I traveled to Lambeau Field to watch the Green Bay Packers play, Sunday.
The Packers are reigning World Champions. They're undefeated at 6-0. To say Packers are hot is an understatement... Atten-dance on Sunday was nearly 71,000. There were people all along South Ridge Road holding signs saying "Need Tickets!"
I can't afford such luxuries as Packer tickets. I received them from a family friend. They were almost too valuable to accept, but the opportunity to visit Lambeau with Derek was too good to pass up. The day was mostly sunny and beautiful for October. The temperature was around 60. There was a crazy, swirling wind, but it was buffered by the stadium.
This was the ninth Packer game I've attended. I've seen six preseason games - one game at County Stadium in Milwaukee, three games at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison and two games at Lambeau. The two regular season games I've attended, including Sunday, were both against the Rams. The Packers have won both times. I was lucky enough to see a playoff game during the 1996 Super Bowl XXXI season when Green Bay beat the 49ers.
Sunday's game was the best of them all, because it was Derek's first regular season game and he is old enough to enjoy it.
It was a well-rounded game to watch. Aaron Rodgers threw for three touchdowns. The TD pass from Rodgers to Jordy Nelson - a 93 yarder - took place right in front of us. The Packers had three sacks and an interception. My favorite Packer, Donald Driver, caught a touchdown pass.
While all Packer fans know that Green Bay won 24-3, Sunday, here are some observations about the game that you can only make by being there:
-- Getting into the stadium early is a must due to security checks. Looking out the Packer Pro Shop windows, it appeared there were 10,000 people waiting to walk through the gates 30 minutes before game time on the southeast side of the stadium.
-- When the defense was announced, the crowd cheered the loudest for B.J. Raji, Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson. By a slim margin Woodson received the largest ovation.
-- When the four F-16 Falcons flew over the stadium as the national anthem concluded, it was an spectacle that shook one's body and soul. It's almost indescribable.
-- There were people wearing Green Bay Packer jerseys of all types. There were the ACME Packer throwback jerseys - which the team wore during the game - and countless jerseys of past and present Packers. Rodgers' jerseys were in the majority.
I saw people wearing jerseys of former Packers such as Don Beebe, Chuck Cecil, Aaron Kampman and Frank Winters - and a whole host of jerseys from the 1960s Packer championship teams. What I didn't see, not once in walking through thousands of fans, was a Brett Favre jersey.
-- While standing on the on the second level concourse at Lambeau Field you can constantly feel the stadium move through your feet.
-- A 20 oz. bottle of water at Lambeau Field costs $3.75. The best buy of the day in the Packer's Pro shop was a specially-made pin that included both the Rams' and Packers' logos and the date, "October 16, 2011" - it cost $4.95.
-- I didn't see a single recklessly inebriated fan. I didn't hear any obscene language.
-- The Packers forced the Rams into false starts a number of times - thanks largely to fan noise.
-- Despite the three TD lead, Packer fans stayed in the stadium until the end of the game.
-- Bumper-to-bumper traffic, along with a stop for dinner, made the trip home more than six hours long. The most interesting spectacle in the gridlock was watching a man in a silver Mustang, who was trimming his beard with a scissors on the Interstate, while he drove. That, in itself, was worth two hours of laughs.
-- Sharing the legacy of being a Green Bay Packer fan with your family and friends is absolutely priceless. The day was fantastic.
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