Week 1, Eagles at Packers
Firstly let me say this is a long one. I tested a few different formats but this seemed best.
The 50th Anniversary of Lambeau Field. Brett Favre equals the record for most games won as a QB. The Packers haven’t won a home opener since 2002.
So I thought I didn’t know where to start yesterday.....
How do you write about something that you have just experienced when for the last 18 years it was all you wanted to do? How do you do justice to your teenage memories, your 1991 Pro-Set card collection, the posters that used to be on your wall and the Zubaz hat that you took absolutely everywhere you went? (C’mon you remember Zubaz, don’t be shy.) I spent hours as a kid, by myself, throwing one of your footballs at a trash can while my mates at a park nearby would kick one of our footballs and talk amongst themselves. I’d (aka Don Majkowski) roll-out, avoid the rush and side arm as best as I could to a receiver (bin with Sterling Sharpe’s #84 scribbled on to it) that was in double coverage (under a tree cause it was usually really hot) and get the first down with less than a minute to go on a pass that threaded the needle (missed the bin again).
I’d throw the ball up just enough that I could sneak underneath and in front of it. I’d take the catch at head height, arms extended, looking backwards over my left shoulder and always drag my second foot to make sure I stayed in bounds.
I’d punt the ball straight up in the air, catch it (usually drop it) and then run for half a field side stepping imaginary defenders. I was good, let me tell you (not really).
Am I ringing any bells?
I ran the 40 just shy of about 6 minutes and my vertical leap was barely vertical at all. Did I think that one-day, somehow, I’d be plucked from that little park in Perth by a scout lurking in the bushes to play College Football and be drafted into the Pro’s? Of course I did. Didn’t we all? I sat the SAT’s at the US Consulate General in Perth when I was 17 just in case. Seriously.
Living outside of a 10,000 mile radius of Lambeau Field and without the Internet I barely got any Packers at all. What we got in Australia, when we were lucky, was Raiders gear, Redskins and Cowboys gear, the occasional Broncos gear and a whole lot of number 16’s made famous by one Joe Montana. I wore every single piece of anything I could get my hands on. I’d have traded it all for one Packers shirt but I couldn’t so I made do with what I had. I wore my fake Dan Marino jersey to school for Phys Ed. My Redskins and 49ers shorts wherever I could and my grey Raiders shirt was almost, at one point, the only shirt I wore. So long as people knew I liked the NFL that was all that mattered. A coffee shop owner, on spotting my shorts one day told me of the time he had been to Candlestick Park to see the Niner’s play. Not only did I think he was the coolest person on the planet but he was wearing Reeboks too. Was he the luckiest man alive? To me he was. Before I left he gave me the program he had for the game. I kept it safe for something like 3 years before I cut every single picture out, intricately I might add, to create a collage of epic proportions.
To get some of my first Packers gear I wrote a letter to the pro-shop and had them send me a catalogue. By memory it took about 6 weeks to arrive. At the time I was collecting trolleys at the supermarket to make a little weekend cash. I managed to spend everything I had on everything I wanted. A satin “Starter” brand, letterman styled jacket. A hat, foam football and a pair of socks. There were some pictures of Lambeau, the locker rooms and the front office included in the package. I was hot. Mainly because I never took the jacket or socks off but that’s another story.
Either way, my question is quite simple. When something has been out of reach for so long, what do you do? What do you do when you’re walking through the car park with a ticket in-hand, about to cry your eyes out, smelling Brats, in a brand new Packers t-shirt ready to walk into a stadium that has never been more than a picture in a book or a field on the TV?
Morning - Running Late, TV and Tailgating
I’ve often said both on this site and to the people we are lucky enough to meet that this adventure isn’t just about football. It’s as much about our family, the way we travel together, the things we do and the people with whom we do them.
This morning we were trying to update the site, read the emails that were coming through as a result of the day before and get ready for the bus with two infants. In other words, despite the occasion, there wasn’t a great deal of time to stop and reflect on what was actually happening today.
We did everything we could do to get ready as quickly as possible for our 9:00 ride to Lambeau. Everything that is, except get there on time. (Hi family, see, nothing’s changed.) A couple of minutes late and we’d missed the bus. In an extremely lucky break it so happened that the hotel shuttle was about 10 seconds away from leaving for Lambeau and there were plenty of seats available. We took our ride and got there with plenty of time to spare.
We met with Fox11 to film the story that you may have seen last night and then it was onto the car park to tail gate. Now if I’ve said this once I’ve said it a million times. The people we met out there were fantastic. We had a ball cruising around talking to the different people we met along the way. If you were one of them and you’re reading this, we’d like to say a big thank you for making our day as memorable as it was.
