Are ….
PARK RIDGE — Rowdy is not the word for Bears games. Drunk, profane and abusive are all better descriptions. I have not wanted to take my wife there for years. It’s just not fun.
–Mike Rathsack
CHICAGO — Last year I worked as an usher at every Bears home game. After my first day of work I left never wanting to come back.
The most disturbing thing I saw was three or four drunk fans sexually harassing a woman in their section. I told them to stop, but they did not. Security guards responded to my request for help and the behavior stopped. Later, two intoxicated fans hassled a member of the grounds crew, making fun of him for having to pick up trash. Several Bears fans are good people who want to enjoy football. It is a shame that these people have to deal with the rudeness of so many people.
— Joe Lentino
GLEN ELLYN — I have been going to Bears games since they were in Wrigley Field, and what I recall as different now is the lack of respect for fellow fans. My point is that it is not just Soldier Field and the Bears. I share the concern about bringing kids to Soldier Field, Wrigley Field, the United Center or The Cell.
My kids come to the games already aware that they will have a group somewhere near us that will be drunken and profane, and it takes a lot of the fun out of the games. Abusive fans, even drunks, used to respect the fact that “there are children present” (or, going back to the really olden times, ladies present) as a reason to take it down a notch.
— Mark Weiland
ELMWOOD PARK — I played football in college, so I am no prude to what the game of football is like. I understand that it is a mean game that only the strong of heart can truly play, but what goes on in the stands during NFL games is truly embarrassing.
As a player you want your fans to be rowdy and loud and supportive all at the same time, but sometimes enough is enough.
I was in Cleveland for the Bears-Browns game this fall and never in my life have I heard things as bad as I heard, and I am sure that most NFL stadiums aren’t much different. The only reason I tolerated it is because I went to school in Cleveland for four years, so I knew what I was getting myself into.
Never again will I pay for an NFL ticket.
To parents who want to take their kids to a game: Save your money and take them to Evanston to see Northwestern play. Besides, it’s cheaper and there are fewer TV timeouts.
— Victor F. DeBoer
GENEVA — I took my three sons to the 49ers game this year and it all started when we pulled into the parking lot at 9:30 in the morning. The lot was packed from front to back with Bears fans. Most of whom seemed to have a single-mindedness about throwing back as many beers as possible before heading up to the game. Anyway, my boys are ages 6, 9 and 13. There was a 49ers fan sitting directly behind us in the 400 level. He was very respectful while rooting for his team. Two drunken idiots about 10 rows behind us decided that he was not entitled to root for his team and decided to pelt him the entire game with peanuts and foul language. The problem was that every time they missed the intended target, they hit me, one of my kids or some other unexpecting fan. This went on the entire game. Even after I asked nicely for them to stop.
— Mike Davis
CHICAGO — The behavior I witnessed last weekend made me sick to my stomach. I sat in section 425 among parents, children and — to everyone’s disappointment — a group of drunk, abusive, abrasive, rude and insulting Bears fans. I witnessed most of them swilling beers, and between rounds taking a pull from flasks they had sneaked by Soldier Field’s porous security.
As you mentioned in your article, many of these “fans” made a point of brutalizing anyone wearing green, including those with children.
Support your team, but do it with class.
— Peter Lauson
CHICAGO–We are Packers fans but now live in Illinois. We know of the rivalry between the Bears and Packers, and we felt good going to the stadium, but then as soon as we got there, if a Bears fan saw a Packers fan in gear they taunted us. When we got to our seats, a group of people around us said they couldn’t believe their friend sold tickets to Packers fans, and it got worse.
A Bears fan behind me (female) was talking trash about Brett Favre, and I put my hand up hoping she would be quiet, then she shouted out profanity to my husband, then to me. I told my husband all I wanted to do was to watch the Packers game.
It was horrible, I will never ever go to Soldier Field again to a Bears-Packers game. As I told my husband during the game, “We don’t treat opposing teams like that in Lambeau.”
What a horrible experience!
— Debra Wolff
Are not!
