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Girlfriend (GF) and I went to the Saints game Saturday night so I thought I'd write out a trip report of what it was like being at Lambeau Field for the game. Hopefully it will be worthwhile reading .

BED AND BREAKFAST - GF and I drive up Friday night (from Milwaukee) to our "private" bed and breakfast, which is really my parents lake cottage. Coming here makes for a nice weekend, and when we leave for the game Saturday afternoon, we take the back roads in. 30 miles from driveway to Lambeau. NO TRAFFIC. Only way to go. :-)

THE SCALPERS - We arrive a little after 4:00PM, and then it's off to the "pit" to try and find some tickets for the game. The ticket agents in Milwaukee were quoting $65/ticket during the week and went down to $60 on Friday, but we felt we could do better than that. It's only a pre-season game; there could be up to 5000 no-shows, right? The professional scalpers, for the most part were very nice and polite. You ask them what tickets are, they tell you, if you don't like it, that's OK. But prices in the pit were $50 and up per ticket, so GF and I decide to wait and see for a while. We've got plenty of time to see what gives. We don't get many chances to go to a Packer game, but this is the first time we've gone without tickets. After a while this older couple comes up and talks to a scalper about selling their tickets. He offers $45/ticket and they turn him down and he starts to walk away. Sensing a chance here I go up to them and ask if they'd like to take $45/ticket knowing that *REAL* Packer fans would be going to the game and these "pros" wouldn't be making any money off of them.

Well, the scalper that had talked to them overheard this and he just blew up over that. All of a sudden he's in my face screaming at the top of his lungs saying that he and the other scalpers were the "biggest" packer fans of all and it was the ticket holders who were greedy and selling them and such, yada yada yada. We were having a full-blown "situation" here. If  I had a can of pepper spray I think I would have used it. But, as fate would have it, I knew this guy and I knew his name because I met him last year from a ticket deal and  I knew he couldn't have remembered me. I keep my cool and don't raise my voice, but I hold my ground and growl at him to back off or else I'd call the police. This makes him blow up even more so I play my trump card and start using his name. Just back off, BUD, (not his real name) I know who you are BUD. On the surface this doesn't phase him but he shuts up and goes back to his scalper-buddies and whines about all the mean things I said about scalpers. Wah. I didn't exactly make him cry and run home to his Mommy but I sure ruined his day, so I considered this a small victory for us *REAL* Packer fans over this type of ticket-scum. :-)

GF and I sit around for a while more and we have a good laugh because now there's no way we're going to get tickets from the scalpers. ;-) I know we can get tickets at a good price, but the work required for wandering through the crowd and chatting with people was going to be just that: WORK. It was also obvious that the "market" was pretty much set in what tickets were going to cost so we took the easy way out. The older couple was going to go to the game if they didn't get a good price for the tickets, so we decided to pay them $50/ticket and when we gave them this offer, they accepted. We didn't exactly get a fantastic deal, but we got tickets with minimal hassle and the scalpers didn't profit from us, another small victory for *REAL* Packer fans. I would have loved reporting how we got a real bargain on tickets. And you have to admit the scalpers have a point in how the ticket holders are greedy themselves, but these ticket scum only reinforced my feelings toward how *THEY* act. But I beat the scum at their own game, both verbally and financially, so there. Nyah. :p

FREE PARKING - We had tickets! Now we can wander through the crowd. The parking lot around Lambeau was one big party. Live bands! No, not bands playing a "gig," just regular people who brought their own instruments. The food! It was a vegetarian nightmare. :-) One group set up a linen tablecloth, fine china, and served 1.5 inch T-bones, with candles, and wine. Helluva picnic. Even the K-Mart to the west was full of tailgaters. $5 to park over there. I have a cousin who just bought a house 2 blocks south of Lambeau and the word is he was thinking of making money by having people park on his lawn. So GF and I wandered up and down the streets over there to see if we could find him. (Never did). But it was amazing. Some of the big corner lots were charging people $10 to park and by our count were making over $400 for the afternoon. We also found out something interesting. If you walk a few blocks to the southwest, there was plenty of spaces on the street where you could park for FREE, all within easy walking distance of Lambeau Field. If you want to party and tailgate, pay the $10 and park in Lambeau. But if you want to save on parking money, just drive around the neighborhood; you'll find a spot easy.

THE GAME - Well, everyone knows you can see a football game better on TV than in person, so I don't need to comment on the game itself. What you don't get on TV is sharing the game with 60,000 other people. And that's FUN. They got the "wave" going a few times, and it was the most intense wave I've ever seen in a stadium. The whole crowd was doing it, top to bottom, and it'd keep going around. The two women next to me were funny. The one was an "expert" since I guess the tickets were hers or in the family, so she was telling her friend about everything going on. Every time there was a play and the announcer would say the name of who made the tackle, caught the ball, etc., and they'd look him up in the program to see what he looked like. I think they would have enjoyed it more if the pictures showed butts and not just faces. ;-) Then there was the typical arm-chair quarterback by us. You just have to picture this your mind. We're up high, row 59, (still great seats) and this guy was just a few rows in front of us. When there was what he thought a bad play or call, he'd stand up and start yelling at whoever deserved his wrath. I'll admit I yell at the TV when I watch a game, but hey, I'm at home. Think of acting like this at a game when you're up in the stands. You think anyone is going to hear you? GF and I had many good laughs over this character. :-) Let's see.... what else? When Mike Ditka was introduced the crowd (overall) gave him a nice applause. Reggie White was the first player on the field and the last off. He got a thunderous applause both times so if there is any bad feelings about what he does off the field, it was not obvious. When they cut to commercials on your TV, they're playing music on the speakers and people are dancing and having fun.

EPILOGUE - We take our time leaving Lambeau because we know there's no way we're going to get out quickly. Even when we do get to the car the parking area is still full of tailgaters so we don't even think of leaving and we walk around some more until the crowd thins out. We had arrived 3 hours early, but that was late in terms of parking at Lambeau. It's not just a game, but an event, and people come early and stay late, savoring this event and making full use of a Saturday. The day is coming when we'll have long 4-12 seasons again, but that won't stop people from having fun. This is football the way it was meant to be, and you can't help having fun when you come to Lambeau to soak up *REAL* football. If there's people out there who have never "done" Lambeau, go for it. Don't worry about the scalpers or the crowds. You'll do all right, you'll have fun, and then you'll "understand." We had a great time!