Secret Trip - Game

With about 30 minutes before kickoff, we were asked to leave the field-level area and go to our seats.  We had just enough time to find a place to eat, order some dogs and chicken fingers and drinks, then go find our seats.  WOW!  What seats!  Right on the 50 yard line, twenty rows up.  With food in hand, we got to our seats as they were introducing the Packers ... then the National Anthem ... followed by a flyover of military jets (probably the most awesome sight ... seeing jets fly over the stadium and hear their roar as they dart into the distance.  One time, at a Jacksonville Jaguar game years ago, I saw a Stealth Bomber do a fly-by ... absolutely the most amazing sight and sound ever ... one giant plane leaving one huge impression on 75,000 people).

Do you know why they are called the Packers?  Something to do with meat-packing ... but really, it's how they pack their fans into the stadium.  Remember those aluminum bleachers I was talking about in the previous blog post ... no seats (unless in the suites), just benches ... and these benches were designed for fans 70 years ago, not the modern day girth of fans like ... well, like me.  Apparently, fans 70 years ago didn't have legs, either, as there was minimal leg room between yourself and the fan's back sitting in front of you.  By far, the most uncomfortable three hours of football watching in my life.

Ahh, but the joy of watching the 49ers win.  What a great game!  Some pictures (only took a few at the end of the game because it was so cramped, I didn't want to pull out my camera without fear of someone spilling something all over us).

 Final play for the Packers ... 4th and a long way to go ... under a minute to go

 Pressure from the corner causes an errant pass, which falls incomplete down the far right sideline

Victory Formation ... last snap to win the game!

Visual evidence as the clock counts down for a 49er Victory!

Secret Trip - Game Day - Pregame Festivities

Game Day ... one restriction we had on our visit to Green Bay was that we only received four tickets for the game.  Counting ... 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... hmm, there's five of us.  One of us will have to miss the game.  Max, do you want to stay at the hotel?  (As a matter of fact, his answer was "yes" as he is not a big fan of fireworks ... and most sporting events launch fireworks after the National Anthem or after a big score.  I had to convince him (not knowing for sure) that there would be no fireworks).  Shelly raised her hand right away and took one for the team.  "I'll just go shopping!!!"  (After she dropped us off at the stadium, I called my credit card company and told them my wallet was stolen while in Green Bay and asked them to deny all charges for the day.  Ha!  That would have been great if I actually did, but I wanted to get back to North Carolina in one piece and thought better of it).

So it was boys day out at the football stadium.  We arrived really early and walked around the parking lot and took in some of the pre-game festivities around the outside of the stadium.  Lots of excited fans looking forward to football season finally starting up for real ... on a gorgeous September afternoon. 

Outside the main entrance, we saw Kenny Mayne from ESPN.  He was filming a segment and was moving from location to location.  I told the boys to walk by and say really loud, "Hey, it's Dan Patrick.  Dad, dad ... can we get our picture taken with Dan Patrick?"  (Note: Dan Patrick is another ESPN personality).  Either the boys didn't say it loud enough, or Kenny was not amused and paid no attention to our tom-foolery.

Kenny Mayne (Grey shirt, sunglasses) outside the main entrance, trying to do his job.

A great part of the experience for the weekend was receiving field passes for pre-game warm-ups.  Well, not really field passes ... but field level, on the perimeter of the field ... which was pretty awesome, too! 

I had Charlie taking pictures ... and he took about 400 or so, while we were field-level ... but most were of players backs.  It would go like this ... "Hey, there's Frank Gore"  "Where?"  "Over there"  By that time, Frank has passed and walking away from us, but we got a great shot of his back!

The tough part during most of warm-ups is that the players did not have their uniforms on, so we didn't know who was who.   After a bit, I told Charlie to just take pictures of their front and we'll figure it out later by trying to match faces from the 49er website to our pictures. 

Charlie did a great job ... and when we passed the camera to Will and Max, you'll see what drew their interest (see below).  One thing to notice in the background ... scroll down to my previous blog post when we did the tour of the stadium the day before the game.  You'll notice the stands are metal bleacher seats.  In the pictures on game day, it looks like the stands are green or gold seats.  The Packers were giving away t-shirts on game day and placed them on each seat.  Everyone was supposed to put them on for a Tide commercial.  We saw them putting them down the day before ... then it rained Saturday night ... by game time, they were nearly dry, but we were already wearing green (our section was green t-shirts), so we didn't bother to put them on.

