When the Houston Texan field goal kicker, who had been terrible all day, kicked that 40 yard field goal in the closing seconds to beat the Packers, I felt awful.
Like many Packer backers who live out of state, away from the likelihood of getting to see our team on TV this year, following the scruffy play-by-play on NFL.com, I still was caught up in the ebb and flow of the game.
Collins injured? Oh no, that guy's a walking ambulance passenger. Tausch is out with a wrecked knee? There goes the right side of the offensive line. Hawk hasn't made a tackle all game? That groin injury really messed him up. Bigby can hardly move? No big hits from him for months.
And middle linebacker Barnett and DT Cullen Jenkins are on IR? Who's left to play defense?
But somehow, the Packers were still in it till the very end. . . for the fifth time to lose by less than four points.
There are many (including some of my favorite sportswriters) who are saying the Packers have lost it and aren't going anywhere because of this coach or that misplay or the general manager or even the club president.
But let's remind ourselves of a few things.
One, the Packers had one of the easiest schedules last year because they were playing teams with terrible records from the year before.
Two, they knew they lucked out in some of their games because they played some of the better teams when those teams were down because of injuries.
Three, they got some calls and breaks that helped keep them in the game.
Four, they won several games by less than four points.
Five, Brett Favre and Rob Davis's mature years were still not enough to keep the Pack from being one of the very youngest (and least experienced) teams in the league.
It was an incredible season topped off by playing even up into overtime with the team which went on the win the Super Bowl. That feat, though a losing effort, really validated their right to their record, even though it was obtained with no small amount of luck.
That the general manager and head coach were able to provide what the team needed in that sterling season cannot be overlooked.
Major league sports are games of inches and seconds, of speed and power, of injuries and luck.
This year, playing against a much tougher schedule which included many teams on the rise like Tennessee and Carolina who pulled out tight wins against this still immature team, it is amazing to realize that with a little bit of luck, maybe this bunch could have been 10 and 3 instead of 5 and 8.
We fans live and die emotionally with our team. We put a lot of ourselves into hoping and, well, physically pushing and squirming in our chairs as we watch.
Calling forth that kind of involvement from us takes its toll when our guys lose. It is a little harder to watch in that circumstance. But we come back next time and hope and squirm some more on the chance that we will see a victory.
That's entertainment!
As Jim Irwin, longtime sportscaster at WTMJ Milwaukee who called many Packer seasons, used to remind everyone: Hey, it's a game.
We get to watch grown men play a boy's game for entertainment. If we were not in it for the entertainment value, there would be no explanation for how come there are still Cub fans!
I look forward to Packer games. Win or lose, they give me a few hours of distraction. Having been a fan for over 65 years, I understand how sports franchises often survive recessions because they are so successful at giving us something else to think about.
I'm really feeling good about this year's team and its coaches and management. The games are entertaining, keeping me on edge and hopeful for a good result, right down to the end. Even the blow-out in New Orleans was a treat because I did get to see one of the finest exhibitions of passing I've ever seen, even if it was against my favorite team.
This is a good year, despite the losing record, for my Green Bay Packers. So, despite the negative press and comments from disgruntled fans, next Sunday can't come soon enough. I know the team will give its best effort. Maybe the breaks, the calls, the luck will go for us this time. And maybe all the rookie mistakes will be behind us. And maybe we'll finally get off the snide and our guys will come home with a victory.
Even if that doesn't happen this time, there are still two more games to anticipate.
Showing posts with label Green Bay Packers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Green Bay Packers. Show all posts
Monday, December 8, 2008
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Good Luck, Brett
Brett Favre is going to need all the luck he can get.
There is a real possibility that he will not be welcome in Tampa Bay or any place else right now.
I heard part of an interview on the NFL Channel with Steve Mariucci. "Mooch" is a personal friend of Brett's and called him this morning. After that forty minute talk between the two, "Mooch" called in to the TV channel. He described the group including Frank Winters, Deana, and Bus Cook sitting on the couch in Brett's Green Bay home. After Brett reported how he felt unwanted and unwilling to play for Green Bay any more because of the hurt, "Mooch" said to him, "You need to get off your butt and get to training."
