2006 Bears will rule in Zimbabwe

The Bears lost Super Bowl XLI, but in Zimbabwe, T-shirts and hats soon will appear proclaiming the Bears the winners.

The NFL donated the 288 ''Super Bowl champion Bears'' shirts and caps that were waiting on the sideline Sunday in Miami -- destined to adorn Bears players and personnel if the team had beaten the Indianapolis Colts -- to a charity that guarantees to send them far, far away.

In the past, ''champion'' merchandise produced in advance for what turned out to be the Super Bowl loser has been shipped to Sierra Leone, Uganda and Romania.

''There are about 25 countries we have permission to send the shirts to, and it looks like the probable location this year is Zimbabwe,'' said Karen Kartes, a spokeswoman for World Vision, a charity best known for its late-night infomercials seeking sponsors for poor children.

The Super Bowl merchandise is part of a larger program in which World Vision takes donated and overstocked goods and confiscated counterfeit clothing and distributes them in more than 100 countries.

This year, Kartes said, the charity also got Seattle Seahawks divisional playoff winner gear and New Orleans Saints NFC champion apparel. Both teams lost those games to the Bears.

''It makes me feel better that somebody will get those Seahawks shirts,'' said Kartes, a Seattle fan. ''At least somebody will appreciate us.''

agolab@suntimes.com