Colin Kaepernick, 49ers backup QB, greeting some friends in the stands

Vernon Davis, Tight End for the 49ers, had gold-bottom cleats.  Flashy!

David Akers, Kicker for the 49ers, warming up.  He kicked an NFL tying record 63 yard field goal just before halftime of the game.  I was pretty neutral throughout the game, but when that kick went through, I think I squealed like a girl and the folks around us figured out that we were 49er fans dressed in Packer green.  

 Max with the camera ... "Hey, Max, there's Alex Smith ... get a picture of Alex Smith ... what are you looking at? ... oh, okay ... make sure to get her friend, too.  Oh, and don't tell Mom"

This is funny ... while Will was taking a picture of the cheerleaders, walking past us was the owner of the 49ers, John York (front, left)

 Max was pretty impressed with the teamwork and practice of these cheerleaders.  If interested, we have about 200 more photos of them to share.

 Admittedly, I thought this was the owners son, Jed York when we took this picture.  But it is 49ers General Manager Trent Baalke.  Nice guy, too.

 Will:  "OK, on this one, signal a first down while grabbing your leg with your other hand"

 Backup QB Colin Kaepernick warming up

 49er head coach Jim Harbaugh actively participating in warm-ups with his QBs catching passes

 You know the replacement ref that missed the three clipping calls on the punt return by Green Bay during the game ... neither do we ... but we have your picture, dude.

 Field side with the boys

 Aaron Rodgers (Cal alum) and Donald Driver during warm-ups

 We asked a guy to take our picture ... this was the best of six pictures he took.  Two of them didn't have Max in them, and the other three were of my shoes.  Nice guy though.  

Boyz to Men sang the National Anthem.  I asked them if they were Green Bay Packer fans.  Their response was less than convincing (notice, no Packer gear).  Asked them if they've ever been to Green Bay before.  Nope.  I was going to ask them, "What are you doing here, then?", but I think I had already figured out that answer.

Secret Trip - Meet Coach McCarthy

One of the highlights, and perhaps the most surprising aspect of our surprise trip, was the opportunity to meet with Coach McCarthy.  In meeting with his assistant, Lisa, the day before, she gave us an idea of what would happen.

After touring the Packers Hall of Fame and touring the field and expanses of the stadium, we were all set to meet with Coach.

Now consider this.  Here he is ... one of 32 NFL head coaches ... the day before the first game of the season, playing against one of the most formidable opponents on his schedule, and he's going to spend some time with a family from North Carolina!  I love this country!

Lisa led us upstairs to the offices.  The fifth floor is where the General Manager and other executives work - along with administrative functions (accounting, marketing, procurement, etc.).  The fourth floor is where all the coaches have offices.  As we got off the elevator, Lisa gave us the lay of the land ... with coaches offices along the perimeter of the building - defensive down one way; offensive down the other way, with meeting rooms in the interior spaces.  As we walked down the offensive coaches hall towards Coach's office, all doors were open, and many of the coaches had their young children in their office ... and for a few hours, they were Dad.

Lisa checked to see if Coach was ready and led us into his office - which was split into two areas ... his desk with a couple of chairs for conversations there ... and a sitting area with four comfortable chairs and a small sofa.  He greeted us warmly and directed us to the comfortable area.  And we just chatted.  Very down to earth.  Inquisitive of the boys interests.  Related to us about his own two young boys.

The first thing I said, beyond thanking him for his time, was that I was a 49er fan ... but when in Rome, you wear a toga ... thus, my wearing of Packer gear.  We discussed Charlie and Will's interest in the Packers ... and Max's strident interest in the Chargers.  Shelly was pretty shocked that I came out with all this "my blood is red and gold", but as a lifelong Steeler fan, he could relate.

A couple days before, when we first arrived in Green Bay, I asked each of the boys to write down five questions they wanted to ask Coach.  Charlie moaned ... "Ughhh ... homework!"  Max and Will were a bit more concentrated and took to the task.  I knew it would be helpful to put their thoughts together ahead of time, because as we sat there - they were in complete, astonished, pinch-me, stunned silence.

They were able to remember a question or two that they had written down and asked the coach.  I didn't want to turn it into twenty questions, so I tried to conclude the get-together with one final question.  I asked him for his thoughts on the idea of preparedness ... and that at a young age, it takes the form of homework assignments and projects ... but as an NFL Coach, it takes the form of studying for months, reviewing film, designing plays and game-plans, getting the players physically ready, etc.  They just didn't show up on Sunday and draw plays in the grass in the huddle.  This question really struck a chord for the Coach.  Clearly, in his mind, he was already preparing for his meeting with the players later that evening, the night before the first game of the season ... and my question seemed along the lines of what he was going to talk about later that evening.  So he shared a little about his speech - very personal - about how his father had raised him; his advice; and that he is in a position today to pass on advice within his family ... the Packer family.

