Byline: Jill Jedlowski Daily Herald Staff Writer
While football fans out east are stocking up on face paint and foam fingers, Bonnie Briggs has basketball on the brain.
Without a football team vying for a ring - again - this year, Sunday's big game means little to Briggs as manager of Sports Fan apparel store in Wheaton. Rather, she thrives on the success of Chicago teams or nearby colleges.
After the Bears finished the season with five wins and the Packers exited in the first round of the playoffs, Briggs quickly switched gears to root for the next team with potential for supplying slam-dunk sales: da Bulls. Because when a local team has a spectacular season, so, too, do sports stores.
'When it's a local team that does well, it's not just a particular player that's popular. It's the whole team,' Briggs said. 'People are crazy for it.
'They want the stuff before it's out of the boxes.'
For example, when the Cubs made it to the National League Championship Series in 2003, sales skyrocketed.
It helps a little, though, that a Chicago-area native is playing in the Super Bowl. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb, who grew up in South suburban Dolton, has sold a few jerseys at the store. Nationwide, the hottest-selling jerseys are, in order: Ben Roethlisberger, Michael Vick, Terrell Owens, McNabb and Warren Sapp, according to a list of top-selling jerseys from NFL Properties. New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady ranks No. 7.
But in these parts, it's pretty much Bears or bust. Since 1986, there's been plenty of busting.
'People around here just don't care about those two teams (Philadelphia and New England),' said the manager of Finish Line in Westfield Shoppingtown Fox Valley in Aurora. 'We've got Bears and Packers fans, and that's about it.'
MC Sports in Wheaton carries apparel only for local pro teams, including Green Bay. So without one of our own in the big game, jersey sales have virtually flat-lined, said Associate Manager Nick Novak.
Briggs and other sports apparel suppliers are focusing energy - and prayers - on Bulls and Illini basketball.
If all else fails, there are always the loyal, eternally optimistic Cubs fans.
'They're die-hard. They buy stuff no matter what,' Briggs said. 'With them, it's constant.'
