After living in Wisconsin for 36 years, I finally had an opportunity to attend my first game at Lambeau Field. My wife purchased a pair of tickets from a colleague, whose parents have accumulated 8 season tickets through the years, which must cost them a small fortune. The two tickets that we used, on the 30-yard line 9 rows behind the Packers bench, have been in the family for three generations.
When I moved to Wisconsin in August 1978, the Green Bay Packers were nearly a decade beyond their glory years. Their increasingly grumbling but unswervingly loyal fans had suffered through 5 consecutive losing seasons.
Despite my western Pennsylvania bona fides and two Super Bowl victories by the Pittsburgh Steelers (1975 and 1976), I was at best a casual football fan back then. Since 1960, I had given my primary sports allegiance to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had a most impressive run of their own during the 1970s: 6 seasons of 90 or more wins, 6 post-season appearance, 2 World Series championships, "We Are Family".
As the 1978 football season progressed, the Packers gave their fans much to cheer about. They won 6 of their first 7 games, 5 of them played at Lambeau. Over and over again, I heard people say, "The Pack is back!" Then their season got turned on its head. They won just 2 more games. They played their final 3 games on the road, two of them in warm, sunny climes -- Tampa and Los Angeles. A final record of 8-7-1 kept them from advancing to the playoffs.
"Wait 'til next year" became the phrase of choice.
It was a long wait. The Packer finally made it to the playoffs again in 1982 in a strike-shortened season, ending a drought of 9 season. But it would be another decade before they would find themselves there again.
Despite a 1-2 start to the 2014 season, the smile on Aaron Rodgers' face indicate how well things have been going since then.
In each of his last 4 games, the Packers quarterback has thrown 3 touchdowns and no interceptions.
The Packers can afford to look relaxed at this point in the season.
All photos by Retiring Guy
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