Man overboard - Cedric Benson arrested

While we at Packergeeks are firm supporters of beer/other beverage intake in general, we are not supportive of drinking a ton of alcohol and then using vehicles. Last Saturday night, Cedric Benson was allegedly hammered driving around some 15 people on a boat in Texas when he was arrested after a random safety inspection. Having watched with delight the Bears’ many questionable personnel moves over the years (thinking Grossman/Orton aren’t horrible, wasting a #4 overall pick on Benson when they had a talented RB already), this is my guess re what their personnel staff is thinking after this incident:

“Well, when he resisted arrest, at least he showed some decisiveness and held to his conviction. He took one for the team…of party-goers. The image of him being dragged ashore after being pepper sprayed - that’s the kind of pugnacity that only a warrior could have! This is just the kind of leadership we like in our players, especially our QBs. Why don’t we have Lovie make him QB and just start Grossman at RB.”

Culpepper thoughts…

I’m not a huge fan of Culpepper and agree - TT would have to make sure it is written into Culpepper’s contract that the arm roll thing is not allowed on the team. He fizzled in Oakland and was mediocre to poor in Miami before that. And, how would it look to sign a washed up veteran on the same day the Vikes pick up Jared Allen (granted they did trade away their future at the same time)?!?!

In the interest of full disclosure, however, I must admit that prior to last year, I did think that picking up Culpepper would be a good idea. While again, I’m not so sure about the move now, 1-poor-achieving -year removed from Oakland, here’s are some reasons why it may not be a horrible decision: 1) if he is put into an offense with playmakers, he’s proven he can do a sufficient job - and the Pack has playmakers; 2) he’s huge and really difficult to bring down; 3) he’s had experience in the NFC North; 4) while some of those passes were crappy and Moss made great plays, some of them were long bombs thrown well leading to some devastating Packer losses; 4) he always seemed to use tight end options effectively; and 5) Favre probably would have struggled at Oakland last year.

Again, I’m not a big fan of his, but I don’t think it would hurt to bring him in and see first-hand if he can still compete. I’d much rather have him than some inexperienced guy.

Jared Allen to Vikings

The Vikes took the plunge yesterday - wow. Read here about how the Vikes gave away their #17, #73 and #82 picks in the draft for Allen. My gut reaction here is that they gave up too much. I had written the other day about how I thought the Packers should make a play for Allen, giving up perhaps our 1st round pick and a third round pick. It would have been a bit easier for us to do that considering we don’t pick until #30, but judging from this trade, the Chiefs wouldn’t have gone for that. Again, I think Allen is a great player and his addition to the Vikes scares me as a Packer fan. But giving up 3 of the 1st 82 picks in the draft is a pretty steep price (not to mention the giant contract).

Allen will join a fairly talented group on the Viking’s D-Line (the Williams duo, Ray Edwards, Erasmus “always hurt” James). This acquisition will make their defense quite a bit scarier. I suppose their thinking was that they already stuff the run well with the Williams duo, why not take the pass away too with one of best pass rushers in the NFL. This trade makes me suddenly fear the Vikes a bit more. Their defense has become more than legit now that they have at least 4-5 players who could easily be pro-bowl players (both Williams, Allen, EJ Henderson, and the toughest short guy in the NFL, Antione Winfield). While brother Steve probably still rests easy because the offense starts with Tarvaris, I happen to think the potential he has coupled with the clear talent that Peterson, Taylor and Rice have, makes them a team to watch. I still think the Packers are better overall, but if the Vikes added a quality tight end somehow, they could really contend for the division title.

Bears sign Jim McMahon, Jim Miller

Ok, just kidding. But it wouldn’t surprise me.

I had a disturbing hypothetical thought the other day: what if I were a Bears fan? Hilarious thought really because it’s so ridiculous and impossible. Anyway, I got to thinking that if I were a Bears fan, I would be so incredibly ticked off at management for simply not acting on a horrendous QB situation. Grossman just can’t do it - he’s not only bad, but in Chicago now, he doesn’t have any fan support so the second he makes a mistake, he’ll get booed out of there. And the fact that Bears management seems to be swayed by Orton’s final few games in pathetic. I know the guy has an incredibly misleading record as a starting QB in the NFL (13-6 or 13-7 I believe) but he’s not starting caliber. It could be that him having that OK game against the Packers at the end of last year, might have been a blessing in the long-run for the Pack.

