Monday, February 13, 2006

Bear fan survives trip to Packerland

This past Saturday I had the pleasure and pain of attending the Frozen Tundra Hockey Classic at Lambeau Field in Green Bay where the outdoor hockey found the Badgers taking on the Buckeyes. While it certainly was a hometown crowd, everyone seemed to simply be happy to be at such a unique event and there was no visible animosity towards the Buckeyes. The crowd was mostly Badger red, although there were more than enough fans in Packer blaze orange (some with their hunting tags still attached). I had always heard that the look of Lambeau at times resembles a collective mass of hunters that have stumbled out of their shacks simply to consume mass amounts of beer and sit on a freezing aluminum bench. Its tailgating at its finest. Having been to Soldier(s) Field in my life and having many friends that have season tickets, I know tailgating at its finest. So throughout my visit to the Packer Kingdom I was asked what I thought of the stadium and the experience in general. I was mostly polite -- I respect the fact that they are an old franchise and still have an outdoor field, I respect the fact that up until a few years ago the place was an old dump (as was SoldierS Field), and in general I respect teams with loyal fans. With all those polite remarks aside, I hope that place burns to the ground, and said as much later in the evening when asked again. I don't want anybody to get hurt, I just want the franchise to become so sad and depressed that the Packers lose every game for the remainder of my natural life, and the lives of any children I may eventually have. The Bears are in my heart and blood for the long haul and Brett 'Interception' Favre can just drift into retirement unless he wants to be forced there by Brian Urlacher. I used to be polite about things like this but life is too short to politely watch people waste their lives on a loser. I owe it to humanity to tap all on the shoulder that decide to follow such a dim and fading light. Those poor souls. I hate frats for a variety of reasons and once had a friend in one. I was polite and opted for the road of 'hey, if it makes you happy, that's cool -- you're my friend.' She ended up being not that nice of a friend in the end (I don't talk to her anymore) and dearly regret not throwing in my two cents about how she bought her friends. I may have saved her had I intervened. I cannot abide as these drunken hunters walk deeper and deeper into a pit of despair following a guiding light of nothingness. I only regret that my desire to hurt that large inanimate structure is tempered by my need to also injure the Wrigley Field Beer Garden/Yuppie Palace. I'm so confused (and mature) about these things that nothing of consequence will ever get done. I joke, I joke. I live in this state and have to take the fact that I have not been beaten up while wearing my Bears shirt as a gift from the good people of Wisconsin. I ought to be mature and polite about these things, but I can still see Jim McMahon being body slammed 20 years ago.

Outdoor hockey is great, hanging out in Green Bay is plenty of fun, and everyone at the stadium was so nice to a covert Bear fan that I guess we'll call it a truce till next fall. I've traveled throughout Wisconsin quite a bit but never hung out in Green Bay so it was nice to check out a new part of the state. Green Bay was fun, but the Bears are still #1. (Rhyme unintended, bitterness intended).

2 comments:

Scott said...

Man! that post kinda scared me!

Anonymous said...

Chris, how could you have passed up an opportunity to get a taste of the Kroll's? Apparently they also opened a location in what they are calling the south loop...17th and michigan....

http://www.krollswest.com