What are the Packers?

[gex]

Don't really know how to word this, but what are the Green Bay Packers to you?

Are they the players that give their body and future health up for us, the team, and of course $$$?

Are they management which comes and goes every few years?

Is it Lambeau field and the history?

Is it just the G logo?

For me its the atmoshphere of packer nation and then the great players that give their everything(Favre) for our entertainment and we name fields and stadiums after them.

Such disrespect everywhere :cry:

Ps.... When people say too many "bridges have been burnt" doesn't that just refer to mens ego's? Like "he can't come back..... he burnt to many bridges" Meaning, I was dissed and I'll look soft if I accept him back?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Such disrespect everywhere :cry:

I agree. Brett should have never said those nasty things about Thompson, told people about his private conversations with McCarthy, or thrown Campen under the bus.

[gex]

Yea Harv, thats part of what I meant by everywhere.

[BallHawk]

The Packers are a football team that I root for.

[falco]

The Packers are a football team that I root for.

no more, no less :)

[gex]

The Packers are a football team that I root for.

Cmon, I'm curious as to what the components are that make up this thing we all love and spend endless hours talking about?

[Spaulding]

The Packers are tradition for me. I have followed them since the early 70's and will follow them until the grave. Win and all will be forgotten, lose and the shit will hit the fan.

[Harlan Huckleby]

Every year I tell myself I've had enough of the Packers. But I always come running back. So they must be something.

[boiga]

Fine, I guess I can submit a little analysis.

The Packers Organization is made up of three components: the brand name, the physical property, and the personnel. Each of these components can be further divided down as so:

I. The Brand Name: 1.The logo 2. the legacy (title town, lambeau leap, etc.) 3.Intellectual property and marketing.

II. The Physical Property: 1. Green Bay real estate (Lambeau Field, Atrium, etc.) 2. The merchandising sales 3. Equipment for maintenance/ uniforms etc.

III. Personnel: 1.Players 2.Management 3.Fans/Owners

All three of these components require the others to prosper. The brand name leads to ticket and merchandise sales, which pay the bills for the Players, who improve the brand name with success on the field. If any one element is lacking, the entire house of cards can fall down. It is the job for the management to keep everything in balance so as not to hurt the brand name or alienate the players and fans.


Is that what you wanted?

[gex]

Fine, I guess I can submit a little analysis.

The Packers Organization is made up of three components: the brand name, the physical property, and the personnel. Each of these components can be further divided down as so:

I. The Brand Name: 1.The logo 2. the legacy (title town, lambeau leap, etc.) 3.Intellectual property and marketing.

II. The Physical Property: 1. Green Bay real estate (Lambeau Field, Atrium, etc.) 2. The merchandising sales 3. Equipment for maintenance/ uniforms etc.

III. Personnel: 1.Players 2.Management 3.Fans/Owners

All three of these components require the others to prosper. The brand name leads to ticket and merchandise sales, which pay the bills for the Players, who improve the brand name with success on the field. If any one element is lacking, the entire house of cards can fall down. It is the job for the management to keep everything in balance so as not to hurt the brand name or alienate the players and fans.


Is that what you wanted?

Yes, thank you.
But also what pulls at our heartstrings so much. When we win, what/who are we so happy for?

[HarveyWallbangers]

Yea Harv, thats part of what I meant by everywhere.

I missed the meaning. If you wanted to know what makes us Packer fans, then why add the comment at the end?

I was born into the Packer family. I had no choice.

[gex]

Yea Harv, thats part of what I meant by everywhere.

I missed the meaning. If you wanted to know what makes us Packer fans, then why add the comment at the end?

I was born into the Packer family. I had no choice.

lol :D

[BallHawk]

Sports is an impractical thing. We cheer, pay money, scream, and even cry for a team.....that we have no association with whatsoever. When talking about the Packers I'll often say "we" need to do this. But why do I, and others, say we? We don't affect the Packers play on the field? We don't put in hours practicing, conditioning, and planning. Yet, when we lose a big game we act like a dagger has been plunged through our heart. We think that all the hours spent watching, all the time spent discussing, and all the money spent on merchandise, tickets, etc., have gone to waste. This compared to guys that have put forth so much more effort.

And when we win a playoff game we are filled with joy and glee. But for what? We just sat on the couch, drank some beer, and yelled at the TV.

So why do we take it so seriously? Isn't it just supposed to be for amusement, a way of kicking back and enjoying it? Yet, we treat the Packers as a way of life, not a hobby.

Each of us have a different reason why we love the Packers. I can't say what mine is exactly. It's just something I've done since I grew up in Wisconsin. It's become normal. The fall has become intertwined with the Packers starting to play football again.

I guess I do it because it's fun. Can't go into any more details than that, I just enjoy it. Simple as that.

