Sunday around 12:30pm, the Cubs convention was winding down and with the Bears playoff game just an hour and a half away, I figured it was time to go. I took one look around at the friendly fans in blue and stepped on the escalator up to the main level…
… to a different dimension.
Something was wrong. What I saw was not right. I didn’t see friendly Cub fans on their way home from the convention. No, what I saw was loud, people dressed in black… and gold.. and they were wearing loud, garishly colored necklaces. Did I take the magic escalator to an eternal Mardi Gras?
Apparently, not. Apparently, all the New Orleans Saints fans who had come up for Sunday’s game had come to the Chicago Hilton. Or it just seemed that way. There was rhyme to their reason. We at the convention had heard that the Chicago Bears were staying at the Hilton. I’m sure that this wasn’t lost on the Saints fans.
They were yelling and screaming. One even even had a teddy bear and would set it down on the sidewalk and would tackle it,
Others would pretend-block Bears fans that would pass by… in a good natured way.
The one place I was in Chicago and it was right in the middle of a pack of Saints fans.
Oh, well…
Sorry you made the trip for nothing
I actually was on the train during the second half having watched the first half at the train station. The conductor announced the score over the PA. In this day and age, I wonder if those with Tivo would just as soon not know the score.
I was picked up by my family and my six-year-old daughter dutifully informed me of the score. The Bears had 39 and “New Zealand” scored 14.