Go Pack Go!

My semi-lifelong love affair with the Packers-but-really-Brett-Favre began many years ago.  And, I'll be honest--I strayed a bit when Favre started becoming the Circus Traveling Quarterback.  But, I love a good game and I love a good rivalry, so tonight's game between the Packer and Vikings (AT Lambeau, as if it's even going to be a game) has my full attention tonight.

Other things holding my attention:

-- Yoga sequencing
-- Friends that are in other states
-- Gatsby
-- California
-- Wondering when the next time I'll be able to sleep in might be....

Some Superbowl XLV observations

1. Delighted that Lea Michelle decided to wear clothes. Apparently there weren't any magazine spreads nearby for her to sprawl naked on and then be all "What'd I do? What? Oh...I'm sorry....I had no idea I'm a mentor to young, impressionable girls...I won't do it again. Wait, Cosmo called? Sweet!"

2. Christina Aguilera. Really? Yeah, the words to the National Anthem are really more of a suggestion anyway.

3. See that number? That's the number of TOUCHDOWNS my boys currently have. See that same number? That's the number of POINTS those silly Steelers have.

Brett Favre is a Jet

Huh.

I guess I can like the Jets. This is very weird. I love Favre, and I love the Packers. Can my loyalties split? I guess so. At least I can now go on hating the Vikings. And I'd rather he go to the Jets than the Bucs.

The Jets.

"I'm a Jets fan."

I guess that's okay. Gonna have to be!

A smile on my face courtesy of people who understand.

I've expressed my adoration for Michael Perry before and probably will several times again this calendar year. I checked in on his blog because I haven't been there in awhile and found his tribute (well, it's sort of a tribute) to Brett Favre. It's posted on March 14...fyi since his blog doesn't allow individual link postings. His response, for the lazy, is as follows:


I love the game of football. Loved playing it (in large part for the sanctioned violence, which I still recall with unapologetic fondness), loved watching it. Then about 2-3 years ago, the afternoon that Randy Moss rubbed his butt on the field goal post, I just got tired of it. Didn’t storm off or write letters to the editor or anything, but just got weary with the idea that I should burn time watching petulant millionaires act like asses in a time of war. Or something like that. I never really polished it into a speech or anything. And so I just quit watching. But I absolutely got drawn back in by the run this year. Only saw a handful of the games, but I truly enjoyed watching Favre in there. I’m benevolently cynical about this stuff (if one can be such a thing) but he just struck me as a feller who has come to understand himself and his place, and became more likable in the process. Sports are irrelevant. Having said that, we have been very fortunate to have a guy that good in place for that long. Perhaps I can put it best with an overwhelming understatement: He was fun to watch.
But yes. From the governor right down to the guy at the end of the bar, everyone has released a statement, and the statement is: We Are Sad.

Amen, Michael. Amen.

He also linked to a woman who described (much like I did here) her conversion from "normal person" to "Packer backer." She owns a cheese bra.

In a time when I feel like no one in the world understands me one bit, and few people give two shits about me, it's really nice to know that there are, out in the world, people who are like me. Who I can listen to, or read in this case, and nod and say "Yes. That's exactly what I was thinking."

The legend steps down

Favre has decided to retire.

In January of 1997, my friend Meredith Manners called me up and begged me to come to Eau Claire, WI for the weekend. We'd barhop (I was nervous at the prospect since I didn't turn 21 until June of 1997) and hang out and go to a bar to watch the Superbowl. Because I would have chewed off my right arm to have the opportunity to hang with Meredith for the weekend, I agreed to go, even to watch football.

We showed up at some random bar in Eau Claire to watch the game. When we walked in, I was stunned by the crowd. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE, was dressed in Packer gear from head to toe. No wives or children had been dragged along by their husbands. No one was just there to have a drink. If you were in that room, you were a Packer fan.

The drinks flowed freely, no one cared that I was 20. When they found out where I was from--Minnesota--everyone in that room made it their mission to have me walk out of that bar a Packer fan. And, what can I say? They succeeded.

I became a Packer fan.

For eleven years I've stood by my team and its figurehead, Brett Favre. I've watched him win and lose, get pissed off and laugh himself silly. I've watched his passion wane and rally. I've worn my Packer clothing on win days and loss days. I've taken verbal beatings, had drinks thrown at me, been booed...it's tough being a Packer fan in Minnesota. But, I love Brett Favre. And I love his (former) team.

I think he made the right decision. His reasons are sound enough for me, and I'm not sorry that he's done. I'm sad, I'll miss him, but he's going out a Champion and that's exactly what he should do.

*shudder*

My poor, poor Packers. Was Eli Manning even born when Favre began to play pro ball? Nah, not bitter. They won fair and square. Though I hate that kicker.

We'll get 'em next year. With Brett.

