Allow me, dear readers, to share my enthusiasm: The kind of enthusiasm so rare that it rivals my wonder-ment of the Aurora Borealis on a warm August evening, or my wife Mooney’s reaction to a first-rate slice of pumpkin pie served with a blistering mug of coffee. I am gliding pleasantly through the day, so enthused as an otter pup, because our Green Bay Football Packers have returned. They have returned, dear readers, and they have surprised us all. And isn’t life grand?
I haven’t caught a fish in three week-ends, but who cares… When I come on home and wiggle into my favorite pair of slippers and curl up on my rocking-chair I get to be a Packers fan; and that: Well, that’s a good place to have spent the past year and change. When the Green and the Gold take to the field, my wind-burnt face is soothed, my aching limbs relax, the coffee brews itself and hot kringle slices happily serve themselves to me on a plate.
The Packers are riding the inside track to the Super-Bowl Champion Match these days, one of four teams with a first round bye and a divisional game at home. The team hasn’t been anywhere near this level since December of 1997. And before 1996, the sad stretch was more pain-fully extensive. In the NFL, where teams rise and fall on a malevolent barometer, these phases of real high-end potential must be enjoyed with furious enthusiasm. My good friend, The Warden, told me that his spirit animal would be a Fisher, a fearless and feisty critter that attacks porcupines using a daring frontal charge to the face. We were ice-fishing this past weekend, unsuccessfully for monster pike, when I asked him again about his appreciation of the wild fisher. I like the way he tells the story. He obliged, spoke of the carnivore’s daring nature, and said that he wishes he lived his human life more like that. So do I.
The Packers may very well fail in their bid to reach and win the Super-Bowl this season, but here we are on a mountain-top with a filthy porcupine that is hissing like crazy. If being an enthusiastic Packers fanatic includes relaxing Sundays in front of the wood-burning stove, it also includes the taking of chances. So in that spirit, like the wild fishers of our boreal forests, I am making a daring frontal assault. I am opening my heart to the possibility for greatness and despair and dagger quills to the flesh. As the Packers keep rolling on home for these holidays, chasing that number one seed, I am going to live wildly and give The Packers all I’ve got. I hope you’ll join me.
Quickly touching on the game in Saint Louis, the first half was a bit sloppy on both offense and defense, but those special teams kept giving us excellent field position all day long. Just excellent. And once we got the lead and made their offense one-dimensional, that was the ball-game.
Of course I’ve gotta mention Brett’s newest record as the all-time passing yardage leader in the history of the universe in this dimension. I sure was glad to see it go to Donald Driver. Brett hit it on the noggin’ pretty well after-wards when he said that these career marks would never be possible without all them consecutive-starts. Lordy, his aim is true with that observation. He’s a living folk hero, and not just for the people of Wisconsin. Heck, he’s a National Treasure.
Well, with the Cow-bells losing last week the final two games have just gotten more interesting. I hope we really wallop The Bears next week, especially after the way the last one ended.
There’s no reason to think other-wise at this point. Turns out you can only ride lucky bounces and a toothy defense so far in this league. This year the bounces are going our way and our defense is the toothy one. And on top of that we’ve got that Brett guy. Did I mention how grand life is? I’m feeling good today so let’s just go over-board and enjoy it: Green Bay – 41, Chicago – 3.
Until next week, then.
