August 5, 2019 at 12:46 p.m.
Shoutouts & Callouts
Family Night was about more than football
Shoutouts & Callouts
Sure, there were some moments that stood out during the actual football portion of the event - Jake Kumerow and Trevor Davis flashed in their efforts to solidify the Nos. 4 and 5 wide receiver positions. DeShone Kizer had a rough night as he tries to remain Aaron Rodgers' top understudy. Rookie Sam Ficken showed he has the leg strength to unseat incumbent kicker Mason Crosby (he made a 63-yarder with room to spare at the end of practice), but also needs to sight in his leg to become more reliable as he missed three kicks during the actual practice and several more in warmups.
However, focusing just on the football portion of Friday night's practice sells short the meaning of the whole evening, as I was able to witness first-hand.
I handed off my press pass for this event and instead went to Lambeau as a paying customer, along with my wife and our eight-year-old daughter, Noelle, the latter of whom received her first taste of Lambeau in a game-like atmosphere.
To wit, the next morning Noelle spent 10 minutes talking to me about the event, but had only one line about the actual practice.
"We got to watch Aaron Rodgers play football and the other players," she said.
Our day started with a trip to the Green Bay NEW Zoo in Suamico, which passed some time before we made our way to the stadium. With $5 parking, the goal was to get to Lambeau early and make sure we had a nice spot inside the stadium lot to set up for festivities later in the day.
We got to the stadium shortly before 2:30, roughly three hours before gates actually opened for the event. If we were worried about how to pass the time before we could get to our seats, those fears were quickly dispelled.
The Titletown District, just northwest of the stadium on Lombardi Avenue, is a relatively new project (parts of which are still under construction) and contained a trove of things to keep an active eight-year-old occupied. First, there was Ariens Hill, a massive tubing hill in the winter on top of one of the buildings inside the district. In summer, its a grassy summit that Noelle wanted to climb.
"The big hill was really fun because I got to run down it," she said. "It was really tall. It was taller than me and the house."
At the top of Ariens Hill, you can look out over the rest of the district. Noelle quickly spotted the massive play area on the far end of the property which contained three playground areas, a spot to run the 40-yard dash and a regulation-sized football field where scores of people congregated to play catch.
Naturally, Noelle was drawn to the playground.
"The playground was really fun because there was a cheese hideout and there was a bench and a little hiding spot behind it. It was shaded. And there was a little obstacle course that was connected to the cheese hideout," she said. "The other playground was like an obstacle course and you had to run, jump, climb. You had to do a lot of stuff to compete. You also had to walk. Then there was another playground with a rolly slide that, when you go down it, you say, 'Aheeeeeee.'"
A food truck selling shaved ice provided a refreshing cool down for us on a warm summer day. Following some more frolicking on the playground, it was back to our vehicle parked practically in the shadow of the stadium for Noelle's first tailgate party.
With only three of us, the menu wasn't that extravagant. A few hot dogs, some potato chips, a little watermelon and some drinks. Playing catch with a mini Nerf football added to the car-side entertainment.
"It was fun because we played football, ate good food," Noelle said. "We had watermelon and it was really good and juicy. The other thing about tailgate was we all got to have popsicles when we were done with football and lunch."
With 5:30 approaching, we could see the lines forming by the gate to get into the stadium. We joined the queue and eventually got to our seats, which were located only six rows from the field in the north end zone.
The special teamers, including Ficken, were the first on the field to warm up, which allowed me the chance to pass down a tradition that I took part in when I went to Lambeau as a kid. Usually there's some room by the rail as fans are still making there way to their seats, which is a great chance to get behind the uprights, watch the balls sail into the slack net and, with a little luck, catch a ball. Not three kicks into Ficken's warmup, Noelle got her chance.
"I touched one, but then the other boy touched it with me," she said, explaining that she and another young boy jointly caught the ball that bounced into the first row. "Then I got hungry so we got popcorn. It was a really big popcorn, kind of like a lampshade."
Soon the football portion of the night began. The practice format seemed to make Noelle a bit restless, I suppose because there was a lot less structure to what we were seeing opposed to an actual game. A case of the munchies likely didn't help matters. After a while I caved and let her get some stadium food. Casey and Noelle said they were getting cheese curds. To my surprise, they came back with cheesy fries covered in a zesty nacho cheese sauce - a little warmer on the tongue than Noelle anticipated.
"I tried to get through because I really don't like spicy stuff," she said.
At the end of practice, we stayed in our seats hoping to be one of the lucky ones to have our seat number called to win one of the practice-worn jerseys. We weren't. We then stuck around for the light and firework show, which illuminated the stadium.
"I liked the lasers and the (light-generated) 'G' (Packers logo) creeping on everyone," Noelle said. "There were some really big fireworks. They were really, really loud. I had to cover my ears, and daddy helped me."
As she recounted the day for me, she forgot to mention the boom sticks we were given heading into the stadium, which came in handy when it came time to get up and dance to the music during timeouts. She didn't need to tell me she was having a good time. The look on her face said it all.
One day we'll likely get to a Packers game, or a Badgers game or a Brewers game, as a family. Sure, the tickets will cost more and the parking will be more expensive, but there's only so much time to spend with kids when they are young and experiences like Friday's don't come with a price tag.
In the grand scheme of things, that's the true value of a glorified practice and roughly 56,000 other people agreed.
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
WEATHER SPONSORED BY
E-Editions
Latest News
E-Editions
Events
August
To Submit an Event Sign in first
Today's Events
No calendar events have been scheduled for today.
Comments:
You must login to comment.