Obnoxious Bears fans crossed the line with Katrina-rel

Many Chicago Bears fans put on a shameful display of insensitivity during the team's 39-14 win over the New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game on Jan. 21.

There were plenty of Hurricane Katrina-related insults hurled at Saints fans in Soldier Field during the game.

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The biggest glaring example of this was a sign that hung in the stadium during the game: "Bears finishing what Katrina started."

The morons who made this sign deserve to be stripped naked and thrown into nearby Lake Michigan on a cold January day.

The crude behavior by Bears supporters did not stop there. Many Saints fans from the Pine Belt who made the trip were either victims of insults or witnessed them.

Charley Wallace of Hattiesburg was there along with fellow Hub City residents Drew McMullan and Corey Britt.

Wallace and his friends were watching the game from their Soldier Field seats when they were approached by a Bears fan.

"Some guy came up to us and asked us what our favorite Led Zeppelin song was," Wallace said. "We just looked at him and he said "Mine is 'When the Levee Breaks.'"

Wallace said he "wasn't very impressed" by the actions of Bears fans.

"One of them said 'The hurricane wasn't nothing, wait 'til we get done with y'all.'" he said.

Wallace and his friends did their best to shrug off the comments and enjoy the game.

"I didn't let it affect me," Wallace said. "But I expected more from them. I don't mind if I'm cussed over a football game, but I thought they really crossed the line."

Hattiesburg lawyer Clark Hicks was also at the game along with his friend, Ollie Brock, who had flown all the way from London to watch the big game.

"We started to leave after the lead had become insurmountable," Hicks said. "Fans started screaming out, 'Go back to your FEMA trailers!' I thought that was just unacceptable.

"The other thing I heard, is they kept referring to all of us as 'bayou trash.'"

Kevin Martin of Petal saw another example of crude behavior toward Saints fans.

"We were walking outside the stadium pregame and they were giving out free towels," Martin said. "One guy went up to a couple of Saints fan that had gotten towels and told them that 'There is plenty of free wood where that came from to rebuild your house.'"

Martin left Chicago with no love for the home team.

"I used to like the Bears," Martin said. "After going up there, I hope the Colts beat them by 50."

The actions of these fans don't represent the crowd as a whole in Chicago, and most residents who were at the game laughed off the alcohol-induced comments.

But I believe the city of Chicago owes an apology to New Orleans and the people of the Gulf Coast region.

Chicago is a fine football team that deserve fans who reflect the class of coach Lovie Smith and the rest of the organization.

I think the behavior of those Bears fans is somewhat symptomatic of our nation as a whole.

Some outside of the region have become weary of hearing about the plight of Katrina victims and the tragedy is slowly fading from our nation's consciousness.

The Saints' success was great for New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, but it also served as a veil for the ugly truth of the post-Katrina situation.

# Patrick Magee is a sports writer at the Hattiesburg American. He can be reached by phone at 601-584-3026 or e-mail at pmagee@hattiesburgamerican.com.

Another tally for the Bear fans...

I thought it was kinda funny.

I made worse jokes in my lifetime.

It figures..

Phil must have been one of "those guys"...

Bear fans are morons too.

"When the Levee Breaks" was written by Memphis Minnie...

I myself would never make a joke like that in front of the people that happened to. I don't believe in being "politically correct", but i DO believe in showing some class.
Honestly, there are jerks everywhere. I bet there were plenty of Bears fans that thought that what these putzes did was uncalled for too.
If there were 60 thousand fans there, and 50 of them did those kinds of things, the 50 bad ones will get the publicity.
I saw the guy carry the sign about the Bears finishing what Katrina started. I bet he thought he was being "witty". He just was being a putz.

What do the Bears fans on here think? Just curious. Do you guys think it was acceptable, or over the edge?

Bears fans, a touch of crass. Do you think Packer fans would go that low?

Please!
You people need to lighten up. If these fans were devastated by Katrina then what the hell are they doing traveling all the way up here and paying for playoff tickets? Wouldn’t they have more pressing matters to deal with?
The truth is that they not only lost but also got their asses kicked and their free pass is over.
Now that the Saints are done they need something to keep the national tear duct flowing so now it is "The big bad Bears fans would not kiss my *** like everyone else is doing"
Boo hoo.
I saw lots of photos of Saints fans wearing t-shirts at the game against Philadelphia that said "**** The Eagles" and they worn them proudly.

When the Bears played the Eagles in the playoffs in 1979 there were lots on signs depicting the Ayatollah Khomeini wearing a Bears uniform with the words "Chicago Bears - Iran's Team"
I did not break down in tears over it and neither did anyone else.

