Pumped Up & Inked UP

Being a Bears fan is a job Bill Hallowell takes pretty seriously. "I've been a Bears fan for a long, long time," he says. This fanatic fan's had orange and blue in his blood since the 1950s. At 70-years-old he's seen the Bears bag not one, but two championships and he's got a plan to make sure he sees them make three. "I've seen all this advertisement for the Super Bowl," Hallowell says, "and I thought I just ought to get me a Bears' logo." Deciding where to put it was the easy part. His favorite team... right over his heart. "I said i'm either going to have it on my chest or my back," Hallowell says, "and he said my back was too wrinkly." It's pain this Bear buff is proud to endure, but, as it turns out, he's not the only one. Tattoo artists at Vision World in Urbana say people all over town are getting Bear-branded with the trademark tattoo. "I've done three in the last week week-and-a-half," says Ray Hughes, owner of the tattoo shop. " This will be the fourth." Hallowell says he's hoping his Bears' body art will bring a little luck on game-day. "I hope this brings em around," Hallowell says. "I hope Rex sees this and thinks, oh I gotta do something." Still, win or lose, this die-hard won't hide his permanent pride on Super Bowl sunday. The retiree will be bare-chested for the big Bears' game. Hallowell says, "Even if they don't want to see it they're going to see it. I'll probably be the only guy sitting there during the ball game with my shirt off."