We Are Packer Fans!!

Today on this snowy, blustery day I have chosen to write about my family's passion for football.  I can remember watching the games as a child on Sunday afternoons with my dad, and as an adult going to my in-laws every Sunday with all Jeff's siblings and their families.  In both cases yelling at the television as if the players and coaches could actually hear us.  Today we watch the games at home with our kids and our grandson. It has been a good year with "the Pack" winning 10 games and making the playoffs.

The Green Bay Packers Organization is rich in history.   They are also the most unique team in sports:

• No owner (last remaining publicly owned pro sports team, 4,750,937 shares, 112,120 stockholders, none of whom receive dividend on initial investment).
  
  
• Team plays in major sports' smallest TV market -- 70th (New Orleans, 53, is closest).
  
  
• Packers have 11 playoff appearances in last 15 years, and won most NFL titles (12).
  
  
• Green Bay has 21 Pro Hall of Famers, second-most in league.
  
  
• Team has averted four financial collapses: 1921, 1922, 1934 and 1950, each time gaining monetary support from community.
  
  
• In a century of franchise movement, only 10 other pro sports teams -- none in football -- have held same moniker in same location longer (nine baseball, one hockey).
  
  
• Only two other pro sports venues have been in continuous use longer than Lambeau Field (1957) -- Boston's Fenway Park (1912) and Chicago's Wrigley Field (1916).
  
  
• With season-ticket holders from all 50 states, as well as Washington D.C., Canada, Japan and Australia, the team's waiting list has more than 78,000 names. People who were recently awarded season tickets put their names on the waiting list in mid 1970s.
  
  
• Packers have most fans in league based on recent Harris polls, merchandise sales and Web site attraction. Plus, the team sells every available seat at Lambeau Field for intra-squad scrimmage, "Family Night."
  
  
• Before radio, when Packers played on the road, as many as 500 fans turned out at Legion Park to "watch" game on Playograph board (telegraph reports from press box re-created game on screen, complete with PA).
  
  
• Packers were first to open hall of fame and museum (1966). http://www.packers.com/ 

My sister manages a small book store and she finds all these great books to give my husband, but I have to say one of his favorites, which comes out every football season since he received it back in 2007 is The 25 Greatest Moments in Lambeau Fields History, written by Cliff Christi and Dale Hofman with forwards written bu Bob Harlan and Larry McCarren.  It is definitely a keepsake my family will continue to enjoy over and over.  The pictures are wonderful, the stories are well written and informative, first hand accounts from players and coaches.  It truly is a great book.  While there are many books written about the Green Bay Packers, this is one of the best.


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