Don't like it?

By Packman

Do something about it.

Call Green Bay Headquarters and ask for their PR department. #920-569-7500 You'll probably get a voice mail because I did. I left a voice mail message that they are going to be getting THOUSANDS of calls. The handling of this situation BLOWS. The shareholders had every right to know of Brett Favre's desire to come back and apparently he told McCarthy & Thompson a month ago. Come on shareholders...start a movement. It isn't TT's team!!! Green Bay has always been unique. History could be made right now if the shareholders stand up for their rights.

Clarification - In regards to your soul and its level of rocking by me (and other topics)

By MF

"I wasn't paying much attention. The North Star Coffee Lounge seemed like a fairly safe haven from our storms. There are some you go into - in this line of work - that you know will be heavy. The details don't matter. All you know, for sure, is that your brain starts humming with brutal vibes as you approach the front door. Something wild and evil is about to happen; and it's going to involve YOU."

- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - Hunter S. Thompson

I don't know what it says about being a Packer fan in 2008 that the only thing I can relate it to is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, but...well, there we are. So I'm doing what I hate, commenting on things that I know little about and pretending it matters. I sort of gave myself a free pass on the lack of posts for that reason and I realized it comes off as whining. So, again, here we are.

Us Packer fans are just sweet kids from the burbs trying to make it in the big city and this offseason is messing with us like a couple punks in the park slapping our brown bag lunch to the pigeons. First off we have Dr Z at SI picking the Vikings to win the dang Superbowl. Which is ridiculous assuming the other teams are allowed to play the season too, but it's still aggravating.

Now we have Peter King weighing in on the whole Favre unretirement saga. Here's the thing Pete. You gave up any sense of credibility you had years ago. If I want to know who has the best potato salad in training camp we'll give you a ring ok buddy? Otherwise please stop talking. A Packer nightmare? How is it a Packer nightmare?

On the one hand you have the most beloved player in franchise history, who, when the season was over everyone assumed would be back for one last run at a title. Then he changed some of that talk with his retirement. But at the end of the day we're still debating whether the team would want Favre to quarterback them next year or hand over the reins to an injury prone backup.

The worst case scenario being that Aaron Rodgers would walk away after his deal expires and sign with another team. Which would leave the Packers with 1 more season of a Hall of Fame QB at the helm and an acceptable heir in Brian Brohm as his backup. So, where's the nightmare?

Is it because fans fear he would tarnish his legacy? How? Fans remember the good years. No one remembers Unitas and Namath at the end of the run, they talk about when they were great. Anyone own an Emmitt Smith Cardinals jersey? Seriously, anyone?

Also, as is pointed out, Favre had a great year statistically last season. It doesn't look like he's finished. So if he has something left in the tank why exactly would the Packers trade him for a third rounder? Because it's "best for all involved?" It's best for NO ONE involved except for Aaron Rodgers. Who may be about to go all Steve Young on us or maybe he'll be out of the league in 2 years. We don't know.

I'm not saying Favre should come back. I'd enjoy it, but I'd also enjoy seeing a young guy like Rodgers try to win over his teammates too. I just want to remind people that the retarded logic strutted out by SI and ESPN warrants a skeptical eye nowadays. Throw out all the retirement stuff, throw out all of the nauseating commentary from the Chuckles on TV (which is a lot, I know) and just ask yourself what is best for your team? The proven commodity (with some baggage) or the unknown. I can see both sides of it, what I can't see is making a decision based on how pissed off the backup QB will feel about it.

I will fucking rock your soul

By MF

If we have any readers left, and understandably that is doubtful, said readers will be wondering just what took so long? The last post on this site is one regarding the NFC championship game, the one where the evil big city won and the noble little town lost. Which is an injustice. Low on the spectrum, but still, an injustice.

So I'm back. If you're curious as to why there has been such a silence. And really, it was a silence. Months and months of nothing. NFL draft? Nothing. Favre retiring? Nothing. Favre unretiring? Nothing. So I understand if you're sitting there wondering just what kind of Packer fan blows this stuff off. So here's my answer, take it for what you will.

