Being a Cheesehead

Hello fellow travelers! For those that don't know, I am from Wisconsin, where us Wisconsinites are best known for eating cheese and drinking a lot of alcoholic libations. Of course, there is more to this wonderful state than just dairy and beer, but why not indulge from time to time? By the way, our cheese curds are to die for. I'm fairly certain there is nothing quite better than a fresh & squeaky cheese curd. 

So enough with the food talk, and onto the main subject here, which is being a cheesehead. What is a cheesehead? The word was first originated by Illinois football fans back in the day, which was supposed to be offensive. We Sconnies embraced the word though, and now use it to describe ourselves as fans of the Green Bay Packers. We even wear big foam cheese blocks on our heads to drive home the fact that we love our team (Yes, I own one). The Packers got their name in 1919 by Curly Lambeau (of whom the field is named after), because he asked for funds for uniforms from his employer, the Indian Packing Company, on condition that the team be named after the company. Thus, the name "Packers" was born and is still in use to this day. The best part, I think, about the Packers is that they are the only non-profit organization in the NFL (and other professional sports teams for that matter), AND they are community owned which means that any one can buy stock and therefore be an owner of the team (no other professional team in the US does that). Add to that having the most NFL Championships of any team, and one can understand why we cheeseheads love our Packers. 

Cheesehead 4 lyfe

I was able to go to my first ever Packer game last week at Lambeau Field. We purchased a package of tailgating and tickets, so we arrived to Green Bay at 4:00 PM to start the festivities. The tailgate party was in the parking lot of Brett Favre's Steakhouse and included all you can eat (burgers, brats, etc.) and all you can drink pop, screwdrivers, bloody mary's and good ole' H20. They also played some good music and had some activities going before the game started at 7.

Lambeau Field

So, at 6:30, we made the walk to the stadium. There were multiple tailgate parties going on, plus lots of things for sale and different things to do, like free hair painting, if you so wished. We got inside and walked to our seats in the 11th row. I was so excited being able to actually see the players faces, and tried desperately to get Clay Matthews and Aaron Rodgers attention by flailing my arms and screaming, but alas, no luck. The Pack was not doing so hot against the Browns, and it kept raining every 5 minutes or so, so we decided to leave at half-time. I know, we get a C- as fans. But, in my defense, it was pre-season AND we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us. Regardless, we had a really fun time and it was so much fun being surrounded by devoted fans of all ages. The only thing missing that night was a good bag of cheese curds. 

Fan Appreciation Night