Bears Fans Have Super Bowl on the Mind
Bears fans lead Internet search engine in searches for "Super Bowl 2010"
Getty Images
Will Johnny Knox be a Super Bowl receiver?
Are the Chicago Bears Super Bowl-bound? If the Internet decided the NFC Championship, you bet.
Two cities led the 'Net in searches for the term "Super Bowl 2010". Those cities -- Atlanta and Chicago -- just happen to be playing this weekend.
Both teams are solid NFC squads, but neither is a likely Super Bowl contender.That hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of each city's fans. If you live in or around Chicago, this shouldn't surprise you at all.
Why the sudden uptick in interest? Yahoo!'s Chris Chase has a plausible theory: With the Bears on a bye week, maybe Bears fans were just so bored without their favorite team to watch, they decided to do some optimistic search engine work instead. It makes sense.
Chicago was one of two cities to appear on both Sunday and Monday in Yahoo!'s Super Bowl buzz leaderboard. The other city was Washington, D.C., where the Redskins are currently stinking up the joint. Maybe 'Skins fans are just that optimistic, too? Or maybe a whole bunch of transplanted fans decided to search for the Super Bowl on the same day. Whatever it was, we're betting Redskins fans had very little to do with it.
There are some other interesting results, too: Los Angeles -- a city currently without a football team -- had the third-most buzz this week. Maybe L.A. fans are bored like bye-week Bears fans, too. Maybe the city is desperate for football. Maybe it was so hot outside everyone decided to dream of a party in January. Hey, you come up with a better theory.
OK, so it doesn't mean the Bears are headed to the Super Bowl anytime soon, and if the trend holds, perhaps Chicago will fall off the buzz list by next week. But for now, Bears fans can be proud that they're just as optimistic -- or delusional -- as any fan base in the league. Yep. That sounds about right.
Eamonn Brennan is a Chicago-based writer, editor and blogger. You can also read him at Yahoo! Sports, Mouthpiece Sports Blog, and Inside The Hall, or at his personal site, eamonnbrennan.com. Follow him on Twitter.
Copyright NBC Owned Television Stations
Posted Friday, Oct 16, 2009 - 11:02 AM CST
