By Jim Owczarski Sports Editor Published Sep 09, 2012 at 3:15 PM Photography: Jim Owczarski

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 were being carefully prepared and frosty beverages were being handed out just steps away from the regular unleaded. Full service, indeed. It was fascinating.

Kroll’s, directly across the street from Lambeau off Ridge Road, was rollicking.

Now, I haven’t covered or attended NFL games around the entire country, so I can only compare this experience to what I’ve seen at Soldier Field in Chicago, Lincoln Financial in Philadelphia, Ford Field in Detroit, the old Metrodome in Minnesota and the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis.

Each venue and fan base has its own characteristics, but nothing was quite like this. On my way up to the press box, the world "collegiate" was tossed my way – and that’s exactly right – from the sense of community to the alternating green and gold shirts draped across the bleachers awaiting its occupants.

The fans compared favorably their rivals in Minnesota for their hospitality and overall niceness, as fans wearing San Francisco 49ers gear (and even some Dallas Cowboys apparel?) were treated well.

Thanks to some sage advice from a few veteran Packers reporters, getting into the city and the parking lot was an absolute walk in the park compared to accessing some of those other venues.

As far as the important stuff goes, this is a great place to work, from the spacious facilities to the ease you can move about postgame to the staff on hand to assist with problems or questions. That’s what I’m here for, but I can’t help agree with what Milwaukee Bucks rookie John Henson told me a couple weeks ago: 

"If there is one place you want to go to, to tour a facility and be there for the first time, I think this is the place to be," he said. "From walking through the tunnel and the concrete that was placed there way back when to seeing the old players, seeing new players – it's an experience I'll never forget."

Jim Owczarski is an award-winning sports journalist and comes to Milwaukee by way of the Chicago Sun-Times Media Network.

A three-year Wisconsin resident who has considered Milwaukee a second home for the better part of seven years, he brings to the market experience covering nearly all major and college sports.

To this point in his career, he has been awarded six national Associated Press Sports Editors awards for investigative reporting, feature writing, breaking news and projects. He is also a four-time nominee for the prestigious Peter J. Lisagor Awards for Exemplary Journalism, presented by the Chicago Headline Club, and is a two-time winner for Best Sports Story. He has also won numerous other Illinois Press Association, Illinois Associated Press and Northern Illinois Newspaper Association awards.

Jim's career started in earnest as a North Central College (Naperville, Ill.) senior in 2002 when he received a Richter Fellowship to cover the Chicago White Sox in spring training. He was hired by the Naperville Sun in 2003 and moved on to the Aurora Beacon News in 2007 before joining OnMilwaukee.com.

In that time, he has covered the events, news and personalities that make up the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Major League Baseball, the National Football League, the National Hockey League, NCAA football, baseball and men's and women's basketball as well as boxing, mixed martial arts and various U.S. Olympic teams.

Golf aficionados who venture into Illinois have also read Jim in GOLF Chicago Magazine as well as the Chicago District Golfer and Illinois Golfer magazines.