This is hardly an earth-shattering blog, but had my visit to the Chase Avenue Pick ‘n Save been any more green and gold today, I might've thought I was actually at Lambeau Field.
Thank goodness I'm not, because Packers pride aside, I plan on watching the game from the warm comforts of home, with giddy friends and frozen pizza. And that's why I, along with apparently everyone else, was at the grocery store today.
Let me set the scene for you: just about every shopper and employee was clad in some sort of Packers gear (myself included). Green and gold streamers, balloons and decorations adorned every aisle. Packers-themed cakes and desserts revealed themselves at every turn. Even the floral department sported artificial looking flowers that were, of course, green and gold.
In terms of energy, I noticed an unusually high level, as well. The deli area and frozen pizza section were especially packed (pardon the pun), and every shopper I saw had some sort of "party food" in his or her cart.
Of course, none of this is particularly surprising. Milwaukee -- and Wisconsin -- is fired up for tonight's game. Honestly, I don't see the same level of insanity I experienced 11 years ago, but I think that's because the Packers' success has been less widely anticipated this season (I have a blog in the works for that topic, too).
Still, Milwaukee is a great football city. From sports bars to Pick ‘n Save, it's hard to find someone not giddy as a school girl today. And if and when the Packers win, expect it to get a lot more intense. Go Pack.
Andy is the president, publisher and founder of OnMilwaukee. He returned to Milwaukee in 1996 after living on the East Coast for nine years, where he wrote for The Dallas Morning News Washington Bureau and worked in the White House Office of Communications. He was also Associate Editor of The GW Hatchet, his college newspaper at The George Washington University.
Before launching OnMilwaukee.com in 1998 at age 23, he worked in public relations for two Milwaukee firms, most of the time daydreaming about starting his own publication.
Hobbies include running when he finds the time, fixing the rust on his '75 MGB, mowing the lawn at his cottage in the Northwoods, and making an annual pilgrimage to Phoenix for Brewers Spring Training.
