On Sunday I awoke to a heavy fog, and it was beautiful. With the sun barely above the horizon, I departed for Lambeau Field in my Super Ten Pick-It-Up Truck with the head-lamps glowing. The eerie scene was made enjoyable by the lack of traffic, the planned destination and a fine recitation of Beo-Wolf on NPR. That fog sure was thick, folks, and within ten minutes I had a layer of ice so dense on my radio-antenna that it began whooping and wiggling like a squirrel in a tree. Strange, I thought, as no other vehicles I came upon seemed to be experiencing this phenom-enon. Finally the sun broke through the haze, giving way to a beautiful Wisconsin Sunday that proved perfect wool-bib weather.
Although I am a fanatical Packers fan, I don’t get to see too many games live and in person, so the opportunity to witness the Green and Gold battle the Carolina Panther-Cats was really special. A real Hooper-Dooper, you might say. Last season Mooney and me scored tickets to the Arizona game and we got to see Brett do his first ever Lambeau Leap. This year I was going with the fellers, which is a totally different experience. We got to the stadium bright and early, had breakfast (brats with insanity mustard) and kicked back some liquid refresh-ment. In a few hours we’d witness Brett lining up as a wide-out, a team on fire, and a second blow-out victory in as many weeks. It was glorious.
As I was not taking notes and have not had a chance to review the game on VHS recording tape, my comprehension of the outcome is not as sharp as it normally would be, but I was able to pick up a few things from our seats in the sun-soaked Northern End-Zone.
Carolina, and most teams in the NFC, I suspect, cannot cover our multi-receiver looks. Whenever McCarthy would move into ‘Big Five’ – a new wrinkle that uses five spread receivers – the defense was noticeably confused, as was Minnesota last week. On the first play in this formation, they covered Donald D. with a linebacker and he scorched ‘em. On a later play, they did the same thing with Donald Lee and he burned them for a smooth six right below us. Ha-cha-cha. Look for more of this action against the Lions and every other team we face this year. It is working well.
On an un-related note, here is something that does not work well: Riding the mechanized bull machine after the game. Don’t try this unless you are under the age of twenty, folks. Especially after enjoying several liquid refresh-ments. My friend learned this the hard way.
Well, with nine victories and 13 in the last 14 tries, I think it’s safe to say The Packers Are On Fire. Brett is looking like the Brett from his MVP days, and the defense remains largely un-penetrable. While I am sure we are all looking forward to the match-up with the Cowboys in two weeks, we must first take care of those pesky Lions. A win on Turkey Day will pretty much secure the NFC North title. I don’t see any reason for a hick-up at Ford Field. The Lions are a questionable team at best, especially on defense. So long as we continue to win the turn-over battle I think it will be a third comfortable victory in a row. I hope you will all join me in eating a Turkey Sandwich for each Packer’s score – I think we’ll be eatin' a whole bunch, so make sure you stretch those muscles and sport your loosest trousers-pants. Mark it folks: Green Bay, 38 – Fort Detroit, 14.
Until next week, then.
