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The real story to this game began around two weeks ago when Reggie White suddenly passed away long before his time. It was a great loss for Packer fans and a reminder that there are more important things in life. Football may only be football, but football does bring people together; how else would we have ever known a man such as Reggie White if it were not for football? Some people perhaps considered Reggie controversial, but the very basic element of what he was about was family, friends, and trying to do Right, not only for himself, but for others.

My experience for this game began Sunday morning as I left my parents house 30 miles south of Green Bay. It was a dull, gray, winter day, the kind that can automatically make you depressed. It was cold, not bitterly cold, but it was damp. A light rain/sleet/ice/snow mixture was coming down, hardly noticeable but enough to make things wet.

I had two tickets but I sent one off to a friend and would meet him inside Lambeau Field, so I was going it alone for the pre-game activities.

When I arrived at the stadium shortly after noon, things were starting to pick up. The parking lot had been open long enough for the die-hard tailgaters to be set up and in full swing but I was early enough to see that there still was a steady stream of incoming Packer fans on Oneida Avenue.

The cold, hard fact for me was I didn't have anything to do. It's always fun when I come with my girlfriend but she wasn't available this time around. The first thing I did was wander over to the Scalper Pit to see what the ticket market was like. There weren't very many people there, it was a bit early yet, but I still had a number of people ask if I was buying or selling. One guy was willing to pay around $100/ticket (face value for the wildcard playoff game was $94) and a scalper was trying to sell good 40 yard line seats for $170 each. I was curious to see if he would be able to sell them for that since several ticket brokers were selling tickets the last couple days for close to face value.

I looked for some friends in the parking lot (looked a couple of times during the day but never did find them) so I walked to the west and ate lunch at Hardees. They have some huge burgers loaded with grease and fat and I figured if it didn't stop my heart then the energy-packed sandwich would at least keep the metabolism fueled for an afternoon of sitting in the cold. The hot chocolate was warm and felt good going down.

By the time I got back to Lambeau Field the Ticket Office had opened up. And yes, they had tickets available for the game at face value! They had a big pile of tickets! I've been stopping by like this for two years to see if tickets ever were available and this is the first time that I personally had the opportunity to purchase tickets. It's my guess the that the Packers held onto a bunch of tickets for whatever reason or the league reserved more than they needed. Either way, there were many available tickets and no fans standing in line trying to get some.

One observation while walking the the crowd: A guy finished his drink and dumped out the ice cubes that were still in the cup. On a day like this in January you put ice in your drink to do what? Warm it up...?

Having nothing better to do, I head back to the Scalper Pit and inform fans who are looking that this option is available. Fans would thank me but many of them didn't really seem to be that serious about getting tickets because none of them went off to the Ticket Office right away. Seemed many of them were merely trying to swap tickets so they could sit with friends or something like that. In other words, they already had tickets or were in no hurry to get tickets. At this time some scalpers were trying to only get face value so I knew that they'd be offering a lot less closer to game time. There wasn't a lot of people here so I decided to head over to my cousin's house to visit. The scalper with the 40 yard line seats was still trying to sell them for $170 each.

My Cousin lives in the shadow of Lambeau Field and makes a few bucks on the side by letting people park on his lawn when I arrived to say hello. I was surprised that his lawn was full because it was still early. I guess he was out hustling this time around. He and his wife just had a baby last October so that may have something to do with it. Their game-day party friends can't come over because of the baby so Cousin actually parks cars instead of hanging out with his buddies. Becoming a Daddy changes a lot of things!

It's getting to be about that time so I head back to the car, put on my cold weather gear, and head on in. At the corner of Lombardi and Oneida I run into RANDY, a friend I know who is a huge Packer fan. Randy is a guy with connections; he got to sit in a luxury box at FedEx Field when the Packers were in Washington to play the Redskins and he also got Club Seats from a connection for a game at Lambeau a few weeks ago. I ask him if he will be sitting with Bob Harlan for this game but I guess there are limits to even what a legend like Randy can pull off. Today he'll be out in the bowl with the general rabble. We talk for a while and then it's off to the game!

The freebie du jour was a "Spirit Stick," nothing but a yellow foam stick but when everyone in the stadium is waving them it makes for an impressive sight.

I arrive at my seat, say hello and talk with the other Season Ticket holders around me, and my friend arrives. After being a loner for the morning it was good to be with people I knew. At Lambeau Field you have an extended family.

