Mark Borchardt and the Packers

By Mark Borchardt

“The Pack Is Back.” And that's each and every year. Despite the odds that the doomsayers occasionally lay, those in the perpetual know understand that the game is good; nourishment for the soul, each and every season, and is meant for one thing and one thing only: to be played and thoroughly enjoyed. And nothing else.

I, myself, revel not only the game itself but in the context in which it occurs as the tides of time turn the land from lush Summery green to the golden fringes of burgeoning Fall. Ultimately, we're thrust into the cold, menacing throes of the Winter world but the Pack is right there with us. And in short sleeves to boot!

So, when you think about it, each game is like the turning of a page in the novel of time, its relentless march chronicled in weekly passages of seasonal change. Looking outside my living room window as the players strategize on the screen, I, at first, see full canvases of green that slowly turn into rusty hues of amber until the ultimate atmospheric cruelty leaves those once full trees into barren skeletons that await Winter's unholy doom. Well, that melodrama's for somebody else, as I thoroughly enjoy the qualities of all four seasons. And watching the Packers each and every week guarantees that I'll be seeing that stunning view through that living room window.

Mark, representing at Slamdance 2017

I've been watching football since 1978 and have been a Packer fan from Day One. Each and every year I look forward to the season and take in one game at a time, week by week, intensely watching from kick-off to the closing seconds. And during those dastardly commercials, the sound is succinctly cut off, for it's a great time to clean up the house and work on my journal and other writings. I usually stay at home for those purposes and rarely see it elsewhere. I can't even remember the last time I watched one at an establishment.

Whether the game is viewed in the trance of solitude, or among a joyful gathering of friends, Aaron Rodgers and company promise the real deal and I'll be there each and every time...

Mark Borchardt is a Wisconsin-based independent filmmaker, writer and actor, whose many works include "Coven" and the recently released short documentary, "The Dundee Project" - you can watch the trailer here.