Sunday February 6th, 2011 - Hoffman Estates, IL The Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl! I can’t think of a sentence I’d rather type, other than maybe ‘Dobie Maxwell is a multi-millionaire stud philanthropist who‘s figured out life‘s success secrets.’ I still have a ways to go there, but the first one is sweet reality. My Packer addiction paid off with the highest high imaginable, even if there were some rocky moments along the way. It was a roller coaster ride all evening. It started out pretty well, but then took a dark turn in the second half. Then in the end, the Packers sealed it. All kinds of emotions went through my head, and I was drained by the time it was over. I’ve been a Packer fan going on forty years now, and that’s how long Moses wandered in the desert with the Children of Israel before they got to the promised land. Then, he didn’t even get to go there with them. At least I got to experience it all through to the end result. I don’t even know where to start. I can still remember watching games with my beloved Gramps on a black and white TV in his basement and seeing him live and die every week with each game. They weren’t good then, so there was a lot of death and agony. Victories were rare, but I saw how happy they made him so I cheered for them too. I was hooked. Then it was the kids in school who watched them too, and we’d talk about the games on Monday morning. They usually lost, but we cheered for them with all our hearts. We’d all live and die with the team, and dare to believe that this year would be that big turnaround, but it never was. Grade school became high school and the addiction grew even stronger. There’s something about cheering for a sports team throughout an entire lifetime that is unable to be removed from someone’s internal hard drive. If someone paid me to convert to a Bears or Vikings fan or any other NFL team, I just couldn’t do it. I might fake it well, but inside I’d always be loyal to the Packers. It’s a blessing and a curse, today a blessing. I enjoyed the hell out of this victory. I know full well I had absolutely NOTHING to do with any of it, but I loved it anyway. I didn’t throw one pass, kick one field goal or come up with one play. I didn’t drive the team bus, I didn’t mow the practice field, I didn’t even go to one damn game all year. I didn’t have to. They’re already a part of my inner DNA. Not even one of the players, coaches or management team has ever heard of me, but I’m still as giddy as a school girl with delight because they were able to win a few games in a row at the right time, and win a trophy I had nothing to do with getting. But yet, I’m ready to drive up to Wisconsin tomorrow and high five people I don’t know who love this too. What the hell is wrong with me? Why do I care so much about any of this? I can’t help it and it frightens me to the core. People are starving and wars are breaking out and millions of other people in America couldn’t care less. Billions of others around the world have no idea there was even a game today, much less what it meant. I know all of this, yet I’m out of my mind with delight because a team of men I don’t know won a game I never played. The smart thing to do is just savor the whole experience, and I am. I’ve waited an entire lifetime to be able to relish an untainted moment like this, but it doesn’t come without an array of strings attached. There will always be the memory of my childhood friend Timbo who robbed the bank he used to work at and I had to testify against him in Federal Court. That sure threw a wrench into the last Super Bowl the Packers won in 1996. I wasn’t in any position to enjoy that game, as I was preparing to go to trial. We’d always guaranteed each other if the Packers ever went to the Super Bowl we’d go see it live. Ha. That didn’t happen, even though each of us suffered through all those years of horrible Packer teams. The next year they got back in, but lost to the Broncos. That was worse. Sitting through that was almost as brutal as sitting through the bank robbery trial. What an empty feeling walking out of my friend’s house in silence with my Packer jersey in my hand because I’d taken it off in shame after they lost. I knew it wasn’t my fault, but I was still bummed out. That was a bitter pill to swallow, and part of me didn’t want to watch the game today at all, but I knew I had to. I might not get another chance. I had about a dozen invitations for the game and I had to decide on only a few. My friend Jim McHugh is a huge Packer fan, even though he grew up in Illinois. I went there for the first half, and stayed even longer. The people were so nice, and the game was so exciting, I couldn’t leave. Everyone was nice and fun, and no Steeler fans were there. Jim and I both get emotional about games in the regular season, but this was the big one. Neither one of us wanted to sit through a dud game, but it looked to be going that way in the third quarter. I excused myself and left. I listened to the game on my car radio, and I think my sphincter is still frozen shut from all that tension I had to sit through. It never seems to be easy, but even though my nerves were getting stomped on, I couldn’t turn it off. I wanted them to win, and kept listening. My web person Shelley was having a party at her house, and I got there just in time for the victory presentation of the Lombardi trophy. When I heard they won, I pulled my car over and screamed with delight, knowing full well I was stupid for doing it. I didn’t care, it was an epic moment I’ll never forget. I finally got to enjoy a Packer Super Bowl win! Now comes the real challenge, and that’s handling it with class and dignity. It was a one of a kind amazing year, but the last thing I’m going to do is taunt anyone. If they’d lost, it would have ripped my heart out, and I’m sure there are people in Pittsburgh feeling low. Yes, they’ve won a ton of rings and might win more, but for this year it was the Packers and that’s how it went. Mike Tomlin is a really classy coach, and I have nothing but deep respect for that guy. He’s right up there with anyone, and they could have easily won. I’ll give myself a day or two to really enjoy this, but I have gigs waiting later this week in Kentucky and West Virginia, and then it’s back on the ships again. I want to celebrate my own personal victories, not cheer for a team of strangers. Still, this was a sweet win.
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