Flippin' Sweet

Oh my God, that was awesome. I just had the funnest sports weekend ever. The only thing that could have made it better is if the Red Sox and all of their douche-bag fans didn't get to celebrate, but I'm not letting the bags of douche get me down. I just drove 2,000 miles round-trip to see the Badgers put it on the Hoosiers and then see two amazing 80-yard bombs from Favre to demoralize the Donkeys for the next several years...from the front row of the end-zone!

I had been planning to drive back to Madison to try to see a game at Camp Randall for a few years, and 4th year of med school (aka the most expensive vacation of your life) was the perfect time to do it. We packed the kids in the car and trekked across the evils of Husker/Hawkeye country. Tickets were tough to come by earlier this year, but after 2 ugly losses, we ended up with fairly decent seats on the Badger sideline at the south end zone about 20 rows up. It was the wife's first game at Camp Randall and my first in 11 years (an awful Homecoming loss to NW involving a Ron Dayne fumble while trying to run out the clock). My son, who's only other Bucky game was vs. San Diego State at the Q when he was a baby, sat with my dad. At any rate, it was a perfect football day with Union South marching bands, Bucky smashing people in the mouth, Jump Around, the 5th Quarter, and only minimal Eat Shit-Fuck You chanting. (Do the students even know that that come from Tastes Great-Less Filling?) The Badgers are a very flawed football team, but on Saturday they were a lot of fun to watch. Not six hours after the game was over, we packed the kids back in the car (now adorned with a brand-new Bucky sticker) and drove back home to Denver.

A friend of ours was bragging to us a few weeks ago that he was going to the Broncos-Packers game, and we demanded to know where he got his tickets and if he could get more. Having grown up a Packer fan, I did not expect the response of, "Oh sure, my friend has three extra seats that he was wanting to sell." So we bought three tickets at face value...oh, and did I mention that they were first row in the end-zone!

The train downtown was filled with Packer fans. It was ridiculous. Clearly, more of the season ticket holders probably drive to the game, but walking in it felt like half the stadium was Packer fans. Even in our section we had Packer fans to our right and directly behind us. The drunk, 'roid-rage Bronco fan behind us calling the guy to out right a "homo" got a little old, but the guy shut him up by telling 'roid guy that front row seats he bought cost more than his $200 car. Very amusing.

Apparently, my son (and the right half of my body) had his 5 seconds of fame during the 2nd quarter. It seems as if Ben was on ESPN coming back from commercial, at least that is what the dozen or so phone calls and text messages that we got a minute later would suggest.

While the second half was horrible for the Packers, the two bombs totally made up for everything else. Unfortunately, they were both scored in the opposite end zone, small price to pay for being there. And the $300 total that I paid for the two games was well worth it.

Thoughts from Saturday:

• Jackie I played phenomenally. He totally shut down a Hardy, who will be playing on Sundays in a year or two.


• Stumpy Guns is a very mediocre QB. He didn't seem to blow quite as many reads, but he definitely left a lot of points on the field all by himself.


• I agree with Ando, we need PJ if we want to beat good teams, especially without Smith on the road.

Thoughts from Monday:

• Atari Bigby is a hack. The guy cannot keep his hands off of anybody on a pass play. We need a new safety.


• Stokely repeatedly burned Al Harris in man coverage. Is he losing a step?


• Do not get excited about Grant. Your grandma could run on the Broncos D, especially without John Lynch.


• Jones beat Champ Bailey for that TD. Score one for the rookie.


• On the way out of the game, the entire ramp from the upper decks was chanting "GO PACK GO!" It was really cool be on the road and have the whole stadium echoing with a Packer cheer.
  

I may just have to do this again sometime.