This weekend, the Battle of the Bays will get a contemporary reboot because the Inexperienced Bay Packers rekindle their rivalry with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers – with a visit to the Tremendous Bowl on the road. And as all the time, there’s a lot to debate. Which future hall-of-fame quarterback will get the perfect of this rematch? Will the Packers rebound from their first assembly this season by which the Bucs slapped the Pack across the discipline, 38-10? How will the climate be at Lambeau Subject – and can that have an effect on the nice and cozy climate Tampa workforce? Can the Packers get strain on the famously shake-able Tom Brady? What new and thrilling means will Ndamukong Suh discover to get flagged and fined by the NFL?
However, with one other NFC Championship on the road, we should ask that all-important query: Which workforce has the higher well-known followers?
Yeah, positive, there are extra essential deciding elements – like “touchdowns” and “the scoreboard” – however this query is the true measure of an important sports activities workforce. As prior to now – in 2017 and 2020 – I am answering this important question by using my patented rigorous, pier-reviewed scientific technique (aka arbitrary matchups and my very own very silly and biased opinion). Who’s workforce will reign victorious earlier than even the primary snap, rendering Sunday’s recreation pointless often because that is the true title that counts, clearly? Let’s get all the way down to science:
Boy band battle
Justin Timberlake and Harry Kinds vs. Nick Carter
Timberlake/Kinds: The Memphis-born pop star and actor is impressively a Packers fan – and positive, it is apparently attributable to fear of sports-induced decapitation, however hey, no matter works! And it REALLY labored as a result of, when given the selection between choosing the Patriots or the Eagles on the Tremendous Bowl stage, he chosen … the Packers. That is past merely a dedication to staying capitated. So he’ll nearly actually be rooting for the Packers to say “Bye, Bye, Bye” to Brady and the Bucs this weekend.
“#GoPackGo” – @jtimberlake pic.twitter.com/d6nf4KjBWV
— Inexperienced Bay Packers (@packers) February 1, 2018
In the meantime, regardless of coming from the aspect of the pond with a very completely different soccer, fellow pop heartthrob Harry Kinds apparently bleeds inexperienced and gold – literally, according to the singer. However truly, it isn’t some form of superb blood dysfunction that acquired Kinds to turn out to be a Packer backer; it was a roommate in his first touring days who occurred to hail from Appleton and educated Kinds on the game and the workforce – so effectively that Kinds acquired the Packers’ signature G tattooed on his body. So clearly that anonymous Appleton flatmate ought to turn out to be president for lifetime of the Packers and possibly mayor of Inexperienced Bay too.
Carter: To not be outdone, in 2019, famed Backstreet Boy Nick Carter got a *ahem* larger than life tattoo of his favorite team – the Buccaneers – and bragged about how the workforce was going again to the playoffs that season. He even tried to make a guess with nationwide sports activities author Peter Schrager that, if the Bucs missed the playoffs, he’d get a tattoo of the NFL Community emblem.
Right here’s the deal. The Bucs don’t make the playoffs this 12 months I’ll get an NFL Community tattoo and in the event that they DO you get BSB. DEAL? ð¤·ð¼âï¸. #BackstreetBoys #DNAWorldTour #NFLNetwork #buccaneers #buccaneersplayoffs #nflplayoffs #gobucs https://t.co/wltofHHurA
— Nick Carter (@nickcarter) August 2, 2019
Spoiler alert: The Bucs went 7-9 and missed the playoffs. Fortunately, Schrager turned down the guess, so Carter did not should turn out to be a strolling cable TV community advert.
Verdict: NSYNC was all the time higher than the Backstreet Boys – plus, on this recreation, two celebs nearly all the time beats only one. Sorry, Nick Carter, however that is the that means of being lonely. Level: Packers
“Mandalorian” mash-up
Child Yoda vs. Invoice Burr
Child Yoda: Certain, Child Yoda – pardon me, Grogu – could also be a fictional alien character with no dialogue who most likely would not know what soccer is, however there’s simply one thing concerning the little man that claims Packers fan. Possibly it is the fixed snacking. (You’ll be able to inform he’d love a tailgate.) Possibly it is that he is small however mighty – good for skilled sports activities’ smallest city however mightiest fanbase.
