packinpatland
01-18-2008, 02:57 PM
http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/7690574
GREEN BAY - Attention fans with tickets in Section 130, Row 58 for Sunday's NFC Championship game:
Your seating area is cleaner because of me.
Like wearing a Cheesehead, volunteering for stadium snow removal in frigid temperatures is a way to show affection for the Green Bay Packers.
After participating, I'm not sure which is goofier.
Before feeling the wrath of Packer Nation, let me explain: I understand the love affair Green Bay's locals have with the NFL's only publicly-owned team. I'm even well versed in Packers history. My father-in-law is from Wisconsin and my wife a huge Packers fan. My late grandfather worshipped Vince Lombardi and gave me a copy of Jerry Kramer's "Instant Replay" as a kid (which is why I wore No. 64 while playing high school football). And clearly, there is no sports franchise more associated with teeth-rattling weather than the Packers.
But I'm also a South Floridian whose lone experience on "frozen tundra" came when I repeatedly fell trying to ski in Colorado. That's why I needed to witness this curious snow-removal ritual first-hand.
I answered the call when the Packers issued a news release asking for Thursday night help. So did hundreds of others who leaped to Lambeau Field despite snowy conditions and bitter wind chill.
A line of men, women and teenagers (ages 15-and-up only) actually started forming about five hours before gates opened. Ultimately, there were far more people than shovels.
To ensure an orderly process, the Packers only allow 300 workers inside with no exceptions. Not even bringing your own equipment can provide access.
There was sincere disappointment from those Wisconsinites who didn't make the first cut. For full effect, pinch your nose and say "Geez, we were so close."
Heavily bundled after a $71.06 shopping spree at K-Mart, I sought shoveling technique tips from locals. Some of the best guidance came from Chris Behrens, who guaranteed his chance to clean Lambeau for the fourth time this season by arriving 3½ hours early.
Clearing the snow at Lambeau is not a one-person job. (Aaron Popkey/Green Bay Packers / Special to FOXSports.com)
"Just push the snow if it's heavy. If it's light, carry," he said. "And bend at the knees. That's one important thing."
From the soreness in my twice-reconstructed left knee and pain now shooting down my right shoulder blade, I wish I would have followed Behrens' advice. But it's easy to lose focus when caught up in a cleaning frenzy.
As stadium employees bark orders like drill sergeants, workers quickly stockpile snow from each row and toss it down a long metal chute leading to the field. The snow is then plowed, placed in a dump truck and driven away. Once a section is completed (it takes about 15 minutes), everyone gathers to move the chute — think Amish barn-raising — to another one.
Sure, the operation isn't fancy. But it beats the process of yesteryear when snow was heaved into tubs and carried out.
With three inches of thick snow having accumulated, Thursday night's clean-up was scheduled to take at least two hours. I toiled for 30 minutes — screwing up just once when accidentally clocking someone with a shovel full of slush — before leaving to interview Ted Eisenreich, the Packers' director of facility operations.
Eisenreich explained that snow removal is a must so fans don't slip on ice trying to reach their seats for Sunday's Packers-New York Giants game. He also said volunteerism is necessary because the Green Bay area isn't big enough to provide enough contracted employees for the job.
"Every time we do this, I'm amazed at the turnout," Eisenreich said. "We couldn't do this without them."
The Packers pay workers $8 an hour, but money isn't the draw. Green Bay resident Glenn Gardipee, who first shoveled stadium snow 30 years ago, said participation "is part of the community support of the team." Eisenreich said some fans without game tickets come because "they just want to get inside Lambeau Field and this is their opportunity."
But the overriding reason struck me when seeing roughly 100 people still in line more than an hour after the cleaning process had begun. They were waiting to replace workers who left early.
While heading to cash my voucher — hey, $4 goes a long way in Green Bay — I recalled an earlier conversation with David Stuckman. A carpenter by trade, Stuckman had driven roughly 60 miles from Sheboygan in hopes of performing even more manual labor during his off-time.
I asked why and his answer now makes perfect sense.
