Then it’s war! Then it’s war! Gather the forces! Round up the horses! It’s war!
— Rufus T. Firefly
******
Steelers-Ravens was Armageddon, and Patriots-Jets was Spy Gate and Foot Gate and power-yaps between Antonio Cromartie and Tom Brady, but the NFC Championship needs no metaphors or pageantry, because it is Bears-Packers, and that is enough.
For the second time in 90 years, the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers will meet in the postseason. Last time it was a divisional tiebreaker to determine the other spot in the NFL Championship. This time, it is the NFC Championship Game and a slot in Super Bowl XLV.
As the saying goes, "These two teams...
The Packers’s last NFC title game was January 2008, with hopes dashed in overtime when Brett Favre, coming off a surprise Last Dance season, threw a limp pass to Giants’ defender Corey Webster at Lambeau Field, setting up New York’s game-winning field goal. Their last Super Bowl appearance was the John Elway helicopter game; their last Super Bowl victory was a year earlier.
The Bears, of course, have not been to the playoffs since the 2006 season, when they bested the New Orleans Saints 39-14 at Soldier Field to advance to their first Super Bowl since 1985, which is, still, their last championship.
There’s a lot riding on this game for both teams, but nothing as great as the ultimate notch in smack talk rights. Perhaps we fans hold those notches a bit more dear…
…but so what? Let the players focus on schemes and film and What We’ve Got To Handle This Week, Men, To Get To Where We’re Trying To Go. Bears-Packers is for the fans, (and the players that know better), and next Sunday’s game will be, regardless of outcome, among the greatest sports fan experiences of my career.
It’s a game we’ve imagined all our lives. Every season the Bears were NFC contenders, we Bears fans thought: “Hey… you know what would be great? If the Packers could pick their game up, get playoff ready, and ride with us to the NFC Championship.” I’d imagine that when the Packers were ritualistically cremating us from 1994 to 1998, Pack fans thought the same.
“Yo Ric, Luke,” I might say, “wouldn’t that be something? Bears-Packers for all the NFC marbles?”
“Sure,” Ric would say, “but we’d have to do it at Soldier Field.”
“Oh of course,” I would say while Luke nodded furiously, “of course it would be at Soldier Field.”
...just don't like each other."
And wouldn’t you know it? It’s at Soldier Field! The dream is alive! If we win, we are victors in The Greatest Bears-Packers Game That Ever Was. Beating the Lakers in 1991 was not nearly as important as beating the Pistons, and I’ll bet when Red Sox fans daydream about 2004, their minds jump to the Yankees series, to Dave Roberts and David Ortiz and Curt Schilling and the rest of them, with the Cardinals a mere trace.
Losing to Seattle would have been brutal, losing to Atlanta no fun at all. But losing to Green Bay, while leaving us sad and anguished, comes with a full week of Bears-Packers celebration and memory recall. Believe me: by kickoff time Sunday, you will have heard stories about every relevant Bears-Packers game from Papa Bear to Charles Martin. And you won’t be bored. You won’t be bogged. Each nugget will add to your anticipation. Each discussion will enrich your enthusiasm.
And when the kicker’s foot strikes the ball to launch the game into existence, there will be no doubt: This is the championship. This is why we watch. This is why we root.
This, praise Sweetness, is why we love our Bears.
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Jack M Silverstein is a freelance writer covering music, sports, and community in Chicago. He has written his opinion column "On the John" for 11 years. Say hey at 
Well said, my good man! I once met a life-long Chicagoan who also was a Packers fan and never followed da Bears. This concept was so foreign even he could not explain how this bizarre phenomenon occurred. Way to capture the spirit and tension behind the upcoming game. Go Bears!