I should preface this by saying that I am not a Draft Geek. I don't follow college football, I couldn't tell you who won the Heisman Trophy, but I do enjoy experiencing Packers football. Since I was going to be in Packerland for the weekend, I thought it'd be fun to hang out at Lambeau Field and do something I've never done before, which was attend the Packers Draft Party in the atrium. You're not going to find much nitty gritty details here about the draft weekend; rather, the writing here will be more about Life in Packerland. With that said...

It had been a long winter in these parts; Spring was doing its darndest to beat back the winter but on the Friday evening that the girlfriend (GF) and I left Milwaukee to head up north, we had thunder storms and a hard wind blowing as a cold front made its way through. Lightning exploded across the sky and transients pounded the ground, each one undoubtedly killing a tree or worse, causing someone the need to buy a new computer. We managed to miss most of the rain but the light show was steady during the drive.

We were headed to my parents house where we'd  be staying for the weekend for the weekend. They live about 35 miles from Lambeau Field so it's a great thing for having a place to stay for Packer weekends. The wind was steady and howling when we arrived that evening.

Mom and GF were going to spend Saturday shopping while my plan was to get up before dawn and spend the morning driving around the countryside looking for scenes in the landscape worthy of photographing. The wind howled all night and was still going that morning and would pretty much keep blowing the rest of the day. It was cold and the wind made it that much worse.

I would eventually make my way to Lambeau Field for the Draft Party but for now my only plans were to get lost in the back roads of Manitowoc County to see what secrets it might be holding. In a way it was as if I were sitting still while the horizon came to me and then passed by. In addition to the cold, it was cloudy and borderline miserable, but at least the snow was gone and it wasn't raining.

I searched across the radio until I could find some talking heads ramble and opinionate about the upcoming draft and thus I was quickly educated as to what was expected to happen today and what the needs of each team were. One pundit suggested that the Packers would probably trade away their first pick; after all, they had a late position in the first round, it was doubtful if an outstanding player were available who could plug any of the holes within the Packer organization. Essentially the thought about the Packers was that they were already a decent team but it was an unknown what future lay for them without Brett Favre. Daunte Culpepper was brought in for a look-see as a backup quarterback but no offer was tendered so it seems the Packers are fairly satisfied with the quarterback position, all things considered.

I find some abandoned farmhouses and old trucks, take some photographs, and move on. There is a place on Highway 42 where some old Mack trucks lay wasting away and I pull over and start to walk over to take pictures. A guy steps out of the house there and yells at me, go ahead and park my car in the driveway where it's safe and go ahead and go up to the trucks so I'm not in danger being next to the highway. I wave and thank him. That's one thing about this kind of photography, you're pretty much stuck to standing on the side of the road; start walking over and you're trespassing. But I'm struck with the friendliness toward a stranger.

I never really cared much for the NFL draft nor have I ever really followed it but it was fun listening to the radio for hours even though it was nothing but educated gossip and little more. I know there are Draft Addicts out there and I can appreciate them getting their fix from programs like this. I understand football more or less as well as any fan but the greatest part of football for me is being at the game live and experiencing all the things there are that you will never see or know about from watching TV. However, Training Camp let alone the season was months away. 

I'm a little worried about the farmers this year, it's been too cold and wet to begin planting. I know less about farming than I do about the NFL draft but I do know the window for planting is open for only so long. Many of the low fields are underwater around here so even if the weather turns around, it will still be a while for some of the fields to be ready.

When I arrive at Lambeau Field it's sleeting just ever so lightly and there is a pretty good crowd outside waiting to get in. I figured it wouldn't pay to stand out in the cold just to end up at the back of the line regardless so I wait inside the atrium where you could get in without a ticket. You could go into the Pro Shop and the other venues but you didn't have access to the main area.

The doors open, everyone goes in, claims a table or chair, and then they're off looking at the vendors set up and things like that. There are big screen TV's broadcasting ESPN. You get a bag of free stuff, but there really isn't much in it. A little program, a T-shirt, and a lanyard to hold your ticket. The program has a ticket in it which gives you a random time slot for an autograph session. I got the very last time slot which was no good because I needed to leave early.

The tables were all virtually claimed by the time I got in but since I was by myself it didn't take too long to find a spot where I could squeeze in. I actually got a good seat for being one of the last ones in. I leave a few items behind to hold my seat and I start to wander in order to check things out.

There was a vendor selling Packer photographs and autographs, a game area for kids, and an area where they were selling some overstocked merchandise cheap. I went upstairs to see where the autograph areas were and found they had a trading area for the autograph tickets. Everyone wanted the "A" session because of the players available were the more desirable for autograph collectors. I don't really care much for autographs but I thought it would be fun to get some so I start waving my ticket around and was able to get session "B." The players were Corey Robinson and Brandon Jackson but Corey couldn't make it so Scott Wells filled in instead. The B autograph session started at 4:00 PM.

Also on the top floor of the atrium were raffle prizes but since I was leaving early and you had to be present to win, I passed on that option.

All in all, I would call the Draft Party "Packers Fan Fest Lite." It was just like Fan Fest only it was shorter, cheaper, and less crowded.

Before the draft started they brought out Mark Murphy and interviewed him for a while and later KGB came out for an interview. I know there were others but I missed them when I went to stand in line for the autographs. I had the players sign the T-shirt in the freebie bag and I later gave it to GF so that she could give it to her grandma. Grandma is something like 82 years old and is a huge Packer fan. If there is anyone who will appreciate those autographs it will be her. And there is probably no one more deserving than her for having them.