Then an idea went off in his head and he jumped up and said, "hold on ... I've got something for you" and darted off through a side door ... essentially, a large closet (or small storage room) adjacent to his office, but leading to a conference room - his coaches conference room.  A couple of minutes later, he returned and invited us into the conference room.  We sat at a large table with about a dozen comfortable leather chairs surrounding it ... with a large drop-down screen on one wall at the head of the table.  Coach sat at the other head, running a laptop ... and dimming the lights, he said, "I'll be showing this video to the team later tonight ... you get to be the first one's to see it".  The whole time, he's got this goofy enthusiasm ... like what you'd expect when Bell called for Watson or Jobs interacted with Woz when they created something cool ... and you realize that this VERY public person, who is surrounded by coaches, players, and staff consistently ... when alone in a small setting, with his assistant, is as giddy as Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas morning, longing to share his creations with an appreciative audience.

Roll film ...

It was a 8-10 minute highlight film of the Packer's pre-season - from training camp footage to highlights of each of their four pre-season games, featuring stars and non-stars alike - with the combined messages of family and preparedness ... we're in this together ... we prepare for ourselves, but we prepare for the greater good, too.

Afterwards, he signed autographs for us.  Will was especially thoughtful in having Coach sign a football, "Happy Birthday, Tyler" for his friend up the street who was a big Packer fan.

And then we took a couple of snapshots of all of us together just outside his office (I made sure the picture of Lombardi on the wall was in sight).

All in all, it was nearly 25-30 minutes, when we expected 10-15.  It was the day before the first game of the season!  Everything that we've read and heard about Coach McCarthy, before and after, fits with our experience.  A genuine, nice, family man.

A couple of weeks later, the Packers lost on the last play of the game in Seattle.  A Hail-Mary throw to the back of the end zone in which the referee made a horribly bad call.  The whole nation knew it was a bad call, but the play stood and cost the Packers the game.  A week later, it was reported that Coach McCarthy reached out to the referee to provide his support - with no ill will - after all, it's just a game, and there are more important things in life.  A class act.

Another side note ... As we waited in the conference room for the film to start, behind the screen was a giant white board with about a hundred plays on it - segmented by offense and defense; different personnel packages; different down and distances ... I was very tempted to pull out my camera and snap away.

Here are our pictures with Coach McCarthy

Secret Trip - Tour of Lambeau Field

After visiting the Packers Hall of Fame on Saturday morning, we proceeded to our scheduled tour of Lambeau Field, which included a visit to a luxury suite and down to field level, led by a couple of older gentlemen that just loved giving tours.  The lead tour guide took to Max right off and was bewildered that a boy from North Carolina, visiting Wisconsin, would be a San Diego Charger fan.  Max, in turn, was offended that the tour guide thought he was strange.

Some pictures from our tour of Lambeau Field:

Lead signage of the atrium at Lambeau Field ... this area, which includes the Packer Pro Shop (Gift Shop), Administrative offices, Packer Hall of Fame, and open atrium ... were all added to the stadium about 10 years ago.   From sketches of the new 49er stadium, it looks like they will have something similar in a corner of their new stadium in Santa Clara.

Waiting in the atrium for our tour to start ...

The tunnel ... leading from the Packers locker room (which we were NOT allowed in the day before the game) to the field.  

Pictures from field level (Stay off the Grass!!!)

(See how Charlie towers over Shelly now!!!)

Our lead tour guide, Steven, on the left ... offered great stories about the history of Lambeau Field

This sappy guy proposed to his girlfriend a minute before this shot.  What a tool!  Who proposes to his wife at a football stadium?  BTW ... reminds me of a certain sibling who had season tickets to 49er games and kept his tickets in the nose-bleed section because of some sort of female infatuation he had years before ... just kidding.

Also note, we witnessed another proposal the next day from another sappy guy to his girlfriend who will always be #2 to him because he loves a football team more than his girlfriend.  I told her that and she cried (I think she was crying before that, so I can't take credit for making her cry).  Then I slapped her across the face (I can take credit for her crying on that one!)

So I looked at Shelly ... gathered Steven, our tour guide, over and said, "Honey, there's something I want to ask you before we proceed."  <waiting> ... <waiting> ... "Where are the bathrooms around here?"

