GREEN BAY, Wis. — Watching B.J. Raji rumble into the end zone in real time, Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy was as fired up as any Packers fan.

When McCarthy had the chance to watch the key play from Sunday’s NFC Championship game victory over the Chicago Bears again on film, he managed to find a few teachable moments.

First off, it’s safe to say Raji should tuck the ball away until he’s safely in the end zone next time.

And what on Earth was that hip-shaking celebratory dance all about?

“He got two minuses on the play — one for holding the ball out, and one for the dance,” McCarthy joked.

Risky ballhandling skills aside, Raji’s pivotal play slowed a frantic fourth-quarter comeback attempt by the Bears and third-string quarterback Caleb Hanie. Raji’s rambling 18-yard interception return turned out to be the winning score, setting up the Packers to play the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium.

“It really kind of happened so quickly that once the game ended, I felt like I was living the dream,” Raji said. “It’s just a blessing.”

And it was another big step in what has been an impressive second NFL season for Raji.

While the former Boston College standout isn’t nearly as well-known as fellow 2009 first-round Packers draft pick Clay Matthews, he’s been critical to the success of Green Bay’s defense this season.

Given the Packers’ lack of defensive line depth, Raji doesn’t

leave the field very often. And despite the heavy workload, Raji seems to be getting better as the season goes on.

Now there’s no telling what’s next for the Packers’ big man, although he does have an idea.

Would you believe “… a 337-pound running back?

Raji already has taken a handful of snaps as a Green Bay fullback and is subtly lobbying for a chance to carry the ball.

“I’m more worried about winning,” Raji said. “If Coach feels he’s giving me the ball to win, I’m very ecstatic about that. If Coach feels he needs me to block so he can run play action stuff or run the ball, I’m fine with that as well. As long as we win, I’m happy.”

Already, Raji’s limited exploits on offense have earned him a nickname: “The Freezer,” a tip of the hat to former Bears player William “The Refrigerator” Perry.

“I was miked up for the Atlanta game, and one of the trainers came to me and said, ‘You look like The Fridge out there,’ ” Raji said. “And I was just playing around, ‘I’m the Freezer.’ I was making a joke, just making light of the situation and having a good time with it. So I guess, in retrospect, I came up with the name.”

Despite any offensive aspirations Raji might have, his primary responsibility remains on defense, where he’ll be expected to disrupt the middle of the Steelers offensive line.

And he knows he’ll have his hands full with Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

“He’s a very big guy,” Raji said. “We played him last year and we had trouble bringing him down. I think we missed about four or five sacks on him just because he eluded us.”

And maybe he’ll catch Roethlisberger by surprise like he did Hanie, dropping back in coverage and grabbing a pass out of the air.

“He jumps in front of the ball, quarterback never saw him,” McCarthy said.

Raji got mixed reviews on his celebration dance, where he put his hands on his hips and began to swivel. He said some people loved it — and others joked that he needed some lessons.

“I got 170 text messages,” Raji said. “I haven’t read half of them yet. It’s just been a crazy couple days.”

OAK LAWN, Ill. — A car salesman in suburban Chicago has been fired for refusing to remove a Green Bay Packers tie that he wore to work the day after the Packers beat the Chicago Bears to advance to the Super Bowl.

The manager admits to firing John Stone, saying that the dealership has a relationship with the Chicago Bears and the tie was in direct contrast to that.

John Stone says he wore the Packers tie to work Monday at Webb Chevrolet in Oak Lawn to honor his late grandmother, who was a big Green Bay fan.

The sentimental gesture did not impress his boss, Jerry Roberts.

Roberts said the dealership has done promotions involving the Bears and he was afraid the tie could alienate the team’s fans and make it harder to sell cars

Roberts added that Stone was offered five chances to take off the tie but he refused.

The general manager of Chevrolet of Homewood has since offered Stone a new job. Stone said he accepted the offer but still must interview for the job.

Watch the video report from WGN TV.

 

Published: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 12:39 PM     Updated: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 3:20 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It might have been better for John Stone if his favorite team had lost on Sunday.

Unless some Packer Backer from neighboring Wisconsin gives him a lucrative job.

Stone grew up in Chicago and worked there — until Monday. He’s a Packers fan, which in Chicago these days, is akin to poking a polar bear cub. You’re asking for it.

Monday, he really tempted fate, wearing a Packers tie to his job as a car salesman. And though Webb Chevrolet general manager Jerry Roberts admits no customers complained about Stone’s tie, Roberts fired Stone anyway when he refused to follow orders and remove it.

Kim Janssen writes about how Roberts was fit to be tied about Stone’s fashion choice, a day after the Packers beat the Bears to advance to the Super Bowl:

The facts aren’t in dispute, only the a

Published: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 12:39 PM     Updated: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 3:20 PM

CLEVELAND, Ohio — It might have been better for John Stone if his favorite team had lost on Sunday.

Unless some Packer Backer from neighboring Wisconsin gives him a lucrative job.

Stone grew up in Chicago and worked there — until Monday. He’s a Packers fan, which in Chicago these days, is akin to poking a polar bear cub. You’re asking for it.

