Tailgate tradition- Over and out.

Well, what a disappointing season. After last year's 13-3 we had our hopes up. The untimely departure of Brett Favre, injuries and bad luck led to a 6-10 result. By tomorrow it will clear out of the players and a few coaches will be fired.

If the season was based on statistics- we won! Rogers had 4000 yards, Grant had 1000 yards, Jennings and Driver each had 1000 yards, Woodson and Colins each had 7 interceptions. The Packers out scored their opponents in sheer points. Doesn't sound like a 6 and 10 team.

Tailgate tradition- Next Generation

It only hits you years later. It was part of my Dad's plan for the family to be Packer fans or at least to appreciate the Packers. I think it was linked with the feeling of being young and having a winning team. In the 60s, the Packers were awesome and every year everyone expected them to win. Being part of a winning tradition is thrilling and addictive.

As years pass you regain the memory of your youth when they are great again, you remember the city staying up all night after a big victory, when it was Titletown, when you used to sneak into the games in a beer truck before you had tickets....when all they did was win. Hornung, Taylor, Starr, Lombardi..... It was exciting to be a Packer fan and it was exciting to be young. You want to pass that excitement on to future generations.

We had the Holmgren/Favre era to remember.

Let's hope the future has something to cheer about.

Tailgate tradition- The Landscape of Lambeau

The landscape of Lambeau has changed over the past 20 years. The ring has gotten taller, they've added box seats for the corporations and (I guess) more women's restrooms. The atrium is a big plus though you can't see it from the seats. The past 17 years has been particularly successful. Only one losing season. Now we are looking at the second one. The first of the post-Favre era. It is too bad the Favre thing has polarized many of the fans. At the Texan game two guys wanted to fight us for wearing Favre jerseys. Insane.

Remember the success that brought all the improvements to Lambeau. Who is principally responsible? Are there any Hall of Famers currently on the team?

Tailgate tradition- Get to your seat early!

The tailgate tradition that began in 1990 was that we wanted to go in early to see the players warm up and soak in the atmosphere at Lambeau. At the time, Jeff was 7 years old and his first game in Green Bay. We had the same foursome for at least 10 years: Grandpa Bukowski, Grandpa Goetzke, Jeff and me. We were in the Packer fan club and for five dollars you could join a big tailgate right in the shadow of the stadium. It was pretty much all you could eat and drink an hour or two before the game. We used to stop in and visit Great Grandpa and sometimes Toni and Johnnie before the game. We drove to Green Bay from Wisconsin Rapids.

The Packers were playing the 49ers and the Packers starting quarterback was Don Majkowski. We were pumped. We walked into the stadium and took a quick look and there warming up was Joe Montana! Like anyone, just seeing Lambeau for the first time would be enough, but there was Jerry Rice and Sterling Sharpe. What more would you need? It was quite a thrill and ever since we have tried to get to the seats early.

Lambeau Tailgate----Huddle Up

Football is a team sport. You have to rely on everyone doing their part and looking out for each other and sticking together.

Most of today's fans don't remember the 80s and how bleak it was with mediocre teams and excuses. The fans clung to the Lombardi years as the reason to be Packer fans. We always had Vince. Now we will look back on the Favre years as a reason to be a Packer fan.

Lately, there is no team. Some guys play occasionally, some are in the wrong position, some just don't have enough experience and they throw a pick in the last minute to lose the game.

It is time for the Packers to huddle up and come together.

Tailgate tradition- The cigar and True Love

Jeff, his two grandpas and I went to the Packer/ 49er game in 1996. It was a thrilling overtime victory and Don Beebe's night to shine. At our tailgate
before the game Jeff and I noticed that two knuckleheads were living it up with cigars after the meal. The light bulb went on and my Dad, who had long given up smoking, loved the excuse to have a cigar once a year at the tailgate. Ever since, we have had the ritual cigar after the meal. Does that make us knuckleheads? Live it up!



True love is when you go to a game of a rival team with your wife's family during your team's game. It is cold,and there are potentially 70,000 obnoxious fans, but you tough it out. Maybe there is a fantasy football connection.......but we will always welcome new recruits.

Tailgate tradition- It's a family thing.

We went to the Packer/Texan game last Sunday, December 7. It was -1 degree when I went out to warm up the car that morning. It was definitely cold, but some brats and chicken, a little football and a cigar and we were as warm as a summer day. One of the things my dad had said to me a few years ago, when he decided not to go to the game with me, was that he didn't want tailgating to depend on whether he went to the game. Some day he wouldn't be there and he still wanted the family to go. He said we needed to go without him to be ready when he wasn't there anymore. At the time, I couldn't imagine him not being there or not being around anymore.

This was the weekend we would have celebrated his 79th birthday and had been going to Wisconsin Rapids to celebrate with him.

It was too cold for some of our other tailgate relatives and Joe came in just a few minutes, but we upheld the great tradition.
Now if we can just have the Packers keep up their end of the bargain. They lost in the last 4 seconds on a Texan field goal.

Tailgate tradition- Winning is the only thing.

In the glory years as it is remembered, being mediocre wasn't an option. My dad used to talk about the legendary Vince Lombardi and the championships of the 60s.

I was around and aware of the Packers greatness, but not as interested. What a lot of fans since the Favre era don't realize is that from 1972-1992 the Packers were a very mediocre bunch. Most of my fan years, the Packers were 8-8 or worse. I had to suffer the Vikings and Bears winning the division year after year. Now there is the feeling that the Packers will return to those mediocre times.

We need to start winning.... next week.