Today is a big day today...no not tax day...it is the day the NFL schedule is released.  It is like waiting for the numbers to be picked in the big Powerball lottery.  The anticipation and excitement of when we play.  With the new scheduling parameters the NFL implemented a few years back we know years ahead of time the teams the Packers will play, but we just don't know the times and days.

This season's schedule is very exciting because the Packers play in Jacksonville, Tina's hometown and where I worked for 5 years, and also in Tampa.  When the Buccaneers were in the same division as the Pack, that was always a fun game with thousands of Packer fans making the trip to sunny Florida.  I remember in 1998 when 42,000 Packer fans packed Tampa's stadium.  Since then the Buccaneers limit the number of tickets sold to Packer fans.  Booo!

I love going to Jaguar games in Jacksonville...that stadium gets so loud and it will be fun to watch the Packers play there again.,  The last time was a Monday night game on Dec 3, 2001.  I was still working in Jacksonville then. and took a lot of grief for cheering for my team.  Favre brought the Packers back from a huge first half deficit to win 28-21.  No Favre this year, but it will be great to go to the game with Tina's family who all have season tickets.  The other great thing about games in Jacksonville...tailgating on a boat...boatgating.  The stadium is on the St John's River which connects to the Atlantic Ocean and goes all the way to Orlando.  Tina's brother Shawn and his wife Nicole live on a creek just off the river about 1 mile from the stadium.  They take their boat to the marina next to the stadium and tailgate before and after the game in their boat...it is a cool site to see all the big boats with their Jaguar flags.

My only fear is that when the schedule comes out today that the Jacksonville and Tampa game swill be in November when I can't take off of work due to ratings.  I guess we could go for a quick weekend and take a late flight home on Sunday.  Ideally, it would be great to have both games in December to get out of the Wisconsin cold.  Please NFL, do not make these games in September when it will be 95 and very muggy...that is not fun.