'City stands still'
Avitia: We lose a lot of couples during Bears games. The majority of business we get during games is from the older crowd or the kids. I would say we lose about 25 percent of our business during Bears games, and it picks up as soon as the game is over.
It's noon Sunday, and Chicago is abuzz with families shopping, taking in movies or attending religious services.
Except ...
Firemen conduct their daily drills and prepare their equipment early Sunday afternoon.
Except ...
Emergency-room doctors race against the clock in battles of life and death. It's Sunday afternoon, and Chicago's pulse quickens.
Except, that is, during most Sunday afternoons between mid-September and January.
''The city stands still during Bears games,'' said the Rev. Dominic Grassi of St. Gertrude in Edgewater.
When the Bears host the San Francisco 49ers today, the city won't grind to a halt completely, but the change of pace is noticeable.
''For some strange reason, the city slows itself down during Bears games,'' said Jose Santiago, the Chicago Fire Department's District 1 chief.
The Cubs and White Sox command the city's attention during the summer, but warm-weather sports compete with outdoor activities. Even hard-core baseball fans -- and there aren't a ton of those in this city -- are tempted by the lakefront, parks and neighborhood fests during the warm days.
The Blackhawks have become irrelevant during the fall and winter, and the Bulls are trying to rekindle some magic, but they aren't quite there yet.
There is no doubt Chicago is a Bears town. The loyalty is intense, win or lose. But when the team is as good as the current 6-0 squad is, it seems the entire city becomes a captive audience.
Here are a few examples:
On game day, everybody always fears the alarm's going to come in. But for some strange reason, the city stands still. It really does.
Guys look forward to the games. They get their stuff taken care of before the games start.
The first thing you do in the firehouse is to check the tools and apparatus. There's a list of things you have to do. We do all of our own maintenance and cleaning, and there's a certain amount of drills we have to do and classes we have to hold. There are a ton of inspections. Luckily, most of the games are Sundays, so that does cut down on some of the inspections.
But on Sundays, we can go out and drill because the city has a tendency to slow down on its own with less traffic. But we try to get all of that done before the game. We work all the way up to game time, and then everybody comes running in with their snacks ready. It's funny to see.
And near the end of close games, everybody's standing up, looking at the game clock and the alarm. If the alarm goes off, it's like, ''How can they do that to us?''
But as soon as the game is over, it seems everybody who was floating in the air in the city during the game falls down and hits their head, and we get calls and everybody goes running out the door.
Of course, if the bell rings during a game, it's over with. We turn away and respond as quickly as possible. But it's kind of funny because on the way back from a call, you'll see guys breaking out the radios to listen to the end of the game.
You do see a drop-off in attendance for the 11:30 (mass) when the Bears are playing. It's amazing how the city stops for the Bears.
I would like to say the parishioners come to the earlier services, but I can't say that. I think some people do come earlier.
It's great to have this city come together for something like the Bears. We live in such a fractured society, and the Bears give us hope.
There's a weird combination of enthusiasm and fatalism that is so Chicago. Everybody is saying, ''The Bears are playing great, but when is the bubble going to burst?'' It's like in the first quarter (on Oct. 16) against Arizona, people thought it was all over.
The Bears are a great example of the need to have faith and not just give up when things are a little out of reach.
When I used to do baptisms at my former parish, I would do them all individually on Sunday afternoons. It would be backed up until 1 p.m. Some of the parishioners would say, ''Father, you must not like football.''
I love football. But I confess that I do have trouble watching the entire game because I get so nervous. I switch channels.
But Lovie Smith stays so cool and keeps his players together, the city is rallying behind them.
I went to a big emergency-medicine convention a couple of weeks ago in New York City, and they studied what happens during major sporting events like the World Series and Super Bowl. They showed a significant decrease in men visiting the emergency departments during that time period. They just wait until they have to go.
I did my training at the University of Michigan, and there's no doubt there's a decrease there during football games. It's ridiculously slow until the game ends.
And it does feel like there's a dip here during Bears games, although it's not as noticeable (as it is in Ann Arbor). We always have a decrease in visitors to the emergency room on Sundays; it's our slowest day.
I definitely will try to catch up on the scores on the Internet. We only have one TV in the emergency department, and it's in the waiting room. A lot of triage nurses will try to get a glimpse of the game during their breaks. If someone says there's a huge touchdown, we'll go look at the replay.
We're definitely Bears fans.