I just don't care that much about the off season. It's not that I think the acquisition of new players isn't newsworthy. It is. The problem is that I have no idea whether the new players are any good. Which in a way is fine, I mean, I'm just a fan. Maybe an idiot fan at that. The issue is that the ubernerds of NFL scoutery have no fucking idea either. None. They pretend they do - and I don't blame them for this - because their six figure salaries and spiffy suits depend on it, but they know exactly what you know, which is nothing.

So I don't care. Not because it's not important, just because no one knows how important it will be. Dr. Z from SI.com recently noted that he has picked the Vikings to win the Super Bowl. I'd like to mock him (and I will) but really what's the point? If he's right he gets to lord that all over town. If he's wrong no one remembers. So what's the big deal? It's not going out on a limb if no one remembers there's a fucking tree, right? It should be noted however that the Vikings still employ an idiot head coach. A man who didn't get the memo indicating that it wasn't JUST the porn stache that ladies loved about Magnum PI, it was the full head of hair and lack of 14-18 career records.

I love Favre. Love him. To the point where I'm offended if my wife doesn't want to wear the Favre jersey I got for her. Which is all sorts of creepy if you break it down, which thankfully we will not do here. But still, I love the guy. Writing about his retirement? No. What am I going to add? SI and ESPN and NFL.com and so many other blogs like bratsnbeer are giving us that info.

I realize there are 100 different sites that will happily provide you with their personal insight, even if that insight is the equivalent of seamonkeys. Vaguely interesting to a 10 year old, but kind of embarrassing for anyone with a driver's license. I'm not really knocking them (ok, I am) but really, we don't need everyone's opinion. I love the guy, you love the guy, do we really need to talk about how much you and me and your cousin all loved the guy to validate his career? I say no.

So that brings us to this post. I'll be knocking out stuff on things that matter. This will generally be about the Packers, but it won't only be about the Packers. Sometimes what matters is new music (seriously, go buy "Stay Positive" from The Hold Steady), sometimes it's about amazing books ("Guns, Germs and Steel" is impossibly cool, check out the doc if you can't handle the booklearnin') and sometimes it's just about my dog acting like the Chuckles he is. I hope you're ok with that. I've tried a hundred different ideas to make this site relevant year-round and this is all I've got. So there it is. Love ya guys, thanks for stopping by, we'll be posting regularly.

NFC Championship Game - Green Bay Packers (14-3) vs. New York Giants (13-6)

By MF

I had a Game Recap all written out. Lots of notes and tidbits and comments from the game as it happened. But frankly I don't want to revisit this one. Also, my doctors have informed me it's a bad idea to exert myself after just having gone through 4 heart attacks in the past 4 hours. So I'll leave you with these thoughts.

• We didn't deserve to win.
• The offense generally looked like the steaming piles my dog, Apollo, leaves on my lawn.
• We never bothered to cover Plaxico Burress.
• We never pressured Eli "Panic" Manning.
• The Giants tried to give us this game repeatedly and we simply would not take it. They intercept us, but turn it right back. They fumble the punt return, we can't recover. They willingly employ Grey Ruegamer. The list goes on.
• We are not a good cold weather team.
• We played on our heels from the first snap.
• We have a bright future, which is very difficult to remember since the recent past gave me a bunch of heart attacks and the present means watching the Patriots complete a perfect season.
• I like this team enough to refer to it as "we" when I don't actually play the game or receive a paycheck from the organization.
• Joe Buck is undoubtedly the biggest douche on the planet. Dude? Dude!
• It was a bad decision on my part to open all the windows and doors in the house for the game.
• This team is a legit contender next year if Favre comes back, the youngsters improve and we can upgrade our secondary and O line.
• My wife looks sexy in my old Reggie White jersey.
• We were lucky to get into overtime.
• Brett Favre didn't lose this game for us.
• But he didn't win it either.
• I still like him.
• The sun will come out tomorrow, but it'll still be bitchass cold outside.