[boiga]

Yes, thank you.
But also what pulls at our heartstrings so much. When we win, what/who are we so happy for?That's actually an unrelated question.

Because we CARE about the packers, we invest a small portion of our own sense of self worth into our sense of the team's prosperity. When we view the Packers as being successful, we feel as happy as if WE were successful. We become prideful of their accomplishments and ashamed of their failures despite having no say over those very achievements.

The same is true when we CARE about a child, loved one, or political candidate. Seeing the child/spouse/candidate happy makes US physically happier. If they suffer, we suffer. And so on.

There are some religions in which this sort of empathy is expanded to all living creatures. If you CARE about a cow, you can't really eat it then, can you?

However, one thing to remember is that our empathy relies on our ability to judge the well being of the thing we are empathizing with. If our judgment is faulty then it can cause harm to that which we are trying to protect. For example, a former jock father will push his son into sports to give him the same great experiences he had, even if the son hates sports. That father is not uncaring, he just lacks the ability to understand the true best interest of his son.

With the Packers, it is similar. You can't point to the Packers, but you have a concrete sense of their self-worth based on the W-L record. This is an artificial structure, of course, based on arbitrary guidelines.

Nevertheless we feel great empathy towards that make believe construction that we feel its pain and its glory... even though it doesn't exist in physical sense.

[gex]

Wow, great posts.

Dont know if this relates at all to this thread.

I was thinking about when the Celtics won the NBA title this year. I was very happy for Garnett, Allen, and Cassell because I thought they deserved it. I couldn''t care less for the Celtics organization though.

Now if the Bucks win it all then it doesn't matter who is on the team, my team won it all.

Something like that.

[Tarlam!]

It's all about being associated with the team of choice, sport of choice. The word fan stems from fanatic.

I believe it goes back to our prehistoric days of when homo sapiens still lived in clans and tribes. These days we get to choose our clan, our tribe. Instead of fighting for hunting grounds our "fight" has become theoretical and our "clansmen" do combat on Sunday's.

Why we chose the Pack is irrelevant.

[oregonpackfan]

Besides being a football sports team they represent these things to me:

1. My family heritage--We all supported the Packers as a family.

2. My geographical heritage--Though I haven't lived in Wisconsin for 18 years, Wisconsin will always be my home. The Packers are a vital part of my home state loyalty.

3. The Packers are the "David" in the Pro Football world of "Goliaths." The city only has just 100,000 people. Most pro football teams come from cities with populations of half a million or more. Going back to the geographical heritage theme, the Packers are just as much a "state" team as they are a "Green Bay" team.

4. The Packers are not owned by a self-absorbed, meddling, multi-billionaire. They are the only publicly owned team in the country.

[texaspackerbacker]

It's the whole picture, but primarily, it's the team--and more specifically, the team winning.

To illustrate, there was a year in the 80s I think, when the NFL players were on strike. The league played its games with "scab" players--lower grade strike breaking players. As luck or good GMing would have it, the Packers had a pretty good scab team. I, and probably a distinct minority of fans, really got in to rooting for that scab team. Then the strike ended, and the real Packers came back. They were pretty crappy in comparison to the league, and didn't win like the scabs had. I wished the strike would have gone on all season--because THE PACKERS were winning--MY TEAM--never mind who in the hell the players actually were.

BTW, good question, gex.

[digitaldean]

It's the whole picture, but primarily, it's the team--and more specifically, the team winning.

To illustrate, there was a year in the 80s I think, when the NFL players were on strike. The league played its games with "scab" players--lower grade strike breaking players. As luck or good GMing would have it, the Packers had a pretty good scab team. I, and probably a distinct minority of fans, really got in to rooting for that scab team. Then the strike ended, and the real Packers came back. They were pretty crappy in comparison to the league, and didn't win like the scabs had. I wished the strike would have gone on all season--because THE PACKERS were winning--MY TEAM--never mind who in the hell the players actually were.

BTW, good question, gex.

I was at the last "replacement" player game (had Zendejas, Alan Risher at QB, etc.) These guys weren't terribly talented, but they won. I remember the crowd chanting "B Team!" at the end of the game. It was a nice respite from the losing wasteland that was the 80's.

[CaptainKickass]

I believe it goes back to our prehistoric days of when homo sapiens still lived in clans and tribes. These days we get to choose our clan, our tribe. Instead of fighting for hunting grounds our "fight" has become theoretical and our "clansmen" do combat on Sunday's.


BAM!


It's the entertainment equivalent of being in a gang. It's very tribal. As humans it's instinctual. It's the psychological pacifier for an instinct to protect "yours".

Man would not be man without it.

.

[gex]

Great responses. anymore/anyone.

[MOBB DEEP]

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