If you’re a sports fan, which I’m assuming you are if you’re reading this, you probably have a bucket list of sporting events you want to attend. It could be the gold medal hockey game at the Winter Olympics, the Master’s, or a World Series-clinching game for Vladdy Jr. and the boys. All three of those would be considered “bucket list” items for me, but one of the events that’s been right at the very top for me since I became a sports junkie was to go to a Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field.
And as a diehard cheesehead who wants to make the most of my gap year, it felt like there was no better time than now to make this happen. Knowing I was witnessing greatness as the Packers steamrolled through the regular season in what might be Aaron Rodgers’ own “The Last Dance”, I wanted nothing more than to get to Green Bay for a home playoff game.
When it was announced that the top-seeded Pack would be hosting the San Francisco 49ers in a Saturday night bout at Lambeau with a conference championship berth on the line, it felt like I had to be there. So the night after Super Wild Card Weekend I bought my ticket, booked my flight, and convinced a friend to tag along on what was shaping up to be an epic trip.
Didn’t think this would happen but after some last minute planning I’m going to WISCAHNSIN to see the Green Bay Packers.
Seeing a playoff game at Lambeau is a big bucket list item for me and I couldn’t picture a better way to start the weekend than with some termies🍁 #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/AZQ3hugGzC
— Nick Reid (@ReidAboutSports) January 21, 2022
And just like that I was off to Milwaukee, where we hopped on an Amtrak that took us two and a half hours north into the heart of wiscahnsin. The boonies as far as most people would be concerned. But I knew that in the middle of this cheese-filled state was home to one of the most historic venues in all of sports in Lambeau Field. As we drove through towns that only had a handful of stoplights, including a county where one of the craziest true crime conspiraces in the last century took place, I was getting more and more pumped to finally touch down in the smallest pro sports city in all of North America.
We arrive in Green Bay and it felt like I was in a fantasy land. The population there is right around 100,000 and it felt even more compact than that. I’ve passed through quite a few small, lifeless American towns and this felt no different. But as we ventured out of our two-star hotel and passed a Walgreens, a floor coverings store, and an indy baseball diamond I see a MASSIVE football stadium pop out of seemingly nowhere. All of a sudden, we had arrived in one of the most iconic places where a pigskin had ever been thrown.
WE MADE IT TO TITLETOWN!!
It feels surreal being in Green Bay for a playoff game. We’re cold but the beers are colder and the food is clutch. Time to tailgate and get even more amped for this game 🏈🧀 @ItsDeanBlundell #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/pOSmF4ZRKT
— Nick Reid (@ReidAboutSports) January 22, 2022
When I tell you that Green Bay is a town that was built around a football stadium, it’s exactly the way it sounds. You have Lambeau Field, the indoor practice complex across the street, and then a block filled with various businesses all of which depend on the main attraction for survival.
Green Bay had two sports bars within walking distance, Anduzzi’s and Stadium View, and as game time approached both of them were packed with people who were there for the game. A healthy mix of locals, who were raised in the football town of football towns, and tourists made up a sea of green and yellow at these bars that in all seriousness likely made for at least 10% of their annual revenue from just that day alone. Knowing that kickoff was right around the corner, we checked out both establishments and had a phenomenal time. From the Spotted Cow ales to the fried cheese curds we had the most authentic Packers game day experience we could have ever imagined. The atmosphere was beyond incredible and I was fired up for this ballgame.
You cant beat this pre-game atmosphere #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/bPhp50wmPH
— Nick Reid (@Nick1ausReid) January 23, 2022
Before the sun started to set we went back to the hotel and got ready for what was set to be a cold night at an outdoor stadium. How cold, exactly? With temperatures dropping below -10 C not including wind chills, this was shaping up to be the coldest game of the entire NFL season. But Green Bay Packers fans don’t get fazed by the cold, and so we knew we had to dress the part or risk getting hypothermia. I made sure to bring layers upon layers of ski gear and boots thicker than any pair that Niners fan could’ve gotten their hands on in the bay area before trekking north for this game.
And could you tell that these road fans were out of their element. I was surprised at how many Niners fans were there given the distance, but I was more surprised at how underdressed some of these people were. I knew how cold it was gonna be, and so did the rest of the Packer fans there as a ton of them were wearing camo and orange overalls like they were hunting elk. It was hilarious seeing these warmly dressed, well-fed cheeseheads snicker as guys in red jerseys walked past them wearing nothing more than a hoodie, jeans, and sneakers. I didn’t think half of these Niner fans would make it to kickoff.
Lambeau Field is LIT!! #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/Hcbchxsf7R
— Nick Reid (@Nick1ausReid) January 23, 2022
I didn’t want to leave the unreal tailgating scene, but eventually it was time to get into the stadium. Walking towards Lambeau amidst a tsunami of bundled up fans was such a rush, with all 80,000 of us buzzing with anticipation. Everyone was ready to witness the team with the best record in football, led by the likely back-to-back MVP, get to work.
It’s truly hard to describe the feeling I had as I got to my seat and became apart of that crowd. It was surreal. As the Packers stormed out of the tunnel leading up to kickoff the barn was absolutely rockin’. And then the game starts and it only got more nuts, with the Pack marching down the field right away to score a touchdown on the opening drive. I thought the stadium was about to collapse. The electricity running through Lambeau in that moment as the Pack went up 7-0 is the high you live to chase as a sports fan.
.@ajdillon7 plows through the defense.
TOUCHDOWN! 🙌#SFvsGB | #GoPackGo
📺 FOX pic.twitter.com/5obp0oSb5T
— Green Bay Packers (@packers) January 23, 2022
If you paid any attention to Saturday’s game you know where it went from this moment. The Pack peaked way too early and mustered only three points the rest of the way, while an all-time terrible night for the special teams allowed the 49ers to tie the game and win it on a clock-expiring field goal. When that blocked punt was returned for a touchdown you could hear a pin drop, and it was the turning point in what was a shockingly epic letdown from the green and gold. The Niners had no business winning that game, but the Packers and Aaron Rodgers couldn’t have choked any harder than they did. To think I travelled all this way expecting a Packers win only for it to collapse in heartbreaking fashion felt like a waste of a trip for a brief moment. It was gutwrenching.
But the realization that the Green Bay Packers were upset at home as heavy favourites disappeared as quickly as it had set in. Despite this brutal result, it was easy to remind myself how amazing this experience was. My first-ever Packers game in Green Bay was a playoff game that was played in the snow. I got to see my team play in the frozen tundra under the brightest of lights. How sweet is that?
Green Bay is a bit of a ghost town after last night but I still can’t get over how cool this place is. The town is literally built around Lambeau Field.
Imagine having an 80,000 seat stadium in your backyard? Sign me up 🧀🏟 pic.twitter.com/iVL7hAk8yU
— Nick Reid (@Nick1ausReid) January 23, 2022
While a win would have obviously made the trip even better, the loss didn’t even matter in the end. This trip to Titletown was everything I imagined it to be and I had a blast. The food was great, the beers were cold, and the locals we met couldn’t have been more hospitable. I even snuck in a chicken sandwich review the night before we flew home out of Milwaukee. All in all this was a bucket-list experience and one I couldn’t recommend any more highly if you’re a fellow cheesehead.
Plus after spending all those hours outdoors in subzero temperatures in Aaron Rodgers’ company I must now be immunized from the cold. Frostbite doesn’t have shit on me.
