Cheeseheads

Not to run too far from the Setzer/Cats topics; but I saw some Packer chat in the "Garage and Cars" thread (Bear85, Hot Rod Girl). Since I always see Wisconsin dates on Brian's Tour page, maybe there's a justifiable link!
I grew up in NY; but became a Green Bay fan as a kid during the end of the Bart Starr days.
When we get closer to the season I'd love to find a forum that gives me a feel for what it's like as a Packer fan in Wisconsin vs only seeing them on game day or checking the website.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
PS... saw a good interview with Aaron Rodgers on the NFL Network, seems like a good guy with his head in the right place.

Ha! Don't know what kind of a "link" Brian has to Wisconsin, but I sure am grateful that he has had several shows here! Maybe it's because Wi. is such a great place to be! Terrific people, cheese, decent microbrews, Johnsonville Brats, and of course, the Packers. (I've also been told that the powers that be at Oneida have a penchant for good Rockabilly music.)

Living in Wisconsin, and being surrounded by die hard fans, I really haven't had much of reason to go online to "talk" about the Packers. So, I have no idea of a good forum to go to to discuss the Pack. One thing I have noticed....church on Sunday during football season. Everyone goes to early service, and wears their green and gold. Then it's off to the various bars and homes to watch the game. It's a great time to go shopping, 'cause no one is in the store. But stay away from the liquor aisle and beer depots when halftime hits! And season tickets....well, just hope that someone wills them to you when they pass away.

Cheeseheads (and honorary out of state ones too) unite!
hrg

burner1:

Welcome to Cheesehead Nation! I'm old enough to remember the close of Starr's career as a player. I certainly remember his career as a coach - you really do get to expect losing. So when Holmgren and Favre came along, life was good!

Because I live close to Green Bay, and watch the local GB TV coverage, and am totally immersed in Cheesehead culture, I don't really need to get any Packer fix from the internet. So I wish I could help you find the perfect online Packer fan experience, but frankly, until someone figures out a way to make beer and bratwurst downloadable, nothing can compare to being here.

As for the Setzer connection, I would have to say that we've really been blessed, considering that it's not a very heavily-populated area. I'm pretty sure Stray Cats only did two shows last summer that didn't include the rest of the Jack FM crew (Pretenders, ZZ Topp), and one of them was in Green Bay. So we really got spoiled! It was a good, long show. And the BSO comes through every Christmas, although I see we're not on the list this year, at least not yet. I've kind of been hoping they'd squeeze us in on 12/4, between Nashville and Mt. Pleasant MI, but I suppose that's not very likely.

Hey, burner, I've been meaning to ask you about the avatar. Tell me about Carl Perkins!

Rock on,
Bear85

Hey HRGirl,

You posted while I was still typing - I think it's funny we both said the same thing about online Packer forums! Do you think other football teams get the same media overkill that the Pack gets? Just to fill the rest of you in: our Fox affiliate has 1 hour local news, and during training camp, the Packers get a half hour of that - every night! Then during the season, several of the players have weekly TV shows, and some of the sportscasters also do an extra show each week, with player guests.

I'm not complaining, of course! I guess I would compare the fervor here to how excited the people on this board would get when The Brian comes to their town. Except, it lasts for five straight months and the excitement/obsession is shared by 98% of the people around you. It's pretty wild.

Hey again Bear!

Hmmm....I don't think that other places are quite as obsessed with their football as we are here. I've lived in Chicago and Atlanta, and neither can compare. Although, when Da Bears and the Pack played, it was really hard to watch and cheer for my homegrown team, or my "new" found team. Da Bears made it a little bit easier to cheer for them with the whole Superbowl Shuffle craze back in '86.

I think our mentality of everyone who lives and breathes in this state owns/coaches ( ) the Packers is a rare one indeed. Where else does everything come to a standstill on Sunday afternoons when the Pack plays? Maybe it's the cold winter months, or just our passion as a people. I don't know. All I can say is it makes living here just that much more fun. Especially when our guys win. Wow. With all of the media coverage they get, and the many community sightings and charity events, the Packers are like family. Kind of like watching your brother play QB, while your Uncle coaches the team.

To quote Bear85: "I'm not complaining, of course! I guess I would compare the fervor here to how excited the people on this board would get when The Brian comes to their town. Except, it lasts for five straight months and the excitement/obsession is shared by 98% of the people around you. It's pretty wild."

Yep, it's wild and exciting. I wouldn't trade it for the world!

Here's to a great season, and maybe a Superbowl showing....
And hopefully a BSO show this year!


HRG

wow, I am an "Honorary out of state cheesehead!" I will wear it with pride!!!
I'm getting married in about two months... my fiance was looking at those tiara looking things today. I told her she could wear whatever she wants if I can wear my cheesehead... not happening.

So, where should I start: first, I completely understand the lack of a need for a Packer Forum when you live in Wisconsin. Spending almost all of my life in NY, it's the same for Yankee fans (and I suppose Mets fans). You couldn't escape the coverage if you wanted to. I think the big difference is that in NY, Chicago, there are so many teams and sports to follow that the allegiance can get diluted a bit. That is in no way a knock on other cities (I'm from the burbs anyway), it's just that the papers and TV stations have to split their coverage. In September, you have Yanks, Mets, Giants, Jets, Red Bulls (not that they get much ink) - and college sports mixed in.