Secret Trip - Packers Hall of Fame

More pictures from our visit to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame

 Sitting at a replica of Coach Vince Lombardi's desk and office

Negotiations with Will went smoothly and we were able to come to agreement

Negotiations with Charlie went smoothly and we were able to come to agreement

Unfortunately, Super-Agent Max Fleischer decided to put a wrench in all agreements and advised his new clients to hold out for a better deal ... and ice cream!

 Max is not afraid of anyone ... bigger, stronger, or with stinkier breath

The Lambeau Leap is a fairly new tradition in Green Bay.  After someone scores a touchdown, they leap into the waiting arms of their fans.  The Hall of Fame offered the boys the opportunity to experience their own Lambeau Leaps

 

  After all the leaping, Will wasn't feeling so well ...

 

... and Max went to the training room for some medical treatment

Seven Trophies (the Packers four Super Bowl trophies ... and our three boys ... )

Secret Trip - Arrival in Green Bay

(Overheard in North Carolina ... "Will you just get to the pictures, already!")

My apologies ... it's been some weeks now and we still have not "gotten to the nitty, gritty" ... let me get there in this post.  (Well, close enough)

We arrived on a Thursday and spent the long weekend in a Ramada hotel in Green Bay, about 2-3 miles from the stadium.  I picked this hotel because it had a pool and water slides.  This is Green Bay, remember.  No Four Seasons' here.  Five people crammed into two beds.  Clark Griswold even splurged for two rooms on his famous vacations, but he didn't have half the fun we had. 

Friday was kind of a dull, rainy day.  We found a great bakery within walking distance.  As we walked in, they immediately knew we were not from around there (we were not wearing green and gold).  As we saw everywhere we went in Green Bay, they were grateful for visitors and were very warm and personable.  Of course, they loved their Packers, too.  Finding out that we were from North Carolina, our hostess pointed us to the sausage bread ... "You're not going find this in North Carolina" ... while the boys eyed the sweet scent of the cinnamon breads - both fresh and filling for a long day.

Our plans for the day were scuttled because of the weather.  We drove by a local railroad museum and through a nature preserve, but the rain made either endeavor less than worthwhile ... we just were not prepared with umbrellas or rain gear (Mark is nodding ... remembering our visit to NYC a couple of years ago when it was raining and his first visit was to a Walgreen's for three umbrellas).  Okay, we're a bit pathetic, but no use ruining the whole weekend on day one.

We did have a chance to meet with Lisa Weghe, Coach McCarthy's assistant, later in the afternoon, which turned out to be scheduling genius on our part.  She provided us with all of our tickets we needed for the weekend ... for the stadium tour, hall of fame tour, pre-game passes, and game tickets.  It also gave us a chance to visit the Packer Pro Shop to buy our Packer gear - hats, souvenirs, shirts, etc.  As it turns out, the lines just to get into the Shop on Saturday and Sunday are hours long, so Friday was the perfect day amidst all the rain to get prepared for the weekend.

Saturday was a great day.  We started by visiting the Packers Hall of Fame, which was one level below the main level at the stadium.  As one of the oldest franchises in the NFL, the Hall of Fame was a history of football in America - and a tribute to the loyal fans and shareholders of Green Bay's franchise for being able to maintain a team in such a small market.

Here are several pictures from our visit to the Packers Hall of Fame

 

Will ... the man.  Shelly ... the mom.  Max ... the complainer, "Where are all the Chargers stuff!" 

 

Green Bay has an interesting tradition.  Their locker room and administrative offices are located at Lambeau Field.  Their practice facility is a giant enclosed / outdoor structure across the parking lot and across the street from the stadium.  Thus, during training camp, players suit up in the locker room then have to make a trek (not even a third of a mile) to get to the practice facility.  The local kids would offer their bikes to the players and ride along with the players on their back.  

Max being silly ... about to be run over by a big football player.

  

Obligatory picture of Charlie, since I've already shown pictures of Will and Max

 

Max, lining up to rush the quarterback

Will ... "Dad, look, my jersey"

Every time I saw a Rodgers jersey, I would say to them ... "Rodgers, along the sideline ... another one ... they're still in deep trouble at midfield ... they tried to do a couple .... the ball is still loose! ... as they get it to Rodgers ... they get it back now to the thirty ... they're down to the twenty ... Oh, the BAND IS OUT ON THE FIELD ..."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fZCCAqoSwY