NFC Championship (Bears fans)

[Flames24Rulz]

People are calling this the biggest game in Chicago sports history.

 

That's not true. People are calling this the biggest game that's been hosted in Chicago, not the biggest game in sports history.

[bukie]

People are calling this the biggest game in Chicago sports history.

Nobody I've seen, and it's completely wrong, anyway. It's not even the biggest game in Bears sports history. Probably not even the biggest game for the Bears in the last 10 years (Super Bowl v. Indy).

 

Now Green Bay, on the other hand...

[Banedon]

Yeah, they're saying it's the biggest game ever played in Chicago.

[bukie]

Yeah, they're saying it's the biggest game ever played in Chicago.

Don't think I agree with that one, either. Granted, the NHL is well behind the NFL in overall interest, but game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals was just 7 months ago, and that was a pretty big game. The White Sox had two World Series games in town 5 years back, and the Cubs played some pretty important NLCS games back in '03, too.

 

On the NFL level, the 2006 NFC Championship 4 years ago was a pretty big deal, as well.

[UMFan83]

Speaking of superlatives, can we finally agree guys?

 

This is the biggest Bears game since Super Bowl XLI.

[mookie]

Speaking of superlatives, can we finally agree guys?

 

This is the biggest Bears game since Super Bowl XLI.

 

Of course it is!

 

 

:clapping:

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah, they're saying it's the biggest game ever played in Chicago.

Don't think I agree with that one, either. Granted, the NHL is well behind the NFL in overall interest, but game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals was just 7 months ago, and that was a pretty big game. The White Sox had two World Series games in town 5 years back, and the Cubs played some pretty important NLCS games back in '03, too.

 

On the NFL level, the 2006 NFC Championship 4 years ago was a pretty big deal, as well.

 

Not to mention the playoff games in 85. That Rams game was enormous, even if it was in an entirely different era with regards to hype.

[Jon]

It's not even the biggest Bears game in Chicago history. But it's certainly the biggest Bears game in modern NFL history.

 

I can pretty much wear whatever I want to work. I wore my Butkus jersey the Friday before the Super Bowl, so I'll be wearing my Steve Walsh jersey tomorrow, instead.

 

I'm going to be going to the game. Unfortunately, I'll also be paying secondary market prices. But I can't not go.

[Flames24Rulz]

People are calling this the biggest game in Chicago sports history.

Nobody I've seen, and it's completely wrong, anyway. It's not even the biggest game in Bears sports history. Probably not even the biggest game for the Bears in the last 10 years (Super Bowl v. Indy).

 

Now Green Bay, on the other hand...

 

I'm treating it about the same as the 2007 NFC Title Game against the Giants.

[Banedon]

Yeah, they're saying it's the biggest game ever played in Chicago.

Don't think I agree with that one, either. Granted, the NHL is well behind the NFL in overall interest, but game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals was just 7 months ago, and that was a pretty big game. The White Sox had two World Series games in town 5 years back, and the Cubs played some pretty important NLCS games back in '03, too.

 

On the NFL level, the 2006 NFC Championship 4 years ago was a pretty big deal, as well.

 

Not to mention the playoff games in 85. That Rams game was enormous, even if it was in an entirely different era with regards to hype.

 

The argument is that the NFC Championship games are all of equal value, except that being GB makes it bigger. The Blackhawks game wasn't a "win or go home" game, and therefore didn't have the same weight. Same for the White Sox games.

 

This is a win or go home, for the SB, in Chicago, against the Bears biggest rival.

 

Basically, by that argument, unless it's a game 7, there's no way a basketball, hockey, or baseball game could be "bigger".

 

The Score is the one that's hyping it that way, btw.

[ConstableRabbit]

Yeah, they're saying it's the biggest game ever played in Chicago.

Don't think I agree with that one, either. Granted, the NHL is well behind the NFL in overall interest, but game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals was just 7 months ago, and that was a pretty big game. The White Sox had two World Series games in town 5 years back, and the Cubs played some pretty important NLCS games back in '03, too.

