My Green Bay Game Day

A heavy rain fell on Lambeau Field several
hours before the game. 10/3/2021 dwm photo

  Thirty minutes before kick-off I felt a few drops of rain.  It was forecast to fall during the next three hours and the physical reminder sent me to a small Packer Pro Shop in the concourse to buy ponchos.

  $28 later, I had three hand-sized packages holding three precisely folded Packer ponchos.  Better safe than sorry, I slid mine on walking back to our seats.  I didn't feel another drop all game, so the ponchos were worth it.  On the drive home later that night we drove through heavy rain, which slowed us a little but no harm done.

  We parked at St. Mark Lutheran, getting the second to last available space, then walked two blocks to the corner of Lombardi Avenue and Oneida Street.

Three hours before kick-off the streets were alive and neighborhoods bustling with pre-game parties and fans absorbing the excitement that builds before the game.

Inside Johnsonville's Tailgate
Village to grab a brat.
10/3/2021 (dwm)

We crossed the parking lot to visit the Johnsonville Tailgate Village.  It sits in a lot filled with fans tailgating, while inside more than a thousand people alternately crowd around the live band at one end of the 13,000 square foot building.  

At the other end is a gigantic food stand with 10 lines stretched in front of the aluminum counter where sausages are served.  A short distance through a shoulder-to-shoulder crowd is a huge bar crowned with large screen televisions showing early games while the folks huddled around the bar rail ordered another Miller Lite.

Lombardi (near left)
and Lambeau in an
epic standoff pose
for pictures. 10/3/21
dwm photo

 We stood outside to eat our brats and decide what to do before the gates opened allowing people inside the stadium bowl.  Because Lambeau Field holds up to 81,441 fanatics, the doors open two hours before the kick.

 I've never been much of a tailgater.  When my dad took me to baseball games, I wanted to get inside, find my seat and watch batting practice or the field being prepared for play.

 My son follows in those footsteps, so we walked past founder and coach Curly Lambeau and the iconic coach Lombardi who famously disliked each other but were the largest figures in Packer history who didn't make a difference on the gridiron.  Yes, Lambeau was a coach in the early days of the team (1919 - 1929), but his name is famous for his role starting the team and becoming a player-coach in 1929 before retiring to the sideline for the next twenty years.

Lining up. 10/3/21  (dwm)

The line outside the Miller Lite gate moved steadily passing us through the security screen before the usher scanned our e-tickets and allowed us inside.

Most of the seats in Lambeau amount to 20 inches of an aluminum bleacher.  There is less room in the winter when fans wear more layers.  That's bad news if you sit at either end of the seat because if everyone sits there is no room for you.

Individual units warm up
before the game. (dwm)

 Different players or units venture on to the field before the game in shorts for drills or final instructions.  

 The specialists who punt, kick, or snap to the punter or kicker stand apart from the rest of the players as they test wind patterns and ball flight from different places on the field.  It's in these moments that the kicker decides what the limit is for a game-winning kick if it becomes necessary.

There is no sense of order to the untrained eye but without explanation it's obvious the various rituals come with a high sense of purpose.

Rodgers warms up before the
game. 10/3/21 (dwm)

As ticket prices went up through the years, there are more season ticket holders choosing to sell off a game or two to recover some of their investment to purchase tickets for the games they attend.  

Unfortunately, sellers aren't particular letting the ticket go to the highest bidder, which is why you find sizeable number of opposing fans in the seats at Lambeau despite team selling out every game since 1960.  I'd estimate there were close to 10,000 fans cheering for the Steelers.

The Pittsburgh faithful weren't about to take-over the place, but the black and gold were everywhere.  

Looking toward the south end of Lambeau Field.
10/3/2021 dwm photo

 Once we found our seats I bought a pop for the game.  All three of us rented a seat cushion and back for the bleachers.  I almost decided against it, but was glad I did.  The back was comfortable, but the best thing about the seat was that it kept my seat from getting wet.

 Half an hour before the game I felt a couple drops of rain.  It was in the forecast, so I thought the prudent thing to do was to buy a poncho.

 I didn't know if the small Packer Pro Shop in the concourse sold ponchos, but figured I could find one at any of them.  The two lines moved very slow because only one credit card machine worked.

I finally reached the counter, asked for three ponchos, paid $28.32 then opened one package to slide a poncho over my head before getting back to my seat just in time for the National Anthem.  

Mason Crosby kicks to the Steelers. 10/3/21 (dwm)

It didn't rain the rest of the game.

The game wasn't pretty, but the defense did enough while the offense was more than Pittsburgh could handle.  

Aaron Rodgers threw the first Packer touchdown to long-time teammate Randall Cobb at the other end of the field.  He scored again on a quarterback keeper, running it in from four yards out.  

Mason Crosby kicked two field goals and the final score for the Pack happened right in front of us as Rodgers waited for Cobb to get open, finally connecting in our corner of the south end zone.

Pittsburgh Steelers 17 Green Bay Packers 27.

                  The Packers line up for what becomes the final scoring play.  10/3/2021 dwm photo

       Aaron Rodgers (#12) waited until Cobb (#18 on ground) got free in the corner of the end zone.

    "I don't want to work, I want to bang on the drum all day!"   Every time Green Bay scores a touchdown, the stadium sings and dances to the 1982 Todd Rundgren song.  It became a Packer anthem in the late 1990s.   10/3/2021 dwm photo