ESPN

Tuesday 22nd January 2008
at 03:19pm

Thankfully I didn’t have a whole lot of time to dwell on the loss last night. By the time I got home, spent 40 minutes undressing and checked online to see what was happening with the site, I hit the hay for a good night’s sleep.

I did ponder what might have been of course. I’m sure we all did at some point. The thing that stayed with me for the most part before my eyes got the better of me, was what everybody in this town, us included, was going to do now. A loss like that affects so many people in so many different ways. 

For us, some of the commitments we had accepted with different media outlets were no longer required. Some of the guys in the media that we have gotten to know aren’t making the trip to Arizona as they had all expected. Newspaper articles, television shows and radio broadcasts all had to talk about something else. Those featuring players, like “Inside the Huddle with Donald Driver” had been cancelled.

Many of the people I had spoken to yesterday had already booked and paid for their flights and accommodation in Scottsdale. One of my friends was leaving this Friday to spend the entire week there. Packer related retailers lose out, the bars and restaurants lose out, grocery and liquor stores, party suppliers and hotels set to house would be party goers all lose out. Need I again question the idea that football is just a game?

I find it totally amazing that so many lives changed course at 915pm last night.

This morning I spoke to 88.5fm in Ottawa and WAPL here in Appleton, as is the regular Monday routine. After that the four of us headed over to complete the story we were working on with ESPN for much of yesterday. We spent the entire day with them yesterday, before and after the game filming a segment that, all going according to plan, would have featured in the pre-game show on Super Sunday. How cool would that’ve been?

Today we did an interview each, tried to get a photo in the freezing shadow of Lambeau Field and then hung out at home to get a little extra footage. It was great fun. We even had an Aussie cameraman which added to the experience. To Drew, Pete and Jeff, thanks for coming out, it was great meeting you. We enjoyed spending the 30 odd hours together that we did.

Yesterday’s outcome put the kibosh on any Superbowl planned screening but it looks like it might just feature on one of their programs early next week. Once we find out when that’ll be I’ll let you know.

We did the interviews, for ease of set up, at their hotel. That meant there was a little driving between our place and theirs when it came time for Luc to put his head down. On one of the trips in between I noticed that the roads were awfully quiet. It was almost eerie. For a moment it seemed that the life of this town had taken a break while the hearts of all of those still pondering took a little time to heal. I’m sure it had nothing to do with the game last night but the coincidence sure was hard to escape. 

Pete and Jeff left our place later in the afternoon, just in time for us to put the boys daily routine into action. From there, it was all website time for me. I got started on the game update, thought a little about how I’d put the movie together and, as is becoming the case of late, fell asleep at my desk. You couldn’t imagine how often that has happened in the last 6 weeks or so.

By the way, Kel made the most wonderful roast pork dinner for us this evening but to treat ourselves, after the boys went to bed, I ran down to Culvers to get us some ice cream. (Boy are we gonna’ miss Culvers). I was taken, almost offended that I received an ice cream sundae with Giants coloured sprinkles only one day after our loss against them. Seriously, check the picture. I think all Culvers, in the state of Wisconsin at least, should serve their desserts with Green and Gold sprinkles. That’s not too much to ask is it?

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