It’s the best. We’ve been blessed. This will be six out of seven times we’ve opened up here in my time. The kickoff game is always a little special. It is really one game and it’s important to keep it in perspective but it’s the stat of the season, it’s the starting line and there’s no better place to start as there is at Lambeau Field. It’ll be a great environment. – Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers head coach
GREEN BAY – Growing up and then working in Chicago and the surrounding suburbs, I always heard about how special Lambeau Field is. I heard it from many Bears players, media and even a few people who had attended games.
As I got older and gained a deeper appreciation for the history of sports and historic venues, visiting in some capacity was definitely on the sports bucket list.
Once in the workforce, I learned a few more details about the stadium and the surrounding community. The one that stuck out was that you would drive through this sleepy neighborhood and suddenly, a stadium appears.
It was a scene that seemed implausible to me. I knew Green Bay wasn’t the biggest city in the world, so how could a stadium of that size be "hidden?"
I discovered that in my first trip up a few weeks ago, as I’m heading across Mason Street and then down Oneida Street and wondering where the heck this 70,000 seat structure was. Then, sure enough – boom – stadium. Just like they said. I kind of chuckled as I turned into the parking lot adjacent to the atrium.
My first preseason game just happened to be the Packers’ last of the exhibition schedule, yet the stadium was full (or close enough). That amazed me – I’ve seen plenty of fourth preseason games that played to a third of a house.
What caught my eye on the way in, though, were the parking flag wavers trying to coax fans into the lots of gas stations and retailers.
No way do people tailgate at a gas station, I thought.
On my way in this afternoon however, sure enough, weekend meats…
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