Following the Packers

I’ve done this one before. While in AmeriCorps there was a time or two when I had to check the games via the web. At times I would even “watch” the whole game on nfl.com. Thankfully, there is a feature which allows a person to follow the game play by play with the use of a self-updating feature, updating itself every few seconds. This way I could anxiously, nervously rock back and forth in my chair, wondering: ‘but what did that play look like?’ It has its pros and its cons. Worse yet, when living in London in 2000, I had to go the better part of the season tracking the Packers exclusively from the Internet. I was now 7 hours ahead of Packer time, a.k.a. Central Standard Time. In my flat we had a TV that had maybe 4 channels. Somehow I was, however, able to watch Monday Night Football on Tuesday mornings. I guess it had something to do with the fact that I was in London and not, say a developing country half way around the globe.

I realize now that all of that was just practice. Now I am 13 hours ahead, twice as long in time as I’ve ever been from Brett Favre, Lambeau Field, the heartbeat of Packer Nation. These days I go bed Sunday nights anxious, nervous and wake up the same. I hurry to work, praying to God that the Internet is working that day. I wait a full far too many minutes for nfl.com to upload. Then, I let out a jubilant yelp that the whole school can probably hear or a “Shit!” that only the people in the room can hear. As I see it, this is exactly what Peace Corps is talking about with their second goal: bringing American culture to my host nation.

You might be asking yourself, what is Peter doing from Mongolia to ensure victory? After all, I’m a superstitious about this as I always have been. I know that being a shareholder just isn’t enough. So…when doing laundry, for example, I use the appropriate number of green and yellow-colored clothes hanging clips. This past week we played Chicago. We were 4-0 going into the game. And as logic would have it, I placed 5 clips on my Packers t-shirt, making sure to lay the shirt upright so that the gods would see what I have done. Another example? Sure. Well, let’s see. My superstitiousness also carries through when I go running. I run in the hills behind our apartment. On top of the higher hill tops are owoos, traditional rock piles placed by passers-by asking for safe journey (see photos). A person passing by must walk 3 times clockwise around the rocks. So, when doing so, I lay the appropriate number of rocks. A couple of weeks ago, we played the Vikings (a game in which, I might add, Brett Favre broke the all-time TD record). We were 3-0 at the time. I laid…that’s right, 4 rocks. We won. So, sometimes it works and others it doesn’t. My game plan now, however, is different. I have come to realize that I can’t do the same thing every week. What sense would that make? After all, the Packers don’t prepare for each team exactly the same way. They still prepare, though. And as long as the Packers prepare, Peter too prepares.

GO PACKERS!