Lately, whenever I’ve told people I live in Chicago, people go “Congrats on the Bears being in the Super Bowl” which causes me to suppress a gag reflex. You see, even though I live here, I’ve always hated the Bears.

I don’t hate Chicago. In fact I truly believe that this is the best city in the United States. For people, and food, and culture, and yes, even sports, Chicago rocks. I love it here, and I can’t imagine living anywhere else at this point.

That being said, I still hate the Bears. It stems from growing up in rural Iowa, outside of Dubuque to be exact. Dubuque, Iowa is about four hours away from Chicago. This caused the vast majority of people in Dubuque to be Bears fans. To a lesser extent, some Packers and Viking fans, but for the most part, if you watched football in that geographical area, you were a Bears fan.

I, of course, was NOT a Bears fan. I had been a Dolphin fan since I was a zygote. My uncle lived in Miami and knew people in the Dolphins organization. My Dad was a fan, and so was I. So growing up, I was not part of the sheep that followed the Bears, I was a proud Dolphin fan.

The Dolphins were perennial playoff contenders in my youth, and even made the Super Bowl in the early 80’s. They lost, and whenever they did, I got tons of flack from the Bears fans. I got shit for being a Dolphins fan all the while I was growing up, and it all came from Bears fans. Then came the 85 season. The Bears were unstoppable, until they played the Dolphins of course. The Dolphins beat them that year, ruining their chance at a perfect season. That caused Bears fans to pretty much hate me all the more.

Then when the Bears won the Super Bowl, those fans became unbearable (pardon the pun.) They were so damn full of themselves. And the fact that the Super Bowl Shuffle was out there didn’t help. Maybe it was because I was a teen, and kids tend to be mean, but every Bear fan I met growing up was neither gracious nor humble. They all acted like they were above other football fans, and they hated my Dolphins. I always proudly cheered for my team, and wore my Dolphin gear, and I constantly got flack for it.

So, it really drove me to hate the Bears. It’s deep-rooted in my childhood, and not something I’ll easily shake. Now I don’t hate ALL Chicago teams, I like the White Sox and the Bulls. In fact, I started liking the Bulls when they got B.J. Armstrong (a former guard for the Iowa Hawkeyes.) I didn’t even know who Michael Jordan was at the time. I do hate the Cubs, because their fans were just as annoying in my youth and I must’ve heard “next year” a zillion times. So I get a little warm feeling every time the Cubs fail as well. The playoff meltdown a couple of years ago was awesome to behold.

Anyway, back to the Bears. Now that they are in the Super Bowl, everyone here in Chicago is all high and mighty about them again. Once again, my Dolphins ruined their perfect season, so Bears fans hate my Dolphins as much as usual. I STILL get flack from the Bears fans for being a Dolphins fan, so to think that just because the Bears are in the Super Bowl that I’ll cheer from them because I’m from Chicago is ludicrous. I am so cheering for the Colts that it isn’t even funny.

The Colts also have classy guys. Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison, Joseph Addai. The Bears have felons. Tank Johnson? Daniel Manning? And how about that wonderful quarterback, Rex Grossman… god, Griese should be your starter, and deep down every single Bears fan knows it. But according to you all, the Bears are going to crush Indy. We’ll see.

So don’t call me a traitor for cheering against Chicago. You can be a traitor if you were never on the team to begin with. I love Chicago, but will always hate the Bears.

I’m wearing my Indy Blue right now. And all I can say is:

GO COLTS!!!

EDIT: To emphasize my point, I’m writing this on the train, and the train conductors were talking and were just appalled, appalled I tell you, that someone had the audacity to wear a Colts sweatshirt today. Pretty much encapsulates it for me!