By Talia AlbertsThe Daily Northwestern
Communication junior Dan Bruhl, then only two months old, had an unusual reaction when the Chicago Bears won their last Super Bowl championship.
“I peed on my uncle when they won the Super Bowl in 1986,” Bruhl said.
Bruhl is one of the many Northwestern students who are following Sunday’s Super Bowl between the Chicago Bears and the Indianapolis Colts.
Tensions are high between Bears fans and Colts fans on campus. Opposing Facebook.com groups have formed as fans gear up for what they hope will be a big win for their team.
For many, like Bruhl, team loyalty has been a lifelong commitment.
“I grew up in Chicago and the Bears have always been losers,” Bruhl said. “That’s almost what makes people root for them the most. Chicago never has any winning teams, and every year is the year they’re going to finally win. It’s part of the Chicago culture.”
Bruhl said he burst out singing Will Smith’s “Miami” when the Bears qualified for the Super Bowl.
“We have tons of traditions,” Bruhl said. “Every time they score, we march around in a circle and sing ‘Bear Down, Chicago Bears,’ and any time Thomas Jones scores we sing ‘It’s not unusual to be loved by anyone’ and we spell out different things with the beer cans.”
Many Colts fans are equally devoted. McCormick sophomore Ty Miller has been a fan for as long as he can remember. Born in Indiana, Miller said his parents forced him to become a Colts fan at birth, though it was something he was “happy to have pushed on (him).”
“All of my friends know I’m a Colts fan,” Miller said. “They’re all Bears fans so somebody’s going to have some fun – either I am or they will at my expense.”
Both Bears and Colts fans reacted with shock when they heard that their teams were going to the Super Bowl. Beth Schneider, a SESP senior and Bears fan, said her phone exploded with text messages when the Bears won their last game.
“(My reaction was) disbelief. It was surreal,” Schneider said. “There were so many years badly played that it was surprising to think it’s my team.”
Medill senior Hilary Powell was equally surprised to hear that her favorite team, the Colts, had made it to the Super Bowl.
“I actually had turned the game off right before halftime,” Powell said. “I think we were down 21 to 3 and I just thought we couldn’t fight that, but then several hours later my sister called me and asked if I was screaming and I went off and went crazy.”
Powell said it’s “her heart’s desire to go home and be around people who bleed blue” for the game this weekend but that she is not sure she wants to make the long drive.
Weinberg freshman Steven Eilers said he hopes the Super Bowl will spark interest in other Chicago sports teams.
“I think you’re going to have a lot of kids that see that Chicago is a really good sports town,” said Eilers. “It doesn’t always disappoint and the people here will rally behind their teams because it’s such a passionate town.”
Reach Talia Alberts at [email protected].
