Will-Sconsin
There are three questions about myself/my name that I commonly get asked by others:
- Are you a good fellow?
- Is your middle name really "Wheat"?
- Why do you like the Wisconsin teams so much?
Well, to answer the first questions, I strive to be a good fellow and live up to my last name. Two, my middle name is, in fact, Wheat. It is a family name. More specifically, I am name after Captain William Wheat, an ancestor of mine on my father's side of the family. Now about that third question...
I was born in North Carolina, but lived in Virginia for almost all of my childhood. My Dad grew up in Cleveland and roots for the Cleveland teams and the NC State Wolfpack. Naturally, the teams I mainly root for are the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Bucks, Wisconsin Badgers, and of course the Baylor Bears. So...what gives?
During the 2002 NFL season, my family did this thing on Sunday mornings before church where we would go through the newspaper and pick 3 teams to win that day. While the picking games every Sunday morning didn't last, I still found myself reading that part of the paper and looking at the games and each team's record. At the time, I didn't know much about football or who any of the teams were. As the weeks progressed, the record of one team caught me eye: Green Bay. They were 2-1 the first time I read the paper. A few weeks later, they were 6-1 and had the best record in the league. Although I cannot pinpoint the exact moment when I became a Green Bay Packers, it was during this time that I latched on and became a Packers fan. I didn't know where Green Bay was or even who Brett Favre was. All I knew was that the Packers had a good record and a new fan.
The Packers went on to finish that season 12-4 and lose in the first round of the playoffs. There was a lot to football I didn't really comprehend or understand at the time, just that the Packers were done and that I was sad. Over time though, I learned more about football and where Green Bay was, who Brett Favre is, etc. Learning that Green Bay was in Wisconsin created this newfound obsession and fascination I had with the state. My fandom of the Packers became a fandom of the state of Wisconsin, which in turn became a fandom of the other Wisconsin teams.
2003 ended up being "The Year of Wisconsin Sports" for me. After football was over, I started following basketball and latched on to the Milwaukee Bucks because, well, they were Wisconsin's team. The following football season, I also started to take an interest in college football and in turn became a Wisconsin Badgers fan. (Side note: Although Wisconsin has the Brewers for baseball, I never really got in to baseball growing up. In the vaguest sense, I was a Brewers fan, but never cared too much.)
Now here's where it all came together: that October, for my 9th birthday, my dad took me on a trip to Wisconsin. We went up to Green Bay and saw Lambeau Field, the Packers Hall of Fame, etc. We even saw Chad Clifton, a Packers lineman, one day when we were visiting. It was a great trip! Wisconsin upset Ohio State in football that weekend and we went to a watch party for the Packers game that Sunday. The Packers didn't win, but it was still a really fun trip. To this day, I'm thankful to my dad for taking me on that trip.
So there you have it; the reason why I cheer for Wisconsin teams is all because the Packers briefly had the best record in the NFL when I was 8 years old. To my parents' credit, they didn't sway me one way or another (though I'm sure they would have been happy if I "picked" the Browns). 15 years later, I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. Fear the Deer, On Wisconsin, Go Pack Go!
P.S. As a special treat for reading the whole way/scrolling down to this point, here's pictures from when I went to Lambeau Field (and attempted the "Lambeau Leap") with my dad! Special thanks to my sister for finding these:
The Packers went on to finish that season 12-4 and lose in the first round of the playoffs. There was a lot to football I didn't really comprehend or understand at the time, just that the Packers were done and that I was sad. Over time though, I learned more about football and where Green Bay was, who Brett Favre is, etc. Learning that Green Bay was in Wisconsin created this newfound obsession and fascination I had with the state. My fandom of the Packers became a fandom of the state of Wisconsin, which in turn became a fandom of the other Wisconsin teams.
2003 ended up being "The Year of Wisconsin Sports" for me. After football was over, I started following basketball and latched on to the Milwaukee Bucks because, well, they were Wisconsin's team. The following football season, I also started to take an interest in college football and in turn became a Wisconsin Badgers fan. (Side note: Although Wisconsin has the Brewers for baseball, I never really got in to baseball growing up. In the vaguest sense, I was a Brewers fan, but never cared too much.)
Now here's where it all came together: that October, for my 9th birthday, my dad took me on a trip to Wisconsin. We went up to Green Bay and saw Lambeau Field, the Packers Hall of Fame, etc. We even saw Chad Clifton, a Packers lineman, one day when we were visiting. It was a great trip! Wisconsin upset Ohio State in football that weekend and we went to a watch party for the Packers game that Sunday. The Packers didn't win, but it was still a really fun trip. To this day, I'm thankful to my dad for taking me on that trip.
So there you have it; the reason why I cheer for Wisconsin teams is all because the Packers briefly had the best record in the NFL when I was 8 years old. To my parents' credit, they didn't sway me one way or another (though I'm sure they would have been happy if I "picked" the Browns). 15 years later, I'm pretty happy with how it all turned out. Fear the Deer, On Wisconsin, Go Pack Go!
P.S. As a special treat for reading the whole way/scrolling down to this point, here's pictures from when I went to Lambeau Field (and attempted the "Lambeau Leap") with my dad! Special thanks to my sister for finding these:
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