Monday, he really tempted fate, wearing a Packers tie to his job as a car salesman. And though Webb Chevrolet general manager Jerry Roberts admits no customers complained about Stone’s tie, Roberts fired Stone anyway when he refused to follow orders and remove it.

Kim Janssen writes about how Roberts was fit to be tied about Stone’s fashion choice, a day after the Packers beat the Bears to advance to the Super Bowl:

The facts aren’t in dispute, only the a

Green Bay led 14-0 and hung on for a 21-14 win over the Chicago Bears in the NFC decider, while Pittsburgh had a 21-7 advantage but was forced into a late goal-line stand before clinching a 24-19 win over the New York Jets in the AFC title game.

I

n Dallas on 6 February, the Packers will be making their first Super Bowl since back-to-back appearances in 1997 and 1998. The Steelers, who have won a record six Super Bowls, are back for their third in six years, having won both the previous finals in 2006 and 2009.

Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers ran for a touchdown and made a saving tackle, B.J. Raji returned an interception for a score and Sam Shields had two interceptions in the Packers win. Chicago almost staged an unlikely comeback thanks to third-string quarterback Caleb Hanie after starter Jay Cutler was injured and No 2 Todd Collins was pulled after an ineffective showing.

Rodgers scored the opening touchdown after just four minutes, then got off a pass under pressure to Brandon Jackson in the second quarter in the lead-up to a touchdown by rookie James Starks with 11 minutes of the half remaining.

In the third quarter, Rodgers was intercepted by Bears linebacker Brian Urlacher, who had just the quarterback to beat for a long-distance touchdown. But Rodgers got in Urlacher’s way and grabbed just enough of his legs to pull him down at the Bears’ 45. Still, Chicago cut the Packer’s lead to 14-7 early in the fourth quarter after third-stringer Hanie came into the game, setting up Chester Taylor’s run from the one-yard line.

Hanie had a chance to tie the game but threw a pass straight to Packers’ defensive lineman Raji, who lumbered 18 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Packers a 21-7 lead.

But Hanie wasn’t finished and threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett to cut the lead to 21-14. But the Packers hung on for victory in this 182nd meeting of the NFL’s most-played rivalry.

In the later game, Pittsburgh had to withstand an even more determined comeback, leaving the Jets still looking for their first Super Bowl appearance since 1969. Pittsburgh set the early tone with a 66-yard march that took up the first nine minutes, Rashard Mendenhall stretching over the goal line from the one in the final act of a 15-play drive. Then Mendenhall’s 35-yard sprint in the second quarter led to Shaun Suisham’s 20-yard field goal and a 10-0 lead.

It became 17-0 when Ben Roethlisberger scooted into the end zone from the two. Just 47 seconds later, Ike Taylor sacked Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, forcing a fumble that allowed William Gay to run 22 yards for a 24-0 lead.

Published: Monday, January 24, 2011, 7:29 AM

From what you saw as the Final Four played its way to the Final Two, you came away with the feeling Super XLV wound up with the two best teams and the two best quarterbacks.

It was a Sunday that saw the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers come out of the starting gate like some frisky greyhound, then seemed to lose their way.

After grabbing a quick two touchdown lead, you watched the Packers and Aaron Rodgers dig deep to prevail 21-14.

Then you watched the Steelers and Ben Roethlisberger outgain the New York Jets 231-50 and coast into a 24-3 first-half cushion, only to hold on, after losing the second half 16-0.

It was that kind of Sunday.

Watching the Steelers win their way to an eighth world championship game might have reminded Saints fans of an October Sunday in 2010, the day the Saints climbed a crucial mountain in handing the Steelers a 20-10 whipping at the Superdome.

With Pittsburgh focusing most of its attention on the Saints quarterback, Drew Brees still managed to hit on 20 of 22 passes in the second half for two touchdowns while the defense came up with a goaline stand that was key to what was then the biggest win of the season.

On Sunday, it was a fourth quarter goal-line stand by the Steelers that helped get them home at a time the Jets and Mark Sanchez began playing like men on a mission.

Along with the NFL’s best-tackling defense, the Steelers have a quarterback who creates all kinds of problems when he breaks from the pocket, which he did when the Jets needed one more stop to have a shot at pulling out what would have been an historic comeback.

For a franchise whose only championship was Super Bowl III, Sunday marked the fourth time the Jets lost in a bid for the AFC championship.

As for the Packers, who’ll be making their fifth trip to the championship game, when you think of Green Bay and the Super Bowl, you think of a coach by the name of Lombardi and players by the names of Hornung, Taylor, and Starr, and, a generation later, you think of a quarterback by the name of Favre.

Well, when Green Bay reached a Super Bowl this time, the Packers needed a guy named B.J. Raji to pick off a pass thrown by a quarterback named Caleb Hanie. Then they needed a guy named Sam Shields to pick off another Hanie pass, all this to sew up a 21-14 Packer victory.

Who are these guys?

Raji is a 337-pound tackle, Shields is an undrafted free agent, and Hanie is an undrafted third-string quarterback playing in only his fifth NFC game.

What happened to Aaron Rodgers, hottest quarterback of the moment?

