Fan Fest 2007 officially opened at 3:00 PM Friday, March 9 but it was going on 5:00 when I pulled into the parking lot at Lambeau Field. Bart Starr was on the main stage wrapping up an interview which was a surprise as he was not on the list of those who would be appearing. My timing was such that I didn't have time to pull out my camera to take a picture of Bart so I concentrated on the first order of business and that was to get my Fan Fest program and related materials.

I'm not a person who actively goes after autographs but there was one I was hoping to get this weekend, and that was Robert Brooks. I had with me the nameplate that hung over his locker and was hoping to get it signed. It's fun to have things like that. They changed the autograph format this year; when you entered Fan Fest you got four tickets which would guarantee each person four autographs. There were two women in front of me when I entered and one of them had 4 Fan Fest tickets so she ended up getting a total of 16 coupons for autograph sessions.

We all quickly checked out our autograph sessions; I had Ron Wolf, Nick Collins, Ezra Johnson, and Kabeer-Gbaja-Biamila. The two women go through their autograph coupons and we all chit-chat for a bit with me saying I would be willing to trade for Brooks. The one woman had four tickets because she was with a group who would all come tomorrow and was unsure of which autographs she would trade but I could have a Brooks if she had two. She did have Brooks but she only had one coupon. While we were talking I showed her my nameplate which made her realize I was on a quest so she was very nice in giving me her Brooks coupon. I let her have her choice with mine and she took KGB since she didn't have that one.

This turned out to be a good thing; the Packers set up a trading area for fans who wanted to swap tickets and Brooks was one of the hardest coupons to get. Had she known this or thought about it more I may not have been able to get the Brooks ticket. Either way, I was all set.

The main stage was still going strong but I just got here and wasn't yet in sync with everything going on. A thought then crossed my mind; if Bart Starr was here, was he going to sign autographs? That would make for some nice pictures. I look around, find a staff person, and ask if Bart is going to sign autographs. She responds by saying "Come closer to me and I can help you out." It's noisy in the atrium so I move next to her and say "OK." She says again, "Come closer to me and I can help you out." I put my head down to her mouth and say "OK." Again she says "Come closer to me and I can help you out." Am I missing something here? If I get any closer I'm going to have to put my arm around her and stick my tongue in her ear. So I look at her and start telling her I'm not following the exchange here. She opens her hand and flashes a small stack of special passes to get a Bart Starr autograph!

She gives me a pass and I'm a little dumbfounded with this little surprise. I actually got Bart Starr's autograph at last years Fan Fest but last year I was at the end of the line and Bart had stopped personalizing the autographs in order to speed up the process. I wander around for a bit wondering what I should do; I could give the pass to a kid since I already had an autograph or get another one and figure out what to do with it later. I opt to get an autograph and purchased a Packer mini-helmet from the Pro Shop. I make my way to the autograph location and get in line.

The people around me all had similar stories, staff people, for whatever reason, gave them a pass for the autograph session with Bart Starr. The line builds up behind me and overall I was probably right about in the middle of the line. Bart arrived on time which was 5:30 PM and we all patiently waited our turn. As we got to the front of the line the staff people were warning us that Bart personalizes his autographs. You could hear Bart asking people for their name or whatever name they wanted on the autograph. He made some exceptions to this rule, such as with one person who had a photograph signed by multiple players so Starr didn't want to detract from the format.

There were two people in front of me and I was getting ready for my autograph when Bart looked at his watch, looked at the crowd, and apparently did some kind of calculation in his head about how much time it was going to take to sign for those remaining. He gets up, waves his hand and shouts to the crowd to get their attention, and announces he will stop personalizing autographs because he had to move things along. Bart signed my mini-helmet "Bart Starr 15" but I didn't get the "Best Wishes" with my name included with the signing. Two years in a row! It's almost like one of those poker tournaments where the guy wins two million dollars but is still all disappointed because he finished in second place. Regardless, I know a lot of people would have loved to be in my shoes so I enjoy the moment.

I spend the rest of the evening wandering around taking photographs and on occasion I would stop in the autograph swapping area now and then with my tickets to see if people wanted anything I had. I wasn't planning on getting more autographs other than Robert Brooks so I figured maybe I could help someone out or maybe give them out to some kids. I wasn't going to just give my tickets away because there are too many people who will take advantage. I've seen way too many times fans trying to do other fans a favor with Packer tickets out in the scalper pit only to have someone profit from their kindness.

Both Friday and Saturday I come and go through the swapping area so I'll just spend a paragraph or two here describing how it worked. Many fans would take a piece paper and write down what they're looking for and what they have for trade. Me, I would just hold out my tickets and people would look through them. Some people were fairly aggressive, some were out to take advantage, and some generally just wanted an autograph from a favorite player. Several players were a hot item but it because obvious that two players were the least desirable and they were Blackmon and Corey Williams. I got these two often but many times people would trade for them merely because it was during a time slot that they could work into their schedule. During the day I ran into people who had extras and/or couldn't attend a session so they would give me their extras. In some cases people wanted a ticket bad enough that they would give me two coupons for one. Since I was keeping my Brooks it meant I only had 3 coupons to trade with but I was able to parlay them into 12 coupons for autographs.

When it was time for an autograph session I'd go to the line and look for a family that had kids without a coupon and give them them coupon. Surprisingly, though, the kid didn't always seem to care that they were able to get an autograph. Autographs aren't that big of a deal for me, I guess it doesn't have to be a big deal for others.

