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Australian fan packs it all in to follow the Pack: Family gives up job, home for Green Bay season
Wayne Scullino — a Green Bay Packers fan from Sydney, Australia — recently quit his job, sold his house and cars and moved his family to Green Bay for what he calls a once-in-a-lifetime chance to follow his favorite football team for just one season. Yes, he admits it's crazy. "There's not a single person we've met who can believe it," he said. "They say it's absolutely nuts. At the same time, they say it's great." In town less than a week, he already scored two tickets to Sunday's home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. It will be his first game at Lambeau Field. After arriving here Sunday with wife, Kelly, and sons Ben, 2, and 9-month-old Luc, Scullino said it was emotional seeing Lambeau Field and realizing he was here. "It's something I've always wanted to do," said Scullino, who quit his job as a phone equipment salesman. "And with the house money in the bank and the boys not yet in school, it's literally now or never."
His plan: to attend as many home and away games as possible, tour the United States, "make a ton of friends" and keep an online diary until the day they fly home. His goal: to publish a book as "The Once in a Lifetime Fan" that would inspire others to drop everything and follow their dreams. "The Web site isn't so much about football as it is the idea that we've given up everything to follow a childhood dream. You know, the dreams you forget because you're too busy being an adult all of a sudden," Scullino said. He acknowledged the dream carries challenges: that they've never lived in snow, or outside a major city, or driven on the opposite side of the road or been without a paycheck for six months. "Oh, and the fact that we're using our life savings to do so with the very real prospect of having nothing on our return," he said. Kelly Scullino said she's willing to back the Pack in a foreign land as long as they can take care of the boys. "I just hope it's not too unsettling for them," she said. For now, the family is staying at local motels. But they hope to find furnished lodging.
Kelly Scullino said the biggest things she'll miss from home will be beaches near Sydney, food and family occasions like weddings and birthdays. Ben will turn 3 and Luc will celebrate his first birthday here without their grandparents. They've also been warned about Wisconsin winters. They're both excited about seeing a white Christmas, making snowmen and sledding. But they're also dreading the cold. Australia — 9,249 miles and a 15-hour-time difference from Green Bay — is in winter now and usually drops to about 55 degrees. Kelly Scullino said she hopes to find a toddler play group for Luc and new friends for Ben. The Scullino family was featured in a Press-Gazette story Oct. 23, 2005, when Wayne wrote to describe how difficult it was to be a Packers fan Down Under. Most sports fans there root for local rugby, soccer and cricket teams. American football fans have to rely on NFL highlights, or watch live games by satellite at 3 a.m. Wayne Scullino has been a Packers fan since high school. The first full game he saw was Minnesota at Green Bay. (The Packers, led by Don Majkowski, won 20-19 in that Nov. 26, 1989, game.) Never mind that he watched a tape of the game a year or so later, "the fact that it was full length was all that mattered." In the 2005 story, he mentioned that he envied Green Bay fans and would like to move here for a season. "I'm not afraid to say that there isn't a lot I wouldn't give to spend a season living your life," he wrote in 2005. "I envy the fact that you see every Packers game every week whether at the stadium or not."
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http://www.bratsandbeer.com/posts/2007/09/546
Aussie Packer Fan Goes All In
As a Packer fan living about as far from Wisconsin as you can and still be on American soil, I’ve had my share of fantasies about quiting my job and moving to Green Bay to follow the Green & Gold for an entire season. If you could make it work financially — and if the Packers had a winning season — I think it would be a fantastic experience, but it’s still just a pipe dream for me. Not so for Wayne Scullino, a Packer fan from Australia who gave up his normal life and moved his family to Green Bay in search of the ultimate fan fantasy. He’s even scored tickets for the home opener tomorrow against the Eagles. I hope for his sake at least the Packers have a good season. Of course there’s a little method to his madness: Scullino plans to write a book about his experience. In the mean time he’s got a Web site and blog where you can read about his adventure. I think the whole thing is a little bit crazy, especially with a wife and two children in tow, but I do envy him, both for his passionate conviction to make his dream come true and for the adventure he’s sure to have. As one Packer fan to another, I raise a toast to you and hope all goes well.
