Any of you that have read me over the last 3 years know that I'm a Green Bay Packer fan. Tried and true, I'm loyal to my team. Anyone that has known me for longer knows that I've been a Packer fan since the early 80's which is when I truly started watching football. Technically I can say I've been a Packer fan all my life as my father raised me one, but it wasn't until I was older that I started following football and actually caring about the team. Hell, that was back in the Lynn Dickey period where you could hear Packer fans exclaim after a loss, "You might beat the back, but you can't lick our Dickey". I remember watching him play, he had a great arm, but couldn't scramble to save his life.

Being a Packer fan to me is part of who I am. It's like being a Husband, father and re-enactor, I identify myself with it. I live it, I breath it and I love it. The heritage, the memories, the excitement and the disappointment. I remember watching the games with my father and learning new ways to curse with out it being an actual curse, such as my infamous "For the love of Pete!" and "Oh my heck!" My father had much better control over his tongue then I do.

After the domination of the NFC in the 90's there were a ton of Packers had a ton of "fans". People that swore they were true Packer fans and loyal to the team. Then a couple of years ago they started to disappear. Sure the Packers had a very bad losing season and then a mediocre 8 and 8 season. It's not a winning season, but it's not a losing season either. Either way, you didn't see as many people claiming to be Packer fans or wearing their Green Bay gear. In fact you started seeing some of these people wear the Blue and Orange of our arch rivals, the Chicago Bears.

Now the Packers are 3 and 0 on the season and the Bears are 1-2. Sure it's early into the season, but these bandwagon jumpers are already rearing their ugly heads. At work, at the store, on the radio I've heard and seen people who had been cheering on the Bears for the last couple of years raising a boisterous voice to the cheer, "GO PACK!" I was happy when these fair weather fans where cheering for other teams. It makes me sick to think I'm someplace talking with someone about the greatness of the Packers when just a year ago they were pulling for New England, the Colts, the Steelers or the Bears.

I just feel that it waters down the fan base and the opportunities for real fans. But I guess it's too much to ask them to pick a team and stick with them through thick and thin.

Posted by: Contagion at 05:35 PM | Comments (6) | Add Comment
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