Nobody messin' in my neighborhood

Holy Crap the Bears are going to the Super Bowl! About once an hour I have to say it out loud. I am hoping that it will actually sink in soon.

Yesterday, we went out to watch the game. I should mention that we are an extremely superstitious crowd. That being said, we all followed our same routine from last week. I showered in 3 minutes (though I had been up for an hour). We met at the coffee shop for our tasty warm beverage. (Well, those of us who had coffee last week were allowed to repeat. Sorry, Matty). We lost Tom (Traitor) to another location, but we did have someone drive us to the bar. We sat in the same seats in the car and sang Bear Down, Chicago Bears and the Superbowl Shuffle as we took the same route to the bar. And then all hell broke loose when we got there.

There were about 20 people in line (16 more than there were last week) and we began to panic about getting our same tables. See, we had all come to believe that the tables (and seating) were the X factor for the day. It was the one thing (aside from the actual game on the field) that we couldn't control. We began to sweet talk the people in line, hoping that they would understand our predicament about needing the same table. Thankfully, they were Bears fans and equally superstitious and on a mission to get the same tables they had last week. It seemed as if the problem was avoided. Until they opened the doors to the bar. (Two minutes after the bar should have been opened). And we all cut right to go to our tables. To find them gone. Not gone as in taken by others, but gone as in no longer there. In there place, we found 1 rectangular table and 2 round ones. With one chair.

Cut to panic mode. None of us knew what to do. We ran around the bar looking for another table (well, actually 4 other tables, but there were none to be had). The owner, in his brilliance, reserved half the bar for himself. And the management, in their brilliance, got rid of some of the tables, because they expected a crowd. Completely makes sense that football fans lining up for a 2 PM game at 10:30 AM would want to stand for the 3 hours before the game, as well as the whole game. We were in utter disbelief and pretty angry. I felt bad for the waitress, who not only lost half her section to a private party, but also felt the need to apologize for circumstances that were beyond her control. In that moment, she was the only good thing at the bar. (For the record, it will be here on out referred to as the "bar that shall not be named." Mostly, because I don't want to give it any press).

The 6 of us who set out to seat save had a decision to make and we had to make it quickly. All across the city, bars (and tables) were filling up with eager football fans. We needed to decide if we should stay or go. We were afraid to tamper with the karma, but all of us were so disappointed with the bar that shall not be named, that it was souring our Sunday Funday. We decided (after Guy scouted out another location) to cut our losses and move on to a new location. We didn't want to watch the game with a bad taste in our mouths and none of us wanted to arrive 3 1/2 hours before game time to stand. We were not the only ones to make that decision. When we moved to our new location (which had obviously added tables for the game, not removed them) we saw many of our fellow line standers taking tables and settling in for the day. I am sure that the bar that shall not be named did well yesterday, but I know they lost our business and soured a lot of other people in the process.

Anyway, back to the story. Once we switched location and amended our procedures, we had a bunch of phone calls to make. We sent out a mission aborted message and began re-routing everybldy to the new location. We also began creating an environment at the new bar that would right the wrongs of the location change. The fun pile was created. A few Tums were taken. I ordered a bad bloody mary. (Well, this one was a definite improvement on last week's) and we settled in to our table. We asked the bartenders if they could play our CD (we really needed to hear the Superbowl Shuffle), but they didn't have a sound guy. We made some calls and Scooter came to the rescue with a boom box, electrical cord and a remote.

I was having a semi-crappy morning based on too much alcohol from the night before, too many hormones (sorry Mike - I know you hate girl talk) and a few other extenuating circumstances that shall also remain nameless. Natalie, a.k.a the drill sergeant, would have none of that and dragged me to the bar for a lunchbox shot. It was the definition of what goes around comes around (or vice versa), since last weekend, I had done the same thing with Nat. I was being stubborn and crabby and I am glad that Nat was there to shoot it out of me. I owe her for righting my Sunday Funday.

Anyway, soon after the shot, it was time to get ready. We played Bear Down, sang the anthem and settled into our same seats (well, as best we as we could given the location change). I don’t think that we were settled for very long. Most of us stood the entire game. And what a game it was to see.

At first, I was nervous, because we had to keep kicking field goals (God Bless Robbie Gould). My sister even sent me a message that said this is great and all, but we need a touchdown. And then, things began to fall into place. Just when I became nervous about a Saint-ly comeback (it was 16 – 14 at the time), there was a magical moment in the end zone…a Safety! At 18 – 14, I began to settle a little. Our defense was kicking ass (except for the one Bush play that scared us all), and if we could just hold on…it might happen. The Bears might actually win!

And then we got our Rexy back. In the 3rd quarter and following the Safety, it was game on for the Bears offense!! We needed touchdowns and we got them – from Berrian, Benson (Cedric!) and Thomas Jones. And as we kept scoring and our defense kept clocking the ‘Aints, we all started to get a bit more excited. A bit more enthused. A bit more bouncy. We jumped up and down and hugged on nearly every play and the 2- minute warning, with concession calls from both of my New Orleans friends, we all began to accept it. Our Bears were Bowl bound! Super Bowl Bound!!!

When the game ended, the celebrating began (well, continued really)! There was drinking and dancing and pictures and shots. (I was very glad that I took Monday off). We watched the Patriots game (sorry, Joe) and savored the Bears victory. And kept saying it out loud, just so we could believe it. When we went outside, the snow was falling and it was beautiful. All in all, it was a perfect day in Chicago.

And so it is Monday and I am sitting on my couch, still in my pajamas and I can’t believe it actually happened. The Bears did it! They caused the ‘Aints to march right out of town. I wanted to believe it all along. I thought we could do it. There was something magical about yesterday. I woke up to a car driving by my apartment blasting “Take On Me,” which is the song that reminds me of one of my best friends, as it is the CD he bought right before he died. I thought in that moment that this was going to be a good day. And I was wrong, it was so much more then that.