Welcome back, ASU. Well, the spring semester is upon us, ready or not.
I'm at home on Tuesday night, watching the State of the Union Address on television. We're 20 minutes into this speech and every time the president says something, the room breaks out into applause. He can't even string two thoughts together without a standing ovation. They're just clapping to anything. I think he just said his favorite flavor of Kool-Aid was cherry, followed by a 30-second applause.
Anyway, I was in the Dominican Republic last week. Really fun time had by all. The parents set this trip up, which really came as a surprise to me. Until this Dominican trip, my parents' idea of a vacation was a three-day weekend at the Mall of America in December. We'd stay in a Holiday Inn with an indoor pool. You know, the type with the chlorine levels so out of whack that your suit changes colors five minutes after you get out of the water. Not that I'm bitter, we really had some good times. I've just outgrown it, that's all.
Before I say anything about the trip, I should note that I'm from Wisconsin. My entire family still lives there, and all of them are whom I would call normal Packer fans. Living in Phoenix, most of us don't know what it's like to reside in a state where the general mood of the people is dictated by the success of the team. People wake up in the morning just to talk about the Packers. The 10 o'clock news in Green Bay has 20 minutes of Packer stories and 10 minutes of other news...on Thursdays. It's more than a sport; it's a way of life.
That said, there are few reasons to miss a Packer game and even fewer to miss a playoff game. But if our flight didn't make it to the Dominican on time, we would miss the game against the Eagles entirely.
So, all went well and we got to our hotel in La Romana on Sunday night, just in time for the Packer game. We checked in, entered our rooms, and turned on the Fox channel.
It was in Spanish. Not a big deal, you don't really need the announcers, I thought.
Then, it started. The satellite signal started to freeze and skip. At first, it was minor-a few seconds here, a few seconds there. Then, a minute would go by without a signal. As the game progressed, however, it became quite clear that the RCA television in room 2315 wasn't going display the fourth quarter.
My brother-in-law knocked on my door, double fisting a beer and a mai tai while chain smoking.
"Hey, we gotta find a TV or something. I can't enjoy my week if we miss something big," he said.
Here we are, in a tropical paradise, and the poor guy can't even relax. Actually, neither could I. We had to find out what was happening.
There was a computer room in our hotel, so we checked it out. The charge was one dollar for every 10 minutes on the computer, which was no big deal. There was also a bar in the computer lounge, so we really had a good thing going. Did I mention that this was an all-inclusive resort? Being typical Wisconsinites, any mention of free booze and you can't get us more than 50-feet away from a bar.
So, my brother-in-law, my dad, the girlfriend, and I are huddled around a computer terminal anxiously awaiting every play as it is displayed on ESPN.com. It was just nerve racking. Other than the score, there's really nothing you can tell from these game trackers on computers. We were just pounding free drinks and hoping the Packers could hold on.
We watched as the Eagles, down by three, marched into field goal territory at the end of regulation. If you think watching game-ending finishes on TV are tense, try relying on a computer. We collectively held our breath as the next message was displayed:
--Akers' 37-yard field goal attempt no good.
"He missed it, he missed it!" my dad yelled as we all exchanged high fives. We couldn't believe the Packers won and we couldn't see how it happened, but it didn't matter. All we could do was cheer and wait for highlights on ESPN Deportes. Then, I looked at the screen again.
--Akers 37-yard field goal attempt no good.
--Akers 37-yard field goal attempt is good.
"Wait a minute, they tied the game," I said to my giddy family. "The computer just corrected itself and said he made it."
My dad was going nuts. He started saying ESPN should get sued for spreading false information, comparing the situation to a false diagnosis of cancer from a doctor. It just was terrible. We couldn't believe it.
Of course, the Packers lost the game in overtime, leading to some heavy drinking by the Kramer family the first night in a foreign country, but the drinks were free, so it really didn't matter. I think I sang karaoke in front of 500 Europeans, but my memory of the exact order of events after the game is a little foggy. Maybe someone has pictures.
