Bears v. Packers

Yesterday I had the pleasure of attending the annual Drinking Right Christmas party at Papa’s Social Club. As usual, I had a great time surrounded by friends, some of who are the best bloggers Southeastern Wisconsin has to offer. I will not attempt to list them, as I’m certain I’ll forget someone. There were a few folks notably missing, and they were missed.

Of course yesterday was also the Bears/Packers game, so I got decked out in one of my many Bears jerseys, and even wore a special hat to mark the occasion!

During the course of the afternoon and into the evening, I made a few observations.

First, I’m not particularly fond of having a DR gathering during a Bears game. This is not, however, because I am the lone Bears fan amongst our group. Of course there was a LOT of good natured joking around, but it never really moved from having fun to real jackassery. No – the reason is because when I watch football, I. Watch. Football. I am focused on the game practically to the exclusion of everything else. Naturally, this made it difficult to socialize with everyone. Fortunately, we have our monthly DR coming up in a little over a week, and I’ll be able to catch up with everyone then.

On the way home from the party, I was listening to Milwaukee radio. I heard the talking heads, the callers, and even later on my own husband say how they respected Lovie Smith for playing the game hard. We didn’t lay down. We didn’t hand it to the Pack. We respected the rivalry. Blah, blah, blah. While I understand all that, let’s put the shoe on the other foot for a moment, shall we? If the Packers had clinched the division and were playoff bound, would you have the same respect for Mike McCarthy had he left the starters in the whole game? Would you appreciate the decision to take a chance on injuring the quarterback prior to the playoffs, ESPECIALLY if there was someone like Clay Matthews taking aim? To just about a person, the Bears fans I talked to were as pissed off as I was about keeping Cutler in the entire 60 minutes. And he did get knocked around, but fortunately, nothing serious. Coach Smith is lucky in that respect.

Lastly, as some of you know, I’ve recently been suffering from lower back problems. While this last observation may seem patently obvious, keep in mind this is a rather new phenomenon for me. When one suffers from lower back problems, it is never, EVER a good idea to stand for hours on end wearing high heeled boots. If you do, you too can be up at 2:30 a.m. writing a blog post while waiting for painkillers to kick in. *facepalm*

I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year, and here’s to a fantastic 2011!!