The post that could very well get me killed.

The Pack, the Green and Gold, the legends of the "frozen tundra of Lambeau Field." These cats are easily the top dogs of the city they represent more than any other in the nation. More than the Yankees, more than the Cowboys, more than the Toledo Mud Hens. They are like a European soccer team in this city, with fans planning their whole lives around them. (Example: At work yesterday, we were finishing up training and one of the other trainees, a grown man, was pouting because the class was taking to long, cutting into his tailgating time. This was 3:00pm. The exhibition game started at 8:00pm.) Many things around town are named for Packer related things: the Stadium View Bar on Holmgren Way, Titletown brewery, Legends Steakhouse. These people cannot get enough Packers. And man, do I hate it.

Of course I will back up my statement with valid observations (of course I will.) Even if you like the Packers, this is still some stuff to think about.

1) I know you like to think your ish don't stank: Going into the 2002 season the Packers receiving corps looked as follows: Donald Driver, Terry Glenn and Javon Walker the Rookie from Florida State. (He was always referred to as "Javon Walker the Rookie from Florida State" his rookie year. Always.) Local radio stations and the Press Gazzette touted this as one of the most talented recieving corps in the leauge? WHAT? They had Donald Driver (who looks like a crackhead but a decent player), Terry Glenn (one weekend with Ricky Williams away from serving a 8 game drug suspension) and Javon Walker (who hadn't even found Green Bay on a map yet.) That's your superior recieving corp! Robert Ferguson was also in there except nobody expected him to make it through the first jog of the season without injury.

These people refuse to believe that they are inferior in anyway. Brett Favre talked about the Super Bowl during training camp this year, in 2004. People were all over it! "We've got one of the best offenses in the league." Yep, you do. Who is going to play defense though. They have a crap defensive line because it appears the Grady Jackson and Cletidus Hunt (the most suggestive name in the NFL) apparently ate their linemates. Gbaja-Biamila is one dimesnsional as well as hard to spell. Nick Barnett and my neighbor, Na'il Diggs compose a decent lindbacker group. The secondary is kinda suspect like Paris Hilton is "a little bit slutty." But, they can go to the Super Bowl? OK.

2) Unrealistic expectations: Mike Sherman was applauded, literally, at the Packers shareholder meeting for releasing DE Joe Johnson in the offseason. The Press Gazzette refered to it as the worst free agent signing in Packer if not NFL history. Fisrt of all, Sherman is the general manager that brought him in (more on Sherman in a moment) and what exactly did you expect? Joe Johnson was a decent player in New Orleans and came to the Packers and got injured. He got injured! You can talk about offseason preperation all you want, the fact is, you can't prevent injuries. People villified Johnson for being hurt and it did end up being bad for the team, as he was owed a lot of money. But in theory, it was a good pick up.

On top of that, they expect too much of rookies. There's a reason for that: They draft mediocre players way too high. The day after this first exhibition game the talk on the radio is this: "B.J. Sander has to go, he is not living up to the expectations we have for a 3rd round pick." I am going to say this once: HE DID NOT HAVE THIRD ROUND TALENT! The kicker, no pun intended, is that they actually traded up to get him! I simply refuse to believe that anyone would've taken him in the 3rd round. This year's first rounder, Ahmad Carroll, same thing: "He got burnt deep once in the exhibition. Maybe he shouldn't have held out." Maybe you pay him his money, then he gets into camp on time. Just a thought.

To be continued.

I'm finished,
Nate