Lambeau Field named best NFL stadium

by Moondog, The World According to Moondog

A few weeks ago Sports Illustrated released the results of a recent fan survey of the NFL's best stadiums. For the second consecutive year, Green Bay's Lambeau Field was selected as the best among the respondents.

The survey based the results on a number of criteria including affordability, accessibility, food, weather, and the home team's performance.

I didn't see any mention of cheerleaders or beer, which leads me to believe the results are skewed. How could you not factor in a team's cheerleaders?

I'm a little surprised Green Bay won, and for the second year in a row no less. The weather conditions alone makes you wonder how Lambeau could be rated as the best stadium to watch a game.

Once November rolls around, it gets cold in Green Bay. When the thermometer begins to plunge, the weather is more suited for moose and elk than humans.

So just how cold does it get in Green Bay? Pretty damn cold.

The coldest game in the history of the NFL occurred in 1967 at Lambeau when the Dallas Cowboys and Packers played for the NFL championship. Game-time temperature was a balmy −13 F with a wind chill of −48 F.

The officials were unable to use their whistles after the opening kick-off. As the referee blew his metal whistle to signal the start of play, it froze to his lips.

The game has since become known as the Ice Bowl and still holds the record as the coldest game ever played, based on air temperature.

With weather like that, how could Lambeau be considered an enjoyable experience for the fans?

Now with regard to food, I find it hard to believe Lambeau offers the distinguished NFL fan a menu consisting of the finest cuisine.

A quick search on the Internet revealed the bill of fare available at Lambeau on any given Sunday. Much to my surprise, cheese is one of the items you can purchase at a Packers game.

There was a host of selections available within the cheese family, including cheese sticks, cheese balls, grated cheese, sliced cheese, shredded cheese, Swiss cheese, American Cheese, Cheddar cheese, cheese burgers, grilled cheese, ham and cheese, turkey and cheese, cheese soup, cheese dip, cheese plate, cheese omelet, cheese pizza, cheese curds, chili cheese dog, and everyone's favorite, cheese doodles.

There are even blocks of foam shaped like a wedge of cheese that one can place on top of their skull, thereby making them Cheese Heads.

As mentioned, part of the ranking system took into account a fan's ability to easily access the stadium.

During the warm weather months access to Lambeau isn't much of an issue. But again, once the calendar turns to November, things get a little dicey.

Here's a snap shot of the main highway leading to Lambeau Field in late November.

With the lack of navigational markers, fans attending the game, especially those visiting Lambeau for the first time, could easily venture off course and end up becoming a meal for a roaming wolf pack.

As I noted earlier, there wasn't a scoring system that took into account the Packers cheerleaders. There's a logical explanation for that, considering how cold it gets.

The Packers organization has a difficult time finding women willing to shake their goodies on the sidelines in sub-freezing conditions. As a result, they've resorted to accepting anyone that wishes to cheer for Green Bay.

Seen here is Lulu, a recent graduate of Charlie's Cheerleading School and Shoe Repair. Financing and job placement assistance is available, or so I've been told.

As you can imagine, taking everything into consideration, its a head-scratcher how Lambeau Field won the best stadium award.

But who am I to argue with the results? If fans across America want to believe Lambeau Field is the best stadium in the NFL, so be it.