 

On the NFL level, the 2006 NFC Championship 4 years ago was a pretty big deal, as well.

Only half the city rooted for the Cubs and Sox, or maybe a little over half, and no one cares about hockey the way they do about the NFL (I know you qualified your statement but it's not even close).

 

Edit: maybe you could argue for one of the big Bulls games of the mid 90s.

[Jon]

Just bought a pair in 432 (upper rows, I think) for $700 on craigslist. Gonna pick them up tonight in the NW burbs. My hope is that I can sell the other ticket for at least $375 tomorrow on craigslist.

 

I probably could have gotten a better deal tomorrow or Saturday, but the problem is that a lot of these tickets are listed by season ticket holders who may decide to go to the game if the prices come down more. There are also so many buyers that you have to be really quick when the postings are listed. Luckily this guy had 2 deals fall through already.

[rawaction]

I never really thought about comparing Jay Cutler and Ben Roethlisberger.

 

I do quite a bit. Big QBs that move well, with bad offensive lines. Ben has better weapons and a consistently better defense throughout his career to get to where he's been.

 

Yeah, they are very similar. That's why I commented yesterday that Ben wasn't that great. Very similar to Cutler, but with better surrounding parts.

[jersey cubs fan]

Yeah, they're saying it's the biggest game ever played in Chicago.

Don't think I agree with that one, either. Granted, the NHL is well behind the NFL in overall interest, but game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals was just 7 months ago, and that was a pretty big game. The White Sox had two World Series games in town 5 years back, and the Cubs played some pretty important NLCS games back in '03, too.

 

On the NFL level, the 2006 NFC Championship 4 years ago was a pretty big deal, as well.

 

Not to mention the playoff games in 85. That Rams game was enormous, even if it was in an entirely different era with regards to hype.

 

The argument is that the NFC Championship games are all of equal value, except that being GB makes it bigger. The Blackhawks game wasn't a "win or go home" game, and therefore didn't have the same weight. Same for the White Sox games.

 

This is a win or go home, for the SB, in Chicago, against the Bears biggest rival.

 

Basically, by that argument, unless it's a game 7, there's no way a basketball, hockey, or baseball game could be "bigger".

 

The Score is the one that's hyping it that way, btw.

 

It's kind of a stupid argument. Either way, the Cubs had a game 6 and a game 7 in Chicago to win or go home. This is the 2nd NFCC game in 4 years, and the 4th in 25. The one in 85 was the first ever. They'd never been to a Super Bowl. The Bears have been there, and they've been beyond there recently.

 

This must be coming out of the Jets talk. That was legit. The Jets are clearly the Patriots little brother. New England has all the recent titles, divisional dominance and the Jets haven't been to a Super Bowl in 2 generations. Nobody thought they stood a chance last year and ultimately they lost as expected in the championship game.

 

The Packers adds to the story, but this isn't a bigger game than previous NFCC games or other games played in Chicago. It's another chance to win and go on, and those games have happened quite a bit.

[Soul]

Your President has spoken:

 

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2011/01/obama-predicts-chicago-bears-will-win-20-17/1

[Banedon]

It's kind of a stupid argument. Either way, the Cubs had a game 6 and a game 7 in Chicago to win or go home. This is the 2nd NFCC game in 4 years, and the 4th in 25. The one in 85 was the first ever. They'd never been to a Super Bowl. The Bears have been there, and they've been beyond there recently.

 

This must be coming out of the Jets talk. That was legit. The Jets are clearly the Patriots little brother. New England has all the recent titles, divisional dominance and the Jets haven't been to a Super Bowl in 2 generations. Nobody thought they stood a chance last year and ultimately they lost as expected in the championship game.

 

The Packers adds to the story, but this isn't a bigger game than previous NFCC games or other games played in Chicago. It's another chance to win and go on, and those games have happened quite a bit.

 

Yeah, the Cubs games were the next biggest when Boers and Bernstein were talking about it, but I think like constablerabbit said, they determined that since there's so many Sox fans in Chicago, that it wasn't as anticipated universally by the whole city.

