By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
For the record, the Chicago Bears own a 93-89-6 advantage in the all-time series record against the Green Bay Packers.
But since 1994, the Packers have gone 30-11 against the Bears.
And in a wicked dose of irony, 1994 was the same year I moved from Chicago to Wisconsin.
Since “living abroad” I’ve witnessed lousy Lambeau Leaps, goofy plastic cheeseheads, and that retched “the Bears Still Suck” polka song.
I yearn for the glory days of Ditka and the Fridge every time these longtime rivals hook up.
It’s all the only consolation I have left.
This painful journey began my freshman year at Elkhorn High School, where during my tenure between 1994 and 1998, the Bears went 0-8 against Green Bay.
That’s right, not one stinking win in high school.
For those eight weeks following losses, I imagined finding a bunker and eating cold ravioli out of a can until things blew over. Instead, I chose to face a firing squad of unrelenting students and faculty.
The Halloween game of ’94 was especially difficult. I helplessly sat in front of a TV watching Farve torch the Bears’ defense while he did a ridiculous steering-wheel pantomime in monsoon-like conditions at Soldier Field.
Later, I had seats in the north end zone at Soldier Field for the game in 1997 when the Bears scored a late touchdown to draw to within 24-23.
Needing just an extra point kick to tie, the artist formally known as Bears’ head coach Dave Wannstedt went for two and drew up a play that was doomed from the start to preserve the winless streak.
By 1998, I walked across the stage at graduation in the old Elkhorn gym mumbling 0 for 8!
I finally witnessed my first Bears victory on foreign soil during my freshman year of college in 1999 when Bryan Robinson’s blocked field goal in the final seconds preserved a 14-13 triumph at Lambeau. I’ll never forget jumping off the coach at my parents’ house yelling “We finally got one.”
But the glory didn’t last long.
I graduated college with the Packers winning eight of nine games. To make matters worse, I married a Packer fan with Packer fan in-laws.
And you thought high school was rough.
I did get a few “take that” moments in the next few years, including a 26-0 win at Lambeau during the Bears Super Bowl season of 2006.
But just as I began to thump my chest, Aaron Rodgers came to power.
Since then, my misery has grown exponentially.
In January of 2011, Rodgers and his shoe-string tackle of Brian Urlacher ruined my winter with an NFC championship victory on the painted dirt of Solider Field.
That following morning, I had co-workers, including a vice president no less, lined up at my desk at work salivating at my arrival. Needless to say, that was the low-point in my 20 years in Wisconsin.
Although, a blown assignment in the Bears’ secondary that led to Rodgers’ game-winning touchdown pass in last year’s regular season finale that propelled Green Bay into the playoffs was a close second.
As for my marriage to a Packer fan, it lasted seven years before we called it quits (no we didn’t divorce over football). I’ve since re-married a Cowboys’ fan, which has made life easier.
I’m predicting my fortunes will improve this Sunday with a Bears 31-27 victory.
I’ll never learn will I?
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