HarveyWallbangers
10-29-2007, 02:49 PM
Is Tarlam really Wayne Scullino?
Aussie uproots family, comes to America to cheer at every Packers game
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, WIS. — Wayne Scullino didn't let an ocean, a job or raising two toddlers come between him and his dream. The 30-year-old quit his job with a telecommunications company in Sydney, Australia, sold his home and convinced his wife to move to the United States — to follow the Green Bay Packers.
"One person said to me, 'Man, you're crazy! That's the craziest thing I ever heard. You're following the Packers? They're not even any good,'" Scullino said. He responded: "Yeah, but things mean more to some people."
He, his wife and two boys are going to every Packers game this season and paying for it with the proceeds from their home. Scullino's dream to move to Green Bay started when he was 15 years old. A friend gave him a video tape of a year-old game between the Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. "There was just something about the game and the atmosphere and the strategy that got me immediately," Scullino said.
He said most Australians don't care about the NFL. "In fact, if I said, 'NFL' most of them would probably think I said, 'NRL,' which is our National Rugby League," Scullino said.
He has started a Web site, chronicling his journey by blog, video and photos. "The thing with dreams though, in most cases at least, is that if you don't do something to make them happen yourself, they never will," he wrote. "So with that, and a whole lot of understanding from the very best, non sport loving wife in the world, we made an executive decision. A decision that flies in the face of all rational thinking but one that we should all do at least once in our lives."
He said he brought up his idea to move to Green Bay to his wife during a phone call from work and it snowballed from there. Kelly Scullino said she didn't immediately agree to the plan. "It was actually months," she said. "It took us months to put it together."
Wayne Scullino said they couldn't wait too long because the kids would be in school and Brett Favre might not be playing anymore. Kelly Scullino said she sees the trip as an adventure. "We're just people that are taking a risk and taking a chance, and doing it together as a family," she said.
Green Bay Packers' spokesman Aaron Popke said he hasn't heard of anyone else like the Scullinos. The closest was several years ago when a fan from Rome, Italy, visited Green Bay for a week, Popke said.
The family doesn't have tickets lined up for every game but they're finding some online, and some through their new Packer-fan friends. "We went to the Washington game with a couple we'd never met," Wayne Scullino said. "But they e-mailed us, saying, 'We've got four tickets. We normally take people from work, but you must come with us.'" Another fan set them up with a furnished apartment at a bargain price, while another gave them a truck to use while they're there.
Kelly Scullino said she can't get over the generosity. "Who gives someone a car? And my entire kitchen is stocked from a friend's sister, because she had a basement full of things and she wasn't using them," she said.
The family will return to Australia after the Super Bowl and stay with Kelly Scullino's parents while Wayne looks for a new job and home. Wayne Scullino said he hopes to turn the experience into a book. He doesn't expect to have any regrets. "At some point, you've got to stop living the life you've fallen into, and start living the life you want to," Scullino said.
Aussie uproots family, comes to America to cheer at every Packers game
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, WIS. — Wayne Scullino didn't let an ocean, a job or raising two toddlers come between him and his dream. The 30-year-old quit his job with a telecommunications company in Sydney, Australia, sold his home and convinced his wife to move to the United States — to follow the Green Bay Packers.
"One person said to me, 'Man, you're crazy! That's the craziest thing I ever heard. You're following the Packers? They're not even any good,'" Scullino said. He responded: "Yeah, but things mean more to some people."
He, his wife and two boys are going to every Packers game this season and paying for it with the proceeds from their home. Scullino's dream to move to Green Bay started when he was 15 years old. A friend gave him a video tape of a year-old game between the Packers and the Minnesota Vikings. "There was just something about the game and the atmosphere and the strategy that got me immediately," Scullino said.
He said most Australians don't care about the NFL. "In fact, if I said, 'NFL' most of them would probably think I said, 'NRL,' which is our National Rugby League," Scullino said.
He has started a Web site, chronicling his journey by blog, video and photos. "The thing with dreams though, in most cases at least, is that if you don't do something to make them happen yourself, they never will," he wrote. "So with that, and a whole lot of understanding from the very best, non sport loving wife in the world, we made an executive decision. A decision that flies in the face of all rational thinking but one that we should all do at least once in our lives."
He said he brought up his idea to move to Green Bay to his wife during a phone call from work and it snowballed from there. Kelly Scullino said she didn't immediately agree to the plan. "It was actually months," she said. "It took us months to put it together."
Wayne Scullino said they couldn't wait too long because the kids would be in school and Brett Favre might not be playing anymore. Kelly Scullino said she sees the trip as an adventure. "We're just people that are taking a risk and taking a chance, and doing it together as a family," she said.
Green Bay Packers' spokesman Aaron Popke said he hasn't heard of anyone else like the Scullinos. The closest was several years ago when a fan from Rome, Italy, visited Green Bay for a week, Popke said.
The family doesn't have tickets lined up for every game but they're finding some online, and some through their new Packer-fan friends. "We went to the Washington game with a couple we'd never met," Wayne Scullino said. "But they e-mailed us, saying, 'We've got four tickets. We normally take people from work, but you must come with us.'" Another fan set them up with a furnished apartment at a bargain price, while another gave them a truck to use while they're there.
Kelly Scullino said she can't get over the generosity. "Who gives someone a car? And my entire kitchen is stocked from a friend's sister, because she had a basement full of things and she wasn't using them," she said.
The family will return to Australia after the Super Bowl and stay with Kelly Scullino's parents while Wayne looks for a new job and home. Wayne Scullino said he hopes to turn the experience into a book. He doesn't expect to have any regrets. "At some point, you've got to stop living the life you've fallen into, and start living the life you want to," Scullino said.