Today is a milestone not just because it was our first game at Lambeau. We had our first Brat, Brat with Kraut and some of the freshest Salmon we’ve ever eaten straight out of Lake Michigan. Had we have taken all of the food we were offered we’d still be eating it now. Had we have taken all of the beer we were offered we could have opened our own liquor store. Everybody was so generous, so happy and so excited that football was back. The colours, the music and the crazy outfits some of these people were wearing; I don’t need to tell you, makes going to a Packers game unique to every other team in the world. It was simply incredible to be a part of that for the first time.
The only drawback to the game was that, thanks to our not checking first, we couldn’t take the boys in on our tickets. At home this is a no brainer, the adults get the tickets and the under 3’s go on their laps. Not being able to take them in and fearing how Ben may react to being left with a complete stranger Kelly took them home and left me to see the game by myself. Whilst most guys reading this wouldn’t see a problem here this was a big problem for me. Kelly and I have been together since we were teenagers. She has known about my support for the team since day one. Heck, it’s only thanks to her that I was here at all. Whilst absolutely stoked to be there I walked into the atrium, had no idea where I was going, looked at everything around and wished she was there for the experience as well.
Game Time - Sensory Overload
How many times in the one stadium can one person get lost? I can’t answer that ‘cause I stopped keeping count. Suffice to say I eventually found our seats. All wrong turns, wrong ways and false alarms behind me, i was inside the bowl of one of the most hallowed football grounds in the world. So many people that I had spoken to during the week had told me that there isn’t a bad seat in Lambeau and they are dead right. I was 3 rows from falling out the back of the stadium, diagonal to the end zone and the view was fantastic.
My first impression was that it was alot smaller than I had imagined. The field was definitely narrower than I thought it would be. Perhaps that was because the seating seems to start right on-top of the sidelines. Forget the history and the stories behind this ground, if Lambeau isn’t the best, most intimate venue to watch any code of football then I want to see the one that’s better. I won’t talk too much about the game because I only saw about half of it I would say. For the most part, as said in my title, it was sensory overload. They say that there is only one first time and I agree with that whole heartedly. When this one place, one team is the one thing you have wanted to see for more than half of your life, your eyes, your ears and everything else starts to play tricks on you.
I became quite retrospective to be honest.
Firstly, I couldn’t believe I was actually there. I still don’t believe that the first game has even come let alone gone. I took in the sights and sounds of absolutely everything I could. The green and gold crowd, the jerseys, the tunnel and the most fantastic scoreboard I have ever seen. I stared at the shape of the bowl, took note of the paint colours on the railings and the massive, most perfect “G” sitting right there on the halfway line. I listened to what people had to say and the music that was playing all whilst trying to move onto the next thing for fear of missing something. I stared at the players on the sideline, the coaches, trainers, chain gang and officials. I’m writing quickly because for the whole time there I was thinking quickly. Perhaps that’s why it’s taken me two days to collect my thoughts. There’s not a thing I didn’t notice at that ground today which is why my head is still spinning. Did you know that at some stands Lemonade is more expensive than beer?
The way the game finished couldn’t have been written better had I have tried to do so myself. It’s funny you know, in his press conference after the game, Brett commented on equalling John Elway’s all time win record by saying that individuals shouldn’t be measured that way in a team game and I think he’s right. Football, as with most other things in life, requires the assistance or support of a number of people. That game today was the perfect example of a team win. An Offence that despite everybody’s barbs still put us into position to kick 2 field goals. Great Defense to limit the Eagles scoring and of course the Special Teams Unit who played and scored the way they did.
The Wrap-up
They had to usher me out the door in the end.
I guess the one good thing to being there on my own was that I was the master of my own destiny. The game had finished but I sat in my seat and watched every other person there leave before I did. I wanted to see it empty like I was the only one there. Turns out that that’s when the collectors come out of the woodwork and start picking up everything that you left behind. Souvenir popcorn cups, collecter’s beer cups, Lambeau Field plastic cups and discarded ponchos seemed very high on the list.
As I filed out of the tunnel and into the concrete walkways I walked around and around and around. It was the best way for me to soak it all up. Like I said before, by this time of the day, I could not believe that the game had even started let alone finished.
I guess, to describe it as best I can, I can only say that being at Lambeau for the first time went by in the blink of an eye. It was like my Disneyland. If I could have bought a 5-day hopper to re-enter whenever I liked I think i would have. In fact, I think I’d still be there now that being the case.
I said to Kelly when I got home that I’m glad we’re here for more than one game ‘cause you need more than one game to take it all in.
We’re off to NY to see the Giants game next week and with any luck the reception should be just the same. Fingers crossed i say with a smile. GO PACK GO. (I only just learned that for the first time today).
What an amazing experience. Until next week.....Wayne.