CRYSTAL LAKE — The Bears games aren’t too rowdy. C’mon people, it’s football not a ballet. A football game is a place where men should be allowed to be men. Not everything in this world has to be family-friendly. You should be able to go tailgate, eat, drink, get rowdy and do some heckling. If you don’t like it, stay home and watch the game on TV.
— Matthew Skubiszewski
EVANSTON — I have been a season ticket holder for the last eight years, and yes I agree with your assessment that the game is not a place for children. With that in mind, anyone who regularly goes to the games should know this and act accordingly.
Tailgating is a large part of the culture and the experience, and the camaraderie that I have with my friends that I regularly tailgate with is something that I look forward to before each game.
— Josh Goldin
CHICAGO — Your article looks as if it was written by a pair of opera lovers.
Soldier Field is so huge that you can have “Animal House” characters in one section and the Mickey Mouse Club in the next section. In my case, the people in my section at the old Soldier Field were wilder than the people I sit with now. I used to sit in front of two brothers named Jimmy and Anthony who would perform a hilarious four-letter word commentary during all the Bears games. It made the losing games a little more tolerable. At a minimum price of $50 a ticket, I would hardly call a Bears game a normal family event.
— Joe Waytula
OAK PARK — If you are offended by “Favre’s gonna get hurt today. Lots of pain. It’s gonna be bad. Go home,” you must just frequent the symphony and ballet!
Of course there is boorish, gross, disgusting behavior at an NFL game. This behavior is common at all sporting events. Especially as the weather gets cold and more men replace women and children in the crowd. Where I sit at Soldier Field, if a fan is out of line, the crowd first takes it upon itself to stop the poor behavior. If that doesn’t work, the usher is called. That has always stopped the problem. In addition, the Bears send out letters threatening to yank tickets if complaints are filed.
If anything, I’d say that crowd behavior is now better! Cutting off beer sales in the 3rd quarter and just the high cost of beer reduces some excesses. I remember when the beer vendors would try to sell you beer on your way out of old Soldier Field. Literally one for the road!
— Robert Larson
BELVIDERE — I have been attending games for about 35 years, and I don’t think the fans are any worse now than they were then. There will always be fans who are obnoxious, rude and disorderly. Our section has always had a very respectable sort of Bears fan. This section holds people who like us have had tickets in their families for years. The problems come when they sell or give their tickets to friends or family who don’t respect the rights of the other fans.
— Christine Tribble
OAK PARK — It was about four years ago when my wife got Bears tickets to a December game from a friend at work. So I decided I would take my 10-year-old son Sam to the game. When we got to the seats, the game had already started. I remember the Bears were playing Tampa Bay. Behind our seats were three men and one woman. They said, “Hey, you’re not Tim! Where’s Tim?” I said he gave us his seats for the game. They said, “Any friend of Tim’s is a friend of ours,” and they welcomed Sam and me.
— Steve Mrkvicka
CHICAGO — The argument should not be “Are Bears games too crude? but rather “Are professional sports games too crude?” I took interest in your comment about the Packers fans being heckled. Of course, no child should be made to feel uncomfortable at a sporting event, however when the parents walk into a home stadium dressed head to toe in the visiting team’s colors, they need to expect to catch some grief. Especially if it’s a division rival.
Have you ever worn a Bear’s jersey at another team’s home field? I have. Do you think I was greeted with cookies and milk? Of course I was a target for hecklers and harassment. If you want to address this as an NFL issue, fine. But don’t suggest Bears fans are crude, mean drunks who treat visiting fans overly harshly.
If you don’t like the atmosphere of a professional sporting event, watch it on TV.
— Matthew McCorry
LINCOLNSHIRE — I am a season ticket holder and have been for 33 years. I started attending the games with my 5-year-old son, and then my 4-year-old daughter and more recently my grandson at age 3.
While we’ve heard some “bad” words uttered and seen some “bad” signs and a few fights along with drunkenness, it’s not even close to as bad as described. As to verbal abuse, isn’t that freedom of expression that we value in this country? Get real!
— M. Freeman
