Deep down I don’t really care who wins the Super Bowl because I can’t really say I like either team.    I could root for the Steelers because one of my best friends lives in Pittsburgh, I met Max Starks at Rachel Lutzker’s wedding, and our WFSB production manager is also a Steel City native, but I’m just not feeling it for those who wave the terrible towel.   I think it is a childhood thing:  it always bugged me that the Steelers only had a logo on one side of their helmet.   

Both teams have a loyal following and loyal owners.     The Packers have been around since the 1920s; the Steelers since the ’30s.  Unlike many other teams we know, they never flirted with moving to Los Angeles, St. Louis or Hartford, dangling themselves before mayors and state legislatures in the hopes of landing a lucrative stadium deal.

I’ve decided I will be rooting for Green Bay because of the people there,  the cheeseheads.      They live in a place with brutally cold winters and an economy that has seen better days, but they are never wavering in the love of their Pack.   Everywhere you look in this town you see green and yellow, from  Packer street signs to cars painted in Packer colors. 

If there is a place that is more into its team than Green Bay, I’ve yet to  go there.

My first trip to Green Bay was in 1985 when I went with one of college roommates to visit his family in Marinette, Wisconsin,  near the upper peninsula of Michigan.   It was my first time swimming in the Great Lakes,  going to a beer garden, and hearing the land of the Badgers called “Wis-cahn-sin.” 

In this picture below I  am in the tiny town of Peshtigo, scene of the Great Peshtigo Fire of 1871, the deadliest fire in American history.   It is also known as the home of one of my colleagues over at WTNH, Darren Kramer.  Peshtigo is also home to this giant cow, beckoning tourists like me to stop the car and strike a silly pose for the camera.   Shorts courtesy Larry Bird.

Anyway, I was back in Green Bay in 1990. At the time  I was working my first anchor job in Rockford, Illinois and the news director of a station in Green Bay brought me up for an interview and audition.    Of course, while there I made the pilgrimage to Lambeau Field and stopped by Packer training camp.   

If you are a football fan you should definitely visit Green Bay before you die.     At the very least watch the excellent HBO documentary on legendary coach Vince Lombardi.

My Wisconsin experience went beyond Green Bay.  The Rockford television market was called the “stateline” because it included some counties in America’s Dairyland.  I often crossed the border to do stories at the General Motors plant in Janesville, interview a former Playboy playmate in Delavan, and follow postal carriers who delivered mail by boat on Lake Geneva.   

I never had a bad time in Wisconsin.  From Summerfest in Milwaukee to a road trip to Madison or the Dells, I also found something to do.  

Packers by 6. 

Oh…in case you want a closer look at that ridiculous picture of my Chess King days:

UPDATE:   Darren tells me the cow was put there by his grandfather, former Peshtigo Mayor Henry Drees.   Sadly, for those of you who logged into on Orbitz frantically trying to book flights to Peshtigo to see the cow, well, the roadside bovine is long gone.