Me and my brother Steve, Christmas 1997
Anyway, here are 5 things you should know (and I just recently learned) about the Green Bay Packers (GBP):
1. GBP are one of the oldest teams in the NFL (est. 1919).
2. Green Bay is the smallest city in the US with an NFL team (pop. ~104,000).
2. Green Bay is the smallest city in the US with an NFL team (pop. ~104,000).
3. GBP are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States. Yes, that's right. The fans who buy season tickets are partial shareholders in the team (hence, the GBP are The People's Team). Training camp is open to the public, and the team has contributed to the building of a number of parks and community structures around town (including a playground at the Sanctuary I wrote about earlier).
4. Historic Lambeau Field (aptly located at 1265 Lombardi Avenue, named after legendary Coach Vince Lombardi) opened in 1957 at it's present location under the name "City Stadium" after a move from the downtown location near the current site of East High School. Lambeau currently holds 80,735 fans- which is the largest venue in the State of Wisconsin and second largest NFL stadium in the US (#1 is MetLife Stadium in the great State of New Jersey with 82,566 seats, home of the NY Jets and Giants).
5. GBP have won 13 league championships (more than any other team in the NFL). Hence, the nickname for Green Bay...Titletown.
Needless to say, I was pretty excited when I scored some free tickets to a pre-season game after only a few days in town. I was in our new State Farm agent's office to get policies moved over and we were talking football. I told her I was no stranger to college football, but I had never been to an NFL game. She said, "Would you like to go to a Packers game?" Um, yeah, of course! She promptly went to her car and brought in a pair of season tickets for the August 28th game against the Kansas City Chiefs! She said she would be out-of-town during the game and would like us to use her tickets. The only rule? Don't get kicked out of the stadium, because a season ticket holder will be banned for life for misbehavior! Apparently they don't mess around.
As the day approached, I was disappointed to learn that we were expecting rain for the Thursday evening game, and pretty heavy storms at that. The game started at 6 PM CST, so that at least gave us the chance to get part of the game in before the heavy rain was expected.
We decided to drive toward the Lambeau Field and park in a residential neighborhood to walk the rest of the way. Our idea ended up working perfectly- easy in, easy out. As we walked, homeowners were standing out in their driveways with flags and signs for parking in their driveways and on their front lawns. It was funny to see the neighborly competition, and of course the parking fees increased as we reached the field ($8, 10, 15). We found our seats easily in the corner end zone about halfway up. From inside, Lambeau looks a lot like the Beaver Stadium bowl in State College (complete with bleacher benches rather than seats), except only one upper level of seats at Lambeau. They make up for this with the huge number of multi-level boxes around the other upper level of the stadium.
Most of the attendees were families and older folks, so it was a really friendly atmosphere (not what I imagined for an NFL game). A number of local people participated in the game- from carrying the water jug out to the bench (it was empty), to waving the flag on the field to welcome the team, to delivering the game ball, to running out to grab the tee after the first kickoff. The Star-Spangled Banner was complete with fireworks. We even did the polka to celebrate Wisconsin heritage after the third quarter (made me think of the Hokie Pokie at VT). They actually had signs posted all over saying that you could report misconduct issues via text message, so they must do a good job of keeping everyone on their best behavior. Granted, it was "only" a pre-season game. I have heard the strongest rivalries are with our neighbors the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears (da Bears).
The weather even held out for us! It rained for about 10-15 minutes at the end of the third quarter, and then promptly stopped again until much later in the night. It turned out to be a really nice night- we definitely lucked out. To top it off, Green Bay won the game (34-14) and I got to see former Penn Staters Andrew Quarless (Packers) and Tamba Hali (Chiefs) on the field. Looks like we found another college town with a football problem. Go Pack GO!
P.S.- Happy Birthday, Mom!
We decided to drive toward the Lambeau Field and park in a residential neighborhood to walk the rest of the way. Our idea ended up working perfectly- easy in, easy out. As we walked, homeowners were standing out in their driveways with flags and signs for parking in their driveways and on their front lawns. It was funny to see the neighborly competition, and of course the parking fees increased as we reached the field ($8, 10, 15). We found our seats easily in the corner end zone about halfway up. From inside, Lambeau looks a lot like the Beaver Stadium bowl in State College (complete with bleacher benches rather than seats), except only one upper level of seats at Lambeau. They make up for this with the huge number of multi-level boxes around the other upper level of the stadium.
Most of the attendees were families and older folks, so it was a really friendly atmosphere (not what I imagined for an NFL game). A number of local people participated in the game- from carrying the water jug out to the bench (it was empty), to waving the flag on the field to welcome the team, to delivering the game ball, to running out to grab the tee after the first kickoff. The Star-Spangled Banner was complete with fireworks. We even did the polka to celebrate Wisconsin heritage after the third quarter (made me think of the Hokie Pokie at VT). They actually had signs posted all over saying that you could report misconduct issues via text message, so they must do a good job of keeping everyone on their best behavior. Granted, it was "only" a pre-season game. I have heard the strongest rivalries are with our neighbors the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears (da Bears).
The weather even held out for us! It rained for about 10-15 minutes at the end of the third quarter, and then promptly stopped again until much later in the night. It turned out to be a really nice night- we definitely lucked out. To top it off, Green Bay won the game (34-14) and I got to see former Penn Staters Andrew Quarless (Packers) and Tamba Hali (Chiefs) on the field. Looks like we found another college town with a football problem. Go Pack GO!
P.S.- Happy Birthday, Mom!
Sounds like a fun team. And I love the old photo!
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