"It's just the craziness of being a Packers fan."
GREEN BAY - Attention fans with tickets in Section 130, Row 58 for Sunday's NFC Championship game:
Your seating area is cleaner because of me.
Like wearing a Cheesehead, volunteering for stadium snow removal in frigid temperatures is a way to show affection for the Green Bay Packers.
After participating, I'm not sure which is goofier.
Before feeling the wrath of Packer Nation, let me explain: I understand the love affair Green Bay's locals have with the NFL's only publicly-owned team. I'm even well versed in Packers history. My father-in-law is from Wisconsin and my wife a huge Packers fan. My late grandfather worshipped Vince Lombardi and gave me a copy of Jerry Kramer's "Instant Replay" as a kid (which is why I wore No. 64 while playing high school football). And clearly, there is no sports franchise more associated with teeth-rattling weather than the Packers.
But I'm also a South Floridian whose lone experience on "frozen tundra" came when I repeatedly fell trying to ski in Colorado. That's why I needed to witness this curious snow-removal ritual first-hand.
I answered the call when the Packers issued a news release asking for Thursday night help. So did hundreds of others who leaped to Lambeau Field despite snowy conditions and bitter wind chill.
A line of men, women and teenagers (ages 15-and-up only) actually started forming about five hours before gates opened. Ultimately, there were far more people than shovels.
To ensure an orderly process, the Packers only allow 300 workers inside with no exceptions. Not even bringing your own equipment can provide access.
There was sincere disappointment from those Wisconsinites who didn't make the first cut. For full effect, pinch your nose and say "Geez, we were so close."
Heavily bundled after a $71.06 shopping spree at K-Mart, I sought shoveling technique tips from locals. Some of the best guidance came from Chris Behrens, who guaranteed his chance to clean Lambeau for the fourth time this season by arriving 3½ hours early.
Clearing the snow at Lambeau is not a one-person job. (Aaron Popkey/Green Bay Packers / Special to FOXSports.com)
"Just push the snow if it's heavy. If it's light, carry," he said. "And bend at the knees. That's one important thing."
From the soreness in my twice-reconstructed left knee and pain now shooting down my right shoulder blade, I wish I would have followed Behrens' advice. But it's easy to lose focus when caught up in a cleaning frenzy.
As stadium employees bark orders like drill sergeants, workers quickly stockpile snow from each row and toss it down a long metal chute leading to the field. The snow is then plowed, placed in a dump truck and driven away. Once a section is completed (it takes about 15 minutes), everyone gathers to move the chute — think Amish barn-raising — to another one.
Sure, the operation isn't fancy. But it beats the process of yesteryear when snow was heaved into tubs and carried out.
With three inches of thick snow having accumulated, Thursday night's clean-up was scheduled to take at least two hours. I toiled for 30 minutes — screwing up just once when accidentally clocking someone with a shovel full of slush — before leaving to interview Ted Eisenreich, the Packers' director of facility operations.
Eisenreich explained that snow removal is a must so fans don't slip on ice trying to reach their seats for Sunday's Packers-New York Giants game. He also said volunteerism is necessary because the Green Bay area isn't big enough to provide enough contracted employees for the job.
"Every time we do this, I'm amazed at the turnout," Eisenreich said. "We couldn't do this without them."
The Packers pay workers $8 an hour, but money isn't the draw. Green Bay resident Glenn Gardipee, who first shoveled stadium snow 30 years ago, said participation "is part of the community support of the team." Eisenreich said some fans without game tickets come because "they just want to get inside Lambeau Field and this is their opportunity."
But the overriding reason struck me when seeing roughly 100 people still in line more than an hour after the cleaning process had begun. They were waiting to replace workers who left early.
While heading to cash my voucher — hey, $4 goes a long way in Green Bay — I recalled an earlier conversation with David Stuckman. A carpenter by trade, Stuckman had driven roughly 60 miles from Sheboygan in hopes of performing even more manual labor during his off-time.
I asked why and his answer now makes perfect sense.
"It's just the craziness of being a Packers fan."