I have some definite bragging rights after the super victory the Pack had on Sunday against the Vikings (34-0.) Yes, at 8-1, the Pack is definitely back!
As a tribute, I wore my 1997 Superbowl Victory sweatshirt the other day and was chided for having ‘old sports stuff.’ Well, that was one of the happiest days I can recall and even if it was a long time back, it is fresh in my mind.

We still have one of the best Q-backs of all times – Brett Favre! And that is saying something when you look at the “stars” and Starr that came from the Packers. Brett continues to be top-notch, even after all these years. Watching him on the field, he has renewed youth – he is a motivator to all who are considered to be ‘over the hill’ by younger folk! You can tell that the sports announcers love him too – check out this picture of Brett and John Madden!

Since he is ‘my hero’, would I throw away my special figurine of Brett running on the field after his first Superbowl touchdown? I think not.

Would I casually discard my Waterford glass football, given to me by a friend four years ago – not if I ever want to face her (or my Waterford-collecting daughter) again.

And what about these medallions my dad had in his sock drawer, even though they are from over 50 years ago? These can never be tossed, I have daughters that love the team and 5 grandkids (the 7 year old grandson lives for sports!)
These coins are really something! The smaller one is from 1949 and given by Kingsbury Beer. The front has a “You Pay Arrow” meaning you spin it and when it lands, whoever it points to, buys a round. But the best part is the back, it has the schedule for the Green Bay Packers – there were 13 games back then. I see one of the teams was the “Chi. Cardinals.” I was not aware that they had the Bears and the Cardinals. They played from September 18^th thru December 12^th.

The other one is from Miller High Life Beer and had a “spin me for good luck” caption. This one has the Pack’s schedule from 1952. Only 12 games that year. I go into severe withdrawal when the current 16 games are over, what would I do with 4 less? I see that they played the Dallas Texans twice. I hate to admit it, but I probably at least listened to most of these games. Maybe hearing them through the slats on my baby crib, but dad would have definitely had it on the radio!

My hubby is a fan too and such a good sport! He has gone to games with me in the rain, snow and sleet. My brother and a large group of friends had season tickets for the Milwaukee games and whenever the weather was too yucky for anyone in the ‘club’, they’d call us about an hour before game time.

We would rush around, trying to get a last-minute baby sitter, and then head out to the park. We’ve sat huddled together, shivering, water dripping off our noses and onto our make-shift rain garb (cleverly crafted from a large garbage bag.) We’ve had our cups of hot cocoa re-filled with snow flakes, and were unable to feel our toes until half-way through the ride home (or back to the bar to raise a celebratory glass!) But I would not give up one bone-chilling moment for the warmth of a couch and blanket. Well, maybe now I would.
A few years back I won two tickets to a December game at Lambeau Field. It was for seats in a skybox! Hubby and I walked past all the folks with their lap-robes, heavy jackets and mittens, handwarmers, long-johns and fur-lined hats. We sauntered up to the box and met 14 other winners. We enjoyed the game, but it was not the same. Hard to do a wave with only 32 arms in the air, hard for me to scream as much as I want. And I never got jostled, never had a brat knocked out of my hands and onto the concrete floor! It was fun but just not the same
You have to wait FOREVER to get Packer Season Tickets. They are left in wills and passed down for generations. We are told that if you had a grandkid today and put their name in the hat for tickets, they still would not have a chance!
This summer we took our grandson, Hunter, to Lambeau Field (mecca, I call it), and we did the tours, went through the Hall of Fame and ate at Curley’s Pub. My favorite part was walking through that tunnel and hearing the fans cheer (they pipe in that sound.) It gave me goosebumps! We have also gone up to watch practice on a few occasions which held me over until the first exhibition game.

While I do not qualify as a traditional sports collector, I truly appreciate the passion they have for their team and the nostalgia of the ‘good old days’ whether it be football, baseball, or other sports. Every time you look at one of your bobble-head dolls, reminisce over a framed program of a game from years ago, admire your collector’s cards, you get a smile on your face and life just seems a little richer.

