Before moving to Wisconsin, my best indication of sports fans in the state were of the random shots I got of Packer zealots grilling up outside of Lambeau Field. I respected them only because of their shear commitment to their team. And, in fact, it really was their team. In my years prior, I had found very little that could compare to their dedication. Redskins’ fans are pretty diehard, but Packer fans simply take it to another level.
I made it up to Green Bay for my first Packer game this past winter. There I was presented with everything I had presupposed: extreme zealots who were enormously knowledgeable of their team.
But, frankly, it frightened me a little. Religion had basically been supplanted by the Packers. That guy who dressed up like the Packer Pope scared me so much I felt like a little kid too terrified to even look at the shopping mall Santa Claus. Their fervent nature was just too overwhelming. I still respect them, but being among all the Green and Gold made me feel like I was studying abroad.
For fear for my being, I won’t discuss Packer fans anymore.
Once the NBA season got rolling, I was presented with the Bucks fan. I had never met a Bucks fan in my life, so nothing was presumed. I found them, again, to be very committed to their team, but their knowledge slumped a little when compared to their Packer counterparts.
In following the Bucks assent into the Eastern Conference finals, I did find that the Bucks fans kind of presented a sort of blind denial of their team. They knew Allen, Robinson and Cassell could shoot the lights out, but they didn’t even acknowledge their defensive deficiencies that were their eventual downfall. (In a strange twist, Gary Payton didn’t acknowledge these deficiencies either in his stint with Milwaukee.)
From the few Brewers games I have caught, I’ve found that the patrons of Miller Park are simply looking for a good time. They don’t hold very many aspirations for their team, and they look like they’re trying to hold onto something that was lost when County Stadium met its needed, but ultimate demise.
But looking for a good time is at the heart of fandom, and that’s why I think the best Wisconsin sports fans come out in the summer. There’s no falsity in looking for fun, and if they can’t find it at a ballpark, they take to the water.
Not until I lived in Wisconsin this past summer did I realize how strongly devoted Wisconsinites are when it comes to getting their skis and wake boards waxed up, their fishing polls untangled, and their boats out on the water. Maybe it’s because their window of opportunity is so small, but there’s no fooling around when it’s time to take to the lakes and rivers.
It draws something from their outdoor temperament, like a more acceptable offshoot of the state’s hunting contingency. But every lake and stream I drove past that summer was scattered with boats and skiers surrounded by fishermen keeping close to the shores, all of whom were soaking in as much sun as they could get.
That’s why Miller Park just irks me so much. There’s so little sunlight in Wisconsin for most of the year, why would you ever put a dome over your baseball team? The game was meant to be played outdoors! Even when the sun is shinning they keep the wrapper closed so tight on that Cadbury Egg as to not let the prevailing overhead winds interfere with the game.
But now as the school year is coming to a close and the weather keeps getting warmer, its time to hit the water. It’s that time of year to hit the lakeside with your fishing pole and listen to the Brewers day game until it gets too far out of hand. It’s the time of season to head up to Door County or the Dells so Wisconsinites can show their true colors. That is, of course, if they can stay away from that NASCAR race on television.