A friend of mine from church offered me a ticket (and ride) to the Packers-Bears opener at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. I took him up on his offer without much hesitation (even though he is a Bears fan), and we made the trip over there this past Sunday, returning on Monday.

Overall, it was a great trip ... it takes about 6 hours to drive from Minneapolis' western suburbs to Green Bay (taking proper bio-breaks into account). That was plenty of time to chit-chat about work, family, politics, and even a little football. We arrived in Title Town just after Noon, found a lawn to park in a few blocks from the stadium, stuffed a few cans of beer into our pockets and headed toward the stadium in search of some friends.

On game days, the area for blocks around the stadium is in full party mode. Every Bar, Restaurant, Grocery Store, etc., has outdoor tents with bands, beer, food, trinket vendors, and most have places for people to park and tailgate. You can walk down the street with a beer in your hand, and people are sitting out in their front lawns and talkative and friendly. There were plenty of Bears fans on hand ... perhaps 20-percent of the crowd were wearing some Bears gear.

The game was horrible for a Packer fan, however. Their defense played okay (except for the early, very bad burning on the Bears first TD), but the offense was a sad case. Mr. Green looks like he's in good shape, but he was really the only thing going. One little detail I'll point out is that Bubba Franks (a good pass-catching tight end) spent most of the day going into motion and saying behind the O-Line as an extra pass protector. Favre was just off, except when throwing to Driver. As I've stated before, it will be a long, difficult year unless that O-Line gels and Favre gets in-sync with the other receivers.

The Bears are quite solid across the board. I think they will be a treat to watch throughout the year.

Did a bit more bar-hopping and smack-talking with the locals after the game, then headed to the Appleton area for pizza and a place to stay that night before heading back to the Twin Cities in the morning.

Overall ... Grade A entertainment experience ... Grade F Packer fan game experience.

-Bryk