Good question. After Rodgers ran and passed the Packers to a 14-0 lead with two impressive first half drives, he threw an interception to bring the Bears back in the game, whereupon the Packers did their best to keep the Bears out of the end zone, this after a Hanie pass found the end zone to make it a one-touchdown game.

The Bears were down to their No. 3 quarterback after starter Jay Cutler was injured and backup Todd Collins was found wanting.

For a quarterback who threw seven passes in his career, Hanie went down firing after moving the Bears to the Packers’ 29 with a chance to tie it up.

It was not the kind of championship game you wanted to file away in a time capsule. The Bears finished 1-for-13 converting third downs. With Rodgers throwing for 244 yards, the Packers did most of their damage on first and second down. On third down, the Packers were a dismal 2-for-11.

Now Packers-Steelers will give us a chance to see a number of things.

Two top the list.

Can the Green Bay defense can keep Ben Roethlisberger from getting out of the pocket?

Can the Pittsburgh defense keep Aaron Rodgers in the pocket long enough to be embraced by the Steeler rush?

It’s an interesting match.

(AP)  Updated at 7:52 p.m. ET

There was one Monster of the Midway in the NFC championship game and his name was Aaron Rodgers.

He ran for a touchdown. He made a touchdown-saving tackle. And he was better than three Bears quarterbacks in leading the Green Bay Packers to the Super Bowl with an ugly-but-beautiful 21-14 victory Sunday over Chicago.

“It’s a dream come true,” Rodgers said. “It’s an incredible feeling. I’m at a loss for words.”

Rodgers kept the Bears’ defense off balance all afternoon, Green Bay punter Tim Masthay kept Devin Hester under wraps and the Packers’ superb defense took care of the rest in knocking the rival Bears out of the playoffs.

It was the 182nd meeting in the league’s most historic rivalry, and the stakes had never been bigger.

Now the Packers (13-6) are headed to Dallas. And no matter what happens in the Super Bowl, the Packers and their fans hold ultimate bragging rights over their rivals to the South. The Packers will play the winner of Sunday night’s AFC title game between the New York Jets and Pittsburgh Steelers.

All Jay Cutler could do was watch, having left the game with a knee injury early in the third quarter. And with Cutler sitting, little-known backup Caleb Hanie actually made it a game.

Chicago’s third-string quarterback rallied the Bears for a touchdown drive to cut the lead to 14-7 after Chester Taylor’s 1-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.

Hanie and the Bears had a chance to tie the game after the Bears’ defense finally got a few stops, but Hanie threw a ball straight to Packers defensive lineman B.J. Raji, who lumbered 18 yards into the end zone for a touchdown to give the Packers a 21-7 lead.

But Hanie wasn’t finished, throwing a 35-yard touchdown pass to Earl Bennett to again cut the lead to seven points with 4:43 left.

The Bears (12-6) forced a punt and got the ball back with under 3 minutes left. Hanie drove the Bears to the Green Bay 29-yard line, then threw a fourth-down interception to Sam Shields — the rookie’s second interception of the game.

Now all those Pro Bowl voters who didn’t think Rodgers was worthy can relax. They’re off the hook.

Rodgers will be busy getting ready for the Super Bowl instead.

Rodgers proved ready for the biggest day of his brief but impressive career as the successor to Brett Favre, even if his final stat line didn’t look impressive after an ugly, hard-fought game.

He threw for 244 yards with two interceptions, but his play in the first half put the Bears in a hole as their defense that seemed to fall for every play-action fake.

“You have to give credit to their defense,” Rodgers said. “I didn’t play my best game. They had a good plan.”

It was the latest in a series of big moments for Rodgers, who wasn’t named to the Pro Bowl but has earned near-universal praise for the way he has played this season — especially since sitting out the Packers’ Dec. 19 loss at New England because of a concussion.

Rodgers has been on a hot streak ever since, and doing it under pressure. The Packers would have been out of the playoffs with a loss in either of their last two regular-season games, including the regular season finale against Chicago.

With the Packers leading 14-0 at halftime, Green Bay’s defense forced a three-and-out to begin the second half, and Rodgers went back to marching the Packers down the field.

Rodgers then threw an interception to Brian Urlacher on third-and-goal, ran him down near midfield, and just barely prevented him from running it back for a touchdown by throwing him off balance with his attempt at a tackle.

But the Bears couldn’t make anything happen with primary backup Todd Collins in for Cutler, and appeared to be headed for a blowout until Hanie took over.

Packers players were surprised Cutler didn’t come back.

“You know if he doesn’t come back it had to be serious, not to come back and play in this game,” Charles Woodson said.

Packers linebacker Clay Matthews wasn’t sure when Cutler got hurt.

“Obviously you expect to get four quarters of play, but who knows what we did to him,” Matthews said.

Rodgers was stellar on the Packers’ first possession of the game, hitting Greg Jennings for long gains and later finding Jordy Nelson wide open after a play fake for a long completion to set up first-and-goal. Rodgers kept the ball on a bootleg two plays later, stretching the ball over the goal line to put the Packers on the scoreboard first.

But the Packers lost veteran left tackle Chad Clifton to a neck stinger when he collided with a teammate on the touchdown play. Clifton would return midway through the second quarter.

The Bears went with a heavy dose of running back Matt Forte early on, with very limited success.

