Football in Wisconsin is legendary because the Packers are a legend. And UW is a big school with lots of fun football traditions. Red & white; green & yellow. If you live here, you can’t ignore football. I enjoy it the most watching from home on TV, although we’ve been to games and enjoyed the in-your-face excitement. Early in the season. Once, we rode on the Madison Packer Backers bus to Green Bay for a pre-season game, watching Brett play. Weather wasn’t great — chilly & rainy —  but a really fun cultural experience.  Season tickets for either the Badgers or the Packers are incredibly expensive and hereditary. But sometimes you can get tickets for just one game, if you’re in the lucky email loop. As the season stretches into colder months, and snow falls up in Green Bay, I can’t imagine sitting in the stands cheering. Perhaps my loyalty is only in force in nice weather.

The Badgers & the Packers unite this state of 5 million people in a special way. But probably other states say the same things about their teams. Being a University of Florida graduate, I still have to watch the Gators play, and the past 3 years have been exceptional. I never got very attached to the Redskins when we lived in Northern Virginia, but following 3 football teams now takes enough effort. And besides, I can knit while I watch.

Sadly, the Packers lost today in overtime to Arizona. OK, next year.