Getting ready for the real games.

The preseason is hopeful, and now after two games, the new look defense has had a good showing and the offense has looked pretty sharp.  Of course none of it was for real yet...it is only the preseason.....

 Still, it is the optimistic time of the season when the super bowl is everyone's goal.  

I still can't say enough about the new Ray Nitschke Field.  The Packers have really added to the quality of the football experience of training camp.   It helps the fan to get ready for the real games in a kind of retro setting.  

Solve the problem.

The national spot light is on a team in the bordering state regarding a former team mate.  There is an easy solution to the annoying problem.  The solution is to win. 

 Beat the Vikings twice.

Show the NFL that you moved on and if you were right, you should win.  If there is a chance that you don't win, then there is a chance for more discord among the loyal fans for both the Green Bay Packers and the loyal fans for Brett Favre.

That's Entertainment.

So, do the Packers feel any pressure about Old #4 coming to their hated rival?  I doubt it.  They have enough to worry about.

  I think that probably the only one who is annoyed is TT.  He doesn't want to see Favre come back into Lambeau for possible revenge.  But really, I think TT has enough to worry about too.   He has to produce now.  This is his 5th year as GM.  After 5 years, Ron Wolf's team won the Super Bowl.

Everyone can't win, and in preseason polls the Packers were ranked 20th in the NFL.

Favre coming back to a rival makes the year more interesting and after all, it's only entertainment.

The madness is back!

This morning the breaking news has the Packer faithful scratching their heads and wringing their hands.  Brett Favre is back and he is a Viking.  Our worse fears have been fulfilled.

It should be an interesting year in the NFC North.  Personally I am disappointed, but a man has a right to earn a living.  He doesn't owe me anything.  I will still have my memories of the great Green Bay Packer quarterback Brett Favre.  We've seen some of his very best games and some of his very worse.  It was worth every penny.

It must be hard to quit doing something you appear to love so much.

Leave it to #4 to do what he wants regardless of public opinion.  I guess the Favre haters can get their lighters going again, if they still have an old jersey left.

Happy Birthday, Green Bay Packers!

Tonight marks the 90th birthday of the Green Bay Packers!  It is nice to see what an important American Institution and shrine to the National Football League that Green Bay and Lambeau Field have become.  

Newest Story Line

For me, the newest storyline of this season's Green Bay Packers was the fact that at practice last Tuesday there were some fights.  Not just 2 guys that are annoyed with each other, but an all out brawl with about 20 guys.  I have never seen a big group of Packers start fighting.  Brady Poppinga decked Kregg Lumkin and at least 20 players were fighting.  Kevin Greene couldn't stop it and some rumors suggest he is behind it.  The Press Gazette "Insider" called it the most spirited practice in a decade.  There had been two fights earlier in the same practice.  

I have said that the Packers don't play mean enough.  The mean teams like Pittsburgh, the Bears, the Ravens (in the past maybe Oakland and even Tampa during their Super Bowl run) let you know they are going to beat on you.

The last player to really play mean was probably Wayne Simmons.  Mean players aren't dirty players, they hit harder, are more aggressive, and may try to "take you out".  I saw a little bit of that in A. J. Hawk his first season.  Remember how teams played Robert Brooks?   They used to try to hurt him on every play and hit him even when the ball was no where to be seen.

Are the Packers going to play mean?   They looked like it last Tuesday night.

Training Camp Heaven

I was eager to experience the new Ray Nitschke practice field and it did not disappoint.  This facility is fantastic!  It was built with the Packer fan in mind.  Now at the morning practice, the sun isn't in your eyes, traffic won't run you over, and you don't have to look through a fence.  It is designed to look like it is from ancient times, like the 1930s or 1940s, with a brick facing that matches the stadium.  Vendors have what you need right outside of the bleacher and there is a boardwalk made of brick to walk along the venue to pick your entrance.  Probably most importantly there are ushers making sure people find a seat and don't block the views or the walkways.  Unbelievable!  It is better than you would have expected in the age of high revenue stakes of pro sports.  If you haven't been to camp, you better make plans.