On Sunday the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers will face off in the NFC Championship Game. For the Seahawks, winning would give them the chance to go back to the Super Bowl and perhaps net another Vince Lombardi Trophy.
High stakes to be sure, but officials in one Seattle suburb have taken pre-game rivalry to the next level by banning “possession of and/or consumption of cheese or cheese flavored products.”
For those not making the connection between cheese and this NFL matchup, Douglas Schulze, the city manager of Bainbridge Island, Washington, spells it out in his executive order.
“On Sunday, January 18, 2015, the Seattle Seahawks opponent in the NFC Championship game will be the Green Bay Packers, aka Cheeseheads,” the order states. “Fans of the Green Bay Packers are frequently seen wearing obnoxious wedge-shaped foam hats painted yellow.” It is “due to this relationship” between Packers fans and cheese that the ban was enacted.
The ban only applies to employees at city hall and only on Friday, but Schulze has a plan for anyone who defies the ban and comes, pun intended, packing.
“I’m going to arrive early, and we’ll have some type of cheese grater or shredder available so if anybody brings in cheeses or cheese products, we’ll have to dispose of them,” Schulze told CNN affiliate KOMO.
The ban may only impact a fraction of the town’s 23,000 residents, but it caught the attention of Green Bay fans almost 2,000 miles away.
“Insane,” “ridiculous” and “demonic” were just a few of the adjectives thrown out by distraught Cheeseheads to CNN affiliate WDJT.
“They should never ban cheese,” said one man “We are going to own Seattle.”
Some proposed bans of their own, such as a boycott of Seattle-based Starbucks.
But one Milwaukee radio station did one better. 94.5 the Lake will “Say No To Seattle.” That means no songs from Nirvana, Pearl Jam or Heart before the big game.
The preparations aren’t all about bans either. In the Bainbridge Island executive order, Schulze also calls for a “Blue Friday” celebration for all local government employees, who are encouraged to wear “Seahawks jerseys, logo gear, team colors.”
But lest anyone get carried away, Schulze made it clear, in an interview with KOMO, to leave the Cheetos and Cheez-whiz at home. And don’t even think about sneaking in some on a party tray. But cheese lovers needing a fix may have one remaining option: Schulze said “he has yet to scour the vending machines.”
