It was a glorious sight.
A line of porta-johns just around the corner from where we disembarked the charter bus in Green Bay for the first day of the NFL Draft, provided a sense of relief in more ways than one.
Not since I watched Get the Led Out perform 85% of Led Zeppelin’s impressive catalogue at Pat Garrett Amphitheater have I seen so many portable toilets.
The roughly 1-hour bus ride from Oshkosh, where my older brother resides, was mostly filled with Packers fans.
Mike wisely secured bus passes for us from a local bar well ahead of the draft. Green Bay, a city with a population of 100,000 — slightly more than Reading’s — wasn’t equipped to handle an influx of more than 200,000 people (an estimated 205,000 people attended the first day on April 28).
Three buses departed the tavern lot for its sister location at Lambeau Field. Outside of the stadium, an elaborate stage was constructed just for this event.
Almost as much as they love beer, cheese and the Packers, Wisconsinites delight in tailgating, which they regard as a right.
Two women, Jackie and Diane (I’m not making this up), sat across the aisle from me and my brother.
Diane was dressed in a Packers skirt and tights. Jackie wore a cheese necklace and started a conversation with literally everyone around her.
At their feet was a small cooler, stocked with canned vodka cocktails, that they started to empty before the bus departed for the Mecca of pro football about 1:30 p.m.
I was excited but somewhat nervous about what lay ahead once we arrived in Green Bay. The stadium is more or less in a residential area, although the immediate vicinity, known as Titletown, has gotten more developed with taverns and a hotel in recent years.
What kind of amenities would there be?
The local news stations covered the draft preparations ad nauseam, easing some of my trepidations. Reporters talked to managers of bars that were setting up tents with outdoor seating and small stages for music.
Still, we had a very long day ahead.
Leaving early wasn’t an option. The driver was adamant that the bus would leave no sooner than 30 minutes after the last pick of the night, which was around 10:45 Central Time.
A personal highlight occurred about an hour earlier, when the Packers made the 23rd pick of the evening.
By that time, we had made our way back to Titletown to watch ESPN’s coverage on a large screen under a tent adjacent to Badger State Brewery.
Before the selection, a young woman asked Mike, who was wearing a Packers shirt, if the pick would be a wide receiver. He didn’t think they needed another receiver.
He was clearly in the minority. Packers President Mark Murphy’s announcement of Texas wide receiver Matthew Golden was met with thunderous cheers all around Titletown.
“Go Pack, Go!” fans chanted over and over.
Source: Berkshire mont
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