Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com

Published - Friday, January 11, 2008

La Crosse Packers fan puts himself in the action with mural

By CHRIS HUBBUCH | La Crosse Tribune

Lenny Matiak has seats on the 50-yard line at Lambeau Field.

Four of them, actually. Recliners.

Lenny Matiak has decorated his entire basement in a Packer theme, including a mural of Lambeau Field. Erik Daily

When the Green Bay Packers take the field Saturday afternoon in their playoff game against Seattle, Matiak will be watching from the comfort of his La-Z-Boy.

The La Crosse cobbler has converted his French Island basement into a shrine to his favorite football team. There are framed photos of past greats Bart Starr, Reggie White, Ray Nitschke, Forrest Gregg — plus, of course, still-active quarterback Brett Favre. A framed 500-piece puzzle of the field. A football signed by Favre. And green and gold everywhere.

But what takes the room from mere theme to complete Packers experience is the mural.

Lambeau Field rises from the carpet, stretching across two walls. Matiak’s 65-inch television screen sits in one end zone, and thousands of fans peer back from the stands over the gridiron. His grandchildren — Emily, Brady, Isabella, Jackson, and Bryce — are painted in the front row. Lenny has scribbled eyes and mouths onto most of the rest. “Any time there was a commercial, I’d get up and scribble a few more,” he said.

The idea came to the 64-year-old fan about a year ago after he got a life-size sticker of Favre. “One thing led to another,” he said.

Matiak contacted La Crosse artist Janet Mattison-Prise, who said she had done lots of Packers portraits but never a field. The mural took about three weeks and was finished in time for last year’s Super Bowl game.

Since then, Matiak has added the Packers-themed recliners — he saw them on sale at Lambeau but said he found some locally for about half the price. He got some miniature rockers for the grandkids.

He also has started adding players to the field, cutting them out of magazines and pasting them on. He hopes to eventually have the whole team.

Next, he’s thinking it might be good to add gold and green carpet.

As for Matiak’s wife, Rose, “she wasn’t for it, at first,” Lenny said.

“It’s all his doing,” she said. “I don’t go down there.”

Chris Hubbuch can be reached at (608) 791-8217 or chris.hubbuch@lee.net.