Either way, I was able to help people get some of the autographs they wanted and I had fun just making trades. Probably the biggest deal I had was toward the end of Saturday. One of the coupons that fell into my hands was an autograph for Johnnie Gray. I never heard of him but he was a player from the 1970's and is in the Packers Hall of Fame. There was a guy there about my age or perhaps a little older and he really wanted the Johnnie Gray. I'm guessing Johhnie Gray was a favorite player of his back when he was younger but I didn't trade with him because I was more interested in giving tickets to kids and the coupons he had for trade, I already had them, and he had offered me two coupons for the one. However, when you're in a group of people like that you can get a feel of what people are all about as they talk to other people. I could tell he honestly wanted that Johnnie Gray so I eventually agreed to his for-for-one offer and it made his day.

Oh, a comment about the coupon system for getting autographs: it was a good idea. In the past we've spent two hours waiting for an autograph only to be 12 people away only to have the player leave and a new player come in. With the coupons, you are guaranteed to get the player you want and the lines are shorter. You can show up early for your player or wait until toward the end of the time slot. The only drawback is you may not get the player you really want but there is the possibility of trading. The previous Fan Fests, they had a lottery system for "premium" players but it was random for who would get them and who wouldn't. Some fans would get two or three while others would get none. There is no way to make everyone happy all the time but the new system makes it fair for everyone.

Friday night also included a raffle, mostly for various kinds of Packers memorabilia, but some of the prizes included Packer tickets for home games and special meet-and-greet sessions with some of the players appearing at Fan Fest. Those meet-and-greets sounded like a great prize so I bought 10 tickets for $10 but my luck ran out. being able to score with the Brooks/Starr events were great, I suppose it was asking too much to also get a meet-and-greet.

Here's a story from one fan: While standing in line for Bart Starr I was talking to the guy next to me in line and discussing the logistics of getting autographs and how it can be crazy at times. I told him I about my Brett Favre autograph, it was on a football that I won in a sweepstakes from one of those corporate-sponsored contests. The guy told me about the Brett Favre autograph that he had, it was an 8 x 10 photograph of he and Brett Favre with their arms around each other. I was surprised to hear about a fan getting a photograph like that because it was so hard to get close to players who crossed the line into stardom. Turned out he got the photograph taken in 1994, back before the line was crossed. You see that at training camp all the time, unknown players walking across the parking lot from Lambeau Field to the practice field, being ignored by he fans because they're a "nobody." Sometimes you forget some of these players were real people once. They still are real people, but a wall goes up when everyone suddenly wants a piece of you. Funny how it all works; I don't care much for autographs but I'll stand in line for Bart Starr. Twice.

On Saturday the first thing I did was take the tour of the Packers locker room. The line for the tour was very short the entire day; the only thing I can think of is most people here are Fan Fest veterans and have taken the tour in the past. For most people, autographs are the primary goal and they work hard at it. many will get in line early to wait. One of the nice things players will do is sign autographs for people without the autograph tickets if they still have time during their shift. Many fans would stand and wait for a good hour in the "no ticket" lines.

I got my Robert Brooks autograph; when he saw his old name plate he said "Nice!" I sat in on some of the seminars at the main stage, did a lot of wandering taking photographs, and just enjoyed the time being at Lambeau Field.

The most interesting seminar for me was from Ted Eiseneich, the Packer director of facilities. They're in the process of tearing up Lambeau Field in order to replace the drainage and playing surface. They've removed as much as 3 feet of surface. Various pipes for heating and drainage are being put in and then they're going to put down gravel and sand and then soil for the grass. In addition, a special fiber is going to be placed into the surface.

The way this will work is like this: Imagine a piece of twine that is folded in half. One end of the twine will have two ends and the other will have a loop. The loop end will be punched straight down into the surface and this will be done every 3/4" on the surface. The theory is the roots of the grass will grow together and be held together with these strings in the ground. The system has been a success at other venues and was installed at Clark Hinkle field as a test. The installation is taking place as of Fan Fest and I was able to photograph the current status of the operation as they had a couple of the luxury boxes open for the fans. Another change to the field is the 14" crown is being reduced to 5 inches. The 14" crown was to help with taking water off the field when a tarp was placed over it. With the drainage being improved, only a 5" crown is necessary. Some people will wonder about this because they know a high crown supposedly gives the quarterback an advantage.

I also spent some time in the Packer Hall of Fame; there is a short movie they play and it's been updated so it was nice to see that. All in all, Fan Fest is generally geared towards autograph seekers. the schedule is pretty full with seminars but most of them are interviews with players. The interviews are generally light, no real tough questions. I like to hear more about the inner-workings of the Packers and would like to participate more with interactive type activities. Regardless, I got my ticket from eBay and paid only $30 for it. The mini-helmet was $30, the raffle was $10 and I dropped a few bucks for souvenirs, I got off cheap considering tickets were $75 face value.

Epilogue:

I spent the weekend at my parents house (they live 30 miles south of Green Bay) and came home Sunday morning. The weather has been nice the past few days and doing a pretty good job on the snow that's been lingering. I took some of the back roads for part of the route and saw a number of people ice fishing on some of the little lakes and rivers up in these parts. This time of year the winter can't stop the summer from coming but it's not too late for ice fishing. There is still enough snow to make the landscape look frigid but appearances are deceiving. The dairy farms will soon be planting field corn to use as feed during the next winter but that's next winter. Packers Fan Fest has come and went, but the thoughts now are on the upcoming NFL draft and soon there will be mini-camps.

The tracks in the fields give evidence of snowmobiling but they will soon be replaced with tractors. The seasons change hard up here in Packerland. Just like the fishermen this morning getting their last chance out on the ice, there were many Packer fans out trying to get that one last autograph during Fan Fest. Packer fans have four seasons too; the off-season, draft season, training camp season, and then the regular season. Truth be told, it's really Packer season around here all year long.