Green Bay’s defense forced the Bears to punt out of their own end zone late in the first quarter — and returner Tramon Williams bobbled the ball, then got it back to give the Packers’ offense good field position. Brandon Jackson faked Urlacher out for a long gain on a screen pass, and Rodgers’ pass to Nelson set up James Starks’ 4-yard touchdown run to give Green Bay a 14-0 lead.

The Bears were in a hole, and even Hanie’s unlikely rallies couldn’t bring them back.

“Just disappointment,” Bears coach Lovie Smith said. “We got into a hole but the guys fought back.”

© MMXI, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

(Editor’s note: Vikings outside linebacker Chad Greenway offers a scouting report on Sunday’s NFC championship game between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears as told to Pioneer Press sports columnist Bob Sansevere.)

By Chad Greenway

I like Green Bay.

I think it’s because of the way Aaron Rodgers is playing.

In the postseason, he’s looked as good as you can look. Last week, on the road in Atlanta, the Packers were unbelievable. At this point, it comes down to how the quarterback is playing, and he’s playing great.

We played Rodgers in ’08 in his first start. It was the opener on “Monday Night Football,” and they got the win on us. You could see at that point he had the capabilities to be a really good player. He could do things with his arm and feet. He’s built on that and gotten better and better every year.

When you look at the Packers’ strengths, it’s more involved than just Rodgers. The emergence of the running game was big for them. Their defensive front has been getting great pressure. Things have to go right for them to beat a good Chicago team, like how they beat a good Atlanta team on the road.

The Packers are more than a one-man team, but he’s the catalyst that makes it all run.

He throws a great deep ball, and that’s where Greg Jennings and Donald Driver have thrived — Jennings mostly down the field.

When you’re talking about as good as Green Bay’s receivers are, and as good as Rodgers is, the Bears’ secondary

will be tested. I feel their back end may be a little shaky.

If Rodgers gets time and gets into a rhythm, he can put the ball anywhere. The Bears’ job will be to rattle him.

It’s hard for me judge how this game will go, based on the two games they played in the regular season. The first game was played really early in the season, and the second one was late — the last game of the regular season. (The Bears won 20-17 at home in the third game of the season; the Packers won 10-3 in Green Bay.)

The Bears already had clinched the second seed in the playoffs in the second game, so they didn’t have as much incentive as the Packers did.

Even though they’re very knowledgeable of each other’s personnel, a lot of game planning goes into this. There definitely will be some things we haven’t seen. They’ll show some things they haven’t shown. I also think it’s going to come down to who makes the fewest mistakes.

Soldier Field is a tough place to play. When it comes to the field, the only team that can match Chicago is Green Bay. The Packers play at Lambeau Field all year — on grass and in the elements. Soldier Field is a hard place to win, but if any team can match that and take away home-field advantage, it’s the Packers.

I think the advantage on special teams goes to Chicago. The Bears have won so many games and kept themselves in games with special teams. We’ll see how that plays out.

We’ll also see how the Packers’ safeties play against (Chicago wide receivers) Johnny Knox and Devin Hester when they go downfield for big plays. The big advantage for the Bears could be Greg Olsen, their tight end. The Bears want to make him a big part of the offense, and we’ll have to see how the Packers match up against him.

The Bears have strengths. Their front seven has been playing lights out and making a lot of plays and shutting teams down. I like their running game. The biggest thing people forget about is that, as poor as their offensive line was playing early in the year, it’s become a strength. Their offensive line was playing unbelievable against Seattle. The Seahawks could not get to Jay Cutler.

If the Bears get their running game going and free up Cutler and give him time to throw, they have a chance.

The biggest thing for Cutler is taking care of the football. He’s not making as many poor decisions as he did last year. That’s been a big strong point for the team. If Cutler continues to do that, take care of the ball, it gives the Bears the chance to be in the game.

Somebody has to slow down (Packers outside linebacker) Clay Matthews. It will be interesting to see how that unfolds.

It will come down to quarterback play, in my opinion.

I pick a 31-27 type of game, with the Packers winning.

In the AFC championship game, I think the Steelers will win, but I’d like the Jets to win.

In the Super Bowl, I’d say the Steelers.

Bob Sansevere can be reached at bsansevere@pioneerpress.com.

CHICAGO — The Green Bay Packers are headed to town for the NFC Championship and Chicago Bears fans are starting to become, well, a bit unbearable.

Turn on the radio in Chicago and you’ll hear no shortage of jokes about Packers fans, many of which have something to do with low intelligence. There’s been plenty of laughs over a Green Bay newspaper headline that read “On To Chicaco.” Many more center on the dietary habits of fans north of the “Cheddar Curtain,” like this one:

What do you call a 400-pound Packer fan? Anorexic.

All of this sniping, fun or otherwise, makes sense since the NFL’s oldest rivalry has had 92 years to simmer. Vince Lombardi, Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Bronko Nagurski, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka and Walter Payton — all of those names and more add to the rich history, but so does the relationship between the loyal fans in the two states.

John Cochara has been hearing from his so-called friends who decided he was celebrating a Packers win over the Bears a little too much in 1995 and duct-taped him to a stop sign.