He said Brett laughed and said, "You want me to start running down the street here with the neighbor kids running along like Rocky Balboa?"
I confess to not remembering how "Mooch" responded. I was so struck by that response that my brain went numb. "Yes!" I wanted to yell at Brett. "That's exactly what a champion is willing to do if he really cares about getting in shape. You have to start somewhere!"
I do wish I had listened to find out what "Mooch" did. How do you tell a good friend who has spoken to you whenever you needed something for the NFL network that he needed to grow up and get his butt in gear if he wanted to be a professional athlete?
Brett now has to live with the attitude he has taken. Maybe Jon Gruden can to get through to him.
I suspect Brett is looking for a coach who will let him have his way as he did under Mike Sherman. I do not think that is "Chuckie," who has a stinger nearly every player who has been coached by him has felt at one time or another. That may be why Ted Thompson was unable to do the press conference this morning. Gruden may have talked to Brett and discovered what so many of us have seen, a lack of commitment to do the work it now takes to be an NFL quarterback.
He either will have to be lucky to get to play with another team or he will have to get real.
If he gets real, he will return to the Packers, put aside his hurt against Ted Thompson and anyone else who told him he was no longer prepared to work professionally, go to work to get into playing shape, start at the bottom, and be ready to play when the chance comes along.
I do not know what lucky thing will happen to bring about that result. Whatever that would be, I wish it for Brett.
There is a real possibility that he will not be welcome in Tampa Bay or any place else right now.
I heard part of an interview on the NFL Channel with Steve Mariucci. "Mooch" is a personal friend of Brett's and called him this morning. After that forty minute talk between the two, "Mooch" called in to the TV channel. He described the group including Frank Winters, Deana, and Bus Cook sitting on the couch in Brett's Green Bay home. After Brett reported how he felt unwanted and unwilling to play for Green Bay any more because of the hurt, "Mooch" said to him, "You need to get off your butt and get to training."
He said Brett laughed and said, "You want me to start running down the street here with the neighbor kids running along like Rocky Balboa?"
I confess to not remembering how "Mooch" responded. I was so struck by that response that my brain went numb. "Yes!" I wanted to yell at Brett. "That's exactly what a champion is willing to do if he really cares about getting in shape. You have to start somewhere!"
I do wish I had listened to find out what "Mooch" did. How do you tell a good friend who has spoken to you whenever you needed something for the NFL network that he needed to grow up and get his butt in gear if he wanted to be a professional athlete?
Brett now has to live with the attitude he has taken. Maybe Jon Gruden can to get through to him.
I suspect Brett is looking for a coach who will let him have his way as he did under Mike Sherman. I do not think that is "Chuckie," who has a stinger nearly every player who has been coached by him has felt at one time or another. That may be why Ted Thompson was unable to do the press conference this morning. Gruden may have talked to Brett and discovered what so many of us have seen, a lack of commitment to do the work it now takes to be an NFL quarterback.
He either will have to be lucky to get to play with another team or he will have to get real.
If he gets real, he will return to the Packers, put aside his hurt against Ted Thompson and anyone else who told him he was no longer prepared to work professionally, go to work to get into playing shape, start at the bottom, and be ready to play when the chance comes along.
I do not know what lucky thing will happen to bring about that result. Whatever that would be, I wish it for Brett.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Dear Brett
Dear Brett,
Remember that we love you dearly. We hope this kafuffle passes quickly.
As you said when you retired in March, you were having difficulty psyching up for the preparations to play. You were clear that Sundays would be something you could get excited about. And you said you expected to get the urge to return as the season approached. You and Deana talked at length. In March, you knew that to be the player you have been, it would take more than you could give.
