Well, I’m Not a Packer Fan, But I’m Rooting for Them

Can’t help it, because I live here in Madison, Wisconsin. Cheeseheads abound here. Of course, I still consider myself a dyed-in-the-wool San Francisco 49er fan and a Giants fan. Hell, when the Morabitos still owned the Niners, they gave me a college scholarship. My brother Jon is a Forty Niner Faithful, even when they are/were losing, he rooted for them. And I remember running, with scores of others, part of the length of downtown Market Street after the Niner victory parade in 1982. It’s just that simple.

However, the Pack low-ball drafted Chico, CA native Aaron Rodgers, now the Packer quarterback. Chico, “the Velveeta capital of the world,” was known as one of the late San Francisco columnist Herb Caen’s favorite lampoons, but the Butte County town deserves a bit more respect than just Caen’s diss and being known (according to Playboy) as the home of a hard-partying state college. Rodgers went from phony cheese to real cheese…and to the eventual applause of cheeseheads everywhere.

And it increasingly became clearer to Favre lovers that the Packers were prudent to let self-aggrandizing, “it’s all about me,” and elderly and inconsistent No. 4 go. The team has rallied around Rodgers, with a season by season, game by game result. So I’m hoping that Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers win the championship today. At least the Badger State can wipe away the humiliation of the University of Wisconsin not winning the Rose Bowl (although I predicted that would happen with an undefeated school–Texas Christian–having the number one defense in the nation). That wasn’t going to happen this year.

Besides, my stepdad and President Obama are on the other side. This is the resumption of one of the biggest Midwest football rivalries in the country.

Cue the half-time music!

I think it’s gonna be close. I think it’s gonna be Green Bay 21, Chicago 17. But don’t quote me.

It wasn’t altogether clear in the first quarter whether Green Bay was going to win last time. Usually dominance is clear from the gate. It’s almost as if the team was feeling themselves out on the field. However, when the Packers finally realized what was up, it became a blowout. By third quarter I was saying to Atlanta and its fans on the TV, yall should leave the field now, and not take any more of this ass-kicking. I’m sure that thousands more were feeling and thinking the same thing in satisfaction. Of course, though, the Falcons couldn’t, although some of their fans probably did leave the stadium before the game was over.

I hope the same will happen to the vaunted Bears. Sorry that I can’t say anything good about these guys. Remember that they’ve met my guys–the Niners–a few times, too. I keep seeing a guy nicknamed the Refrigerator lumbering down the field, and I can’t help feeling a healthy team contempt. To me, they’re a bunch of meatheads. Except for Sweetness. Need I say more?

Go Packers!