The first order of business was to pay tribute to Reggie White. There was a moment of silence and then they played a video on the scoreboard, the crowd cheering and shouting REG-GIE! REG-GIE! REG-GIE! just like the old days.

How can we lose against the lowly Vikings, a team that had no business in the playoffs after a pathetic showing during the regular season? How can we lose with Reggie looking down on us?

But, lose we did. It was over about 4 plays into the game and the Vikings never looked back. The crowd was tremendous, standing on their feet and yelling and cheering, you never saw anything like it, but the heart wasn't there, the scoreboard robbed us of that deep satisfaction you get when winning a big game.

The Packers played one of their worst games ever but did come close to having a chance to win. The Vikings weren't that good and did not have an easy time beating a team that did not show up. One of the few high points of the game was when the crowd started cheering on a big play to help shout down the Vikings as they came up to snap the ball. A big defensive play was needed and everyone started yelling REG-GIE! REG-GIE! REG-GIE! The Packers stopped the Vikings on that play but it wasn't a game-breaker. Things more or less faded after that and the big plays that were needed never came.

Probably the most notable single moment of the game was when Randy Moss of the Vikings mooned the crowd after a touchdown. I didn't see it from where I was sitting but those who saw it on TV were doing nothing but talking about such a complete lack of maturity. The pictures in the newspaper showed Moss with his fanny stuck way out to the crowd. This is but one of many antics and stunts that Randy Moss has pulled during his otherwise outstanding career. However, it's things like this that will define Randy Moss and what he'll be remembered for.

When the game was over the extended Packer family said their good byes and wished everyone a safe drive home and looked forward to seeing each other again next season.

I listened to the post-game show on the radio as I drove home. It was not a happy program, of course, but you could hear the Packer fans in the background as they socialized with each other in Curly's Pub. The radio show is broadcast live from there so it was evident that many Packer fans still wanted to linger and soak up as much Lambeau Ambience that they could while they were still here. The producers managed to snag one of the players from the locker room to make an on-air appearance, and it was a "nobody" player. It's understandable that many players would not want to come on the radio and that the radio crew would prefer to have a big-name player, so the guy they grabbed to come on the air probably did so reluctantly and only because the crew couldn't get one of the mainstream players.

So here comes this guy, a player that hardly anyone knows, after a game that was a major disaster, and what does the crowd in Curly's Pub do?

They cheer.

They cheer for their guy, a guy who sits in the shadow of the Brett Favres and Jevon Walkers. They cheer for their guy despite suffering one of the most humiliating defeats ever.

The Packer fans who were there cheered.

EPILOGUE

Of all the games to lose, why did it have to be THIS game? To the VIKINGS? In the playoffs after winning the division and beating the Vikings twice during the regular season? Turn it around and it would have been one of the greatest victories ever, especially when it was the game where Reggie White was memorialized. This game was for Reggie; how could we lose?

In a lot of ways it was Reggie White's game. We remembered him for what he did for the Packers and for what he was as a human being. He was a man who defined greatness, not by his play but by who he was.

Contrast that with Randy Moss. Randy Moss is a player who plays great, but does he define greatness?

Could that be the reason why we lost? Because Reggie White was up there, trying to teach us one more time what it was all about? Had the Vikings lost, the class and maturity of Randy Moss never would have been exposed. The lesson of what makes a hero a hero would never have been learned.

Greatness on the field is but one element of being a great man or woman. True greatness is defined in what you also do off the field.

That is what we carry away from this game. Reggie White is but one player who has defined Greatness. Randy Moss may someday make the Hall of Fame but he will never be remembered as someone worthy of our respect.

This is why we were supposed to  lose today. One of the points made on the radio show is that Packer fans are becoming spoiled for winning for so long. Thanks to Reggie pulling strings, we have been reminded as to how great of a team the Packers are and also how great the fans are. Where else does it take 30 years to get Season Tickets? Where else do the fans cheer the team after a humbling loss? Thanks, Reggie, regardless of all the flaws you may have had, thanks for showing us what Greatness is and why the Packers have no equal. Greatness is not always defined by what you see on the scoreboard; Reggie White knew that. While players will be remembered for merely sticking their butt out in the air, the difference and contrast between players who are great on the Field and Great off the field is a lesson that should never be lost. And we are so fortunate to have known the truly Great players and have seen them wearing the Packers uniform.