48 Hours and Counting

Saturday 19th January 2008
at 01:31pm

In what seems a continuation of yesterdays entry, today was every bit as crazy. I interviewed with Jonathon Brandmeier in Chicago at 630 then I was off to Lambeau Field to meet with Gene Meuller, John Jagler and the voice of the Green Bay Packers, Wayne Larivee of 620WTMJ. I was supposed to talk to these guys a little earlier than I did but they ran overtime with a gentleman by the name of Bob Harlan? I know that name rings a bell for some reason?

Once I was done I went to organise a stadium tour because, believe it or not, I hadn’t actually done one yet. I was lucky enough to get a good look around when the NFL Films crew was here and during the announcement of the Packer Fan Hall of Fame award but to this day I hadn’t been upstairs to see what all the skybox fuss was about.

Low and behold it’s awesome up there. I’m not entirely sure that I’d want to sit there for a whole game but getting inside and taking a look around was good fun. I’ve spoken to a number of people at the different games I’ve attended and the consensus seemed to be that the boxes were so high that the view would be a terrible one. Let me tell you, the view is spectacular and the distance from the field doesn’t matter one bit.

The only drawback to the tour was that there wasn’t much to see outside of the skybox and the field. As we we’re escorted down the tunnel toward the field, which is awesome by the way, our guide told us that we were walking past the media room, not far from the locker and weight rooms and close to the dining room, player entrance and meeting facilities. Without being told we could have guessed that all of that was down there. Once the group was told, most of them wanted to see it. A picture at least?

For lunch Kelly and I went to the Atlanta Bread Company. This has very quickly become a favourite of hers but somewhere I was yet to get to. After today, it very quickly became a favourite of mine too. I’d love to have included a pic of us there but Kel is becoming a little tired of the camera. I tend to treat it like the Proverbial American Express Card, you know, don’t leave home without it. Lunch was kind of a quick one as we had to be out at UWGB to meet with the crew from “Here and Now” on PBS again. I know I’ve said it before but it’s nice to re-interview with somebody you’ve already spoken to. It means I must have done something right.

We did that, ran the errands that we were supposed to, took some more pictures around town and made it home in time for bath, dinner, story and bed time with the boys.

I was actually inspired to start collecting pics of the local shop signs that have begun to appear all over town in support of the Packers. I managed to capture a few of them but not all so that post will have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest.

The picture I have attached though is one of the original McDonalds signs to ever be erected. Right now it is rumoured to be one of only three left standing in the world. I think that is totally cool.

As for what my thoughts are on Sunday’s game? To be honest my stomach has been churning since before last Saturdays game against Seattle. It only gets worse as the days go by. I know there aren’t alot of broadcast vans behind me in this pic but the fact the whole country is watching this game I think is just fantastic.

There is much talk about the kickoff temperature (expected to be anywhere between 2F (-17C) and -7F (-22C)), the clothing required and the safety measures worth taking to ensure a safe trip home afterwards. The forecast doesn’t worry me, nor does the result of the game. When I think about everything as a whole though, I just get more and more nervous (for want of a much better phrase).

(By the way, just in case you missed between the lines, the sentence on wondering who Bob Harlan was was a joke.)

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