IU students 'Bear down' at sports bars

From the northwest suburbs of Chicago, junior Jon Beck has been a lifelong fan of the Chicago Bears. But he's too young to remember his beloved team defeating the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XX.\nOn Sunday, Beck was part of a group of IU students from the Chicago area on hand at Coach's Bar and Grill, 245 N. College Ave., to watch the Bears defeat the New Orleans Saints 39-14 to win the NFC Championship and earn a trip to the Super Bowl.\n"It's the greatest feeling in the world," Beck said about seeing the Bears winning a conference championship. "I'd give up my first-born for a Bears Super Bowl ring."\nThe group has come to Coach's a number of times throughout the season, and Beck said their trips to the watering hole have been good luck.\n"We're 6-0 here at Coach's, so we're going to keep the streak alive," he said. "And when we have a Super Bowl party, it's going to be here."\nA few Bears fans also took in the game a block away at Scotty's Brewhouse, 302 N. Walnut St. The fans celebrated a first-quarter fumble by Saints wide receiver Marques Colston that put the Bears in great field position.\n"Just listen -- if they score here this place is going to get loud," bar manager Matt Wattley said with the Bears on the Saints' 3-yard line. But the offense was unable to get the touchdown and had to settle for kicker Robbie Gould's first field goal of the game.\nTwin sisters Natalie and Emily McCart are first-year law-school students who enjoyed the game at Scotty's on Sunday.\n"I think Rex Grossman needs to earn his money," Emily said of the Bears quarterback after the field goal. "I don't care (that he's from Bloomington). I hope he comes back so I can tell him in person."\nThe McCarts were both not afraid to show their disapproval of the Bears' quarterback.\n"It's made me nervous all year," Natalie said of Grossman's play. "If they had a solid quarterback, there'd be no doubt in my mind they'd win the Super Bowl."\nFollowing Gould's third field goal of the game, putting the Bears up 9-0, Natalie McCart joked that Gould should make as much money as Grossman.\nBack at Coach's, Beck stood up for the embattled quarterback.\n"Robbie Gould was a construction worker six months ago," Beck said. "Rex Grossman had a couple bad games, but look at the score -- we're beating maybe the hottest team in the NFL."\nToward the end of the game, two fans wearing Indianapolis Colts apparel walked into the bar and were met by a round of "Colts suck" chants from the Bears fans.\nWith the Colts beating the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game, it should make for an interesting couple of weeks around campus, where there is a split between Bears and Colts fans.\n"Someone's going to die," Beck said. "There's going to be a fight. Tell any Colts fan I'd put Rex Grossman up against any Colts defense, and Thomas Jones-Cedric Benson is the best one-two back combination in the country. And (the Colts') linebacking core sucks. All you guys got is (safety) Bob Sanders."\nThe fans at Coach's were very confident in their teams' chances against Indianapolis.\n"If the Colts win, we will go streaking naked through campus," said IU junior Stu Lapping said. "That's a guarantee. The Coach's gameday staff will go streaking"