Packers 27 - Seahawks 24. And Pancakes.

So, for my birthday in May, my mom bought me tickets to the Packers-Seahawks preseason game in Seattle. One might think I would rather have tickets to a game in Lambeau, since it is the only place on the face of the earth to really watch football. Well, yeah, there is some truth to that. I had talked to LJ about going to Green Bay for a game. After last year I wanted to make my trip to Wisconsin annual, but, this year it just wasn't going to work with my schedule.

When I saw the Packers were playing in Seattle for the preaseason, I knew I would go. So... When Mom asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told her two tickets to the game in Seattle. I knew the tickets would be cheaper than regular season, the game would be just as fun, and I could probably get pretty close to the sideline--and I did.

We had awesome seats. Thanks, Mom!

A friend, KC, went with me. KC is a Washington native, football lover, and life-long Seahawks fan. So, we were a mixed pair. If I couldn't share the game with a Packers fan, I wanted to go with someone who would enjoy the game and who wouldn't make fun of me when I squealed as the Packers ran onto the field. And she didn't. Actually, she said she wouldn't expect anything less.

The Packers won. Sure it's a game that doesn't matter, and by the fourth quarter it was like watching high school football, but that made it that much more fun and more relaxed. I was able to hang out, drink some beer, and talk football with KC and the people around us. And boy were there Packer fans around us.

I was afraid I would be the only one, but I forgot the passion of the Packer fan. There were a lot for an away preseason game. Most of the people I talked to were locals but a few traveled from Wisconsin for the game. I wore my Tauscher jersey. Tauscher is a long-time Packer but not one that is well known. Despite that, while walking to Qwest field, during the game, and leaving the game, numerous people yelled, "Hey, Tauscher!" when they saw me. While I prefer seeing the Packers on their home field, it is really cool to be somewhere and have that immediate, albeit somewhat anonymous, tie to a bunch of people for no reason other than your love of a team. It's just cool.

KC and I were talking about the two teams and we started talking about team mascots and team traditions. The Seahawks have a dude dressed in a seahawk costume and an actual hawk... and the Seagals (ugh). Now, no team's traditions come close to Packer traditions. Yes, I am biased, but the Packers are the oldest NFL team. We do things old school. Our stadium is a bowl with benches. When snow needs to be cleared of  the benches, the people of Green Bay line up with their shovels. The Packers used to have cheerleaders, but got rid of them (I don't know why), and now they use the cheerleaders from UW-Green Bay and St. Norberts College. And these are old-school, pleated-skirt cheerleaders. Sometimes the UW Marching Band shows up. But we don't need a mascot. Why? We don't need them because we have guys like this:

It was almost like being at Lambeau. The top guy was from Washington state, but I believe the other two traveled from Wisconsin. Traveling 2600 miles for a preseason game is loyalty. 

A few things I noticed: I saw a lot of Favre jerseys. The vast majority were Packer jerseys. Last time I saw the Packers at Qwest, Favre was playing for the Jets and there were a few Favre Jets jerseys. There were a few odd team jerseys, including a randon Vikings jersey. But at one point I turned around to look up into the stands and I saw someone wearing a Favre Vikings jersey. After a sharp gasp and exclamation of "What the hell?" I turned to KC and said, "Someone has the audacity to wear a Favre Vikings Jersey. That takes balls." C'mon, who would do that? Ugh.

As for the game, it was good. It was close. It was back and forth. The Packers offense looked really great, but the defense may need some work. (Edit: I found out Woodson didn't even make the trip to Seattle and a few other key defensive players were out; that explains the defense issues.) Rodgers and the first string played the first quarter while the Seahawks played their first string the whole first half (I guess Hassleback felt he didn't get enough playing time during last week's game). After that, the second string teams played. By the fourth quarter the Packers were on their third string players. These were the guys who were playing for their jobs. All in all, a good game. The guy next to me wasn't happy and referred to the final outcome as "bullshit." Calm down dude, it's the preseason.

One of the highlights? Free pancakes. If the Seahawks got 21 points all ticket holders could take their ticket stub to any Washington iHop for free pancakes. During the Seahawks third scoring drive, KC kept yelling, "I want my free pancakes!" And she will get them.

September 9 can't get here soon enough.