That's it for me kids. I'll be back at some point to recap the season, which on a whole was great. I was hoping for a wild card and we were one lucky play from the Super Bowl. I'm disappointed as hell, but if you take it all into account it was still a good year.

To everyone who stopped by the booth this year we want to say "thanks." We appreciate it. In the next year you'll see a new web design, a lot more consistent posts and some other cool stuff we can't quite share with you just yet. But again, thank you for checking us out. Have a good one.

Recap! Green Bay Packers (13-3) vs. Seattle Seahawks (11-6)

By MF

We've got Daryl, Moose and Goose doing the broadcast today. In an odd way I sorta like these guys. They don't do the lovefest hype to the degree that some of the others (like say, Madden) do. Which is sadly refreshing.

It's 31 degrees on the field. Wind's blowing and we've got some really tiny snowflakes coming down. It's almost cute. It's like something a Californian would be impressed with and get inspired to talk about "really living life" or something.

Just so you've got a general feel. All week long I've been avoiding reading about this game. Avoiding podcasts from the fellas at Packers Therapy and all that. My guts are sort of twisted. I think Seattle's Defense can give us problems. I think we're better on offense, better on defense and better on special teams. But not by wide margins. So I'm antsy. Then, on my drive back from Target today (it's a requirement that all Minnesota Women go to Target once a week and I had to get the wife there) I suddenly felt really positive about this game. Not that it means anything mind you.

Just as a reminder, italics mean the opponent has the ball. And, something new, the blue comments are me second guessing my comments after the game is over. Here's an example...

This is so lame. You're posting hours after the game is over, why not just admit it?

I'm posting yes, but the comments in black are what I actually wrote down during the game without the benefit of hindsight.

How can you respond to a question that hasn't happened yet if your black comments are from the game?

I...uh, I hate you. Moving on.

1st Quarter

14:43 - What? Ryan Grant catches a little flare, falls down, gets up and then fumbles. The Seahawks recover on the Packer 1 yard line. I haven't even had my first High Life yet fellas! C'mon!

14:40 - Shaun Alexander manages to get the 1 yard for the touchdown. That was a gift Shaun, we all know you've got nothing left in the tank. Enjoy it.

At this point I was swearing at the TV and the dog was hiding in his puppy bed because "daddy" was shouting too much. Not a good start.

GREEN BAY 0 - SEATTLE 7

13:40 - Hmm. I'm noticing a trend. Grant picks up a first down but fumbles again. It's again recovered by the 'Hawks. On the plus side he did it at the 50 instead of in the Packer Red Zone but still. Is this progress?

10:59 - Matt Hasselbeck hits Bobby Engram in the back of the end zone for a touchdown. During that drive I considered crapping in my own bed as a sign of solidarity. The dog was happy I didn't consider "screwing the pooch." And yes, I've somehow managed to have 3 beers in the past few minutes. This could be a long day.

GREEN BAY 0 - SEATTLE 14

I was actually sweating bullets at this point. I suddenly realized I may have to stop watching football and it hit me like a kick to my very close personal friend, the greek philosopher Testiclees.

8:32 - Okay, we're finally moving the ball and hanging onto it at the same time. It sucks that we're down by two TD's already but hey, there's still 95% of the game left. Brett Favre just hit James Jones for 31 on a cross. It was 3rd and 7. We're down to the 20.

7:08 - Favre hits Jennings (who makes an awesome adjustment on an underthrown pass) for the touchdown! We're officially back in this thing. Nice drive boys.

GREEN BAY 7 - SEATTLE 14

6:18 - The D forces a three and out. Cullen Jenkins sacks Hasselbeck to force the punt. One thing I feel good about in this game is Matt. He hasn't won the big one yet and he seems like he gets angry/panicky when things don't go his way. Think back to the temper tantrum in the playoffs a few years ago against the 49ers.

