Heatherthepackgirl
Cheesehead
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 [email protected].
There were plenty of Hurricane Katrina-related insults hurled at Saints fans in Soldier Field during the game.
ADVERTISEMENT
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 [email protected].