“They’re saying, ‘You better watch out, there are a lot of stop signs out there,’” said Cochara, whose punishment outside a bar just south of the Wisconsin-Illinois state line included a sign over his head that read “Packer Fan.”

The Super Bowl Shuffle video by the 1985-86 Bears is getting tens of thousands of fresh clicks on YouTube. At least one Chicago TV station got texts imploring them to ask Packers fans to swear off cheese or, at least cheese heads, cheese ties and, honestly, cheese bras.

On the other side of the state line, Packers fan Frank Emmert Jr. of Lake Superior, Wis., reminisced this week about the time he survived a small plane crash in 1995 thanks to the foam cheesehead he put over his face seconds before impact.

“The FAA credited it, not me,” said Emmert, 52.

Yet, with all that bad blood all those years, you’d have to go back to the week after the attack on Pearl Harbor to find the last time the Bears and Packers met in a playoff game. (The Bears won on their way to the championship).

This time around, the winner of Sunday’s showdown goes to the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium.

“There have been some highly hyped games that went splat, but this, they’re playing for the Halas Trophy, to go to Dallas to win the Lombardi Trophy,” said Marc Silverman, the co-host of a radio show on ESPN 1000, Waddle and Silvy, with former Bears receiver Tom Waddle.

Not that the Super Bowl seems to matter much: Packers fans said beating the Bears at Soldier Field would be a wonderful cake, with a Super Bowl victory serving as the frosting.

“There would be nothing sweeter than to watch the Packers take that George Halas trophy at Soldier Field,” said John O’Neill, whose outfit at Packers games is a green bishop’s costume and mitre, with Lombardi’s face on it. He’s appropriately known as St. Vince.

It’s the same story in the birthplace of the Bears: Decatur, Ill.

“I can’t think of a bigger Bears game,” said 76-year-old Charley May, whose family and the team have been intertwined since his dad, Walter “Red” May, took Halas up on an offer to play for the Decatur Staleys. Halas later moved the team to Chicago and changed its name.

“For guys who have followed the Bears all their life and truly hate the Packers, yeah, this is their Super Bowl,” said Mark Foster, 54, who plans to erect a 5-foot inflatable Bears helmet outside his home in Lansing, south of Chicago. “We can lose 50 to nothing in the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh or the Jets, but if we beat the Packers, who cares?”

Scott Wiese understands what Foster is talking about.

“The only thing I can compare it to is if the Cubs played the Cardinals in Game 7 for the pennant,” said Wiese, 30, who grew up in the Decatur area and now lives in St. Louis. “It’s the biggest game for me as a Bears fan my whole life, and that includes the Super Bowl.”

Don’t expect Wiese to do something crazy. Again.

It was Wiese who, before the Super Bowl in February 2007, vowed in writing to change his name to Peyton Manning if the Indianapolis Colts beat his Bears — which they did. He went to court to keep his promise, but the judge tossed out his request.

As for the 44-year-old Cochara, he’s not about to stop rooting for the Packers. But, he said, the bar where he was taped up after he played “We are the Champions” following a Packers win has never been the same.

“Packers fans are scared about what happened,” he said.

Associated Press writer Carrie Antlfinger contributed to this report from Milwaukee.

There’s been plenty of laughs over a Green Bay newspaper headline that read “On To Chicaco.”

Many more center on the dietary habits of fans north of the “Cheddar Curtain,” like this one: What do you call a 400-pound Packer fan? Anorexic.

All of this sniping, fun or otherwise, makes sense since the NFL’s oldest rivalry has had 92 years to simmer. Vince Lombardi, Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Bronko Nagurski, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka, and Walter Payton – all of those names and more add to the rich history, but so does the relationship between the loyal fans in the two states.

John Cochara has been hearing from his so-called friends who decided he was celebrating a Packers win over the Bears a little too much in 1995 and duct-taped him to a stop sign.

“They’re saying, ‘You better watch out, there are a lot of stop signs out there,’ ” said Cochara, whose punishment outside a bar just south of the Wisconsin-Illinois state line included a sign over his head that read: “Packer Fan.”

The “Super Bowl Shuffle” video by the 1985-86 Bears is getting tens of thousands of fresh clicks on YouTube. At least one Chicago TV station got texts imploring them to ask Packers fans to swear off cheese, or at least cheeseheads; cheese ties; and, honestly, cheese bras. A sign outside the Crystal Lake Rib House not far from the Wisconsin line warns that prices for Packers fans are twice the menu listing.

“They say, ‘We really don’t have to pay double, do we?’ ” said owner Dave Faccone, who insists it’s a joke. Still, some Bears fans have chimed in.

“I got a text saying, ‘You big troublemaker, charging them double. It should be triple,’ ” he said.

On the other side of the state line, Packers fan Frank Emmert Jr. of Superior, Wis., reminisced this week about the time he survived a small plane crash in 1995 thanks to the foam cheesehead he put over his face seconds before impact.

“The FAA credited it, not me,” said Emmert, 52.

Mike Pyle, who played center for the Bears for nine years, including the 1963 championship season, recalled how his coach and owner of the Bears, George Halas, brought a message over to Packers coach Vince Lombardi before a game.

“He went to the locker room door at Lambeau and said, ‘We’re going to whip your [rear end],’ ” said Pyle, 71.