[jersey cubs fan]

It's kind of a stupid argument. Either way, the Cubs had a game 6 and a game 7 in Chicago to win or go home. This is the 2nd NFCC game in 4 years, and the 4th in 25. The one in 85 was the first ever. They'd never been to a Super Bowl. The Bears have been there, and they've been beyond there recently.

 

This must be coming out of the Jets talk. That was legit. The Jets are clearly the Patriots little brother. New England has all the recent titles, divisional dominance and the Jets haven't been to a Super Bowl in 2 generations. Nobody thought they stood a chance last year and ultimately they lost as expected in the championship game.

 

The Packers adds to the story, but this isn't a bigger game than previous NFCC games or other games played in Chicago. It's another chance to win and go on, and those games have happened quite a bit.

 

Yeah, the Cubs games were the next biggest when Boers and Bernstein were talking about it, but I think like constablerabbit said, they determined that since there's so many Sox fans in Chicago, that it wasn't as anticipated universally by the whole city.

 

BS. It was huge. The entire sports world was weighing in. I remember reading BBC articles about the Cubs being in the position they were in. Still, there have been several NFCC games in Chicago, and they came under situations where the team was more desperate to win it. 1) The first time getting to the Super Bowl. 2) The first time getting there in 20 years. That desperation to reach a pinnacle you've never seen or have not seen in a generation trumps any increased hype due to the Packers being involved.

[rawaction]

Yeah, they're saying it's the biggest game ever played in Chicago.

Don't think I agree with that one, either. Granted, the NHL is well behind the NFL in overall interest, but game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals was just 7 months ago, and that was a pretty big game. The White Sox had two World Series games in town 5 years back, and the Cubs played some pretty important NLCS games back in '03, too.

 

On the NFL level, the 2006 NFC Championship 4 years ago was a pretty big deal, as well.

 

Not to mention the playoff games in 85. That Rams game was enormous, even if it was in an entirely different era with regards to hype.

 

The argument is that the NFC Championship games are all of equal value, except that being GB makes it bigger. The Blackhawks game wasn't a "win or go home" game, and therefore didn't have the same weight. Same for the White Sox games.

 

This is a win or go home, for the SB, in Chicago, against the Bears biggest rival.

 

Basically, by that argument, unless it's a game 7, there's no way a basketball, hockey, or baseball game could be "bigger".

 

The Score is the one that's hyping it that way, btw.

 

It's kind of a stupid argument. Either way, the Cubs had a game 6 and a game 7 in Chicago to win or go home. This is the 2nd NFCC game in 4 years, and the 4th in 25. The one in 85 was the first ever. They'd never been to a Super Bowl. The Bears have been there, and they've been beyond there recently.

 

This must be coming out of the Jets talk. That was legit. The Jets are clearly the Patriots little brother. New England has all the recent titles, divisional dominance and the Jets haven't been to a Super Bowl in 2 generations. Nobody thought they stood a chance last year and ultimately they lost as expected in the championship game.

 

The Packers adds to the story, but this isn't a bigger game than previous NFCC games or other games played in Chicago. It's another chance to win and go on, and those games have happened quite a bit.

 

I think this is the biggest game in Chicago for the Bears in the modern era. I think it was a pretty safe assumption the 85 Bears would win. Anything but the Superbowl was just a formality (and that turned out to be that way with the Dolphins not being the opponent). I felt the 2006 NFCC was pretty close to a given to, with a dome team coming to Chicago .

 

This year, you have an underdog team playing their longest and most hated rival. Sure, you lose the NFCC to anyone it's going to suck, but it will suck more to lose to GB.

 

The only game that can really come close IMO is the 88 game vs. the 49ers

[Mike Aller]

A friend of mine uploaded some of these zingers on his facebook account. It hurts me to see him think this stuff is funny.