Fortunately, we do not have to imagine he is a Packers fan; we all know the fictional alien is one in all us courtesy of real-life human (and Disney CEO) Bob Iger, who spoke on behalf of the valuable little man throughout the playoffs final 12 months by tweeting out these two very Pressure-positive (and Packers-positive) photos.
Nice win for the Inexperienced Bay Packers! pic.twitter.com/yz0iYQXewj
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) January 13, 2020
Sport time!! Let’s go @packers! pic.twitter.com/C92uGt5hk5
— Robert Iger (@RobertIger) January 19, 2020
OK, they migh simply be fan artwork – however when it comes from the man basically answerable for “Star Wars,” I am fairly positive these qualify as canon. Which implies, sure, the Inexperienced Bay Packers are part of the “Star Wars” prolonged universe. If the vacation particular qualifies, this does too!
Burr: The well-known comic acquired launched to a brand new degree of stardom – actually – enjoying Mando’s rascal bounty hunter nemesis on the streaming hit, however that is not all that is modified for Invoice Burr as his beloved Thomas Brady flipped groups from the Patriots to the Bucs. However whereas his coronary heart nonetheless belongs to New England, he is mentioned that he’s also rooting for Tampa – particularly a Bucs-Chiefs Tremendous Bowl match-up.
Verdict: The Buccaneers aren’t even Burr’s workforce. In the meantime, Child Yoda’s primary love is clearly the Pack (although eggs may are available in an in depth second). Plus, who can no to that cuddly-wuddly, cute little face!? As a reult, that is the best way. Level: Packers
Broadcaster blitzkreig
Erin Andrews vs. Dick Vitale
Andrews: She often is the final insider on each workforce’s sidelines throughout Fox soccer video games, however thanks to her dad, there was just one workforce she needed the within scoop about: the Packers. Even rising up round Tampa, she caught by the Pack. Plus she rocked this full Packers uniform whereas masking faculty soccer for ESPN, again when she needed to be skilled and faux like she would not have a favourite. Silly ethics …
Vitale: When he isn’t shouting on the border of coherence in the broadcasters’ sales space about faculty basketball, Dickie V is shouting about his Tampa sports activities groups – whether or not it is the Rays, the Lightning or the Buccaneers, who he is claimed season tickets for over greater than 20 years and even claimed himself as their fourth-round draft choose DURING the ACTUAL NFL Draft.
Vitale didn’t grow to be the following Tom Brady – however he acquired the following neatest thing: the actual Tom Brady. So sure, you’ll not be shocked to search out out that he is VERY enthusiastic about his workforce’s present run. (Relaxation in peace, my pc audio system.)
Oh child The BUCS #awesomebaby @buccaneers â¦@ESPNPRâ© â¦@espnbobâ© pic.twitter.com/EE4LvuXD6i
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) January 18, 2021
You recognize what, I take again the shouting digs. I’d watch a complete broadcast of him doing soccer video games like this. Can we get him on the following Nickelodeon NFL recreation?
Verdict: Andrews could have grown up a Packers fan, however together with her profession, her cheesehead-ness has needed to take a backseat to skilled impartiality, leading to good, safe, political current answers like, “You cheer for the blokes and the tales and so forth. I’m a fan of all of the folks I’ve relationships with and are good to me.” Someway this seems like Joe Buck and Troy Aikman’s fault. In the meantime, it is Dick Vitale’s by no means been one to cover his loud, proud fandom within the identify of professionalism – whether or not it is masking a Duke recreation or, sure, the Bucs. Level: Bucs
Pitch-related punch-up
Joan Jett and Jane Wiedlin vs. Brittany Snow
Jett/Wiedlin: Whilst you’d suppose a sure airplane-themed workforce in New York can be an ideal match for Joan Jett – particularly since she hails from East Coast states like Pennsylvania and Maryland – it seems the enduring rocker is a Packers fan. Rising up, she noticed a photograph of the Packers enjoying a muddy, soiled, dirty recreation in opposition to the Browns and fell in love with the one factor she may make out within the muck: that Inexperienced Bay G. So principally the alternative of a “Sufferer of Circumstance.”
Talking of retro music favorites, Go-Gos guitarist Jane Wiedlin additionally waves the Packers flag – or socks, in her case. And should you’re slightly involved about these Bears socks within the background, she’s legit: She’s a Sconnie native, hailing from Oconomowoc, and she or he’s a daily Packers poster on-line – with very correct observations, may I add.
