Sundays with Packers football are over for a long time. In fact, there is no football at all this Sunday (the pro bowl doesn’t count), so it’s time to resurrect Surviving Sunday. As long as I have time and as long as I remember, I’ll try and do a Surviving Sunday every week to muse about some sort of topic and recap the week in Packers news ad other nonsense.
This week, I want to talk about the atmosphere at Lambeau Field.
At the end of this column about the Packers being too soft to join the NFL’s elite, Bob McGinn takes a dig at Packers fans:
And the crowds at Lambeau Field have started to remind me of those staid assemblages at the University of Michigan. It’s the place to be seen and all that, but it has been a long time since a visiting coach or player went on and on about how difficult it was to hear and play in Green Bay.
Nowhere is it written that the Packers shall contend for if not win the Super Bowl every year, but some fans sure seem to think it is.
So, McGinn thinks Packers fans are just as soft as the players. I’m not sure how he can reach that conclusion while sitting far above the unwashed masses in the press box, but I respect his opinion.
I don’t think Packers fans have gone soft, but I’ve only been attending games at football’s Holy Grail for about six years. Perhaps those of you that have been going to Lambeau your whole lives do, in fact, see a quieter and more finicky type of fan occupying the metal bleachers. I know I sometimes wonder if I’m at a cold-weather version of Mardi Gras or a football game while at Lambeau, but I don’t necessarily think that’s a bad thing.
McGinn thinks teams don’t “fear” playing at Lambeau any more. Where do NFL teams fear playing these days? Seattle? Maybe. The Metrodome? Perhaps because of the noise. Soldier Field? Only because the bad turf might lead to a torn ACL?
Most NFL players are millionaires. They travel first class, stay in the finest hotels, eat meals catered by world-class chefs, and have team employees handle all of their equipment and other miscellaneous things. Why would anyone in that situation “fear” going on the road. It sounds like something to look forward to!
Seriously, if you were an NFL player, would you rather spend the last couple days before a game dealing with your nagging wife/girlfriend/mistress and tending to a crying kid or other family issues? Or would you rather hit the road in style and not have to worry about real-life stuff that the rest of us have to worry about daily?
The choice seems obvious. Hitting the road in today’s NFL is no longer scary.
Sure, I suppose a loud and crazy fanbase can be annoying, but I don’t know about scary. Noisy fans can make it hard for a quarterback to make checks at the line and might force a few false starts.
Think about some of the fanbases with reputations of being obnoxious and loud. Cleveland (the Dawg Pound), Oakland (crazy people dressed crazily) and Kansas City (loud) come to mind. What’s the collective record of those teams over the last five years or so? It’s not good. Having loud and crazy fans hasn’t exactly helped those teams recently.
All this talk about the atmosphere inevitably leads to Packers fans sniping at each other. Cheeseheads start arguing about whether their fellow fans stand up enough, cheer loud enough, or get into games enough.
Stop it. Just stop it. It’s annoying.
When you cram over 70,000 people into a stadium, there will be disagreements. Not everyone enjoys the game the same way as you. Just because the person next to you might not spend the entire game on his feet screaming his lungs out, it doesn’t mean he’s less of a fan than you are. If you’re one of those fans who prefers to remain in your seat because you paid for it, live a little and stand up on third downs when the other team has a ball.
What you should not do is start bitching at each other or get into a pissing match about which one of you is more of a fan. As much as us fans hate to hear it, the players decide which team wins or loses, not us.
Lambeau Field remains an awesome place to watch football. Just because we all might enjoy watching football differently doesn’t mean we have to declare the entire experience dull.
Packers Links
- Could the Packers have interest in Darrelle Revis? Unless the Jets want to trade him straight up for A.J. Hawk, I don’t see Revis in a Packers uniform next season.
- With Greg Jennings likely gone, could the Packers draft a WR early? Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel profiles some WR prospects from the Senior Bowl.
- Acme Packing Co. list the following Packers as “Dud of the Year” candidates: Erik Walden, Jeff Saturday, James Starks, Mason Crosby. Agree or disagree with those candidates?
- Zach Kruse at CheeseheadTV has an interesting piece on how the Packers still haven’t filled the void left by Cullen Jenkins.
- Aaron Rodgers surprises a kid battling sickle cell anemia. This is a great video and you can check it out at Eat More Cheese.
- Former Packers CB Al Harris will coach defensive backs for the Kansas City Chiefs. Good for Harris. He was one of my favorite Packers.
Non-Packers Links and Other Nonsense
- If you grew up on a farm, this is a must-read. If you didn’t grow up on a farm, it’s still a must-read.
- If you’ve ever lost a job, this is a must-read. If you’ve been fortunate enough to have never lost a job, it’s still a must-read.
- So you can hunt pythons now?! WTF?! I get scared when a squirrel scampers into my deer stand. I’d poop my pants if I ever encountered a python.
- Mad Men returns for its sixth season on April 7. And Pete has sideburns!
- When it comes to seeing movies in the theater, I go in streaks. Sometimes I won’t go for six months, then I’ll see three movies in the same week. I went on a streak recently, and it was a great streak. I highly recommend Django Unchained, Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln.
