Tavern splits down the middle, literally, for Bears-Packers

Remember when Bobby and Peter split their room in two during a rare fight in the Brady Bunch house?

Now, replace the fight between the television brothers with the Bears-Packers rivalry, and switch their room with a tavern.

For Al Anderson and Joe Fisher, owners of the Limerick Bar and Grill in Antioch, the rivalry that will play out on the gridiron this weekend will literally split their tavern in two as well.

While there may not be a masking tape line down the center of the bar on Taft Drive in Antioch, there will definitely be a dividing line between Fisher and Anderson.

You see, Fisher is a die-hard Bears fan, and Anderson is a die-hard Packers fan.

Half the bar will be decorated in honor of Anderson’s Packers; the other half will be an homage to Fisher’s Bears.

“I’m the smart one because I’m the Packer fan,” Anderson said. “He’s a dummy.”

The business partners of five years said the Bear-Packer rivalry is hitting a new high this week, as the winning team is going to the Super Bowl.

And, because the small tavern is right on the state line, fans of both teams come in to sit on their respective sides of the bar and root on their “home” team.

“In the past, it’s been crazy in here during the Bear-Packer games,” Fisher said. “And, with this game being for the championship, I expect it to really be out of control.”

“I make customers walk through Bear Country to go to the bathroom,” Fisher said, laughing. “I never have to go through the Packer side if I don’t want to.”

Either way, for them — and for many tavern owners on the border that have been struggling through a sluggish economy — the Bears-Packers game for the championship is like granting them a second Super Bowl.

“We all have good fun with the rivalry here,” Anderson said while preparing to board a plane to come back here from Florida for Sunday’s game. “It’s one of those games where anything can happen. The Packers are a better team, in my own opinion, but one bad play and the game could go either way.”