I may look around to see if any of the local Packer coverage is available on the web. The official site is very good; and has kept me in the loop to a degree.
I have to say that seeing the way the community LOVES the team, it lets me know I made the right choice when I was 5 or 6 years old. Even in the dark years (pre Holmgren/Favre/White) it has been a very likeable, easy team to follow (John Brockington, John Hadl, Lynn Dickey, David Whitehurst - right up to Majkowski) - frustrating; but still the Pack.
I'll count on you all to keep me up on things as the season rolls around.

I'll talk about Mr. Perkins in another post... this is getting quite wordy!

Part Deux:
As to my avatar:
I lived in Nashville in '96, working for Epiphone. I was affectionately known as a "tweaker." I inspected/adjusted guitars before they were shipped out of the warehouse. Most fun I've ever had; best people I've ever worked with, worst money I've ever made. Anyway, while I was there,
Carl Perkins released his autobiography. I went to a book signing where he taped a Nashville Network interview then signed books for a long line of fans. I was in the store when he walked in - alone. No driver, no entourage, just Carl Perkins. He sat through about a 30 minute interview where I learned the definition of "Southern Gentleman." It was an amazing mix of class, humor, Faith, and emotion. This was after his bout with cancer; and his honesty was amazing. It was 12 years ago and I'm reliving it as I write. He was absolutely inspiring. I had to remind myself, "Oh, yeah, the guy plays guitar too!"
I had a chance to speak with him for a moment; and someone at the store (Tower Records) was kind enough to snap a couple of pictures, then told me I could stop by the store in a few days to pick them up... very Nashville.
So, about a month later he was appearing at a Beatle fan convention, so I brought the picture of the two of us to have him sign it. As I was getting on line I found out you had to buy a book to get an autograph, so I emptied my pockets to grab a book for my two brothers (remember the part about the worst paying job ever?). He was surprised to see that I was now buying my third book; and when I explained that they were for my brothers, his eyes lit up. From reading his book, family was everything to him.
The next day I went back just to kill time and check out some Beatle stuff I had missed the day before. Glad that I did. Mr. Perkins did a Q&A session; and performed about 5 or 6 tunes by himself on acoustic guitar. This guy was SO much more than Blue Suede Shoes. Terrific guitar player with a voice so much deeper, richer than the old Sun Records; and his song writing was better than anything on contemporary country radio (even back then). I was blown away. One more quick conversation after his performance and that was it.
A buddy from Epiphone knew Mr. Perkins; his uncle had produced Elvis and it's a VERY small town. He was going to bring me along to meet him again; but it never happened.
It was a pretty big deal to me. Balancing Rock and Roll with church on Sundays always seemed a bit odd. Carl Perkins comments made it seem like a very normal thing.

Sorry to babble for so long; but people should know what a great guy he was... very patient with every fan he came across.

burner,

How dare you apologize?! That was the best post ever! I love it when people post stuff like that...after all, I did ask!

Hey, have you seen the Perkins stuff on the recent DVD set from the Johnny Cash TV show? Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Eric Clapton...unbelievable.

Thanks for sharing that awesome experience. I'll write more later.

Rock on,
Bear85

Burner,

Thanks for the incredible Carl Perkins story. It must be a special thing to have had such a great encounter with a legend like that! I think one of the most interesting things about your story was how respectful he was of others, and how he seemed to be just an ordinary, everyday kind of a guy. That, in and of itself, shows just how special he was.

Congrats on the upcoming marriage! Hope everything turns out as you guys have planned. Enjoy the day, it goes by so very quickly!

Take care,
hrg

Hey, thanks for the kind words; and for the well wishes on the marriage. Somehow I ended up with an amazing girl.
So I'm glad you enjoyed the Carl Perkins info - I felt a little self conscious as I kept typing (and typing...).
I think the fact that he was such a humble gentleman is the common thread between him and many of the greats that are worth looking up to as we are no longer teens with posters on the wall. We repect them for being good people. HRG described him as "respectful of others, and how he seemed to be just an ordinary, everyday kind of a guy;" sounds a lot like Brian Setzer, which is why we are all on the forum. If Brian weren't as humble and respectful as he is, I doubt any of us would go beyond buying a cd once a year. Also sounds a bit like a guy that wore #4???? I have a cousin in Rhode Island - diehard Pats fan who said she cried watching Favre's press conference. It's kinda nice when good people get noticed.
I'll have to hit YouTube to check on the Johnny Cash DVD... I had heard the shows were available; but hadn't heard much on the content. That's pretty exciting. Some of the guys that I used to work with who were Nashville natives said they would run into Johnny Cash pushing his cart through the supermarket.
Have you noticed we're the only one's on the thread? Guess I should have titled the subject, "Free Beer."

Yes, you should definitely apologize for writing too much. Who the heck wants to read 1000-word essays on a guy like Carl Perkins?

Everybody around here, that's who.

Great story! I loved Carl's autobiography. I read it while being an overnight DJ on a classic rock station. I found myself putting on really long songs, like Frampton's Do You Feel Like I Do, John Cougar's I Need a Lover, a live version of Freebird, Zeppelin's Achilles Last Stand, Boston's Foreplay/Long Time, and I'm Your Captain by Grand Funk Railroad, as I couldn't put the book down.

As far as football ruling the town, I can relate. Here in Lincoln, Nebraska, Cornhusker Football is king. Hopefully, former Packers linebacker coach Bo Pelini can turn things around here, as we're going through our own post-Lombardi phase.

I'd better go now, I think I just got caught going over the 100-word-per-post limit.

50 Words More Than I'm Gonna Keep-a-billy