By Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com Published Jan 03, 2009 at 2:25 PM

The Packers have miffed their chances of participating in the play-offs this season, but that doesn't make the forthcoming Super Bowl any less exciting for football fans (well, maybe a little.)

Even if you favorite team is largely absent during this year's sports event to end all sports events, the mega-game on Sunday, Feb.1 will still be fun to watch, what with all the clever commercials, parties, drink specials and snacks.

The Bomb Shelter, 1517 S. 2nd St., is making sure Milwaukeeans celebrate appropriately with its Super Bowl Chili Cookoff Contest on Super Bowl Sunday.

It's simple: Whip up a batch of your ultimate game time chili and bring enough to share with your fellow bar flies on Feb. 1.

The Bomb Shelter is giving away prizes for first, second and third place, including a quarter barrel party, bar tabs and more.

Get cookin', Milwaukee.

Julie Lawrence Special to OnMilwaukee.com

OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.

As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”