You couldn't pay me enough to bear tonight's Packers game

Published Dec. 23, 2008 at 12:00 a.m.
Baby, it's cold outside.  

By Jeff Sherman

More articles by Jeff Sherman

What is a blog?  For us it is a short blurb that we write when the mood strikes us.  It can be first person, funny or informative. In short, a blog is whatever we want it to be. Published Dec. 22, 2008 at 12:00 p.m.

Last night at dinner, the conversation turned to the tonight's Monday Night Football matchup between the Packers and Bears in Chicago.

Game-time temperatures are projected to be 11 or 12 degrees, with winds out of the south at about 10 to 15 mph, making it feel like around zero. That's cold. But, there have been colder games at Lambeau, even Solider Field. The Bears-Packers game on Dec. 18, 1983, was the coldest ever at Soldier Field, with the game-time temperature near 5 degrees. Yet, if you've been to Soldier Field you'll agree that the place is cold to begin with. It's dark and just stone cold.

No matter what the temperature is, you couldn't pay me enough to sit outside and watch this game. At our dinner conversation, I stated that my price to attend the game and watch it from the stands was a minimum of $100,000. There's a bit of sarcasm here, friendly reader, but you get my point. Honestly, though, any thing less than this sum just isn't worth the cold and misery, much less the drive to and from Chicago.

I'll watch the game, though, from the warmth of my home, no problem -- after the Marquette-NC State game is over, of course.

To be fair, I asked die-hard Packers fan and OnMilwaukee.com senior sales guy, John Hyland, how to stay warm during a game like tonight. For the record, he's been to his share of frigid Lambeau games including last season's NFC Championship game where at kick-off the temperature was 1 below zero with a wind chill of 23 below. The temperature dropped during the night making it the second coldest home game in Packers' history behind the Ice Bowl.

"I've been to numerous cold-weather Packers games in the last few years. Playoff games in '01, '02, '04 and '07, including the Giant(s) debacle last January. All bearable -- long johns, pants, windsuit, pride, Pack attack, etc. However, the coldest three hours of my life were on Dec. 23, 2007, the last time our beloved Pack traveled to Chicago. There is something about the wind coming off the lake that may prevent me from ever again, setting foot, in a windy, December, Soldier Field. Simply put ... not fun," said Hyland.

Anyway, would you go to tonight's game? If so, how do you keep your extremities from going totally numb? Booze, layers, frequent restroom warm ups?

Call me a wimp, call me not a true fan ... but honestly you couldn't pay me to bear tonight's Packers game live.



More Information ...
Green Bay Packers
1265 Lombardi Ave.
Green Bay, WI 54304
(920) 496-5700
http://packers.com

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