You brought the rest of the country along with the pain of having to admit you were no longer able to do the whole job. You knew that on Sundays, you would miss the excitement, the camaraderie, the challenge. We saw the old fire horse raring to go when the bell rang, but whose will might not be counted upon the rest of the time. We wanted the best for you and retirement seemed like it was the best for you and for your family. We cried when you gave us your final word. We hoped you’d find something satisfying to be your new vocation.
Now you are telling us you really wanted to play all along and that you were pressured to retire,
If you were serious about coming back, you as a pro would have been working out very hard for the last two months, not just going over to the high school once in awhile. Think about what the other players have been doing. To do less would be to let them down.
If you were serious about coming back, you and your agent would have done the paperwork to retire to end your contractual ties to the Packers or to seek reinstatement through the commissioner’s office.
I wish it didn’t look this way but blaming the Packer organization for pressuring you, grousing about decisions the Packers made that went against your opinions, and asking for release sound more like sour grapes than a reality-based decision.
Here’s what I wished you’d have done:
1. Come back to Wisconsin for the charity softball game and golf outing.
2. Hung around during the voluntary training activities, working out with the guys.
3. Sat in on meetings with the new quarterbacks.
4. Accepted the role as elder statesman and accepted Aaron Rodgers in the number one role.
5. Asked for reinstatement if you felt at home doing the above.
6. Been willing to accept the possibility that the team might not need you unless there was a catastrophic injury to Aaron and accept returning to whatever status the team could pull you off of quickly in case of emergency.
7. Faced the fact that your iron-man record is ended and that you no longer bear the load of central player.
8. Faced the fact that Randy Moss gamed you into thinking he’d come to Green Bay but was really planning to get as much out of the Patriots as he could.
Here’s what would have happened:
All fans would be glad to have you around again along with the few who can’t get it through their heads that you have gotten older.
You’d have the fellowship of being a part of the team.
Because the life of a quarterback is so tenuous in light of the sophisticated defenses and athletic players, you would be on the field for those times Aaron goes down.
You would still have some moments when you make plays (I’m 73 and I can still shoot baskets and defend players bigger than me . . . though full court play is not possible yet as I recuperate from my latest physical setback!).
But there will be days when you wished you had stayed retired. The cold gets colder as we age (we moved to the south to get away from it!).
And you might find a new role to play as Rob Davis did. You might make the transition from player to coach or administrator over time.
We know you can thrive under coaching as you showed since Mike McCarthy came, even if you found it harder work than you had during the period between Mike Holmgren and McCarthy. Maybe another coach and another team will not push you the way the two Mikes did but you would never play as well, either.
Finally, you’ve told us that your dad insisted that you be a team player. If you want to be around the team and if you are willing to be a role player, good things will happen. But if you forget that, the chances are you will not regain your full potential ever again, no matter how pumped you are right now, no matter where you’d get to play.
We hope you find your way through this that is a credit to you and your family.
Respectfully,
Jerry
Remember that we love you dearly. We hope this kafuffle passes quickly.
As you said when you retired in March, you were having difficulty psyching up for the preparations to play. You were clear that Sundays would be something you could get excited about. And you said you expected to get the urge to return as the season approached. You and Deana talked at length. In March, you knew that to be the player you have been, it would take more than you could give.
You brought the rest of the country along with the pain of having to admit you were no longer able to do the whole job. You knew that on Sundays, you would miss the excitement, the camaraderie, the challenge. We saw the old fire horse raring to go when the bell rang, but whose will might not be counted upon the rest of the time. We wanted the best for you and retirement seemed like it was the best for you and for your family. We cried when you gave us your final word. We hoped you’d find something satisfying to be your new vocation.
Now you are telling us you really wanted to play all along and that you were pressured to retire,
If you were serious about coming back, you as a pro would have been working out very hard for the last two months, not just going over to the high school once in awhile. Think about what the other players have been doing. To do less would be to let them down.
If you were serious about coming back, you and your agent would have done the paperwork to retire to end your contractual ties to the Packers or to seek reinstatement through the commissioner’s office.
