SUPERBOWL XLV: AN AMERICAN CELEBRATION: PART III:: Lambeau Field, America's Golden Age and the Cathedral of Cheese

In honor of the most American Superbowl matchup of all time, Nosebleed Rumblings has devoted the week to the Pittsburgh Steelers and Green Bay Packers. "Lambeau Field, Amercica's Golden Age and the Cathedral of Cheese" is Part Three in a six part series. Click here for Part Two.

KEEP THE CHANGE, WE’LL KEEP LAMBEAU

Miller High Life was introduced to
America in 1955, two years
before Lambeau Field opened. 

Progress comes slow to Green Bay, and that's just the way the Packers like it. While Jerry Jones lays down plans for the Cowboys next stadium (which will launch into space in September 2020), the Packers are content with good ol' Lambeau Field, which hails from America's golden age (the 1950s). Things were better back then. Men were happy to spend the week in the office, and women were content to pass the days at home. Washing machines and vacuum cleaners brought genuine happiness to the families of freshly-built suburban homes. Cigarettes and McDonald's were crucial components of a well-rounded diet, and fresh Miller High Life bubbled directly from a spring in the golden fields outside Milwaukee. Times were simple and easy for both America and the Packers, who happily bludgeoned the hell out of opponents in a professional, businesslike manner. 

The Packers have played at Lambeau for 54 straight years, making them the franchise with the third-longest stadium tenure in America (behind only the Red Sox and Cubs). While the Seahawks prance through the video-game-like confines of the friendly Qwest Field and the Eagles don white collars to show up for work at Lincoln Financial Field, Green Bay pays tribute to Earl “Curly” Lambeau – the meaty, hard-skulled six-time Superbowl winning Packer founder, player and coach – by continuing to ruthlessly pound opponents into Lambeau’s frozen winter tundra. Lambeau has undergone only minor changes since its inception in 1957, and that’s the way it should be. Hell, if it was good enough for Earl back then, it’s good enough for us now.

HONOR THY LORD CHEESUS 

Hoping for a blessing from the Gods of Football, Green Bay
fans sacrificed an unthinkable amount of cheese to carve
a likeness of their idol, Brett Favre, before the Packers
played the Giants for the NFC Championship in 2007.

Just as Lambeau has stood stoically through an ever-changing 21st-century America, so has Wisconsin's love of cheese. Though trendy enterprises like Mens Health and Whole Foods have vehemently denounced America's favorite food, Wisconsin has stood by its chief product with the fierce brand of rebelliousness and defiance that dates back to the Revolutionary War. And though most Americans are content with simply putting cheese in their bodies, the patriotic citizens of Green Bay love cheese so much that they wear it on their heads. That’s because Wisconsin is the cheese epicenter of the cheese capital of the world. Let the French smear their baguettes with brie – if it ain’t American, it ain’t for me. 

Wisconsin churns out 2.4 billion pounds of 600 varieties cheese per year. It’s nearly impossible to find foods in the North Country that aren’t smothered in cheese – broccoli, cauliflower, apple pie – you want it, we got it. There’s even a whole Web site dedicated to Wisconsin’s curd captivation: at Eat Wisconsin Cheese, you can watch a five-minute video called “Cooking With Cheese,” discover feature recipes involving cheese, and find a link to the Grilled Cheese Academy (although some of the frilly creations on the site involve unnecessary ingredients like pineapple, fig jam and port-wine braised pears). But the good folks at “Eat Wisconsin Cheese” clearly understand the connection between the Packers and America's favorite mold: on their Web site, they urge fans to “Cheer on the best football team with the best cheese. Go Pack Go!” 

So whether your from Green Bay, Pittsburgh or somewhere in between, you have cause to celebrate on Sunday. With pride and allegiance to the deliciously juicy hamburger that is America, let's raise our buns and give thanks to both the Steelers and Packers for bringing the ketchup and cheese.

TOMORROW: PART IV:: America's First Family and Battle-Tested Tradition

-By Brian Beer