Proud To Be a Sports Fan!

I was thinking about it and I’m so proud to be a Wisconsin sports fan right now, especially since both the Packers and Brewers won for the second Sunday in a row!

As Sunday football returns to Wisconsin, it seems our nation's favorite pastime hasn't slipped by just yet in Milwaukee. On opening day I was sitting on cloud nine. I plopped down at the bar directly in front of the big screen to watch the Packers game and discovered that BBC was also playing the Brewers game on the 30-inch TV right above!

For the first time in a long time the Brewers are in a pennant race while the Packers kickoff their season. I don’t remember EVER watching the Packers and Brewers simultaneously, which made Sunday tricky as I had to keep my head on swivel – but I’m not complaining!

This is something new for Milwaukeeans. Now that the Brewers are relevant, it’s the first time we have had to divide our time between both teams when normally at this time of year we have checked out of baseball all together.

Even though I’m still following the Brewers just as closely as I was earlier in the season, I can’t help but be equally devoted to, but a little more enthralled with, football and more importantly the Packers.

As a long-time Packers fan, I remember regularly watching the games with my dad on Sunday afternoons – probably still in my footed pajamas and my dad in the same Packers sweatshirt he wore every gameday for luck. From the start of the pre-game show to the end of the post-game recap, my dad would sit down in his oversized, leather recliner with his feet propped up on the ottoman while cheering and yelling, well, mostly yelling, at the TV – this was his ritual and I always wanted to be a part of it. Soon my Sundays revolved around football and here I am today, 24 and still obsessed with Brett Favre and the Green Bay Packers.

Throughout the duration of the Packers season my friends and I will be heading to local sports bars to join fellow Milwaukee area cheeseheads as they cheer on the Green and Gold. Just about every establishment in our fair city boasts some of the elements that make for a great Packers bar – plasma TVs, drink specials, mullets, Zubaz, pennants and framed Brett Favre jerseys – so on opening day we kicked off our “Packer Bar Tour” at the BBC followed by the Hi-Hat Garage last Sunday.

While watching their first two games I started thinking about the roller-coaster ride the Packers have been on for awhile now.

After failing to make the playoffs for the second straight year and ending the 2006 NFL season with an 8-8 record, I’m hoping Favre can lead the Pack to victory this season. At least for now I might have to eat my words since Favre looked pretty darn good during their opener against the Eagles and again against the Giants.

Since their surprising start I have remained pretty optimistic, yet I can’t help wondering where the season will take them.

What do you think their record will be for the 2007 season? I'll safely bet that the Packers will stand at 9-7 in the end. Do you agree?

I doubt they’ll be Super Bowl bound, but I can’t be certain – the Bears made it to Super Bowl XLI with Rex Grossman as their QB. At the same time, I’m sure the Packers will end this season with a winning record for two reasons: after canning Mike Sherman and hiring Mike McCarthy as their head coach, 1) the Packers improved from 4-12 the previous year to a .500 win average in 2006. 2) The Pack ended that season with a tie record, so they can’t get worse, right?

Presently the Packers are on top of their game and the Brewers continue to push for a spot in the playoffs. If this continues, not only will I have playoff tickets for two games at Miller Park, but a great list of bars where I can watch Packers football games next season.

Packers photographs are from packers.com

Comments

[sarah]

This is the first year that I've followed baseball. I was not religiously, but yes, I totally jumped on the bandwagon. The fans and the excitement just pulled me in. Now that football started, I'm really excited. I guess what I'm getting at is that I've always wonder how sports have the ability to bring cities and people together. That comradeship is like no other. Packers 11-5

[Amanda]

I've been a long-time Brewers and Packers fan also. I don't foresee the Packers reaching the Super Bowl nor the Brewers getting into the playoffs even though that would be ideal. But the fact is both are still building their team. If the Brewers keep their current roster, next year they will certainly make the playoffs. No question. And since the Packers football team is built from rookies, maybe in a few years once they get a groove, the will get somewhere - then again, at that point they probably won't have Favre... For now, I'll agree with Karen on the 9-7 record this season.

[mark]

I have three tickets to this Sunday's game. Anyone want them? I'm bad luck and might ruin their good start...

[Karen]

I would take your tickets but I'd probably curse them as well. (I have a black cat that passes me daily, so I probably have nine years of bad luck or something). I've been to a dozen Brewers games this season and I'm pretty sure they lost all of them… I’m a plague.

[david]

If I'm not mistaken, both the Giants and Eagles have a losing record, but i think the Chargers might give them a run for their money.

[david]

oh, i forgot to say that I agree with the 9-7 record as well. Sure they're starting out great, but the Packers have always been plagued with injuries...

[danny from milwaukee]

The Brewers will win 86 games and take the NL Central when the Cubs remember they're the Cubs. The Brewers will win 10 games. Them's my predictions.

[Amanda]

Way to be optimistic, danny boy! We should start rallying!