I think it’s possible that right now, the Bears are trying very hard to trade up for Atlanta’s #3 overall pick. Rumors are that Atlanta has been talking to lots of people about this pick. Perhaps the Bears would give up their first round pick and maybe a third round pick or something to move up to the #3 pick in the hopes of landing Matt Ryan. If they don’t do this, they may hang back and pick up Brian Brohm. While I agree with Peter King that the Bears drafting for OL would be helpful (their shoddy OL play has contributed greatly to their offensive incompetence - as well as horrendous QB play), I still think a QB should be their top priority. If I were a Bears fan (thank God I’m not), I would have spent the entire 2008 off-season, all of last season and even their “Super Bowl” season seething at the QB options. All 3 of those guys simply should have been cut this off-season and they should just start over. Fortunately, the Bears continue to make all the wrong moves. Watch, they’ll probably draft a kick returner and trade Hester for a 5th round pick!

Jared Allen and Aaron Kampman?

Read here for more on how Jared Allen will apparently visit the Vikings and the TB Bucs due to continued frustration with the Chiefs for franchising him. This is suddenly a serious option.

I know he’s a great pass rusher who plays defensive end and I think he plays on the right side. Imagine the Packers having Kampman and Allen on the ends. That would be absolutely disastrous to try to contain for the opposition. I could play nose tackle between those two and the line would still dominate.

While I’ll stop short of posting this with the sole intent of spreading a rumor, this seems like the kind of sneaky splash TT might make in free agency (kind of like he did with Woodson a couple years ago). I know how TT is with draft picks and giving up 2 first rounders is probably something he’d struggle with big-time. But we have the money, TT likes to build defenses and Harris and Woodson are getting older so bolstering our pass rush might actually help those two prolong their careers. Also, Jenkins was mediocre last year, after Cletidusing on us, as it were, so moving him inside or to the bench wouldn’t be catastrophic.

Really, a great GM looks for ways to make a solid team into a dominant team and I think picking up Allen would get us there in a hurry. OK, I’ve talked myself into making this an official rumor spreading effort - the Packers ought to pick up Jared Allen.

Websites NOT posting Favre story as lead story

Here are the guilty parties who are missing what will be one of the most important stories of the year. (Now, they do have a link to info on Favre’s retirement, it’s just that they have other stories serving as their lead stories - amazing editorial short-sightedness).

*cnn.com - “Six killed, including 2 kids, in Memphis Home”
*USAtoday - “Rice, Abbas appeal for steps to allow renewal of Mideast talks”
*cbsnews.com - “Democrats flock to polls in 4 states”
*foxnews.com - “Primary Day of Reckoning” (you have to scroll down for a bit to even see Favre news here)
*abcnews.com - “Day of Reckoning: Clinton seeks survival on Crucial Day” (at least ABC has the Favre story as #2 on their rotation of lead stories)
*washingtonpost.com - “Ohio, Texas may decide campaign’s future” (Favre’s story is 6 stories down)
*latimes.com - “Geography may decide Ohio Democratic winner” (only an afterthought mention of Favre on the front page)
*nytimes.com - “Rice calls for mideast peace talks to resume” (only afterthought mention of Favre below on front page)
*chicagotribune.com - “Pilot landed at golf course for son’s tennis practice” (are you kidding me? Isn’t Favre’s retirement bigger news in Chicago!)
*Detroit Free Press - “Council Meeting Tense in Anticipation of Vote” (no mention of Favre retiring - perhaps not getting info on time plays a role in Millen’s horrendous decision making)

Only the Star Tribune out of Minnesota has had the sense to post this as the lead story. Good for them. I hate the Vikings and many would argue that they had to post this due to the huge number of Packer fans in Minnesota, but still, they got it right. Kudos to the Star Tribune.

Chicago Bears - what are you thinking?

Fortunately for Packer fans, the Bears continue to make unbelievable decisions re the quarterbacks they keep on their roster. Grossman was just re-signed to a one year contract and apparently Orton will also be signed to a one year contract. Read about it here.

Someone high up in the organization is stubbornly refusing to give up on Grossman. This is so foolish. The Bears got to the 2007 Super Bowl because of Devin Hester, a quality defense and a good bit of luck. They also got there despite Grossman. They weren’t then nor are they now, a very good team. One glaring upgrade they have needed for years is a quarterback who can come in and be a bit more than competent. Despite Orton’s 12-6 record, sometimes a team needs to just start fresh and the Bears would be best served by cutting all 3 of their quarterbacks and just starting over with different players. Sort of like Brian Billick in Baltimore - sometimes there just comes a time when a person’s welcome has worn out. While re-signing Orton isn’t a heinous mistake (it is still a mistake), re-signing Grossman is a huge mistake and having the two compete to start may mean several more years of Bears quarterback mediocrity.