By the way, their jackass owner who cannot wait to leave them behind disrespects the other team every time he comes down to the sidelines and does that stupid dance.
No other owner in the NFL does that cheep act.
Anyone who has gone to New Orleans for Mardi Gras can tell you the people outside of the French Quarter are as rude and nasty as any people that you will ever meat.
They are just waiting to take advantage of a tourist who does not know their way around and I don’t mean in a nice way.

Drop the whiny PC routine already.

like that one chick



I'd do her though

There you go!
I like how they are trying to pass off the murder capital of the U.S. as some charming little place just bursting with southern hospitality.
It was a cesspool before the flood ever came.

You know... I really don't care when I see these tour buses that take out of towner’s around the city showing them where Al Capone lived or where the St. Valentines day massacre took place.
Idiots taking photos of an empty lot because someone died there 70 years ago.

We all need to lighten up. I think it was about ending the run that the Saints were trying to accomplish for the city's recovery. Not about killing more people or making fun of the people who died.

I remember when ValueJet flight 597 went down in the Florida everglades in 1996.

I was in a comedy club about a month after the crash that killed over a hundred people..... and a comic said....

"What did one alligator say to the other?"

"Hey, This Airline food is not so bad!"

The crowd groaned but I laughed out loud. Could not help it. It was funny. Made me laugh.

Now the Katrina sign was not funny at all. But I am sure who ever had the signs was not referring to more death.

R.P.

Where's Carlos Mencia? He's got perfect insight on this stuff.

There was a comic back in the early 60s named Vaughn Meader who did some albums were he impersonated JFK. They sold a lot of copies and his career was booming. JFK loved them himself.

A couple of days after Kennedy was shot, Lenny Bruce was performing in a nightclub in New York. He took the stage and just paced back and forth with his head down for a minute or two while the room was silent.
He finally looks up and says, "Boy, Vaughn Meader is ******!"

Everyone broke out laughing because it was funny and you cannot spend you life wringing your hands about events that you cannot control.

Not that you care Phil, but my respect for you (what little there has been lately) has really dropped. It is one thing to joke about a situation, it is another to personally insult those who were victimized by the ordeal.

Who are we to judge those who chose to travel up to Chicago to get away from the hell that they have been going through for well over a year now? Who's to say that it wasn't the first trip they have taken since they saw their mom, sister,brother, aunt, friend floating down the street, bloated and rotting from the heat, partially eaten by the stranded dogs? Who the hell are you to decide whether or not they should lighten up? I applaud those Saint fans that walked away from those insults.....I would have leveled whomever said that to my face.

Would you laugh if I came over to your moms funeral and made jokes about how the funeral director did her before he dressed her up? How about if I joked about your dead dad and how nice it is not having him around? How about if I stood outside your burning house and asked for marshmallows? or wondered if I could get a turn at your recently raped sister? You probably can't even see how incensed I am seeing how your head is so far up your ***. I am sure you felt no remorse nor did you contribute when everything went down. Just sit in your recliner, grab a brew, and watch the world go by....

Your insensitivity would be shocking had it not been that you are a typical bear fan. All your comments toward the whole thing down there are pathetic. Unfortunately, I am not surprised as I have been to many bear games.

It is not about being PC. It is about being compassionate and considerate.....class. Unfortunately, the ONLY class in that stadium a couple of weeks ago was wearing a headset..... there wasn't ANY in the stands. Chicago doesn't deserve a guy like Lovie, they need another jackass like Ditka

Come Sunday I will be rooting hard for Peyton and the Colts to embarrass the Bears. Not because I dislike the bears.......cuz I HATE bears fans like you, Philtration.

Says it all...

Well said trippster, it seems that lack of class and compassion are becoming a thing of the past to some, real shame !!!

Common Phil, rethink your stance on this one, we all make mistakes !!!

Whaaaaa.....
I am supposed to worry about your level of respect for me in a forum that has you saying how all Bears fans are rude, obnoxious a$$holes?
Forgive me if I don’t seem to give a damn.
Funny how you guys have no problem with throwing out insults yourselves while passing judgment on others. They call that hypocrisy.
How do you compare a sign at a football game with someone going to your mom’s funeral and being out of line? With the rape of someone’s sister?
Your logic is twisted at best.
I have also been in Wisconsin on the day of a Bears Packers game so don't try to tell me how everyone is all hugs and kisses and "glade to see ya" up there.
Should I have leveled those assholes like you say?

Packer fans mooning the opposing players or their coward of a coach (Forrest Gregg) encouraging his team to play dirty makes you some kind of moral cop for the NFL now?

How many games have you personally been to at Soldier Field by the way?
I myself have been to many and you have no idea as to what you are talking about. A few people out of 60,000 throw out some comments and now you speak for all Bears fans and all NFL fans as well?

