It’s a dramatic scene as members of the Chicago Bears enter North Side nightclub Enclave, and a buzz crackles through the clubbers who’ve paid as much as $50 to party with the players at this fundraiser, held last weekend.
It helps that the pro athletes are backlit by a spotlight from a camcorder, illuminated by flashing cameras and brightened by what appear to be stars stitched into rookie Greg Olsen’s pants.
But the players — rolling in late, of course — immediately head to a downstairs bar (entry blocked by a security guard) and retreat to a VIP area (entry blocked by a velvet rope and another security guard).
Now, I’d figured that since the ads claimed that members of the Bears, Bulls and Cubs would “host” this event, they’d actually be hospitable.
But maybe I’m naive.
“We’re here to be around the players,” beams Chicago’s Martha Tovar, while the players are nowhere to be seen.
Bulls guard Chris Duhon is the exception; he actually hangs around the club like a real human being.
Of course, the athletes’ jerseys are here. Tovar sports an orange Devin Hester shirt. Her sisters Maria and Lupe Cortez each don blue Brian Urlacher models.
More Top Picks Best At Home Cardiac Risk Test Kits
We’d scheduled a brief interview with “host” Lance Briggs to discuss this fundraising event, but as midnight approached the linebacker had yet to deliver. The publicist said he is a perfectionist, which is a peculiar explanation for flaking on a two-minute interview.
Now, I’d think that a player who recently offended his fans by threatening to skip the season rather than receive $7.2 million as part of a contract he signed, a player who recently crashed his Lamborghini on the Edens, then ditched the vehicle, then lied about it to authorities, a player who is part of a struggling team getting badgered by fans and the media, would take advantage of an opportunity for good press.
But maybe I’m naive.