Bill Swerski ' s Superfans Bill Swerski ' s Superfans was a recurring sketch about Chicago sports fan s on the American sketch comedy program " Saturday Night Live " . It was a prominent feature from 1991 – 1992 , and its characters have made various other appearances since its inception . Sketch history . 1990 - 1997 . The sketch typically depicts a television program wherein a group of Chicago sports fans obsessively discuss any topic at hand , usually the Chicago Bears football team . It first appeared on January 12 , 1991 starring Joe Mantegna as the show ' s host Bill Swerski , along with Chris Farley as Todd O ' Connor , Mike Myers as Pat Arnold , and Robert Smigel as Carl Wollarski . Subsequent sketches starred George Wendt as Bill ' s brother Bob , with occasional appearances by Beth Cahill as Bob ' s daughter Denise . John Goodman played Pat Arnold upon Myers ' departure from SNL ; the change in Pat Arnold ' s appearance was attributed to " massive weight gain . " Mantegna ' s absence was invariably explained away by Wendt , saying his " brudder Bill " had just " had anudder heart attack . " Smigel originally wrote the sketch for the improvisational comedy show " Happy Happy Good Show " . Under the name " Chicago Superfans , " it was performed in Chicago during the summer of 1988 . The inspiration for the characters were radio hosts in Chicago during the 1970s and 1980s . The name " Bill Swerski " was likely derived from Bill Jauss , the moderator of the WGN radio panel show " The Sportswriters " ( 1975 – 1993 ) , and from WGN radio and WGN - TV sportscaster Chuck Swirsky . The characters were typically shown in Mike Ditka ' s sports bar , drinking large amounts of beer , smoking , and gorging themselves on ribs , Polish sausage , and similar foods . All of the characters wore dark sunglasses and thick mustaches to resemble Ditka , the popular coach of the Chicago Bears at the time , and who was the idol of all the Superfans . In addition to discussing Ditka and the Bears , another frequent topic of discussion was the Chicago Bulls basketball team , and their star player , Michael Jordan , who were winning their first three NBA Championships at the time . Both Ditka and Jordan would make appearances ( playing themselves ) in episodes of the sketch . SNL alumni Dan Aykroyd also appeared on the sketch as Todd ' s cousin , Irwin Mainway , who originated in the Consumer Probe and On the Spot sketches . Early sketches had posters in the background with the call letters WBBM , the CBS O & O TV , AM and FM stations in Chicago , though later sketches changed the call letters to WCBM . The group would discuss upcoming sporting events and inevitably predict a huge victory for the Chicago team , using an exaggerated Chicago accent ( a variety of Inland Northern American English ) , normally culminating in a uniform toast to " Da Bearss " and " Da Bullss " . Their predictions were likewise exaggerated and their topics of conversation often ludicrous . Typical debates involved Mike Ditka versus a hurricane ( in this particular debate , the Superfans believed that Ditka could defeat the hurricane , until it was revealed that the name of the hurricane was Hurricane Ditka , at which point Todd O ' Connor had a heart attack out of confusion ) ; who would win in a competition for World Domination – " Da Bearss " or " Da Bullss " ; Mike Ditka winning the Indianapolis 500 driving the Bears ' team bus ; or how many points Michael Jordan could score if he played an entire game by himself while lounging in a recliner . One episode asked the outcome of the Bulls / Pistons game where Todd said the Bulls would win 402 - 0 — but Jordan would be held to under 200 points . Todd usually predicted shutouts . During another episode , he predicted that the Bears would defeat the New York Giants by a score of 79 - 0 , claiming that " the Bears ' defense is like a wall . You can ' t go t ' rough it . " Pat once predicted the Bears would win their game by a score of 31 to negative - 7 . When asked how a team could end up with negative points , Pat replied , " Ditka ' ll find a way . " He then asked oddsmaker Danny Sheridan , played by Kevin Nealon , who he ' d take in matchup between Ditka and the Giants , to which Nealon ' s character replied , " I ' d take the Giants by 800 . " One episode featured a " Jeopardy ! " - like game show , pre - empting the Bearless , and therefore unimportant , Super Bowl , starring Bob Swerski as host and the other Superfans