Passion and Connection
As I mentioned earlier this week, I will attending the Packers/Chiefs game at Lambeau Field this weekend. I am lucky to have a friend with access to the tickets, and given the group of people who will be attending, it promises to be one hell of a time. I have to be careful not to talk it up too much, because Jane is staying home with the kids this weekend, and, well, you know how that goes. Let's just say I owe Jane big, and she is already making plans with her friend Marsha for a full day of spa treatments, beefy masseurs, broadway-style shows, and drinks. Hell, even after that, I'll still owe her big.
But the truth is, no matter how hard I try, I can't hide my excitement about the trip. A large part of that is just the experience of being in a place like Green Bay for a Packer game. As a sports fan, there are just some things that endure and have a meaning which transcends the game itself. The Knicks at Madison Square Garden; Yankee Stadium during the post-season; a great Final Four. You can tell when a moment or place is special when the players themselves talk about it, and players frequently comment on what a special feeling it is to play at a place like Lambeau. Look, I'm pretty much a Vikings fan these days, and I grew up a Chiefs fan, so that tells you plenty about my rooting interests this Sunday. But I'm also someone who is a True Believer in the greatness of Brett Favre, and I fully understand that what I'll be seeing this weekend is about more than the game, or even Brett Favre.
What I'll be seeing is Passion. Seeing Passion is a rare thing. Green Bay fans have Passion for their history and team. In part, probably because of their great and historic past, and in part probably because there may not be a lot of other things for them to put their Passion into on Fall Sundays. (And also, in no small measure, because the people actually own the team, as my Packer fan friends Grant and Nate are fond of reminding me...)
I write about sports a lot. Sometimes I feel guilty about it, the whole "It's just sports" attitude. It's not like the Timberwolves are going to cure cancer, you know? But if sports are so damn unimportant, why are there so many people whose collective memories are connected through sporting events or rooting interests in teams? Are sports not "real"? What is "real"? The election? Don't tell a Gore voter from 2000. The media? Please. Your 401k? Not after Enron.
Hunger is real. Cold weather is real. Love is real. Passion is real. Does it matter so much what the Passion is for?
Maybe it's all just a game, but if I follow the game, and you follow the game, then suddenly it's about more than the game. It's about a connection we share. That connection could be about anything, really, but how are you and I going to know that we share an affinity for, say, whittling if we don't somehow connect about something else first? For many people, arguably too many people, that chance for connection comes from sports. Maybe the sports is all we'll ever have in common, and sometimes that's enough, but sooner or later we'll get to know enough about each other to branch out into the other "real" parts of our lives.
These guys I'm going to see the Packer game with? Some I've known for years, some I've only met recently through fantasy basketball. And yet, through events like this, I'm getting to know them in other ways, too. We're connecting. Maybe we should have found other ways to connect, and in some cases we did, but I'm a believer that you take your connections however you can get them. Whatever brings you closer together is a good thing.
I write about sports because I think it's real, as real as just about anything else that takes place outside the walls of my house. And even if the games themselves aren't as "real" as some of the higher-minded among us would like them to be, the connections they foster certainly are. And that's really why I'm so fired up about this weekend: I get to spend 36 or so hours with some people I really enjoy spending time with. That it's in one of the legendarily fun football enviornments in the country is great, but I'd be just as excited if we were going for a day of spa treatments, beefy masseurs, broadway-style shows and drinks.
Now, as for the game itself, I will make a prediction: I will witness an NFL record this weekend. I say this because I'm lucky that way: I have only attended two NFL games in my life, but I have witnessed three NFL records in those two games. I saw the Chiefs play the Chargers in the mid-80s, and two records were set in that game. One, we knew would be set: Lionel "Little Train" James set the all-purpose yardage mark in a season with a punt return in that game. I'm pretty sure that record has since been broken by someone like Brian Mitchell, but I can't really confirm that. The second record that day was the big one: Stephone Paige set the all-time NFL record for receiving yards in a game, with 308. That's a ton o' yards, folks. He caught like 8 passes for 308 (maybe 302?), and had four touchdowns. I mean, he was just catching bombs all day long. That record has since been broken by Willie "Flipper" Anderson of the Rams, and maybe someone has even broken it since then. But that's a pretty significant record to see broken, and it made for one hell of a fun game.
The statistical oddity of that game was that the Chiefs started Bill Kenney at QB, and he threw for over 250 yards before he got hurt. So, in came Todd Blackledge, who smartly kept throwing the ball to Paige, and Blackledge also piled up over 250 yards passing. That may have been a record, to have two QB's throw for over 250 yards for the same team in one game, but I'm not sure. It was one hell of a shootout, though, and I don't even remember which team won.
The other record was more pedestrian, as the Chiefs and James Wilder-era Buccaneers combined for 104 passes each. The irony is that it was a rather low-scoring affair. I'm sure they set a record for incomplete passes, too, now that I think about it.
So, with that backdrop, and a guy like Dante Hall ready to extend his record for consecutive games with a return TD on any given kickoff or punt, I like my chances to see an NFL record this weekend.
Have a great weekend, everybody, and drive safe if you're on the road.
12:51:44 PM 
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