NFC matchup renews 90-year-old rivalry

Mike Comstock stands in the snow at the entrance to the Chicago Bears headquarters wearing a leather helmet and talking body parts.
That's body parts as in: Would he be willing to give one up to see his beloved Bears beat the hated Green Bay Packers in today's NFC title game?
"I value my body parts too much, and I wouldn't give up my first born," Comstock said. "But I'd be willing to give up a week's pay for sure."
For a working-class stiff like Comstock, that would be no small sacrifice. Such is the hatred Bears fans harbor toward the Packers.
"You are born and raised that way," said Comstock, who works for a transportation company and was at Halas Hall seeking autographs. "Hating the Packers is something natural around a Chicago household."
'We have a lot of history'
The NFL's oldest rivalry will peak with a 2 p.m. kickoff at Soldier Field, where a trip to the Super Bowl on Feb. 6 at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington will hang in the balance.
In the 181 games played since the Bears and Packers first began slugging it out in 1921, they've met just once before in the postseason - a 33-14 Chicago win in 1941 played one week after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.
The Bears lead the series, 92-83-6.
"We have a lot of history with them," Chicago linebacker Brian Urlacher said. "We don't like them; they don't like us."
Packers center Scott Wells said there's mutual respect between the NFC North rivals, but he added it only goes so far.
"When it comes game time, there's some hatred and emotions that come up," Wells said.
Given the rich history of the franchises, the animosity between their fans and what's at stake, some contend the game is the biggest sporting event in the Windy City's history.
"It's almost like a little mini-Super Bowl," said Bears quarterback Jay Cutler, who grew up a Bears fans in Indiana. "Chicago will be really disappointed if we don't win this game."
Disappointed? Try devastated.
"Because it's the Packers, it is the biggest game of my lifetime," said Comstock, 47.
The outlook is the same in Wisconsin, said Bill Jacobs, who owns Scofield, Inc., a wholesale distributor of Wisconsin souvenirs in Menomonee Falls, Wis.
"A lot of people say, 'We don't care if we have a losing record as long as we beat the Bears twice,' " said Jacobs, 56. "For this one to be for the Super Bowl, it's unbelievable."
Jacobs, who still cherishes the Bart Starr uniform he received from his parents for his 11th birthday, lives next door to a transplanted Bears fan.
"He's got a twin boy and girl and every year we give them birthday presents and usually one is a Green Bay Packers item," Jacobs said. "The dad doesn't appreciate that too much, but we have to bring these kids up right if they are going to live in Wisconsin."
Fans' plans
Tension will no doubt run high when fans of both teams gather today at Coach's Sports Bar & Grill in Tony Romo's hometown of Burlington, Wis., near the Illinois-Wisconsin border.
"When the Packers score a touchdown, their fans get a free shot," said manager Lori Schultz, 51. "When the Bears score and their fans ask me where their shot is, I just hand them a straw and tell them to go to the urinal.
"We'll have free food at halftime: Bears stew. It's real bear. One of our customers shot a black bear. You can do that up here. It's all in good fun. Just because Bears fans are mentally challenged, we aren't going to pick on them."
A similar vibe is expected at the Hog's Nest Saloon in Kansasville, Wis.
"It's David and Goliath: The little town, Green Bay, against the big city, Chicago," said Hog's Nest owner Dean Larsen, 64. "If you are a Packers fan, it's bred into you not to like the Bears. The Bears are cheaters, no good."
At Chicago's famed Billy Goat Tavern under Michigan Avenue, Dale Nixon discussed his dislike of Packers fans between pulls on a longneck and bites of a "cheezborger."
"I can't stand 'em, and I have to deal with 'em at work all year long," said Nixon, 53, who lives in the Chicago suburb of Zion and is a refrigeration maintenance worker. "It's a bunch of adults wearing Cheeseheads. They live and die Packers because they got nothin' else up there. If the Bears lose, I'll never hear the end of it."
Nursing a cold glass of Schlitz draft, Adalbert Styczynski lamented how the rivalry isn't nearly as intense as it was during the days when George Halas heckled Packers tackled near the Bears sideline.
"There isn't the hatred there used to be," said Stycyznski, who said he's around 70. "In the old days, you wouldn't see anyone wearing Packers colors in Chicago. They'd hunt you down and harass you."
Measuring up
Packers Hall of Fame defensive end Willie Davis, a mainstay during the title-laden Vince Lombardi era, described games with the Bears in the 1960s as "full of hard hits, intensity and everything else you can imagine."
"The Bears had Dick Butkus and we had our Ray Nitschke, and we played those games like they were the most important of our life," Davis said.
But given what's at stake, he believes today's game will be just as intense.