Jenna Blazevich can’t claim to be a die-hard Chicago Bears fan. She’s never been to a game. But when she’s working in her embroidery shop next to a bar called Christina’s Place in Albany Park, the roar from fans through the walls alert her to big plays.
Blazevich does have a claim to fame related to the Bears, though. She was once invited by the Bears to embroider fans’ merchandise at the team’s draft party. Bears tight end Cole Kmet’s wife asked her to stitch his name and number into his jacket.
And her shop’s motto seems appropriate for Bears fans: “You can be thunderous.”
Blazevich does a unique form of chain stitching, similar to sewing, on an antique machine. She can write out any text requested, on the spot, on team hats, shirts and other paraphernalia. She also does work for the Cubs and other businesses.
“I’m always excited to see Chicago teams do well,” she said.
She’s not the only one. The whole city seems to be amping up for Saturday night’s playoff game against the archrival Green Bay Packers. The game will be only the third time in NFL history that the two teams have met during the playoffs, according to the Bears.
The team’s mascot, Staley Da Bear, the Monster Squad hype crew, and the team drumline plan to greet fans Friday morning at various commuter stations downtown.
Fans are showing off their Bears merchandise online, including the new NFC North champions shirt. Tailgating at Soldier Field will begin roughly four hours before the 7 p.m. kickoff.
And bars across the city are ready to get overrun with fans.
At Tommy’s on Higgins in Norwood Park, owner Tom Migon said the team’s success has helped his bar have a successful reopening after being closed for more than two years because of an electrical fire.
“With the Bears playing well, it’s reenergized the bar,” Migon said. “Last time they played the Packers, the bar went upside down when they won.”
The mood was less raucous at Advocate Children’s Hospital on Thursday, but young patients were excited to get a visit from Staley the mascot and former Bear Anthony “Spice” Adams. Some of the children wrote letters of encouragement to the players.
“The Bears are unique in the sense that they unite the city,” said Sarah Smith, team vice president of fan development and brand marketing. “You can feel that energy in the city, especially on a game day. Driving you can hear people celebrating the game. To watch the way we bring the city together has been a blast.”
For fans hoping to experience the game in person Saturday, the cost is high.
On StubHub, the cheaper tickets for the game were going for around $370 as of Thursday morning. A fan with more cash on hand could choose to devote more than $3,600 to a ticket in Section 136.
But most fans won’t be watching from Soldier Field.
Sam Toia, president of the Illinois Restaurant Association, said that local resto-bars were looking forward to game day being “as busy as a Super Bowl” because of the rarity of the Bears-Packers playoff matchup.
Food deliveries are expected to be “off the charts” as well, Toia said.
Vienna Beef is sending more than 26,000 hot dogs and Polish sausages to Soldier Field this weekend, said Tom McGlade, the company’s senior vice president of marketing.
Grocery stores have also bumped up their orders in advance of Saturday’s tailgates and home watch parties, he said.
The Tribune asked McGlade if Vienna Beef had an official position as to how its hot dogs should be served for the game.
“Chicago style,” he said. “Drag it through the garden.”
On the merchandise side of things, Manuel Rojas of Houston-based Foam Party Hats said the company has sold 7,000 foam hats in the shape of cheese graters since just after Christmas.
Shortly before the holiday, DJ Moore of the Bears wore a cheese grater hat during a postgame celebration of the team’s overtime victory against the Packers.
The hats, which go for $39.99 online, are a rebuttal to Packers fans’ “cheesehead” hats. Rojas said his company sold a version of those hats until the Green Bay team sent him a cease-and-desist letter.
Fans looking to buy a cheese grater hat online may have to wait. Foam Party Hats is working through a “huge backlog” and orders placed now won’t be delivered for more than a month, Rojas said.
But Bears fans may be able to cop one of the in-demand hats on the North Side.
Jason Caref, co-owner of Clark Street Sports, said the company’s Lawrence Avenue location was expecting an order of 320 cheese grater hats to arrive Friday. Caref predicted the hats, which will be sold in-store only, will be popular.
Clark Street Sports mostly carries merchandise for Chicago-based sports teams, but Packers fans can find some wares there for the Green Bay team and are “totally welcome” in the store, Caref said, though he’d be rooting against them Saturday.
“We don’t hate on the green,” he said. “Meaning, the money.”
