Thursday Feb 03

Green and Gold to the Core

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Green Bay Packer FanI am a Green Bay Packers fan.

I have been a Green Bay Packers fan my entire life.

I am a third generation Packers fan.

I am a third generation, lifelong Packers fan who was born and raised in Chicago and have lived in Chicago my entire life.

Ok, so now that that has been established, let's address what being a fan is all about.

A fan is someone who has an interest in something. It does not matter what "it" is, and it certainly does not matter why someone chooses to take an interest in something. It is in the blood, the DNA, the makeup of an individual to want to be interested in whatever they choose to.

I am a Packers fan, always have been and always will be. I have lived through the pitiful years during the 80's, the glory years of the 90's and the hopeful optimism for the future that currently surrounds the team. Names like Rodgers, Jennings, Grant and Woodson were preceded by names like Dickey, Jefferson, Ellis, and (Mark) Lee when I first became interested in football. My Sundays were filled with hope as year after year, I hoped the Packers 80's edition would rise above and be competitive. Unfortunately, that was few and far between.

So as we sit in the early 2000's, the Packers are a team most certainly on the rise. Expectations are high, and rightly so. This team is set up for a long run deep into the playoffs. We received just a taste of success last season when the return to the playoffs was met with the loss to the Cardinals. Many thought it was just the beginning of a new era for the Packers.

So now in the 2010 season, the high expectations have been met with some obstacles. Ryan Grant and Morgan Burnett are out for the season. There is a possibility that Nick Barnett may be lost for the season. Brandon Chillar and Mark Tauscher are expected to miss several weeks. All of these injuries. A sputtering defense. An offense which has yet to find its rhythm. Special teams which are struggling.

These are roadblocks to success. And I am sick of people bringing them up.

It is one thing to analyze what has happened to the Packers so far this season and attempt to see what the areas are that need improvement. It is another thing to consistently complain, never finding the positive in anything. Last time I checked the Packers were 3-1. A 75% winning percentage a quarter of the way through the season. I'll take that any time.

A fan sticks by their team, through the good times and the bad. Who remembers the '86 season? A 4-12 record didn't shy me away. How about 1991? Again, 4-12. Hope was high, reality was not.

What about next year? What if there is no football season due to a lockout? Will I stop being a Packers fan? Absolutely not. I'll miss the game action, and my fandom will probably grow as a result. It's the wanting of success that runs through my veins. Absence makes the heart grow fonder is a simple but telling way to state how I feel about my Packers.

I'll stick by the Packers no matter what because I am green and gold to the core. You want to be a fair-weather, bandwagon jumping fan? Go see the team in Minnesota. Real Packer fans are fans for life.


Written by :
jrehor
 

Comments  

 
+1 # Brady Augustine 2010-10-09 22:47
I am with you, John...Go Pack!!!
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+1 # djbonney138 2010-10-10 19:18
Go Pack Go!
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0 # John Rehor 2010-10-10 19:21
That's what I'm talking about! GO PACK GO!
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+2 # Jarrett Samuels 2010-10-10 19:30
Well said John. A real fan understands the ups and downs of following their team. A bandwagon fan shows up in the latest jersey or jacket of the hottest team. I even think people who give you a hard time about your team don't understand the dedication or commitment you have towards your favorite team. I would take a day like today over any day in March-July with no football.
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0 # John Rehor 2010-10-10 19:36
Thanks for reading. Especially liked your comment "dedication or commitment you have toward your favorite team" A fan has "it" as part of their makeup, their personality. Bandwagoners have no clue.
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0 # asshalo 2010-10-10 20:57
If you've been following the team long enough, weeks like this will disappoint you, but they shouldn't surprise you. Just means they need to get better in the weeks to come.
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+1 # John Rehor 2010-10-10 21:32
Well said-true fans remain optimistic regardless of the previous week's result.
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+1 # jerzeymagoo 2010-10-11 11:04
I am a 1st generation Packer fan. I don't have any brothers & my father was never into football. My family used to go to My uncle Joe's house every Thanksgiving. My uncle was a football fanatic. We would watch the football games & eat a huge Turkey dinner. Uncle Joe & my cousins were Cowboy fans. When I was about 13 years old, at my uncles on Thanksgiving, we were watching the Packers play & I remember liking the G on their helmet & the color of the uniform. At that moment in the late 1980's I became a Green Bay Packer fan! They stunk back then, but I fell in love with the team. I loved rooting for them, as a constant underdog. I became obsessed with football & The Packers! I got to watch them build a championship team in the 90's. I cried when they would Lose to Dallas & my cousins would rub it in. Finally they beat Dallas, I watched them Win a Superbowl & Lose a Superbowl! I watched them make it all the way back to the NFC Championship game & lose. Good or bad, I love the Packers!
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0 # John Rehor 2010-10-11 17:52
Everybody has a story about how they first became a Packer fan. Thanks for sharing yours, and thanks for reading. GO Pack Go!
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+1 # Garth Bugenhagen 2010-10-11 12:48
Living right here in Packerland I've learned a few things about "being a fan". I have said many times that the best thing about real Packer fans is, we LOVE our team. The worst thing about Packer fans is, we LOVE out team. The difference is not acting like a jaded ex-lover when the team underperforms and doesn't live up to their expectations only to cozy up when they have you feeling good again. Neither rain nor snow nor heat nor gloom of night nor Chester Marcol nor Randy Wright can stop a true fan from supporting his team. It’s not easy week after week and year after year to deal with the highs and lows but I wouldn't have it any other way.
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+1 # John Rehor 2010-10-11 17:56
A Chester Marcol and Randy Wright reference in the same post-wow! But that is the sign of a true fan, someone who can remember those years, and still root for teams that were absolutely terrible. We survived the dark years, and that makes me appreciate the last 20 years even more.
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