Snow: Whereas she could have co-starred with some songbird-like Packers in “Pitch Perfect 2” – and she or he has the right final identify for Inexperienced Bay fandom – Snow’s soccer affections allegedly belong together with her hometown workforce, the Bucs.
Verdict: Usually there’s proof of an individual’s fandom on the web someplace – however this supposed Brittany Snow interview the place she professes her Bucccaneers fandom has disappeared with no hint from the web. Possibly she realized the error of her methods and scrubbed it from the world. Clever alternative. Level: Packers
Hulk head-to-head
Mark Ruffalo vs. Hulk Hogan
Ruffalo: The Oscar-nominated actor hails from Kenosha and largely famously performs a superhero whose particular energy entails turning Packers colours – so yeah, he is a Inexperienced Bay fan.
Candy, candy Inexperienced Bay Packers
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) February 7, 2011
@Matt_Schwader LOL go packers!
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) January 11, 2015
Hogan: Probably the most Florida Man wanting of all celebrities is, certainly, a Florida man, dwelling in Clearwater and adopting the Tampa Bay sports activities groups as his personal – together with the Bucs, posting movies cheering on the pewter and even making a visit to training camp back in 2018 (again when Tampa had these terrible jerseys with the alarm clock numbers).
Bucs QB Jameis Winston and Hulk Hogan, a visitor at observe in the present day. pic.twitter.com/Q880S6j989
— Greg Auman (@gregauman) August 7, 2018
Verdict: Neither real-life Hulk or film Hulk has tweeted just lately about their workforce of alternative regardless of their current success, so it is difficult to resolve who’s the higher fan – so I am going to choose the one who I actually do not wish to see offended, as a result of the rumor on the road is I would not like him when he is offended. Sorry, BROTHER! Level: Packers
Mannequin melee
Hailey Clauson vs. Gisele Bundchen
Clauson: Once more, until you are searching for hypothermia, swimsuits and Packers season are sometimes a match made in frozen hell – however SI swimsuit mannequin Hailey Clauson bucked that widespread logic by turning into a Packers fan. How does a Cali native turn out to be a fan of essentially the most un-Cali-like workforce within the league? For one, a love of successful and success, clearly – however primarily her boyfriend, fellow mannequin Julian Herrera, who apparently helped learn her the ways of Lambeau, together with taking her to the sports shrine itself for a game. The chilly did not trouble her anyway, as she went to a second recreation and continues to be clearly a fan.
Bundchen: Shock! Who may’ve anticipated Tom Brady’s mannequin spouse Gisele Bundchen can be a giant fan of his workforce?! However actually, she appears to have left the Pats effectively behind and gotten absolutely on board along with his new workforce – not less than judging by this current Instagram photograph, exhibiting off her fandom utilizing the medium of canines. AKA the perfect medium.
Verdict: You’ll suppose being married to the star quarterback can be the last word trump card on this well-known followers battle – however actually, that simply means Gisele is a fan of Tom Brady, possibly not a lot the Bucs. In the meantime, Clauson is a fan of all 52 members of the inexperienced and gold, not only one man, and she or he’s not contractually obligated through marriage to root for any of them. Level: Packers
Rapper rumble
Lil Wayne vs. Yung Gravy
Lil Wayne: Arguably essentially the most well-known Packers fan, rapper and new presidential pardon recipient Lil Wayne has contributed not one however two hype songs for Green Bay, led Lambeau Field in “Roll Out the Barrel,” celebrated final week’s playoff win over the Rams on the stadium with the few followers in attendance and defended the team’s honor in opposition to horrible take dispenser Skip Bayless.
@LilTunechi celebrating a @packers WIN #GoPackGo pic.twitter.com/MoBDFfQSEO
— Fred Thurston (@FThurstonXXII) January 17, 2021
All he must do now could be throw a landing cross on Lambeau Subject and yell, “And that’s your dagger!” throughout a recreation broadcast, and he’ll have lived out each Packers fan’s wildest desires. Spectacular work for any person who actually grew up in Saints country – however fell in love with the Pack after they got here to city for the Tremendous Bowl.
Yung Gravy: My favourite rapper who makes me consider Thanksgiving dinner, the esoteric Yung Gravy took his place on the Bucs’ deck in 2019 when he said he was a Tampa sports fan after the discharge of his cult hip-hop streaming hit “Tampa Bay Bustdown,” which options Chief Keef and in addition references to Harry Potter and Mary Poppins. You recognize, these well-known Tampa natives.
