Back To The Pack

Sunday December 13th, 2009 - Lake Villa, WI

I’m off the wagon and back into a relapse of my severe Green Bay Packer addiction big time. I said I was through with those bums after they lost at Tampa Bay, but they’ve crept back into my life and I hate myself for letting it happen. They’ve won five games in a row and I’m hooked all over again. Am I that shallow that football really matters this much?

I’m ashamed to admit it, but yes it does. I’m not going to lie and say I don’t enjoy every minute of it whenever the Packers win, because I do. I don’t know why it means so much, but it totally does. I love it when they win and when they lose it puts me in a terrible place that reminds me of when they stunk up my childhood with their rotten teams of the ‘70s.

I know I’ve said it before, but none of this should matter. I should be able to sit with my friends and watch the game and enjoy their company. IF the Packers happen to win, that’s great. They’re my home state team, and it’s fun and natural for a person to root for a team that’s local. If they lose, oh well. It’s entertainment and it was fun to watch them on TV.

Honestly though, what sports fan worth his or her salt could actually do that? Not ONE. It’s life or death, and the bigger the game, the bigger the stakes get. At least that’s the way it works in my world. No matter how much I fake it, I still care if the Packers win or lose.

Today, I just gave in and watched it. The Packers played the Chicago Bears and that’s a game I need to see. The Bears are having a rough season, and that made the temptation an impossible urge to resist. I wanted to witness a blowout, much like the 61-7 ass thumping I had to sit through when the Bears blasted the Packers in 1980. That one’s still hurting.

I’ve been pretty good in the last month about not letting myself get lost in the games but today I let all that go. The Bears stink, but no matter what the records are I’ll never tire of seeing them go down in humiliating defeat. Like sunsets, each one has it’s unique beauty. This part of my personality really disturbs me, but I’m not going to deny that it does exist.

Today’s game started out splendidly with the first play from scrimmage a 62 yard run to glory by Ryan Grant. I had to keep my exuberance down, as my roommate had her living room upstairs jam packed with Bears fans. I could hear them groaning and swearing and I have to say that made it even sweeter. I’m a sick man, but oh what a wonderful sensation!

I know I’m in for a big letdown, and they’re probably not going to win the Super Bowl, but at least for the last five weeks, all is right with my world. The war in Afghanistan has real consequences of life and death for American citizens, and here I am worrying about a damn football team. I feel like a total ass, but I can’t lie. It trips my trigger that they won.

This all has to be one big government plot to distract us from what’s really important in the world. If the majority of Americans are drunk and being hypnotized by the NFL, those who are really in charge can run amok doing whatever they want and we won’t even care. Maybe I’m reading too many conspiracy theories, but I do still love football. Go Packers!