Cheesehead Central

IT'S TODAY IT'S TODAY IT'S TODAY AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!

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@sozobe,

And then it will be (sigh): Wait until next year.

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@sozobe,

GO PACK GO!

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The trophy comes home tonight.

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AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

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@sozobe,

GOOOOOOOOOOO PACKERSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(That's from sozlet, who is delirious at the moment.)

Man that was hard to lose Woodson and Shields. What a game.

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That was a hell of an entertaining game . . . i figured it would be crazy in this thread.

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@Setanta,

I know!

I figure most people were celebrating last night and haven't woken up yet today. But I expect to see some celebration here today, Cheeseheads!

I can't believe I missed Aaron doing his little championship belt thing -- WITH the championship belt!!!! I was writing here at the time. Must be on Youtube (off to look).

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@sozobe,

I found a video, actually he did a little belt gesture after being named MVP, maybe looking at someone like "now, fellas," then Clay Matthews appeared a bit later and put a fake belt on his shoulder.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/02/07/sports/07superbowl12/07superbowl12-articleLarge-v2.jpg

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@sozobe,

Patiodog and O'Bill, what was the scene like in Wisconsin?

I definitely had flashbacks to '97, totally different. In '97 I watched in Madison, in a three-unit house, each floor having a Super Bowl party, and the whole house was literally shaking when Desmond Howard did his TD return. We lived on a major artery near the center of Madison and just looking out the window it was bedlam after the win.

Here, most people are Steelers fans, and certainly no shaking or bedlam going on.

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Sorry I'm late. I'm just getting over my hangover (the one related to the whiskey and beer, not the Gigantic Championship Hangover of Totally ******* Radical I'm going to have for the rest of the year). Also, I have a lot to say. And I'll say it when I got some time.

But like Sozobe I've been reflecting on the 1996 season. I think what makes this title so sweet for me, and I imagine for other fans, is how quickly and resolutely this group slammed the door on a former era. It was pretty exciting to wake up today realizing that, ****, another notable era has begun.

And it didn't begin until that Sunday night in December they lost to the Patriots. I don't know what happened. All I know is they were 8-6 after that game, and they then won 6 consecutive elimination games, four of which were on the road and in the playoffs. What the ****?

Whereas in 1996 you felt a title was inevitable. The Pack had incrementally grown from a pile of poo into a machine that won 13 regular season games. They had lost the NFC Championship to the Cowboys the year before, the divisional round to the same group of coked-up assholes the year before that, and when they finally made it to the Super Bowl, there really was no AFC threat to meet them there. And they had the #1 ranked offense and #1 ranked defense.

Or maybe my problem is that while Soz was partying in Madison, I was a teenager, play-fighting and breaking furniture at my friend's adult-chaperoned Super Bowl party.

Anyway, this year there was the element of surprise. I love this young, injured, scrappy team that plays with heart. Every Sunday for weeks now I've been doing the Upturned Beetle (on my back, kicking my legs in a frenzy of delight). I mean even now I'm spouting high school gym teacher cliches about heart and ****.

Which is to say GO PACK!

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I'm seriously going to buy EVERY idiotic souvenir and commemorative DVD. With one eye on the door in case I see my wife tiptoeing toward it, suitcase in hand.

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@Gargamel,

Quote:

And it didn't begin until that Sunday night in December they lost to the Patriots. I don't know what happened. All I know is they were 8-6 after that game, and they then won 6 consecutive elimination games, four of which were on the road and in the playoffs. What the ****?

Quote:

Loss to Patriots Packed with Meaning
On Sunday night in Cowboys Stadium, the Packers won their sixth straight game since a heartbreaking 31-27 defeat at the hands of the Patriots Dec. 19 to make Green Bay “Titletown’’ once again.

On Sunday night in a joyous Packers locker room, players and assistant coaches were unanimous in saying the Lombardi Trophy would not be going back “home’’ without their final loss of the season.

“Oh, I think that’s the point where our season turned around,’’ said end Ryan Pickett.

“I definitely think it set all of this up,’’ said tight end Tom Crabtree. “It wasn’t like we went out and talked about ‘what a great moral victory that was.’ But to me, there was just a feeling that settled in that we could play with anybody and that’s kind of where we took off. It shows. We went on a tear.’’

During the loss, which came with backup Matt Flynn at quarterback (future Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers sat out with a concussion), the Packers jumped to a 17-7 first-half lead before two game-changing events: the 71-yard kickoff return by guard Dan Connolly, and the interception for a touchdown by Kyle Arrington. Those plays ended up producing 14 desperately needed points for the Patriots. The AFC’s future top seed surely would have lost without them.

“The Patriots were the hottest team in the league and an outstanding team,’’ Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. “[Despite the Patriots’ big plays], we were still there battling at the end. And we went on a run after that and played our best football of the season.’’

“We knew we had to run the table,’’ receiver Donald Driver said. “That Patriots game gave us the confidence to do it.’’

(globe)

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@Gargamel,

YES. I know exactly what you mean.

Because the 96 team was so overpowering, (they'd had a really promising season in 95 and all signs were that 96 would be a big deal), the season had a completely different feel to it. I watched every single game from start to finish that year, and knew every single player (I still think "Antonio Freeman" every time I see 86), and the whole season was "can they... they can! what about now... they can! and now...? holy crap!" Straight through to the actual Lombardi trophy.

This year I saw maybe 1 or 2 games before the playoffs. I was still learning players in the Super Bowl ("Bush? Who the hell is he?"). The whole Brett/ Vikings interlude managed to wean me off of football pretty well, and I was liking having more time and not having my heart stomped on at regular intervals.

So I feel a little guilty, a little fair-weather-fan-ish. I was so much more devoted in 96, and so the payoff was that much greater. But the playoff run and Super Bowl were great to watch. (And my kid is now a lifetime Packers fan, probably. She wanted to wear her Packer shirt for two weeks straight, between winning the NFC championship and the Super Bowl. She was suitably awed when viewing my hallowed stock. I promised her it would be hers someday.)

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Hey, was there a foosball game or something?

Ended up watching at home full of bloody maries with a few folks. Finished the playoff run with the two friends I'd watched every post-season snap with. Dunno what the town was like -- probably not as rowdy as it gets for a any early season Badgers game against one of the patsies they like to schedule for their nonconference games...

SB itself was -- well, damn it, I wish it was something other than the usual jump-ahead-and-then-hang-on affair, but a damn fine result regardless.

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