If I were a Bears fan (I thank God to this day for my grandfather who never would have let this happen even if we lived in Illinois), I would be so ticked off right now. They have an aging defense that is riddled with injuries every year. They got rid of the better running back in Thomas Jones last year and now have zero run game. Their star linebacker has back problems and their other star linebacker is leaving via free agency. They have Devin Hester, but it’s only a matter of time before someone finally flattens hims and he then is injured. And, the team management just continues to make poor personnel decisions.

The Bears could be 3-13 next year.

One of the Best Sentences…Ever

This comes from an email from reader Ray Midge. This first sentence is a classic and the whole email is worth reading.

I’m a born and bred New Yorker (Yonkers) who has been a Packer fan beacuse of the guileless purchase of two random belt buckles about 30 years ago by my Irish immigrant mother who looked at nothing but the sale price. My brother is a Bengals fan. So as both a die-hard Packer fan and a New Yorker, all the charges against the NY media are accurate. That said, if it matters at all it is probably ultimately beneficial to the Pack. NY is buying the “hot team” bit without much regard for the mismatch of the actual players. When I have pointed out the likely impotency of the jints pass rush against the deep wr corps, extra protection and quick throws that the pack thrive on, I get mostly quizzical silence. The pack’s d-line is underappreciated by most, and completely unknown to the NY media. Corey Williams and Cullen Jenkins will be a revelation. They appreciate the sentimental value of the Favre angle, but seem completely oblivious to the fact that the best arm and guts the game as ever seen has also developed wisdom and patience. 37-17 GB. And I’ll save my Monday copy of the NYPost forever.

Why Nobody Hates the Packers

This article, from the Seattle Post Intelligencer, pretty much nails it. Thanks to Ace for sending it.

It’s easy to hate the New York Yankees if you’re a Boston Red Sox fan, and vice versa. The same goes for the Dallas Cowboys and Washington Redskins, Michigan and Ohio State and those originators of the shotgun formation, the Hatfields and McCoys.

But who hates the Green Bay Packers?

Steeped in tradition and often viewed through a prism of sepia-tone nostalgia, the Packers have succeeded against all odds in a tiny and remote market, in a 50-year-old (albeit renovated) stadium with aluminum bench seats, in an era of unfettered free agency and corporate greed.

OK, if you’re a Seahawks fan, you’re not feeling all warm and fuzzy about Brett Favre and Al Harris right about now. “We want the ball and we’re going to score!” might be old news, but the sting lingers.

Really, though, do you hate the Packers?

Not if you know anything about the history of the National Football League. Not if you’ve seen those grainy images of the 1967 “Ice Bowl” and Bart Starr’s fateful quarterback sneak on the frozen tundra of Lambeau Field. Not if you admire the principles on which Vince Lombardi built a dynasty.

Not if you pull for the underdog.

In Wisconsin, there is no other option. You are born into Packerdom here. Your great-grandfather cheered for Curly Lambeau and Don Hutson, your grandpa for Paul Hornung and Willie Wood, your dad for James Lofton and Lynn Dickey. Every kid on your block owns a No. 4 jersey.

What makes the Packers special? Start with the fact that there are 112,015 owners, the vast majority of whom hold one share of stock. Formed in the NFL’s primordial mist in 1919, the Packers became a non-profit entity four years later and remain the only publicly owned team among the major professional sports.

The most recent stock sale, in 1998, netted 106,000 new “owners” who paid $200 per share (and sent $24 million straight to the team’s bottom line) for certificates that are basically worthless. The stock never pays dividends or appreciates in value. But the emotional investment is priceless. When general manager Ted Thompson signs a free agent, the fans can thump their chests and say, “I helped bring that guy to Green Bay.” And it’s true.

Of course, Bob Harlan, who has run the Packers for 19 years, first as president and CEO and more recently as chairman of the board, has a stake in the team. He, too, owns exactly one share of stock…

Did we mention that Harlan answers his own telephone? There is no administrative assistant to run interference, no automated maze to negotiate. You’ve got a beef with the injured cornerback or the price of tickets, you go straight to the top dog.

The fact that the Packers can even exist in a city of 100,000 is a minor miracle, due in equal parts to fan loyalty throughout the state and revenue sharing in the NFL. Los Angeles can’t support a team but this little frozen outpost can? It’s one of the mysteries of the universe.

It helps that not much ever happens in Green Bay, other than what occurs at 1265 Lombardi Ave. Lambeau Field — notice, no naming rights — is the city’s corporate and social epicenter, its source of civic pride, its very heart and soul.

