Pack advance to conference finals

It was an inauspicious start for the Packers when running back Ryan Grant fumbled two of the first three times he touched the ball. Fortunately it was early enough in the game that the Packers were able to overcome the early 14-point deficit. Largely relying on Grant, who finished with 201 yards, the Packers tied the game up by the end of the first quarter and went off to an 11-point halftime lead. The second half was just about dominating the Seabags. The Packers didn't punt until there were eight minutes remaining and the competitive portion of the game was over. Further, Seattle didn't even accumulate 200 total offensive yards until garbage time. It was a thoroughly dominating performance and a heckuva party at Lambeau with 70,000-plus close friends. We had 85-y-o fedora-wearing Dick sitting next to us with a flask that he generously shared with us. There were also the girls from Chetek sitting behind us, who were celebrating a girls' night-out without their husbands. (Side note: How did the ladies get the tickets and the men were completely shut out of the deal?) After prodding from my rather drunk friend, the lady with the pink Packers hat allowed our friend Dick to "honk her horns" after every touchdown. I'm guessing that Dick was appreciative, although I missed the photo of him, er, appreciating the gesture. The link to the photo gallery is at the bottom.

The after-game party at Kroll's and in Appleton was more than adequate, and the 3 a.m. visit to George Webb's was necessary, but the four hours of sleep and physical degeneration that I suffered through will take several days to work out of my system. The drive home to Minneapolis sucked and the hours of grading essays that I put off is a penance for the bachanalian hedonism that occurred over the course of the trip. So, with that, I'll run and get back to grading papers. Yeah me.

Packers v. Seahawks