Yet, with all that bad blood all those years, you’d have to go back to the week after the attack on Pearl Harbor to find the last time the Bears and Packers met in a playoff game. (The Bears won on their way to the championship).

This time around, the winner of Sunday’s showdown goes to the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium.

“There have been some highly hyped games that went splat, but this, they’re playing for the Halas Trophy, to go to Dallas to win the Lombardi Trophy,” said Marc Silverman, the cohost of a radio show on ESPN 1000, Waddle and Silvy, with former Bears receiver Tom Waddle.

Not that the Super Bowl seems to matter much: Packers fans said beating the Bears at Soldier Field would be a wonderful cake, with a Super Bowl victory serving as the frosting.

“There would be nothing sweeter than to watch the Packers take that George Halas trophy at Soldier Field,” said John O’Neill, whose outfit at Packers games is a green bishop’s costume and miter, with Lombardi’s face on it. He’s appropriately known as St. Vince.

It’s the same story in the birthplace of the Bears: Decatur, Ill.

“I can’t think of a bigger Bears game,” said 76-year-old Charley May, whose family and the team have been intertwined since his father, Walter “Red” May, took Halas up on an offer to play for the Decatur Staleys. Halas later moved the team to Chicago and changed its name.

“For guys who have followed the Bears all their life and truly hate the Packers, yeah, this is their Super Bowl,” said Mark Foster, 54, who plans to erect a 5-foot, inflatable Bears helmet outside his home in Lansing, south of Chicago. “We can lose 50 to nothing in the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh or the Jets, but if we beat the Packers, who cares?”

Scott Wiese understands what Foster is talking about.

“The only thing I can compare it to is if the Cubs played the Cardinals in Game 7 for the pennant,” said Wiese, 30, who grew up in the Decatur area and now lives in St. Louis. “It’s the biggest game for me as a Bears fan my whole life, and that includes the Super Bowl.”

Don’t expect Wiese to do something crazy. Again.

It was Wiese who, before the Super Bowl in February 2007, vowed in writing to change his name to Peyton Manning if the Indianapolis Colts beat his Bears – which they did. He went to court to keep his promise, but the judge tossed out his request.

As for the 44-year-old Cochara, he’s not about to stop rooting for the Packers. But, he said, the bar where he was taped up after he played “We are the Champions” following that Packers win has never been the same.

“Packers fans are scared about what happened,” he said.

CHICAGO – The Green Bay Packers are headed to town for the NFC championship game and Chicago Bears fans are starting to become, well, a bit unbearable.

Turn on the radio in Chicago and you’ll hear no shortage of jokes about Packers fans, many of which have something to do with low intelligence. There’s been plenty of laughs over a Green Bay newspaper headline that read “On To Chicaco.” Many more center on the dietary habits of fans north of the “Cheddar Curtain,” like this one:

What do you call a 400-pound Packer fan? Anorexic.

All of this sniping, fun or otherwise, makes sense since the NFL’s oldest rivalry has had 92 years to simmer. Vince Lombardi, Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Bronko Nagurski, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka and Walter Payton — all of those names and more add to the rich history, but so does the relationship between the loyal fans in the two states.

John Cochara has been hearing from his so-called friends who decided he was celebrating a Packers win over the Bears a little too much in 1995 and duct-taped him to a stop sign.

“They’re saying, ‘You better watch out, there are a lot of stop signs out there,’” said Cochara, whose punishment outside a bar just south of the Wisconsin-Illinois state line included a sign over his head that read “Packer Fan.”

The Super Bowl Shuffle video by the 1985-86 Bears is getting tens of thousands of fresh clicks on YouTube. At least one Chicago TV station got texts imploring them to ask Packers fans to swear off cheese or, at least cheeseheads, cheese ties and, honestly, cheese bras. A sign outside the Crystal Lake Rib House not far from the Wisconsin line warns that prices for Packers fans are twice the menu listing.

“They say, ‘We really don’t have to pay double, do we?’” said owner Dave Faccone, who insists it’s a joke. Still, some Bears fans have chimed in.

“I got a text saying, ‘You big troublemaker, charging them double. It should be triple,’” he said.

On the other side of the state line, Packers fan Frank Emmert Jr. of Superior, Wis., reminisced this week about the time he survived a small plane crash in 1995 thanks to the foam cheesehead he put over his face seconds before impact.

“The FAA credited it, not me,” said Emmert, 52.

Mike Pyle, who played center for the Bears for nine years, including the 1963 championship season, recalled how his coach and owner of the Bears, George Halas, brought a message over to Packers coach Vince Lombardi before a game.

“He went to the locker room door at Lambeau and said, ‘We’re going to whip your (expletive),’” said Pyle, 71.

Yet, with all that bad blood all those years, you’d have to go back to the week after the attack on Pearl Harbor to find the last time the Bears and Packers met in a playoff game. (The Bears won on their way to the championship).

This time around, the winner of Sunday’s showdown goes to the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium.

“There have been some highly hyped games that went splat, but this, they’re playing for the Halas Trophy, to go to Dallas to win the Lombardi Trophy,” said Marc Silverman, the co-host of a radio show on ESPN 1000, Waddle and Silvy, with former Bears receiver Tom Waddle.

