about companies in the “Ticket Sales-Events” category.

For someone is considering buying tickets on the secondary market, the bureau offers the following tips to ensure a successful transaction:

Check to make sure the broker is licensed as required in the state of Illinois.

Avoid paying cash for tickets in person from a stranger in case the tickets are counterfeit.

Do not ever wire funds for payment.

Deal only with brokers who provide clear details concerning the terms of the transaction. For instance, know up front the amount of the surcharge for each purchase; whether the tickets are guaranteed; how they will be sent to you and the time frame for delivery; and the broker’s refund, rescheduling and cancellation policies.

Visit several Web sites to compare prices and ticket availability for the event you’re interested in.

Do not buy tickets from Internet sites that are not secure or lack a privacy policy; fail to disclose their refund, rescheduling and cancellation policies; do not provide a telephone number and fixed place of business; or insist on cash payment.

Verify the location of the seats on a seating chart provided by the venue to avoid purchasing non-existent seats or seats with obstructed views.

Pay with a credit card or another secure form of payment so you can dispute the charge with your credit card issuer or bank.

“The most common way sports fans are getting scammed online is by either paying for counterfeit tickets or tickets that never arrive,” Bernas said. “Even if the tickets do surface, they are sometimes not for the seats the seller advertised — which can mean being stuck with seats that aren’t next to each other, up in the nosebleed section, or with an obstructed view.”

Next game: vs. Green Bay Packers, Jan 23 3:00pm ET