5:04 - The wife loved this one. Favre hits Bubba Franks for 7 on 3rd and 7. Bubba clearly reaches out and the ball is past the artificial yellow line for the 1st down. The refs give Bubba a terrible mark. Favre convinces Coach McCarthy to throw the challenge and the ball is moved up to the appropriate spot. This was a big point in the game and clearly noted as such by the announcers, me, the dog, etc. But my wife reiterates this point several times and acts like no one's listening. It'd be troubling if it weren't so dang sexy.

No idea why the wife did that but she went on a rampage about Favre's leadership. She was just short of pulling out pom poms and doing a backflip. On the plus side this should make it easier to get her to agree to a game at Lambeau for our Anniversary next year.

1:09 - It's the Ryan Grant show. How do you spell REDEMPTION? G-R-A-N-T. He carried for 26 up the gut. He picked up 15 off the right side and he knocked in the TD off the left.

GREEN BAY 14 - SEATTLE 14

2nd Quarter

14:54 - Seattle has done nothing since Grant stopped giftwrapping easy possessions for them. On 2nd and 19 Marcus Pollard the Tight End gets absolutely destroyed on a hit by Atari Bigby. Ball comes out. And since Aaron Kampman is always around the ball he does the sensible thing and falls on it. Packer ball on the Seattle 19.

13:27 - After 17 yards of Ryan Grant on a screen and a run we have 1st and goal from the 2 or so. Favre lofts a gorgeous fade to Greg Jennings for the score. If that fade pass was walking down the street you'd stop and stare like it was Scarlett Johannsen in something lowcut.

Yeah I used the word "gorgeous". Deal with it.

GREEN BAY 21 - SEATTLE 14

10:55 - The D forces another 3 and out. But then the special teams unit manages to pull a "one and dammit" by roughing the kicker. Brandon Jackson, or BranJ, was the guilty party.

I couldn't figure out a good term for a Special Teams blunder. I mean, they always go "one and out" no matter if they do well or poorly. So I went with "one and dammit." Should it maybe have been "one...and dammit"? I'm still workshopping that one.

7:22 - Josh Brown hits from 29. DJ Hackett dropped a ball that would have given the 'Hawks a first and goal but he heard footsteps. Bigby has been trainwrecking people and it's starting to sink in for these Seattle receivers.

GREEN BAY 21 - SEATTLE 17

4:37 - The Packers have uncorked the new "two fullback" unit and it's causing problems for the 'Hawks defense. It's nice that Korey Hall is back and healthy. I like seeing Coach Mike throw in something new like that so late in the season.

I probably should have mentioned this when we first did it. But the wife was going on and on about Favre's leadership skills so I sorta missed it. Or I'm lazy. It's really either/or.

2:00 - Beautiful drive so far. Grant is picking up yards. Donald Driver's increasing his YAC count by taking screens for 5-6 yards a shot and James Jones is converting on third downs. It's really pretty. Especially in the snow, which is getting to be noticeable.

Savvy readers will notice I'm not giving the placement on the field so much. The reason? I have no idea where the plays are taking place. I think at one point the teams were actually playing at a 30 degree angle off of the sidelines but I have no way of confirming it.

1:08 - Favre breaks out of a tackle, stumbles like he's gonna fall down, and somehow manages to flip an underhand throw to Don Lee for 8 yards on 3rd and 7. That's why we love the guy.

We also love him for the records, the wins, the Super Bowl title, the Wrangler commercials, the Rayovac commercials...

:26 - Grant takes it the last 4 yards for the TD. We're dominating this game. At this point I'm not even concerned because Seattle hasn't stopped us once. Other than the 2 fumbles and the roughing the kicker penalty they haven't been able to get anything going on offense either. This one's over.

I actually was that cocky. Which isn't really like me. I'm more "dicky" than anything, which is less agressive yet still irritating to others.

GREEN BAY 28 - SEATTLE 17

3rd Quarter

14:05 - D forces another 3 and out. Truly impressive performance out of these guys.

12:22 - The Packers are 6-6 on third downs so far. Favre just hit Jennings for 23 down the right sideline.