Not that the Super Bowl seems to matter much: Packers fans said beating the Bears at Soldier Field would be a wonderful cake, with a Super Bowl victory serving as the frosting.

“There would be nothing sweeter than to watch the Packers take that George Halas trophy at Soldier Field,” said John O’Neill, whose outfit at Packers games is a green bishop’s costume and mitre, with Lombardi’s face on it. He’s appropriately known as St. Vince.

It’s the same story in the birthplace of the Bears: Decatur, Ill.

“I can’t think of a bigger Bears game,” said 76-year-old Charley May, whose family and the team have been intertwined since his dad, Walter “Red” May, took Halas up on an offer to play for the Decatur Staleys. Halas later moved the team to Chicago and changed its name.

“For guys who have followed the Bears all their life and truly hate the Packers, yeah, this is their Super Bowl,” said Mark Foster, 54, who plans to erect a 5-foot inflatable Bears helmet outside his home in Lansing, south of Chicago. “We can lose 50 to nothing in the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh or the Jets, but if we beat the Packers, who cares?”

Scott Wiese understands what Foster is talking about.

“The only thing I can compare it to is if the Cubs played the Cardinals in Game 7 for the pennant,” said Wiese, 30, who grew up in the Decatur area and now lives in St. Louis. “It’s the biggest game for me as a Bears fan my whole life, and that includes the Super Bowl.”

Don’t expect Wiese to do something crazy. Again.

It was Wiese who, before the Super Bowl in February 2007, vowed in writing to change his name to Peyton Manning if the Indianapolis Colts beat his Bears — which they did. He went to court to keep his promise, but the judge tossed out his request.

As for the 44-year-old Cochara, he’s not about to stop rooting for the Packers. But, he said, the bar where he was taped up after he played “We are the Champions” following that Packers win has never been the same.

“Packers fans are scared about what happened,” he said.

___

Associated Press Writer Carrie Antlfinger contributed to this report from Milwaukee.

CHICAGO – The Green Bay Packers are headed to town for the NFC championship game and Chicago Bears fans are starting to become, well, a bit unbearable.

Turn on the radio in Chicago and you’ll hear no shortage of jokes about Packers fans, many of which have something to do with low intelligence. There’s been plenty of laughs over a Green Bay newspaper headline that read “On To Chicaco.” Many more center on the dietary habits of fans north of the “Cheddar Curtain,” like this one:

What do you call a 400-pound Packer fan? Anorexic.

All of this sniping, fun or otherwise, makes sense since the NFL’s oldest rivalry has had 92 years to simmer. Vince Lombardi, Don Hutson, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke, Bronko Nagurski, Dick Butkus, Mike Ditka and Walter Payton – all of those names and more add to the rich history, but so does the relationship between the loyal fans in the two states.

John Cochara has been hearing from his so-called friends who decided he was celebrating a Packers win over the Bears a little too much in 1995 and duct-taped him to a stop sign.

“They’re saying, You better watch out, there are a lot of stop signs out there,’ ” said Cochara, whose punishment outside a bar just south of the Wisconsin-Illinois state line included a sign over his head that read “Packer Fan.”

The Super Bowl Shuffle video by the 1985-86 Bears is getting tens of thousands of fresh clicks on YouTube. At least one Chicago TV station got texts imploring them to ask Packers fans to swear off cheese or, at least cheeseheads, cheese ties and, honestly, cheese bras. A sign outside the Crystal Lake Rib House not far from the Wisconsin line warns that prices for Packers fans are twice the menu listing.

“They say, We really don’t have to pay double, do we?’ ” said owner Dave Faccone, who insists it’s a joke. Still, some Bears fans have chimed in.

“I got a text saying, You big troublemaker, charging them double. It should be triple,’ ” he said.

On the other side of the state line, Packers fan Frank Emmert Jr. of Superior, Wis., reminisced this week about the time he survived a small plane crash in 1995 thanks to the foam cheesehead he put over his face seconds before impact.

“The FAA credited it, not me,” said Emmert, 52.

Mike Pyle, who played center for the Bears for nine years, including the 1963 championship season, recalled how his coach and owner of the Bears, George Halas, brought a message over to Packers coach Vince Lombardi before a game.

“He went to the locker room door at Lambeau and said, We’re going to whip your (expletive),’ ” said Pyle, 71.

Yet, with all that bad blood all those years, you’d have to go back to the week after the attack on Pearl Harbor to find the last time the Bears and Packers met in a playoff game. (The Bears won on their way to the championship).

This time around, the winner of Sunday’s showdown goes to the Super Bowl at Cowboys Stadium.

“There have been some highly hyped games that went splat, but this, they’re playing for the Halas Trophy, to go to Dallas to win the Lombardi Trophy,” said Marc Silverman, the co-host of a radio show on ESPN 1000, Waddle and Silvy, with former Bears receiver Tom Waddle.

Not that the Super Bowl seems to matter much: Packers fans said beating the Bears at Soldier Field would be a wonderful cake, with a Super Bowl victory serving as the frosting.

