How 'Bout Dem Packers?!

Saturday January 12th, 2008 - Lake Villa, IL

I took a day off of Uranus to feed my Green Bay Packer addiction. Now is the time that makes it hardest of all. It’s the playoffs and I want to watch them win but I know it will be absolute torture if they don’t. It’s my childhood all over again. They were so mediocre for so long that it left a life long scar on my psyche. Seeing them do so well now is a payback.

It didn’t start out very well though. There were two fumbles in the first minute and I had to shut off the TV before I pulled an Elvis and shot out the screen. I’m glad I don’t have a gun and have no plans to get one anytime soon because on days like this I might use it. To have a great season like this end so ugly would have been hard on a lot of us Packer fans.

Fortunately it didn’t end up that way but I wasn’t about to let my nerves get frazzled for the afternoon so I turned off the TV and went to get something to eat. I wanted to get out of that torturous mindset of watching them lose but of course they had the game on where I went to eat and everyone was watching it there too. They were Bears fans and loved it.

I wish I didn’t love football so much. I love sports in general but football is the one I am most passionate about and the Packers are always going to be my team of choice. I try not to care so much but I can’t help it. Football lights a fire in those of us who are fans and we are hooked for life. We’re all total addicts. And there are MILLIONS of us fans out there.

My addiction was fed as the Packers pulled it out and ended up stomping the Seahawks. I was thrilled for many reasons one of which was I had to perform tonight. The worst is to have to perform comedy after a home team loses a big game. I’ve been in that position for way too many times and I always dread it. Last week in Pittsburgh was a perfect example.

The show tonight was in Trevor, WI which is about six miles from where I’m living here in Lake Villa. I took the gig because I needed the money to help pay for my new computer I had to buy to replace the one that was stolen. I had to excuse myself from the annual big Elvis bash at Serb Hall in Milwaukee and I feel bad about that but I really needed the cash.

I missed last year’s show too and it was the last one Tom Green performed at before his tragic passing in March. Had I known that I would have cancelled my gig but he knew the way entertainment works and if a paid gig comes up you take it. I still feel bad I missed it though just because everyone involved are really good people. They treat me like a star.

The people in Trevor treated me like a star too. There was a nice full house and they all were there to laugh. I had them from the first few seconds all the way to the end and I sold a bunch of cds too. These are the kinds of one nighters there should be more of. They had fun and so did I. I shook every hand and signed every autograph and got paid immediately.

Then I got in my car and drove the six miles home and wondered why it couldn’t be this easy every night. I worked hard to get to this point so one night of easy money isn’t out of the question. Tomorrow I’m back to the grind of driving but for tonight life is pretty easy.