Last weekend was the third annual Packers Fan Fest as we all know. For my diary's sake, it was my first fan fest. I'm not really sure how I got in this year. The first year I help bring down the phone company's lines and last year maybe my credit card was too close to expiring. Anyways, with this being my first Packers Fan Fest I really didn't know what to expect. Being a Cubs fan also, I have done their Cubs Convention numerous times, so I had an idea of what this could have been: Long lines for autographs, interesting presentations, but overall just one big glass of Packers Kool-Aid. While it had some differences, it also had some similiarities. as well.

AUTOGRAPHS
The 4 ticket idea was cool, though when I realized that one of my tickets was for Jon Ryan, I wasn't too happy. I had to trade my Antonio Freeman and just give away my Jason Spitz (I know, both heartbreaking) because I had to work the Gamblers games that weekend (intern). It wasn't until Saturday that I took a liking to it. First off, I was never in line for a player for more than a half hour, and second, I was still able to get a couple of other decent autographs. That's way better than the Cubs, where you wait in line forever and more or less will miss your intended target and have to settle for some deadbeat from the 87 Cubs or something.

INTERESTING PRESENTATIONS
I think baseball fan fests still might take the cake on this one. I liked the Offensive and Defensive talks, but then I again I played football for 3 years in high school (ok, maybe just stood on the sideline). I'm guessing many that were sitting there were just confused. I also like a panel instead of the single guests and wished some of the players and speakers talked for a little more. The 620 guys were great leading the discussions.

PACKERS KOOL-AID
Get use to that term from me. Kool-Aid in this sense means "overwhelming and blind support." This includes all the SUper Bowl or Bust and the rah rah stuff. I think the energy was a lot lower than I expected. Then again, I'm sure most of us who wander around Green Bay long enough run into these guys enough. I had seen Herron, Rayner, and Barnett at the UWGB/UWM game the week before, Ted Thompson at Best Buy, and so on and so forth. I think everybody was also more down to earth. We know we didn't make the playoffs last year, and we have to first make the playoffs before we do anything else. It was good seeing the Packers of Yesteryear and This Year line up in front of the stage.

OVERALL IMPRESSION
It was a blast. I defintely doubted the Atrium could hold an event like that and I was wrong. I guess I didn't realize how big it was until you have virtually full access to all 4 floors. $79 was a little steep, but I had fun nonetheless. I'd recommend it to anybody. The locker room tour made me drool a little bit (it was my personal favorite part of the Fan Fest), so if you haven't done that, it's worth the money then. Maybe next year I won't have to split time between Fan Fest and Gamblers games. The event was success for 2 reasons: 1) Probably raised a lot of money for a good cause and 2)I can't wait for mini-camp.