 

 

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs054.snc6/168487_10150387041130626_698440625_16968937_7721259_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs752.ash1/164358_10150387041570626_698440625_16968951_1274728_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs750.ash1/164119_10150387041960626_698440625_16968964_6555890_n.jpg

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/hs248.snc6/179668_10150387042185626_698440625_16968970_4195850_n.jpg

 

 

Although, in fairness, this one is pretty awesome:

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/hs788.ash1/167858_10150386522825626_698440625_16961150_6125971_n.jpg

 

[rawaction]

Yeah, I wear whatever to work also. Got on my white Payton today. Will wear my blue Forte (because there is a home game this week) tomorrow.

[Banedon]

Yeah, I wear whatever to work also. Got on my white Payton today. Will wear my blue Forte (because there is a home game this week) tomorrow.

 

I have two jerseys. A blue Cutler one, and a white Urlacher one. The Cutler one was my gameday jersey through the first half of the season, but after the Redskins loss, I decided a change was necessary, so Urlacher is now my gameday jersey. Cutler is for Fridays at work.

[UMFan83]

I still do think that this is the biggest non-championship round game in modern Chicago sports history. I guess since I can't quantify things that I wasn't around to experience, I'll say in my lifetime.

 

Here is what it has going for it:

-Arguably the biggest rivalry in Chicago (only Hawks/Wings, Cubs/Sox and Cubs/Cards are in the discussion)

-The most historical rivalry in the NFL, and frequently mentioned among the top 5-10 rivalries in sports.

-The 2nd most important game you can play, and the deepest round this rivalry can possibly occur in without teams switching conferences

-Chicago's most popular of the 5 sports teams

-Rivalry is among fanbases in close proximity with each other and interact on a daily basis all year long.

-Both teams have 15+ year championship droughts, so both teams very badly need this game for validation and bragging rights.

 

I just can't see how another pre-championship round game could be bigger when you combine hype, importance and historical factors.

[rawaction]

Yeah, I wear whatever to work also. Got on my white Payton today. Will wear my blue Forte (because there is a home game this week) tomorrow.

 

I have two jerseys. A blue Cutler one, and a white Urlacher one. The Cutler one was my gameday jersey through the first half of the season, but after the Redskins loss, I decided a change was necessary, so Urlacher is now my gameday jersey. Cutler is for Fridays at work.

 

I wear mine per home and away. But only wear for important games. I think the Bears did pretty well when I wore the Forte. If they win this week, I want a Hester throwback and an Urlacher. So, I can wear a jersey or my Bears T every day of the week leading up to the SB.

[jersey cubs fan]

I think this is the biggest game in Chicago for the Bears in the modern era. I think it was a pretty safe assumption the 85 Bears would win. Anything but the Superbowl was just a formality (and that turned out to be that way with the Dolphins not being the opponent). I felt the 2006 NFCC was pretty close to a given to, with a dome team coming to Chicago .

 

This year, you have an underdog team playing their longest and most hated rival. Sure, you lose the NFCC to anyone it's going to suck, but it will suck more to lose to GB.

 

The only game that can really come close IMO is the 88 game vs. the 49ers

 

The whole area was still on a collective high from 85/86 to care as much about 88. I think you are completely overlooking the have never been there, haven't been there in a generation aspect that made those games huge. People think of the January 86 playoff games as formalities now, but that is not how they were at the time. After the loss in Miami, people were thrown for a loop. Doubt definitely crept in. And again, it was the first one ever in a depressingly title starved city. There were no Bulls rings to fall back on, there was no Stanley Cup. There were a couple of miserable failures by the White Sox and Cubs in the early 80's, and nothing.

 

And nobody assumed anything with the Rex Grossman Bears. They were the most talented team, but the outcome was very much in doubt.

 

Regardless, the level of confidence doesn't change the fact that we just did this a couple years ago, but in 85/86 and 06/07, Chicago was coming off very large droughts of football glory - and in the case of 85/86 any glory at all.

[Banedon]

I've seen this on a lot of Packer sites, but don't think anyone's posted it here. Terry McAulay will be referee for the game. He was the ref for the Week 3 game when the Packers got 18 penalties.