November 24, 2011

• Tim, the Die-Hard Packers Fan

  I was going to make a good post tonight but time got away from me with church and then American Horror Story and then this show about the Spear of Destiny.  Anyway I got thinking of tomorrow and the highlight isn’t the meal or being with my family it’s the Packers.  I feel so fortunate to be watching the Packers play at such a high level.  For the first half of my life we often called them the Slackers because they weren’t the best.  They’d barely get in the playoffs but unlike most fanbases, we still cheered them on and sold out every single game.  I’m not old enough to know Bart Starr or Ray Nitsche.  I remember Tim Harris pulling out the six shooters, Jeff Query’s horrible mullet, Don Majikowski being the magic man, Sterling Sharpe’s tiptoeing the line catches, Reggie White being Reggie White, Travis Jervey’s braces, Gilbert Brown eating ribs, Gilbert Brown having Burger King sell his burger which was a triple Whopper, Gilbert Brown digging graves, and Brett Favre.  I know who caught Brett Favre’s first completed pass well if you don’t count the interception his first completed pass was to himself.  In the 31 seasons of my life, the Packers have only had 8 losing seasons and have won 2 Super Bowls.  This organization is amazing.  First, it’s the only publicly owned team in all sports.  The organization sells stock and for a hundred bucks you become part owner of the Packers.  Also, they are so consistent at every position on the field.  When one star player departed, another was ready to fill his shoes.  Take the receiving corps.  When Antonio Freeman left, the Packers put Javon Walker into that role and then when Walker left Greg Jennings took over.  The Packers also have unselfish players.  This season has just been so unbelievable.  None of this can really sum up what it’s like to be a Packers fan or why one is a fan.  I think you’d have to live in Wisconsin.  We’re the little guys.  Green Bay has the smallest population of any NFL city.  The Packers are larger than life.  The players, and it doesn’t matter which player, is treated like royalty.  When Gilbert Brown and LeRoy Butler come to town for their charities, the red carpets are rolled out and people come from miles around just for glimpses of men who donned the green and gold.  Nothing can compare to the history, present hype, and the aura of the Green Bay Packers.

   Here’s a poem I found a few years ago.
  

  5 ticks left in the Super Bowl, the Pack they trailed by one.
  The ball marked near the fifty.
  Favre warmed up his gun.
  And in the other end zone a man rose to his feet.
  Tim the Die-Hard-Packer-Fan, knew this was destiny.
  Shirtless, painted green and gold from his forehead to his heiny.
  The smile slowly left his face.
  He said, “Someone hold my Leiny”.
  He wet his finger, felt the air.
  A headwind turned their way.
  “Favre”, he thought, “He’s got the gun, but he needs our help, ya hey?”
  He lumbered down the steps.
  His mission now was clear.
  Neutralize the headwind, or wait another year.
  And as he stepped onto the field, security stopped him short.
  They asked him who he was, he said “I’m Tim, I’m from up Nort.”
  “Whereabouts,” they fired back.
  “Sheboygan,” he revealed.
  “Whadda ya catch?”
  He said “Mostly pike”
  They let him on the field.
  As Favre barked out the signals, Tim chugged a giant beer.
  And then another, and one after that, as tension filled the air.
  The ball was snapped, a route was run, Favre unleashed the ball.
  Never had there been a spiral, so clean and far and tall.
  And then it hit the headwind and started coming back.
  Tim felt a rumble in his gut, now was time to act.
  The burp came out so long and hard, the Yukon felt a breeze.
  A tidal wave of beer and brats and half a wheel of cheese.
  The blimp was lost for 7 days, skybox glass was shattered.
  An Oshkosh woman lost her teeth. 
  Tim’s stomach left in tatters.
  But the pass came down, the catch was made, and just before Tim died.
  He was heard to say “The Pack are Back Oh For Cry Ay Ay”
  His headstone reads, “Tim gave his life. Never did he wince.
  He tailgates high above old Lambeau, grilling brats with Vince”.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  Green Bay Packers football…there really is nothing else like it.
  

  • 6:11 PM
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