“There would be nothing sweeter than to watch the Packers take that George Halas trophy at Soldier Field,” said John O’Neill, whose outfit at Packers games is a green bishop’s costume and mitre, with Lombardi’s face on it. He’s appropriately known as St. Vince.

It’s the same story in the birthplace of the Bears: Decatur, Ill.

“I can’t think of a bigger Bears game,” said 76-year-old Charley May, whose family and the team have been intertwined since his dad, Walter “Red” May, took Halas up on an offer to play for the Decatur Staleys. Halas later moved the team to Chicago and changed its name.

“For guys who have followed the Bears all their life and truly hate the Packers, yeah, this is their Super Bowl,” said Mark Foster, 54, who plans to erect a 5-foot inflatable Bears helmet outside his home in Lansing, south of Chicago. “We can lose 50 to nothing in the Super Bowl to Pittsburgh or the Jets, but if we beat the Packers, who cares?”

Scott Wiese understands what Foster is talking about.

“The only thing I can compare it to is if the Cubs played the Cardinals in Game 7 for the pennant,” said Wiese, 30, who grew up in the Decatur area and now lives in St. Louis. “It’s the biggest game for me as a Bears fan my whole life, and that includes the Super Bowl.”

Don’t expect Wiese to do something crazy. Again.

It was Wiese who, before the Super Bowl in February 2007, vowed in writing to change his name to Peyton Manning if the Indianapolis Colts beat his Bears – which they did. He went to court to keep his promise, but the judge tossed out his request.

As for the 44-year-old Cochara, he’s not about to stop rooting for the Packers. But, he said, the bar where he was taped up after he played “We are the Champions” following that Packers win has never been the same.

“Packers fans are scared about what happened,” he said.

—

Associated Press Writer Carrie Antlfinger contributed to this report from Milwaukee.

LAKE FOREST, Ill. – From the moment he was hired, Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith made it clear the goals were to beat Green Bay, win the division and win the Super Bowl.

Beating Green Bay to get to the Super Bowl? Well, that’s an added bonus.

“The first thing (Chairman) Michael McCaskey went over when I came here to interview for the job was to make sure I knew about the rivalry,” Smith said Monday. “He let me know a little bit about it then, too. Believe me, we know exactly how we’re supposed to feel about that rivalry.”

The league’s oldest rivalry sure took an interesting turn when the Bears knocked off the Seattle Seahawks in their divisional playoff game Sunday.

Now, it’s Chicago against Green Bay for the NFC championship at Soldier Field, and the stakes never have been higher in a series that dates to 1921. These teams have played 181 times, with the Bears holding a 92-83-6 edge, but only once in the playoffs.

That was way back in December 1941, a week after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, and the Bears came away with a 33-14 victory at Wrigley Field. A week later, they beat Washington for the NFL championship.

“I don’t think we really need a lot of motivation for this team,” Smith said. “It’s a game where everyone wants to talk about all the (history) – 1941 is the last time, the only time, we played for the championship. This year, one of the things we talked about was bringing back some of our tradition. We talked about the Monsters of the Midway. That’s a period when we first started being known as the Monsters of the Midway. So all that comes into play. All the old time Packers and Bears fans should all pay close attention this week to what’s going on.”

This figures to be a hot draw no matter how cold it is Sunday.

These are franchises with a combined 21 NFL championships and 48 Hall of Fame players. Bears fans remember Walter Payton getting run over when he was well out of bounds and Jim McMahon getting driven to the turf by Charles Martin several seconds after the whistle.

Packers fans will say the Bears were no angels, either.

What about now?

Tight end Greg Olsen said there’s no personal animosity, that the Bears “want to beat the Packers. It’s not that we want to beat Aaron Rodgers.”

Even so, Smith insisted, “We don’t like each other.”

“Believe me, there is not a whole lot of love for us coming up north,” he added. “But games are supposed to be played on the field. . . . It will come down to how we play, and our guys realize that.”

The Bears took advantage of a team-record 18 penalties by the Packers to win 20-17 in September, and went all out trying to keep them out of the playoffs in a 10-3 loss at Lambeau Field to finish the regular season. Chicago went with its starters even though it was locked into the No. 2 seed and had secured a first-round bye.

The Bears earned all that thanks to a remarkable turnaround, winning seven of eight before dropping the finale. That season-saving run gave them their third NFC North title in seven years and put them in the playoffs for the first time since the 2006 Super Bowl season.

Now, the Bears are eyeing the ultimate prize.

How appropriate that they’ll have to beat Green Bay to stay in the race. A Cowboys fan from Texas, Smith wasn’t particularly fond of the Packers growing up and probably didn’t need that history lesson from McCaskey. Either way, he was quick to target them when he got hired by the Bears seven years ago.

The way he saw it, beating the rival was a start for a team that was coming off back-to-back losing seasons, a small but important step toward those bigger goals.

“I think you set a goal, a short-term goal, something you can do immediately,” Smith said. “One game, of course. The rivalry. It’s Green Bay. You need to beat them every year. They’re normally one of the teams that’s up at the top of the division, also.

“Besides that, we want to win the division. If you’re beating your rivals and you’re winning your division, you have a chance to achieve your ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl. Those are the three goals that we’ll have every year. Guys have bought into that. We still have an opportunity to achieve all of those goals.”