IELEV8

From late August through January, Mark would wake up on Sunday mornings and without fail, his first undertaking of the day was finding the proper apparel. I’m sure many would certainly agree with Mark that the perfect attire for Sundays in Wisconsin is the Packer jersey. This would be Mark’s first action, no matter what time of day gametime happened to be and no matter what else we had on the agenda for the day. As a 15 year Milwaukee resident, I have come to realize that adorning oneself in green and gold every Sunday is a universal occurrence in this dear city… but I always wondered if Mark’s behaviors while watching his beloved team were quite as customary.  I recall many instances of watching the Pack, when after a few missed passes or bad plays, they began to trail the opposition. Without saying a word, Mark would promptly hustle upstairs and moments later return wearing a different jersey. This peculiar routine happened many times before I actually realized what this was about: Superstition. Such a funny habit when I think about it now and recall that Mark even started instilling this quirky custom in Cooper in recent years, asking him too, to change his jersey if the Packers fell behind. Even after all these years, I wouldn’t exactly call myself a Packer fan, although I certainly like to see them win since it makes my friends and family in Wisconsin so happy. So on this beautiful Sunday in Wisconsin, I have only three more words for you: GO Pack GO.