as contestants . All the questions dealt with the Chicago Bears , Chicago , or Mike Ditka . The Final Jeopardy ! question was " Bears vs . Bulls , " which produced hilarious responses from the contestants . The correct answer was revealed to be that such a match - up would tear the fabric of the space - time continuum and destroy the planet , meaning the United Nations would have to step in prior to the match to prevent the mass destruction . The characters appeared in nine episodes in two years . With Ditka ' s departure from the Bears in 1993 and significant cast changes on SNL , the sketch and characters all but disappeared . They did , however , make a special appearance at the celebration of the Chicago Bulls ' 1991 - 1993 " Three - peat " championship victory . The NBC television network interrupted daytime television to broadcast the short speeches made by the Superfans . Bob Swerski and Carl Wollarski also made a special appearance during Michael Jordan ' s original jersey retirement ceremony at the United Center in 1994 . The final sketch ( actually a taped segment narrated by Bill Kurtis , obstinately a TV documentary piece ) featuring the original Superfans was on October 25 , 1997 in an episode hosted by Farley . This featured the second appearance by their idol Mike Ditka ( he had appeared on an episode of SNL after his firing by the Bears ) ; although , he was at the time coaching the New Orleans Saints , which resulted in a schism amongst the Superfans ( Carl had taken up with the Saints , Bob had moved to Jackson , Tennessee - halfway between Chicago and New Orleans - and Todd believed it was 1986 and had a heart attack if told otherwise ) . Farley ' s death two months later seemed to preclude the possibility of future Superfan sketches . Later appearances and fame . In 2003 , Bart Swerski ( Bob ' s nephew , played by Horatio Sanz ) was introduced on a " Weekend Update " segment with his uncle , discussing the recent playoff failure of the Chicago Cubs . Instead of referring to the team as " Da Cubs , " Bart said " De Cubs , " but it was learned that this was due to a speech impediment . This same year , sports journalist Jay Mariotti decried the negative reactions of Chicago Cubs fans to the Steve Bartman incident , which went as far as sending Bartman and his family death threats , and commented that they were making Cubs fans look like " those mopes from the Superfans skits on " Saturday Night Live " . " ( The Superfans themselves could be considered part of that group : Bart Swerski claimed during the " Update " segment that the desire to exact retribution on Bartman had united the people of Chicago as never before , and Uncle Bob said he arrived late because he had been at church , praying for divine assistance in hunting him down . ) In 2006 , George Wendt returned in Superfan garb alongside Ditka for a sketch prior to Super Bowl XL . In a 2007 SNL sketch , Donatella Versace said to David and Victoria Beckham , " If you guys were a football team , you would be Da Bores . " The episode aired the night before Super Bowl XLI , in which the Indianapolis Colts beat the Chicago Bears . Following the Bears ' loss , the Superfans Bill Swerski , Bob Swerski , and Carl Wollarski returned in a TV commercial for Reebok , alongside Colts kicker Adam Vinatieri ; this was the first time the Swerski brothers appeared together . A variety of Superfan - themed fan sites also sprung up during this time , including DaSuperfans . com , which gained significant media attention in Chicago and beyond . In November 2008 , ESPN ran a segment featuring Bill Swerski discussing Mike Ditka ' s possible run for an Illinois Senate seat in 2004 , as Ditka ' s would - be opponent , Barack Obama , had just been elected President . On September 11 , 2011 , ESPN ran a segment featuring Bill Swerski discussing Chicago Bears Quarterback Jay Cutler and his image after the 2010 NFC Championship game . The GEICO gecko performed an impersonation of the Superfans in a March 2012 commercial ( complete with " Da Bears " ) , in which the gecko , who is in Chicago , demonstrates his efforts to make his cockney accent more understandable to the populace . In a March 2012 episode of SNL , Andy Samberg , posing as Sarah Palin , who is usually played by Tina Fey , as he was being told to drop the act by Weekend Update host Seth Meyers , called out randomly , " Da Bears ! " In 2012 Old Navy introduced a commercial with the Superfans including coach Mike Ditka