Australian fan packs it all in to follow the Pack: Family gives up job, home for Green Bay season
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Wayne Scullino — a Green Bay Packers fan from Sydney, Australia — recently quit his job, sold his house and cars and moved his family to Green Bay for what he calls a once-in-a-lifetime chance to follow his favorite football team for just one season. Yes, he admits it's crazy. "There's not a single person we've met who can believe it," he said. "They say it's absolutely nuts. At the same time, they say it's great." In town less than a week, he already scored two tickets to Sunday's home opener against the Philadelphia Eagles. It will be his first game at Lambeau Field. After arriving here Sunday with wife, Kelly, and sons Ben, 2, and 9-month-old Luc, Scullino said it was emotional seeing Lambeau Field and realizing he was here. "It's something I've always wanted to do," said Scullino, who quit his job as a phone equipment salesman. "And with the house money in the bank and the boys not yet in school, it's literally now or never."
His plan: to attend as many home and away games as possible, tour the United States, "make a ton of friends" and keep an online diary until the day they fly home. His goal: to publish a book as "The Once in a Lifetime Fan" that would inspire others to drop everything and follow their dreams. "The Web site isn't so much about football as it is the idea that we've given up everything to follow a childhood dream. You know, the dreams you forget because you're too busy being an adult all of a sudden," Scullino said. He acknowledged the dream carries challenges: that they've never lived in snow, or outside a major city, or driven on the opposite side of the road or been without a paycheck for six months. "Oh, and the fact that we're using our life savings to do so with the very real prospect of having nothing on our return," he said. Kelly Scullino said she's willing to back the Pack in a foreign land as long as they can take care of the boys. "I just hope it's not too unsettling for them," she said. For now, the family is staying at local motels. But they hope to find furnished lodging.
Kelly Scullino said the biggest things she'll miss from home will be beaches near Sydney, food and family occasions like weddings and birthdays. Ben will turn 3 and Luc will celebrate his first birthday here without their grandparents. They've also been warned about Wisconsin winters. They're both excited about seeing a white Christmas, making snowmen and sledding. But they're also dreading the cold. Australia — 9,249 miles and a 15-hour-time difference from Green Bay — is in winter now and usually drops to about 55 degrees. Kelly Scullino said she hopes to find a toddler play group for Luc and new friends for Ben. The Scullino family was featured in a Press-Gazette story Oct. 23, 2005, when Wayne wrote to describe how difficult it was to be a Packers fan Down Under. Most sports fans there root for local rugby, soccer and cricket teams. American football fans have to rely on NFL highlights, or watch live games by satellite at 3 a.m. Wayne Scullino has been a Packers fan since high school. The first full game he saw was Minnesota at Green Bay. (The Packers, led by Don Majkowski, won 20-19 in that Nov. 26, 1989, game.) Never mind that he watched a tape of the game a year or so later, "the fact that it was full length was all that mattered." In the 2005 story, he mentioned that he envied Green Bay fans and would like to move here for a season. "I'm not afraid to say that there isn't a lot I wouldn't give to spend a season living your life," he wrote in 2005. "I envy the fact that you see every Packers game every week whether at the stadium or not."
_____________________________________________________________
http://www.bratsandbeer.com/posts/2007/09/546
Aussie Packer Fan Goes All In
As a Packer fan living about as far from Wisconsin as you can and still be on American soil, I’ve had my share of fantasies about quiting my job and moving to Green Bay to follow the Green & Gold for an entire season. If you could make it work financially — and if the Packers had a winning season — I think it would be a fantastic experience, but it’s still just a pipe dream for me. Not so for Wayne Scullino, a Packer fan from Australia who gave up his normal life and moved his family to Green Bay in search of the ultimate fan fantasy. He’s even scored tickets for the home opener tomorrow against the Eagles. I hope for his sake at least the Packers have a good season. Of course there’s a little method to his madness: Scullino plans to write a book about his experience. In the mean time he’s got a Web site and blog where you can read about his adventure. I think the whole thing is a little bit crazy, especially with a wife and two children in tow, but I do envy him, both for his passionate conviction to make his dream come true and for the adventure he’s sure to have. As one Packer fan to another, I raise a toast to you and hope all goes well.