I wish it didn’t look this way but blaming the Packer organization for pressuring you, grousing about decisions the Packers made that went against your opinions, and asking for release sound more like sour grapes than a reality-based decision.
Here’s what I wished you’d have done:
1. Come back to Wisconsin for the charity softball game and golf outing.
2. Hung around during the voluntary training activities, working out with the guys.
3. Sat in on meetings with the new quarterbacks.
4. Accepted the role as elder statesman and accepted Aaron Rodgers in the number one role.
5. Asked for reinstatement if you felt at home doing the above.
6. Been willing to accept the possibility that the team might not need you unless there was a catastrophic injury to Aaron and accept returning to whatever status the team could pull you off of quickly in case of emergency.
7. Faced the fact that your iron-man record is ended and that you no longer bear the load of central player.
8. Faced the fact that Randy Moss gamed you into thinking he’d come to Green Bay but was really planning to get as much out of the Patriots as he could.
Here’s what would have happened:
All fans would be glad to have you around again along with the few who can’t get it through their heads that you have gotten older.
You’d have the fellowship of being a part of the team.
Because the life of a quarterback is so tenuous in light of the sophisticated defenses and athletic players, you would be on the field for those times Aaron goes down.
You would still have some moments when you make plays (I’m 73 and I can still shoot baskets and defend players bigger than me . . . though full court play is not possible yet as I recuperate from my latest physical setback!).
But there will be days when you wished you had stayed retired. The cold gets colder as we age (we moved to the south to get away from it!).
And you might find a new role to play as Rob Davis did. You might make the transition from player to coach or administrator over time.
We know you can thrive under coaching as you showed since Mike McCarthy came, even if you found it harder work than you had during the period between Mike Holmgren and McCarthy. Maybe another coach and another team will not push you the way the two Mikes did but you would never play as well, either.
Finally, you’ve told us that your dad insisted that you be a team player. If you want to be around the team and if you are willing to be a role player, good things will happen. But if you forget that, the chances are you will not regain your full potential ever again, no matter how pumped you are right now, no matter where you’d get to play.
We hope you find your way through this that is a credit to you and your family.
Respectfully,
Jerry
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Favre and Moss
Word is out that Brett Favre has retired. His agent thinks Brett could have and wanted to play one more season. The timing of the announcement of his retirement was within hours of Randy Moss re-signing with the Patriots after letting out word that he was serious about playing with Brett and the Packers.
Randy Moss strikes again.
I think the man is poison. He was "flirting" with the Packers last year just enough to get Brett to take him seriously before Moss signed with the Patriots knowing he would have many more years with Tom Brady than he would with Brett Favre. The minute he got Favre to go public about his disappointment that Moss wasn't picked up by the Packers, Moss set in motion a ploy that got played out this year. By again flirting with the Packers and Favre, he got the better deal with the Patriots that he wanted. He didn't want to come to Green Bay. He knew there was maybe a year left in Brett's tank. But Moss is good for several more years.
The sad part is that Brett seemed to believe Moss. And that is such a shame.
Randy Moss strikes again.
I think the man is poison. He was "flirting" with the Packers last year just enough to get Brett to take him seriously before Moss signed with the Patriots knowing he would have many more years with Tom Brady than he would with Brett Favre. The minute he got Favre to go public about his disappointment that Moss wasn't picked up by the Packers, Moss set in motion a ploy that got played out this year. By again flirting with the Packers and Favre, he got the better deal with the Patriots that he wanted. He didn't want to come to Green Bay. He knew there was maybe a year left in Brett's tank. But Moss is good for several more years.
The sad part is that Brett seemed to believe Moss. And that is such a shame.
Monday, February 4, 2008
Super Bowl XLII
Yesterday's Super Bowl was definitely one of the most exciting I've watched. Two great teams really fought it out all the way to the very end. It was sixty minutes of drama well played on both sides.
