Predict the Score of the Packers-Bears Game and Win a $100 Visa Gift Card!

Or if you are lucky enough to come in second place, you'll receive a $50 gift card.

We know what your hearts say about Sunday's NFC Championship Game. But what is your head telling you? And which one will you rely on to make your choice in this week's Patch Prediction Contest? There are Visa gift cards at stake — $100 to the winner and $50 to the runner-up — so decide carefully. Visit the Comments section of your Patch home page, along the right side, and tell us what you think the final score will be. Your entry will be pitted against predictions from all 12 Milwaukee-area Patch communities, so study up. Do you believe the oddsmakers, who have installed the Packers as the favorite? Are you buying the words of one Illinois Patch editor, who thinks the Bears are divinely destined? Is Jay Cutler just a jerk who is going to …

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A Little Smack Talk between the Locals

What's a Packer/Bear game without a little friendly rivalry?

Green and gold, blue and orange -- the locals are ready for the challenge in Caledonia. For Steve Smith, his allegiance runs deep. He's been a bears fan and a Caledonia resident all of his life. He dares to wear his teams colors and takes all of the ribbing from his friends at Toppers Bar, 4507 Douglas Avenue. And he's confident in the Bears strategy on Sunday. But behind the bar, Smith's cohorts -- Greg, Jessica, and a guy who goes by the name, Tumbleweed -- throw down a little smack talk. They have a few choice words for Evergreen Park Illinois and those who visit the Evergreen Park Illinois Patch, which is the city the Caledonia Patch is partnered with for a little friendly smack talk exchange. Most assuredly, the group says, the …

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Editor's notebook

Three Cheers for being a Packer Community

Is it just me, or does this game just feel like it means a little more to us?

Doesn’t it feel good to root for the Packers? I mean, really good. At a time where we’ve all been affected by this rotten economy, which has started to feel like a long-term illness, it’s just good to hope for something other than a job or the bills to be paid. But as the Packers have become increasingly hope-worthy, I’ve noticed some things (an incurable problem my daughter loathes).  This NFC Championship seems like more than just a game, it's more like a unifying event. Our steps are a little lighter, our laughter a little louder, and our sense of community…well you get the picture. We unify around hope, a wanting of our fellow man to do well, and for them to represent Wisconsin in all its cheesehead glory. We come together as fans, but…

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Bears Fan Wins Patch's Packers Prediction Contest

Our winner is only person who said Green Bay would score more than 40 points vs. Falcons.

As far as the contestants in Patch's Packers Prediction Contest were concerned, there was no doubt that the Packers would beat the Atlanta Falcons on Saturday to advance to the NFC championship game. Of the nearly 130 people who entered the contest on Milwaukee and Racine-area Patch sites, 90 percent said Green Bay would prevail. But only one person dared to venture that the Packers would score more than 40 points in the game. And, as much as we hate to say it, he's a Bears fan. George Wang, owner of Waukesha Tattoo, predicted the Packers would beat the Falcons by a 41-17 score. Nobody else came close and Wang is getting a   $100 Visa gift card for his prognostication skills. The actual score of Saturday's game, for those who may have been…

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