It's like Christmas in Packerland.
The Green Bay Packers are one win away from returning to the NFL's Super Bowl for the first time since 1997. Brett Favre's great again. The game's at home, at beloved Lambeau Field. And it's likely to be a Frozen Tundra - the temperature at game time Sunday evening is expected to be below zero.
Perfect.
No, there's certainly little in sports like the fervor created by a strong whiff of a title in Titletown.
As we've seen this week, a Packers playoff run tends to bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in fans.
There have been plenty of feel-good stories, such as Australian Wayne Scullino, who moved his wife and two sons five months ago from Sydney to an apartment about a mile from Lambeau. He went to 15 of 16 regular season games, plus the playoff game against Seattle.
Or locally the story of Monroe's Randy Pink, who was so excited about the Packers beginning their playoff push last Saturday that he expended his pre-game energy by building a miniature Lambeau Field in his front yard out of snow, ice and popsicle sticks - plus a little spray paint.
Monroe's Tim Wallace has his entire rec room decked out in the Green and Gold, from a Packer pool table, walls and trim painted in green and gold and Green Bay Packer carpeting, wall-to-wall.
The fact someone would go to such lengths to show their pride for a football team is what sets Packers fans apart from Brewers or Bucks fans - or fans of most teams in this country, for that matter.
Unfortunately, a love for the Packers doesn't always bring out the best in people.
Pardeeville's Matthew Kowald made dubious national headlines when he tried to force his 7-year-old son to wear a Packers jersey during the team's playoff game against Seattle last weekend. His son first refused to wear it, so Kowald taped the jersey on him and then confined him with the tape for an hour.
Kowald was cited for disorderly conduct, and made himself a frontrunner for any bad dad of the year awards out there.
And Packers fans, like many sports fans, don't take their losses well, apparently. According to a national radio station, police calls throughout the state increase the day after the Packers lose. There are also more sick days taken the day after a Packers loss. For some, a Green and Gold loss sets off a depression, usually lasting for a few days.
So enjoy Sunday, Packers fans. Rejoice if, or rather when, the Packers send the New York Giants home cold and empty-handed. But don't take it too hard if things don't work out the way they should ...
... which is about Packers 34, Giants 14.
The Green Bay Packers are one win away from returning to the NFL's Super Bowl for the first time since 1997. Brett Favre's great again. The game's at home, at beloved Lambeau Field. And it's likely to be a Frozen Tundra - the temperature at game time Sunday evening is expected to be below zero.
Perfect.
No, there's certainly little in sports like the fervor created by a strong whiff of a title in Titletown.
As we've seen this week, a Packers playoff run tends to bring out the best, and sometimes the worst, in fans.
There have been plenty of feel-good stories, such as Australian Wayne Scullino, who moved his wife and two sons five months ago from Sydney to an apartment about a mile from Lambeau. He went to 15 of 16 regular season games, plus the playoff game against Seattle.
Or locally the story of Monroe's Randy Pink, who was so excited about the Packers beginning their playoff push last Saturday that he expended his pre-game energy by building a miniature Lambeau Field in his front yard out of snow, ice and popsicle sticks - plus a little spray paint.
Monroe's Tim Wallace has his entire rec room decked out in the Green and Gold, from a Packer pool table, walls and trim painted in green and gold and Green Bay Packer carpeting, wall-to-wall.
The fact someone would go to such lengths to show their pride for a football team is what sets Packers fans apart from Brewers or Bucks fans - or fans of most teams in this country, for that matter.
Unfortunately, a love for the Packers doesn't always bring out the best in people.
Pardeeville's Matthew Kowald made dubious national headlines when he tried to force his 7-year-old son to wear a Packers jersey during the team's playoff game against Seattle last weekend. His son first refused to wear it, so Kowald taped the jersey on him and then confined him with the tape for an hour.
Kowald was cited for disorderly conduct, and made himself a frontrunner for any bad dad of the year awards out there.
And Packers fans, like many sports fans, don't take their losses well, apparently. According to a national radio station, police calls throughout the state increase the day after the Packers lose. There are also more sick days taken the day after a Packers loss. For some, a Green and Gold loss sets off a depression, usually lasting for a few days.
So enjoy Sunday, Packers fans. Rejoice if, or rather when, the Packers send the New York Giants home cold and empty-handed. But don't take it too hard if things don't work out the way they should ...
... which is about Packers 34, Giants 14.