It was not anywhere near the surprise upset that the Jets pulled in SB III. Having watched the Giants beat the Packers two weeks ago, I thought they showed they could hurt anyone. Their pass rush was superb and Eli was nearly flawless against the Pack. He had found his stride in the previous games going back to the time they faced the Patriots in December. So I really expected he would keep it together and the defensive line would challenge anyone successfully.
What really helped the Giants was the injury to an offensive guard in the Patriots' line. It is harder for an offensive line to work with subs having to play. The Giants showed what having a healthy o-line means. Eli hardly got his shirt dirty where Tom will have a huge laundry bill!
I like to think the Pack would have done well against New England in light of the success of the Giants. After all, GB took the Giants to overtime before losing while the Pats couldn't do it. If the Pack had made the SB and if the Pats' o-guard had been injured early in the game, who knows how well the Packer defense would have rushed Tom.
But that takes us to next year if we want to see such a thing. I expect to see the Pack and Giants fight it out again because both have many young players just now coming into their own. Hopefully, next year, the result will be different and it will be Favre v. Brady in SB XLIII.
It was not anywhere near the surprise upset that the Jets pulled in SB III. Having watched the Giants beat the Packers two weeks ago, I thought they showed they could hurt anyone. Their pass rush was superb and Eli was nearly flawless against the Pack. He had found his stride in the previous games going back to the time they faced the Patriots in December. So I really expected he would keep it together and the defensive line would challenge anyone successfully.
What really helped the Giants was the injury to an offensive guard in the Patriots' line. It is harder for an offensive line to work with subs having to play. The Giants showed what having a healthy o-line means. Eli hardly got his shirt dirty where Tom will have a huge laundry bill!
I like to think the Pack would have done well against New England in light of the success of the Giants. After all, GB took the Giants to overtime before losing while the Pats couldn't do it. If the Pack had made the SB and if the Pats' o-guard had been injured early in the game, who knows how well the Packer defense would have rushed Tom.
But that takes us to next year if we want to see such a thing. I expect to see the Pack and Giants fight it out again because both have many young players just now coming into their own. Hopefully, next year, the result will be different and it will be Favre v. Brady in SB XLIII.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Coach's strategies
One of the marks of Coach Mike McCarthy's work with the Packers is that his game plans have been effective. How else do you win when you do not have a running game?
One of the things you do not see on the game films of opponents is the opponent coach's game plans. You can get an idea but until you have a history in the league and against a particular opponent, it is hard to know what to expect.
McCarthy's plan to attack the Cowboys deep last Thursday night was a great idea. For a lot of reasons, it failed. It appears the Cowboys' defensive game plan anticipated just that attack. Perhaps they are better at self-scouting than the Packers are just now. Given the average and injury-struck defensive backfield, any smart coach might have done the same as McCarthy did.
McCarthy learned a lesson. Sometimes you have to plan to go strength on strength and let the attack on weaknesses come later. If the Packers get to play the Cowboys for the conference championship, the game plan is more likely to be just that.
But first, McCarthy will have to prepare the team for an emerging Oakland Raiders. The Bears are coming on and the Lions will have nothing to lose. The Packers will have a whole set of battles to win before they can start talking about game planning for the Cowboys!
One of the things you do not see on the game films of opponents is the opponent coach's game plans. You can get an idea but until you have a history in the league and against a particular opponent, it is hard to know what to expect.
McCarthy's plan to attack the Cowboys deep last Thursday night was a great idea. For a lot of reasons, it failed. It appears the Cowboys' defensive game plan anticipated just that attack. Perhaps they are better at self-scouting than the Packers are just now. Given the average and injury-struck defensive backfield, any smart coach might have done the same as McCarthy did.
McCarthy learned a lesson. Sometimes you have to plan to go strength on strength and let the attack on weaknesses come later. If the Packers get to play the Cowboys for the conference championship, the game plan is more likely to be just that.
But first, McCarthy will have to prepare the team for an emerging Oakland Raiders. The Bears are coming on and the Lions will have nothing to lose. The Packers will have a whole set of battles to win before they can start talking about game planning for the Cowboys!
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