10:25 - BranJ takes a swing pass 12 yards for the TD. See what happens when you need a breather Ryan Grant? The other guy steals your TD's! BranJ blew the doors off the awesomely named Lofa Tatupu for the score. How do you spell Redemption? B-R-A-N-J.

How do you spell overuse of an old Anchorman joke? M-F.

GREEN BAY 35 - SEATTLE 17

3:36 - Wow. Marcus Pollard has a fumble in this game. He just now dropped an easy TD pass in the back corner of the end zone with no one on him. I find this to be particularly entertaining as the 'Hawks ran Jerramy Stevens out of town because he was a guy that made these same kinds of errors constantly. Josh Brown hits from 27.

GREEN BAY 35 - SEATTLE 20

:57 - On 3rd and 4, Ryan Grant breaks it outside for 42 yards off the left side. He's been absolutely huge in this game (minus the first 6 minutes). The snow has gone from being cute to actually being a solid storm at this point. It looks sweet. I love outdoor football (unless it's played in Bitchago, of course).

4th Quarter

13:26 - This is a freaking juggernaut at this point. Grant knocks it in from the 2 for his third TD of the game. A Packer playoff record. Which will go along nicely with his other record, most yards rushing in a Packer playoff game.

GREEN BAY 42 - SEATTLE 20

12:34 - The D forces another three and out. Wow. I haven't even had much to say because they're getting off the field so fast.

12:10 - Grant picks up 28 more yards right up the gut. He's over 200 on the day. Who saw that coming? More importantly, anyone want to tell us our running game's a problem? Anyone?

Actually I think Dr. Z of SI fame facetiously mentioned that something "unexpected" would happen so he sort of predicted 150 on the ground from Grant. I'll give him credit. Old guy's borderline nuts at this point so he deserves a bone.

9:15 - Hey Jon Ryan, how are you? Welcome to the game. Ryan hits his first punt of the day.

8:03 - Pollard misses another easy catch. Can he see? Is that the issue? I mean, it's snowing but it's not like this is affecting everyone. Are we not sure that he isn't blind? Did that last sentence make any sense at all?

3:00 - Favre gets pulled to a nice ovation. BranJ cleans up the rest of the game with a total of 40 yards on his own. 240 yards rushing and an easy win. Here we come NFC Championship game!

FINAL SCORE

GREEN BAY 42 - SEATTLE 20

Whoops! Bears back on bottom.

By Majikman

Bad news Bears. You went from first to worst in the NFC North, and the team you love to hate is back on top. That's right Lovie, the Pack is Back, sitting comfortably in first place.

I know Bear fans you feel pretty good about winning on a high note and all, but I hope that gets you through your winter. Remember after your long winters nap that even though 2008 is a brand new year...you still got the same quarterback problems, aging defense and a coach who was just a flash in the pan. Enjoy the playoffs!

What kind of city is it? Windy.

By MF

I'd like to sit here and pretend that I'm devastated that the Pack lost twice to an inferior Bears team. I'd like to. But I'm not all that devastated. I'm not even really bummed. In the grand scheme of things this loss hits me like when you're sitting at home and the wife said she'd get ice cream and then she shows up and she doesn't have anything from DQ because the line was too long or whatever. You just sort of shrug your shoulders and say "well, I'll have it some other day." That's how I'm feeling.

So sorry Bears fans - your owner's still an evil witch, you still have to look at yourselves in the mirror and try to forget that you talked yourself into liking the White Sox a couple years ago just so you could see a team win it all even though that team has no fans as commanded by God after Satan corrupted them in 1919, you still lead the charge in the NFC North for "Team Name that makes everyone want to tell gay jokes" and will stay that way until Detroit does the sensible thing and renames themselves the Polesitters, and finally, no, you didn't convince me to give up writing about the Packers each week. That was Christmas Vacation. Not you.

I'm actually thankful for this game. If the Packers play that poorly in bad weather why in hell would I want them to have another home playoff game? Dallas looks pretty good right now if you ask me. Now if you'll excuse me I think Jon Ryan needs a hug.