Monday, January 24, 2011

I Have to Eat Crow


I w.as wrong. Wrong, wrong and wrong. Wow, that hurts to admit it but it feels good to know that at almost 69 years of age, I'm mature enough to realize it. The Wikipedia definition of "eating crow" is humiliation by admitting wrongness or having been proved wrong after taking a strong stand. So butter and salt that sleek black bird and I'll cram it in my mouth. Here's the explanation: for the past 3 NFL seasons, I have chosen to be against, instead of for, our state team, the Green Bay Packers. The team had shut the door on Brett Favre returning to the team after unretiring a couple of times. For the 12 years before that, Brett was like one of the family. Our sons gifted me with books about him and his wife, Deanna. We hosted lots of Packer parties and he was a genuine folk hero throughout the state. I loved the Packers and true to form, if I loved something, I went all out emotionally for the team. I read all about the players, their trades, their fortunes and misfortunes. And then, general manager, Ted Thompson and coach, Mike McCarthy, decided to stand firm on not letting Brett come back to finish his career at Green Bay. I hated that decision but instead of accepting it as something that was considered good for the team - I decided that "we'll just see about that" and started hoping that the Packers would be terrible and Thompson and McCarthy would be fired. The last two years the Pack was kind of mediocre. I missed cheering for them with Bing and Bernie and the grandkids but I thought maybe if they were bad enough this year, my plan would work

- Thompson and McCarthy would be gone and I could return to the green and gold. It seemed to be happening that way this season - the Pack just squeaked out so many wins and had some embarrassing losses and it looked like they might not even make the playoffs. But no, they squeaked in and then peaked and are still going strong - next stop, Super Bowl! I do believe the Thompson/McCarthy decision was the right decision for the team. I was wrong. Who knew or would have guessed that two football men with years of experience and expertise would know more than a grandma/Brett Favre groupie from the Northwoods of Wisconsin! Oh well, at least I get to cheer for the Pack in the Super Bowl because we can't let the AFC win again. Go Pack go. I'm sorry, Bing and Bernie, that the games here the last few years were so cold. Please pass the crow.

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