AllBadgers.com Question: How Have Your Parents Impacted Your Love of Sports?
I can still remember attending my first football game ... at Milwaukee County Stadium in 1992.
Back in the early 1990s, the Green Bay Packers would still play games at the now-torn down home of the Milwaukee Brewers. My dad was a manager at a popular gardening chain, and he received tickets to attend. It was Mike Holmgren's first year as head coach of the franchise, and he, Brett Favre and the team had to face off against the Philadelphia Eagles and one of the game's greatest in defensive lineman Reggie White.
On that November day, I feel that is when my love for football really took off. The cheering crowds, the orchestrated chaos with 22 players on the field, just the entire atmosphere inside the stadium captured the attention of an eight-year-old. If I recall correctly, and I will confirm with my dad once I speak with him later on Sunday, we left before Chris Jacke's game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter.
For that matter, both of my parents have influenced my love of sports. In Cub Scouts, we used to attend a Milwaukee Bucks game at the Bradley Center every year on a designated date for those "packs" within the area. Though the franchise was not particularly good in that era (remember, or maybe not remember, the days from the 1991-92 season through most of that decade), my love of the sport grew.
Looking back on County Stadium, bleacher seats were fantastic while watching Robin Yount and others for the Brewers. My experience of adding Secret Stadium sauce to my hot dogs and brats began there, and for that matter, I still buy it from my local Woodman's when possible.
My childhood rooms featured blue and yellow pinstriped wallpaper in one home to honor the Brewers, and when we moved to Florida in 1996, my dad constructed a field goal post out of PVC pipe and found memorabilia to adorn the walls of a displaced Cheesehead.
Growing up in the state, my parents threw a party with family for Wisconsin's 1994 Rose Bowl game against UCLA. They bought me newspapers of the old Milwaukee Journal that featured cut-out "trading cards" of key players from that team.
I collected the entire set and glued them to some old Jay's potato chip boxes (remember those?). When I saw those cards displayed inside UW's student-athlete center a couple of years back when Wisconsin celebrated the 25th anniversary of that 1993 team, memories flooded my thoughts for days thereafter.
Whether it be parties to celebrate these athletic events, just being there in the stands for my high school football games, or even that one indy wrestling show they attended in June 2003, my parents have supported and nurtured my love of sports.
Thus, I wanted to discuss with the Wisconsin faithful -- how have your parents influenced your love of the teams you cheer for, and for sports in general? What traditions did they pass down that you still continue? What are your earliest memories of attending games? What impact have they made on you to this day?
Let me know if the comments section below.