Golden Globes, a minor slip, school, and the Packers

So I'm sitting here watching the "Golden Globes". I'm not sure why. A part of me thinks that this might be a much better way to do the awards...the other part of me misses the glitz and the glam.

I went for thirteen days (actually 12 days, 19 hours, 11 minutes and 34 seconds, according to my quitplan tracker) without even one drag off of a cigarette. Then I decided to take a trip back through memory lane via email folders and went back to a message I sent Greg two years ago tonight. Nothing special, just a report on how conferences went (actually, *after* conferences, with the drinking and the singing and the drinking and the singing) and I grabbed a smoke. Just like that. Because yes, I still have half a pack stashed away. It's part of my quitting plan. And it's working, see, because I had three drags off the thing and then tossed it. I didn't go out and buy a whole pack and then carry the obligation of needing to smoke the whole damn thing and then stop smoking after that.

I think slip-ups will occur from time to time. I'm not going to kill myself over it--most of the smoking I did in the last two years was either with Greg or because of him, so it's pretty natural that an email communication would draw it out of me.

I start biology in nineteen hours and fifteen minutes. See the new blog (Death Becomes Her) for frequent updates on all of my mania in that department.

And hey, guess what? The Packers are going to play at home next weekend! No silly Dallas curse, no "Brett has never won in Dallas," absolutely none of it.

The light at the end of the tunnel

After a week of bad work, of crazy-busyness, of bad eating and too much time spent with people, today was the day I'd been waiting for. Actually, three particular hours were what I was waiting for: the border-battle between the Packers and the Vikings. I don't know that even the most die-hard Vikings fan actually thought they might beat the then 7-and-1 Packers, but even I could not have predicted the bounty of goodness that fell down from the skies at Lambeau Field today.

A shut out. 34 to Zero. My two favorite announcer quotes:

"It doesn't look like the Vikings have any intention of scoring any points today."

and

"This Packer defense is protecting their shutout."

Erica and I went to dinner at Chanti Grill and then to Target and Barnes and Noble, where at least one person in each place spoke to me about the game. The Vikings fans were walking around dazed and silent...the Packer fan who was the hostess at Chanti Grill grinned gleefully at me as she said "we fuckin' hammered them!"

It's always a great day in Packerland. Today, however, is an extraordinary day.

GO PACK GO!

Well, last night's game between the Packers and the Vikings wasn't pretty, but a win is a win, right? The Vikings are out of playoff contention, the Pack is still in. For the moment.

Besides basking in the beauty and wonder that is Brett Favre today, I'd also like to take a moment to point out an example of the difference between Packer Fans and Viking Fans. A few weeks ago, Brad Johnson, aged QB for the Vikings, was throwing really shitty-like. Yeah, that's a technical term. The Vikings fans booed him. Whipped out their booing stance and yelled at the guy! In contrast, last night Favre, beloved QB for the Packers, was also throwing really shitty-like. Did the Lambeau fans boo? They did not. They began a rousing, enthusiastic battle cry of "Go! Pack! Go!" in order to inspire, rather than belittle, the leader of the team. The result? The Packers won the game. Favre had little to do with their win, true, but when one member of a team is booed, the whole team hears it. The environment turns negative. Last night the Pack kept the atmostphere positive even in the face of a loss.

Quite simply, Packer fans rule. Merry Christmas.

Bill Simmons and the Pack

Bill Simmons is an espn.com guy who details his trip to Lambeau Field here (after a bunch of business about Miller Field and baseball. Snore.)

It brought me back, man, brought me right back. I love Lambeau and I need to go back ASAP. Tailgating, freezing temps, jerseys everywhere, the wave, the Lambeau cheer, the Lambeau leap, the women's restroom (which is without question the most luxurious restroom I've ever been in....Lambeau loves their women), the burgers, the beer, the numb ass for the next 24 hours until the thaw, I could go on and on.

Read Simmons's column and then buy tickets to Lambeau and invite me along. Please.

Day 3 of the "how much can this girl take" marathon

Today was our last day to prepare for classes on Monday. Word spread pretty quickly in the morning that the school wasn't going to be open over the weekend because (unconfirmed) the head custodian had to mow his lawn on Saturday and (confirmed) "the teachers have had all summer to get their stuff done." All summer. Indeed.

But, I did get a lot done today and brought home quite a bit to work on tonight. The principal didn't know that the school was going to be closed and as soon as he found out he made arrangements to have it open from 8am-4pm. If I haven't said so before, I adore my principal. He's a liberal sort who lets teachers have a large amount of freedom with how we run our classrooms and our curriculum. He believes in us and compliments us when he sees us doing the right thing. I think a lot of times he gets stressed out by the whole idea that lots of people who work with him either at the district or in the school believe that he should have a firmer hand on us, like a boss over its employees, but he believes that happy teachers make for happy students and he does as much as he can within his control to help us out.

He's also a Packer fan, so really we're practically family.

Classes begin in 62 hours.

I need a drink.