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When I moved to North Dakota from Wisconsin I experienced some culture shock. Following the Green Bay Packers is nearly a religion, so moving to a state without an NFL team felt strange. What do people do without it? I wondered.

Soon I had my answer: Local school sports.

In fact, people here are so devoted to their college and even high school sports that prime-time television shows are bumped for coverage of local games. At first this seemed crazy — and annoying. I hated it when I had to wait until after the 10 o’clock news to see my show — why didn’t the moms, dads, grandparents and other family folks get off their butts and go see the teams play live? And then it clicked. The high school teams have more fans than just the families of the players and the current student population; nearly everyone in the community is a fan.

I knew what football meant to me and my family; now I was discovering what it meant to this community. The shared love of football made me feel more at home here.

I’m such a football fan that when I attended the MPMA conference I sat in on a session called Grabbing Gridiron Glory. In that session curators of the Kansas State Historical Society, Laura Vannorsdel and Murl Riedel, discussed how they used sports memorabilia to illustrate cultural concepts.

Curators are generally concerned with the overall quality of their collection, and in this case the subject of sports came up. I’m not sure which came first in this ‘chicken or the egg’ scenario, and it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the museum staff saw a connection between sports and community — and that they set out to document it.

This exhibit (on display at the Kansas Museum of History) is called Game Faces, and part of it focuses on high school football. The simple story behind the high school football part of the exhibit is that in Kansas, like many areas in our country, folks are moving from rural areas to the cities for jobs and whatnot, leaving many schools without enough students for traditional 11-man football teams. However, the passion for football will not be denied.

Schools (either as individual schools or several schools coming together to form a team) have adapted to the lower student population by playing football with less players. Eight players, to be exact, hence the name 8-man football.

Eight-man (and it’s relative, 6-man football) date back to the Great Depression but there’s nothing depressing or less-than about the game. Sure, communities don’t like to close or combine their schools, and yes, college coaches aren’t absolutely thrilled to re-train new players in the proper practice of 11-man football — but in 8-man football not only do the kids get to play, but all the glory (cheering), pageantry (tailgating), and pride (gloating) are intact.

This means the collecting of local sports memorabilia is alive and well too and that’s what makes the Kansas Historical Society’s exhibit fascinating and exciting. It’s great that the historical society is looking at the issues of geography, economics and Rural Depopulation; but what’s really cool for me to see is that this ’stuff’ is collected and preserved.

The collection includes uniforms, programs, game souvenirs, photographs, and audio recordings, which, due to it’s local community nature, isn’t what most of us would call ‘valuable artifacts’. But there is importance in these things, no matter how small or new the objects may seem. As Murl Riedel, Assistant Curator of the Kansas State Historical Society said, “This is history; it’s happened.” And as collectors, we know that the value of all these things will increase with the passing of time.

It’s true that the few items from a couple of local schools may not compel folks from Los Angeles to hop on a plane to Topeka *, but that’s not quite the point. These shouldn’t just be valued as individual objects, but rather evaluated as a whole collection. Together these objects do more than speak of Kansas. They do more than preserve the game of football, traditions, and the sense of community. I say the collection preserves our identity as Americans.

Just as I’ve adapted my love of the Green Bay Packers into support for my local school football teams, fostering a sense of belonging in my new community, so the adaptation of 8-man football by rural communities illustrates their desire to continue to feel at home as their communities change.

The economy can suck, we can feel separated by our differences &/or geography, and we can even feel that we are reduced to just a color on a demographic pie chart; but we’re adaptive Americans. We’re football fans.

* The Game Faces exhibit also includes items from famous Kansas sports figures, such as footballs signed by Barry Sanders and John Riggins, an NFL helmet and jacket worn by Jack Christiansen, and Wilt Chamberlain’s basketball jersey; so if you are near Topeka before the end of the year, check it out. If not, check out your local museum and see what nifty exhibits await you.

All images copyright Kansas State Historical Society; used with permission.

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