You may already know this about me, but I hate the Green Bay
Packers. I know that hate is a strong word, but I don’t dislike the Packers, I
hate them.
I hate their arrogant fans. I hate their ugly color scheme.
I hate the Frozen Tundra and the Lambeau Leap and the Discount Double Check. Most
of all, I hate the fact that you don’t hate them as much as I do.
My whole life it seems that everyone has been in love with
the Packers, and not just because I come from a Wisconsin
family full of Packer fans. The media drooled over Brett Favre and his
gunslinger approach to the game for 15 years. It wasn’t until a text of a picture
of his dong was leaked that anyone said anything bad about the guy. Now the
same can be said of Aaron Rogers and company. Even fellow Bears fans will say
good things about the Pack when asked. “You gotta admit, Lambeau Field is a
cool place to play”. “It’s awesome how the fans own the team.” “No, I don’t
think there’s a chance that Green Bay
could break off of the state, float into Lake Michigan,
and sink to the bottom.” For some reason, the Packers are everyone’s second
favorite team, and that really ticks me off.
This whole thing has been a long-winded intro into the point
of this blog. I am currently in a situation that no sports fan ever wants to be
in. It is the worst conundrum possible. As a fan of the Chicago Bears, I need
the Packers to win this weekend or my season is over.
Even typing that sucks.
I
honestly have no idea what to think. You might not believe me, because 99.9% of
Bears fans will tell you that of course they want the Packers to win. They are
being rational. I’m being irrational, and I’m not going to apologize. I can’t
want the Packers to win. It goes against everything I believe. I would have to
rethink my entire life and base my belief system on a premise which I am not
willing to accept: that the Packers winning could be a good thing.
Now I need to justify hoping for an outcome that negatively
impacts my favorite team, and therefore my mood/attitude for the next month.
The Bears aren’t all that good this year anyway. It’s not
like they are going to win the Super Bowl, so who cares if they don’t make the
playoffs? In fact, not making the playoffs could spark some changes in the organization
that would improve things in the future. It could light a fire under the
players who are realizing that their window is closing, creating an off-season
full of hard work and dedication and a team in 2013 that is ready to take the
next step.
Ok, those reasons are admittedly weak. Of course I want the
Bears to make the playoffs. We’ve seen it too many times: a team backs in before finding their stride
and running through the competition on the way to hoisting the Lombardi (I hate
that it’s named this) Trophy.
I’m so torn. Who do I cheer for? Can I put aside my hatred
for an afternoon in the hopes of a better future? What if I cheer for the
Packers and then the Bears lose? What if the Packers and Bears both win, but
the Bears get stomped in the first round, or worse, lose in the playoffs to the
Packers?
I’m going to go throw up.
