Fall In Wisconsin

Been keeping pretty busy the last few weeks.

Terri & I took a ride to the Green Bay area to look at the fall colors. The newscasts had said that the colors were peaking around Fond Du Lac, so up we went. But the leaves hadn't changed at all. It was pretty bleak up there, rain, clouds and cold temperatures. What happened to the weather this year?

We tried to go to Door County but couldn't find a place to stay in Sturgeon Bay or anyplace else near there so we headed back to Green Bay. It turned out to be a good choice.

Having never been there before, we went to Lambeau Field and the Packer Hall Of Fame. Pretty cool. They have 4-5 minute videos showing the Packers from the 1920's to 2008. By now everyone knows about the special place they have in pro sports history, being the only professional sports team that is owned by the fans.

The first franchise fee the Packers paid was $250.00. The Houston Texans paid $750 million for their franchise fee. And I though gas prices went up.

Their very first year the players shared in the "profits" (the hat was passed at every game), each getting $16.75 for playing in 11 games, a little less than Rodgers is getting. Of course, after checking out the Packer Fan Shop, and seeing that buying a retro jersey cost $285.00, those old players would have to play for 17 years just to buy one of their jerseys!

Took the tour of Lambeau and got into one of the private suites. Probably the only way we'll ever be there. They then took us down to the basement and we got to go onto the field through "the tunnel". They played a tape of the crowd noise so we could "feel the excitement the players have" running onto the field. Cool.

They say that defense wins games. How about those 1929 Packers that allowed just 22 points in 13 games? They won 12 of those and tied the other.

Now if this year's squad could only do the same thing.

On the business side, things are starting to ramp up. We've received more request for quotes than we've ever had at this time of the year. I think the new options we're offering schools this year are getting a lot of attention.

2009 is turning out to be a pretty good year and 2010 looks even better.