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Beautiful snow...
I love reading the sports writers as they try to capture the atmosphere of magic that comes with a good game -- especially when that atmosphere extends beyond the players on the field.
Lambeau field is quickly becoming the landmark field in the NFL. There is a lot of factors that tie into that, not the least of which is the history of team. I think, though, what drives the love for the field today is the fact that's it's perceived as representing football in its pure form: in the elements, without politics, without egos, where the people in the stands are so valued and trusted the players jump up into them in celebration. When you're at Lambeau, you -- be you player or fan -- are perceived as being there for the love of the game.
Sure, every team has its fans -- those who love their team and their sport just for the sheer joy of that love. Are Packer fans the best there are? I'm way to prejudiced to say. But the fact that the team carries the same name it started out with, is owned by shareholders who get nothing from holding the shares, plays on the same parcel of ground that it began on, shuns artificial turf and the concept of a covered stadium in spite of it's "frozen north" location, has a waiting list for season tickets that will take 40+ years to get through, and does this all based in a town of only 100,000... all that makes the Packers a rarity in this disposable "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" fan culture.
And that joy of the game was certainly evident as the game went as, as Grant was allowed to play and rectify his early fumbles and as the snow piled up. It was a joy that wasn't lost on the sports writers.
Quotes from sports writers that made me smile:
Favre acted out a sort of NFL fantasy, running loose like a kid in a Lambeau Field snow globe, oblivious to the weather, to pursuing defenders, to the pressure of the moment.
*****
The first time Ryan Grant touched the ball, he fumbled. The third time Grant touched the ball, he fumbled.
The fourth time he touched the ball, the Lambeau Field-record crowd of 72,168 held its breath.
Little did they know, the Green Bay Packers were in good hands.
*****
If there were any lingering doubts that the Pack was back, that the Lambeau Field mystique was alive and well, that this remote NFL outpost can be a beautiful place in January, well . . .
The Green Bay Packers buried them, along with the Seattle Seahawks, under a blanket of snow and an avalanche of big plays Saturday.
Could it possibly have been more fun? A blowout victory in whiteout snow squalls in an NFC divisional playoff game. For the Packers and 72,168 revved-up spectators - the most ever to see a game in Lambeau - it was the perfect storm.
*****
the snowy weather got worse as the game went on and Lambeau Field looked like a white abyss
*****
Snow began lightly before game time, and picked up in intensity during the second and third quarters, just as the home team did. The numbers on the players' jerseys, yard lines, on the field and occasionally, even the field itself, became only a rumor from the press box. Workers with snow shovels tried valiantly to keep the yard lines and sidelines cleared and visible, but couldn't keep up with the storm until the snow began to abate, as if on cue, in the fourth quarter.
*****
And it's not only the sportswriters and fans who love it:
"That was crazy weather out there. That was Packer weather," Hasselbeck said. "It was fun. It was fun playing out there in the snow. It obviouslys stinks we lost, but we were talking on the sidelines, it's kind of what you grow up doing as a kid — a snowstorm like that, there's no school, you're out there in your front yard playing with all your friends. That's what it felt like."
*****
“I’ve been hoping for that for 17 years,” Favre said of the conditions. “I watched the weather all day and I was like, ‘Just give us one of those big snow games.’ I wanted to play where you couldn’t see the field and the snow plow comes out, and it keeps getting worse and worse. Winning sure makes it easier, and you can kind of enjoy it.”
Oh, yeah. It's good to be a Packer fan.
Lambeau field is quickly becoming the landmark field in the NFL. There is a lot of factors that tie into that, not the least of which is the history of team. I think, though, what drives the love for the field today is the fact that's it's perceived as representing football in its pure form: in the elements, without politics, without egos, where the people in the stands are so valued and trusted the players jump up into them in celebration. When you're at Lambeau, you -- be you player or fan -- are perceived as being there for the love of the game.
Sure, every team has its fans -- those who love their team and their sport just for the sheer joy of that love. Are Packer fans the best there are? I'm way to prejudiced to say. But the fact that the team carries the same name it started out with, is owned by shareholders who get nothing from holding the shares, plays on the same parcel of ground that it began on, shuns artificial turf and the concept of a covered stadium in spite of it's "frozen north" location, has a waiting list for season tickets that will take 40+ years to get through, and does this all based in a town of only 100,000... all that makes the Packers a rarity in this disposable "what-have-you-done-for-me-lately" fan culture.
And that joy of the game was certainly evident as the game went as, as Grant was allowed to play and rectify his early fumbles and as the snow piled up. It was a joy that wasn't lost on the sports writers.
Quotes from sports writers that made me smile:
Favre acted out a sort of NFL fantasy, running loose like a kid in a Lambeau Field snow globe, oblivious to the weather, to pursuing defenders, to the pressure of the moment.
*****
The first time Ryan Grant touched the ball, he fumbled. The third time Grant touched the ball, he fumbled.
The fourth time he touched the ball, the Lambeau Field-record crowd of 72,168 held its breath.
Little did they know, the Green Bay Packers were in good hands.
*****
If there were any lingering doubts that the Pack was back, that the Lambeau Field mystique was alive and well, that this remote NFL outpost can be a beautiful place in January, well . . .
The Green Bay Packers buried them, along with the Seattle Seahawks, under a blanket of snow and an avalanche of big plays Saturday.
Could it possibly have been more fun? A blowout victory in whiteout snow squalls in an NFC divisional playoff game. For the Packers and 72,168 revved-up spectators - the most ever to see a game in Lambeau - it was the perfect storm.
*****
the snowy weather got worse as the game went on and Lambeau Field looked like a white abyss
*****
Snow began lightly before game time, and picked up in intensity during the second and third quarters, just as the home team did. The numbers on the players' jerseys, yard lines, on the field and occasionally, even the field itself, became only a rumor from the press box. Workers with snow shovels tried valiantly to keep the yard lines and sidelines cleared and visible, but couldn't keep up with the storm until the snow began to abate, as if on cue, in the fourth quarter.
*****
And it's not only the sportswriters and fans who love it:
"That was crazy weather out there. That was Packer weather," Hasselbeck said. "It was fun. It was fun playing out there in the snow. It obviouslys stinks we lost, but we were talking on the sidelines, it's kind of what you grow up doing as a kid — a snowstorm like that, there's no school, you're out there in your front yard playing with all your friends. That's what it felt like."
*****
“I’ve been hoping for that for 17 years,” Favre said of the conditions. “I watched the weather all day and I was like, ‘Just give us one of those big snow games.’ I wanted to play where you couldn’t see the field and the snow plow comes out, and it keeps getting worse and worse. Winning sure makes it easier, and you can kind of enjoy it.”
Oh, yeah. It's good to be a Packer fan.