- You can now pre-order Out of the Park Baseball 14. Do it. It is the best video game you will ever play.
Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .
——————
Great read! I suggest everyone read it @ least once! 🙂
How many days until the first practice, they touch the tackle dummies, sore muscles, getting with the coaches. As a fan I will eat some foods, cheese mMMM, and beer.
Mc Ginn is a primo duffus. I guess his imaginary sources spotted throughout the stadium told him that was true. Two things about Lambeau make it different than some of the NFL’s biggest dumps when evaluating crowd noise. First and foremost the two noisiest places, Seattle and The Hump Dump are stadiums whose design traps noise and reverberates to the field. Let’s see how noisy it is in the Queenies new outdoor stadium. Second, and most important, Packer fans are more cerebral than most. They conscentrate on the flow and strategy of the game and don’t enjoy standing and screaming non-stop for 60 minutes of play time.
The new addition may cause a change in accustics and noise levels could increase due to changes in the physics of the stadium. So, the MJS is on the we wanna be the Chicago media band wagon. And, day after day they continue produce drivel.
Thanks for bringing back my off-season life line Adam.
Plain and simple, teams don’t fear coming into Lambeau too much these days. And to an extent McGinn is right about the fans. Fans of opposing teams don’t think about coming into Lambeau and cheering their team like crazy. Packer fans too some degree sit on their hands too much. I’m not saying they should be ourtight afriad to cheer their team, but they come into Lambeau and talk trash and Packer fans don’t do anything about it. IMO if a fan of the opponent is in Lambeau, Packer fans should be talking trash to them and maybe making them a little uncomfortable. Its just too easy for an opponent or their fans to go to Lambeau. The fans are too damn nice about it all! I Love Lambeau and get there once a year, but it drives me nuts that Packer fans are so nice to fans of the opponents. And they don’t make it hard enough on the opposing team either IMO!
I’ve been a Packers fan my whole life. Born in Madison, moved to Minneapolis when I was a young boy, and now reside in Los Angeles. If you go to a Dodger game in L.A., and cheer for the other team you have to pray to make it out of the parking lot without getting the holy crap beat out of you. The cold thing about L.A. is the morons that do this never do it alone. It’s always by groups of idiots waiting for some poor soul to walk out of the stadium wearing a jersey from the other team.(Not that it makes a difference)I’ve never had the privilege to make it to Lambeau, but I plan to make it next season when the Packers play the Redskins or Steelers. I have friends of both teams and depending on the game, will bring one of them. Thank god I won’t have to worry about some idiot in the crowd just because my friend is cheering for the other team.
No ones talking about having to fear for your safety. Theres a huge difference between a little trash talk to opposing fans and getting into a confrontation. I’m from GB and now live in Phx, I’ve brought a friend thats a Dallas fan and another thats a Cards fan and both thought the fans were almost too nice to them. They appreciated it, but they thought it was weird that no one even said a thing about them cheering for their teams.
Like I said, I Love Lambeau, the tradition and the atmosphere, I get goose-bumps when I enter the stadium. Problem is opposing teams and fans don’t feel that like we do (they get a bit if they are Football fans)and they walk in like they own the place and can do whatever they want. And largely they can. Its kinda disappointing to me they feel so comfortable to cheer wildly for their team.
Ron: I always enjoy your little meltdowns whenever I link to a McGinn column:)
I also agree about Packers fans being on the cerebral side. I like checking out the formations and other nuances of the game when I’m there live.
I’ll take that as a compliment coming from you Adam. I can’t help myself! I hear/read Mc Ginn and it’s like a guard dog hearing the command “Attack.” I gave up civilty many years ago. What comes into my head must go out through my mouth or fingers in this case. You should hear me if you really want to get shocked. My wife puts extra religous icons out every game day for the Packers and Badgers. She hopes it will dilute the evil impact of 3 plus hours of unending cursing. For her sake I hope she’s right.
All the screaming at the stadium or inside the theater at a horror movie won’t stop whats going happen…on the field or the screen.
I don’t want to spend my game time in a screaming match nor accompanied by one whose eyes are closed who asks whats going on when the slashing begins…I paid good money to WATCH both.
I’m perfectly happy with the cheers and boos and ughs and eew’s at both forums resounding in my ears because of happenings during each and not the rantings of drunks doing whatever simply for the sake of whatever.
Go Pack Go!
Adam, this is indeed a bittersweet day. While we now have to deal with Packerless Sundays, at least we do have you to comfort us through them.
Yeah I would rather have someone cursing and spilling beer on me, thats much more enjoyable. At some stadiums they even piss right where they sit. You bet, we must change Lambeau so it is no longer classy and an enjoyable experience. We should enclose the stadium so it is louder. We should throw road kill on the field before every game. Then I bet we will make it further into the playoffs.
Ive never been to Lambeau Field, so ive only seen and heard crowds via tv. Must say it sounds and looks a great place to watch football.
Hopefully in future will make a visit over water to watch a game.
Hopefully the Packers will come to Wembley.