Verdict: I imply, one rapper is an icon and the opposite is most well-known for being named after a condiment for mashed potatoes. He isn’t even from Tampa; Mr. Gravy is from Minnesota, so there is a non-zero % probability that is some elaborate Vikings-themed revenge ploy somewhat than fandom. So clearly … Level: Packers
Wrestling smackdown
Otis vs. John Cena
Otis: Whereas he could have been born in Vikings nation, this bearded WWE wrestler managed to beat this horrible affliction and became a Packers fan after moving to Superior, Wisconsin as a kid. He clearly by no means misplaced his fandom over time, as he posted these green-and-gold clad pictures to Twitter for the Pack’s matchup in opposition to the Rams final week – full with a cheesehead high hat, essentially the most dignified and gentlemanly of all of the cheeseheads.
Ohhh YEAAA
GAME DAY is a COMMMMMMMIN’
PACKERS vs The RAMMERS
Gonna be a Showdown
42 Stomach Possibility on 2
READY BREAK! pic.twitter.com/18auYBq32J
— OTIS (Dozer) (@otiswwe) January 13, 2021
Cena: Again in November, the “Bumblebee” actor and former WWE celebrity was chosen to characterize the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in opposition to LL Cool J’s New York Giants in a Verizon promo throughout Monday Night time Soccer. It wasn’t simply because John Cena would be the celeb spokesman and seem in your commercials for absolutely anything should you ask properly sufficient; he is at the moment a Tampa resident.
Watch me put the ending strikes on my good friend @llcoolj throughout in the present day’s @Buccaneers recreation. We’re going face to face throughout #MNF utilizing the brand new @Verizon 5G SuperStadium within the #NFL App. #5GJustGotReal. #GoBucs pic.twitter.com/dXzsi9khRB
— John Cena (@JohnCena) November 2, 2020
Verdict: Tampa did find yourself successful that Monday Night time Soccer spat, however whereas Cena could also be luck allure of kinds, there’s only one downside: He is not likely a Bucs fan. The wrestler-turned-actor pulled a Invoice Burr and actually roots for the Patriots. Would not precisely bode effectively for successful this well-known celeb fan smackdown in case your workforce’s fan consultant is not even an precise fan of the workforce. Level: Packers
Baseball beatdown
David Ortiz vs. Gary Sheffield
Ortiz: David Ortiz could also be an icon of Boston sports activities – and a present resident of Miami – however relating to the soccer discipline somewhat than the baseball diamond, the long run hall-of-game slugger’s coronary heart belongs to the Heartland and the Green Bay Packers. You’ll be able to thank his spouse Tiffany, a Kaukauna native who met Ortiz again in his minor league days with the Timber Rattlers in Appleton, for that one.
Sheffield: Gary Sheffield and Wisconsin sports activities: infamously a match made in hell. So it should not shock you that he is on the opposite aspect of this matchup – although not due to some long-standing grudge in opposition to the state’s sports activities groups however merely as a result of he was born and raised in Tampa, showing up for games, staying loyal to his specific Florida workforce even whereas enjoying in Miami and most just lately showing in Tampa gear together with present Bucs tight finish Rob Gronkowski for an web dwelling run derby.
Verdict: Sure, Large Papi could also be a Packers fan, however on this interview, when given the selection between Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, Ortiz chosen … Tom Brady. So who is aware of the place his loyalties lie on this weekend’s recreation!? In consequence, as a lot as this devastates me, I’ve to provide Sheffield the win. My apologies, Milwaukee. Level: Bucs
Ultimately, the Packers declare a 7-2 victory – and admittedly, this beatdown may’ve been a lot worse. In spite of everything, I did not even embrace the total listing of well-known Packers followers together with Ryan Reynolds, Will Ferrell, Chuck Todd, Greta Van Susteren, Larry the Cable Man, Ellen, Denis Leary, Jodie Foster, James Van Der Beek, Anthony Davis, Tony Shalhoub and, oh by the best way, the newly elected 46th President of the United States of America. In the meantime, the Bucs remaining celebs embrace … that is it! Florida sports activities groups: not precisely recognized for his or her rabid fanbases.
Effectively, hopefully the Packers ship as a lot of a smackdown on the sphere Sunday as they did off the sphere in the present day.
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