Originally posted: January 24, 2007
The silence of the fans
At first I thought reports that a Bears fan was spotted around Soldier Field Sunday holding up a sign reading "Bears, finishing what Katrina started" had to be an inflammatory urban legend.
No sports fan could possibly be vile and insensitive enough to invoke an ongoing tragedy of the dimensions of Hurricane Katrina -- more than 1,200 dead; tens of thousands or more still displaced --to taunt residents of New Orleans. Other fans would have immediately ripped the sign away from him.
Now this picture is making its way around (variations found on several news sites; this one was taken by Saints fan Michael Bayham, see note below) and -- barring the possibility that digital-photo tricksters have been hard at work boosting printed eyewitness accounts -- the sickening truth seems undeniable.
What interests me is not so much that one guy was disgusting enough to carry such a sign around, but that no Bears fan who encountered him had the common decency to shame him out of it or wrestle it from him and tear it into pieces.
Dude, why taint this season, this team, with your sick joke? We are so much better than this, so much above this.
If we can't find this knucklehead and get ask him to issue a major apology on camera, Mayor Daley needs to apologize express deep regrets on behalf of the rest of us.
UPDATE: This note from Michael Bayham, who identifies himself as the Saints fan who took the above photo: "Unfortunately I had to leave the game early due to threats against me by a Bears fan sitting in front of me...I was also told by that same person that it was too bad I did not drown. Upon leaving the game, I saw a Bears fan throw his beer at a New Orleans TV reporter and then shove him. The next day I was told to ---- off while riding an escalator on the El for wearing a Saints hat. Needless to say, this past Sunday would have been a rough one for Saints fans even if we had won."
My reply to him: I'm really sorry this happened to you. These sorts of acts don't reflect the character of the Chicagoans I've met in living in the city for 27 years and anyone who participated in this kind of fan abuse owes their apologies. The only excuse I've read in the comment below that isn't flat out insane is that hard-core fans of most teams behave this way in the heat of the moment; that Bears fans in New Orleans would have endured similar abuse if the Saints had had home-field advantage. While this may be true, is the least mature, least persuasive excuse in the elementary-school student playbook: "Waaaaa! They do it too!" How about setting an example? How about striving to have Bears fans be known for their class and sportsmanship rather than their cruelty and boorishness? If someone cursed you out the day after the game is beyond belief. Grace in defeat can be difficult, but grace in victory, heck, that ought to be easy.