As far as the problems down there, I personally have family in the area and I have more family in Houston. I did contribute to the relief fund so keep your holier than thou Bulls**t to yourself.
Maybe you can feel better by voting for the Packers in some stupid soup contest instead of really doing something that matters.

I am not passing insults about any tragedys in your life Phil....just about you and your insensitive comments.

I lived in Chicago for ten years...know the town and bears fans too well. Not all are asses....but ones like you keep cropping up too often to think it is an exception to the rule.

Been to Soldier field roughly 15 times. Not just Packer games either.

I didn't think you would understand what you called "twisted logic" but others did. I made my point. It was a personal tragedy for those living down there. Still is. Insulting the situation is the same as being insensitive to something personal in your life, hence the comments. I don't have a problem about fans insulting other fan's teams....but it is extremely poor taste to take it to the personal, tragic level.

As I said before, didn't think you would care about my respect. Not a problem. As far as helping others? I have done more than just sending money, and some on this board know personally what I am speaking of. No hollier than thou attitude....but I don't need to see the long ears to know its an ***.

Dungy and the Lombardi Trophy.......deserving of each other.

The truth is that if this was any other team you would have said nothing at all.
Instead it is yet another pissy comment or thread about the Bears, their fans and the city of Chicago.
Seems like you are having a lot of trouble with dealing with something as simple as the Bears being in the Super Bowl.
A weird obsession that is going into yet another week.
I have never seen so many whining, pointless ranting crybabies in one place since the 3rd grade.
Can they just give the Super Bowl to Lovie Smith because his mom is blind?
Tony Dungy will be deserving of a Super Bowl trophy only if he coaches the Colts to a win next Sunday.
Not because you like him.
Not because he goes to church.
Not because he is black.
Not because his son took his own life.
Not because of Katrina.
You have been searching for something to bitch about the Bears every day for the last 2 months and you do not know when to stop beating a dead horse. How much of it was NFL news or news at all for that matter?
If it were the Patriots playing next week then you would be getting all misty eyed because Teddy Bruschi had a stroke and he deserves another ring.

Enjoy rooting against the Bears in the Super Bowl and then find something else to complain about if they win.

Phil, you might note that fans all across the country found the sign rather disgusting, not just the hated Packer fans.
I have no fondness for the city of NO myself, but that was just plain wrong. There is a huge difference between PC and simple respect, many people can't make the distinction.

Phil, you might note that fans all across the country found the sign rather disgusting, not just the hated Packer fans.
I have no fondness for the city of NO myself, but that was just plain wrong. There is a huge difference between PC and simple respect, many people can't make the distinction.

Very well said Tripp! There will always be fans from everywhere doing very unclassless things, but this one was low IMO...these people have suffered so much, they have the Saints for alittle comfort, to have a team that they can get excited about, something other then they dont have a house to live in, that they maybe have lost someone close to them..I for one would never be so unclassy and unfeeling...thats whats wrong in todays world people just dont give to hoots about others, they just dont care...and to me that is very wrong..

Boy Phil..........when i used to read your posts, i found most of them funny or at least intellegent. Have you been doing alot of drugs or something? Cause it seems your class has lowered with each Bears win.
I wouldn't have cared if every Bears fan had worn a "F**K New Orleans" t-shirt. Thats not even CLOSE to coming out and making lite of the litteral destruction of a major city.
I have been to Chicago, even took the Amtrak through there once. We had a layover, and several people warned us NOT to leave the train station, as the local thugs were just waiting for "tourists" to jump and rob. That was 25 years ago. Bet it's not better there now.
The fans wearing the "Chicago Bears - Iran's Team" shirts.........did Iran bomb and destroy Chicago, killing many people and leaving millions homeless? Didn't think so. It's fine if you want to "diss" the other team, but you CAN do it with at least a LITTLE class, can't you? (Maybe you can't. Maybe i'm giving you more props then you deserve.)
It amazes me to see someone fight SO hard to admit and be PROUD that they have no class.
If you go to see a comedian like Lenny Bruce, or Carlos Mencia, you EXPECT and in fact can COUNT ON them telling jokes that are over the top. Thats what made them famous. If you are offended by that kind of talk, you have a choice NOT to go see them. You don't go to a football game expecting that kind of crap.
The Bears fans could have used normal dissing to throw in the face of the Saints fans. Did they have to stoop that low?
Whether or not you want to face and admit it, it was a classless act by classless people.
Bears fans are like school in the summer.............NO CLASS!

it's a shame to make people feel bad at a game one thing to say my team is better than yours that sort of childish stuff you expect but what some of the fans did is a shame and i dont blame the team or the staff it is the fans themselves to blame,how would they feel if they were in n.o and the fans made them that unwelcome.

Typical Bear Fan.... Has to Bring The Tragic Death of Barbaro into it.

Sick.... Phil you sicko!

R.P.

Ooops