The nearest NCAA Division I football team is 2 1/2 hours away at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and Milwaukee is 115 miles to the south, so the Packers are the only game in town.

Their reach extends north into Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, south into Chicago Bears turf and west clear to the Dakotas (the team had a 40-year head start on the Minnesota Vikings). And that doesn’t count the fans who have relocated or the ones Harlan likens to the “Notre Dame subway alumni.”

“People call me and say, ‘I’m a lifelong Packers fan and someday I’d love to see Lambeau Field,’ ” Harlan said. “They’ve never even been here.”

On game days, the far-flung Cheeseheads converge on Green Bay and fill the Lambeau parking lot hours before kickoff. First-time visitors are blown away by the passion, creativity and dedication of the tailgaters. There’s nothing quite like the smell of 10,000 bratwursts sizzling on 1,000 grills and the sight of footballs spiraling through 10-degree air.

The Packers-Seahawks game will mark the 268th consecutive sellout at Lambeau, including playoffs. That’s every single game since 1960. The waiting list for season tickets is at 76,800. With an average of 70 fans per year giving up their seats, the guy at the end of the list will have to wait 1,000 years, give or take a few decades, for his name to come up.

Season-ticket holders live in all 50 states and several foreign countries, including Japan. Domo arrigato.

The obsession with the team is such that the 10 p.m. TV newscasts in Milwaukee and Green Bay are dominated by Packers developments. The long snapper has an ingrown toenail? That leads the sports report. The price of beer is going up at Lambeau? That’s the top story.

Brett Favre retires? We don’t even want to think about that one.

The Packers have won 12 championships, more than any other NFL franchise, and three Super Bowl titles. The team has sent 21 players to the Hall of Fame. Green Bay city streets are named after former players and coaches, including Mike Holmgren.

But it’s not about all that.

It’s about a unique relationship between a professional sports franchise and its fans.

It’s about people feeling they’re a part of something special, something unique, something good.

The Packers don’t need throwback jerseys to evoke their glorious past.

In all the ways that count, it’s still 1965 here. And always will be.

Weekly Spread Picks - Conference Championships

Packers vs Giants (-7.5) Packers 41 - Giants 10 (look below for an explanation).

Before the playoffs, I picked Wash to beat Seattle. But I noted the following in case Seattle ended up winning that game:
“*Note: If the NYG beat TB and SEA ends up playing GB, then the NYG will beat Dallas in Dallas and then come to GB for the conference championship, and lose by 30.”

Because accountability is more important at Packergeeks than being right, I will have to hold to this prediction, Packers by 30. Despite the potentially neutralizing cold conditions and other factors like the Giants actually being pretty good now, it still wouldn’t be right for me to now unpredict, as it were (interesting that you can’t “unpredict” something, but something can be unpredictable), a blowout. So, I have to come up with ways that this game could possibly be a blowout:
1) several Giants are frozen to the bench on the opening kickoff leading to an easy run-back for the Packers.
2) the incredible inconsistency the Giants exhibited throughout the season, even within games, catches up to them and they have an ironic meltdown in 0 degree weather;
4) Eli’s inner-wuss just can’t handle the pressure and the cold - his passes are way off target and cameras pick up tears frozen to a loser face;
5) Sterling Sharpe is added to the Packers roster shortly before gametime and nobody can tackle him because he’s super strong AND fat now;
6) after the first bad thing that happens to the Giants, Coughlin’s bewildered, almost-cross-eyed look goes fully cross-eyed leaving him unable to contribute as a coach;
7) an accidental illegal hands-to-the-face by Tauscher ends up pushing Strahan’s top front teeth together making him leave the game so he can pursue the ladies with his newfound, spaceless smile. The Packers dominate on offense, defense and special teams. (Out of concern for my masculinity/credibility, I need to note that I did NOT put a smiley face here for #8 - the computer won’t let me change it. I initially entered a #8 and don’t know why there is a smiley face - if anyone knows how to correct this let me know asap. I decided to edit this entry and put in this disclaimer so that Packergeeks readers aren’t concerned about Packergeeks authors and their ability to love NFL football while simultaneously using smiley faces).

SD @ NE (-13.5). New England 31 - San Diego 24.
NE will win this game, but SD will put in a hard-fought effort. Lots of trash talking in this one. One sneaky player who could make a difference is Comrartie. He has game and could be a difference maker in pass coverage, intercepting the ball and/or kick returns. While I agree with Bedard at jsonline.com re the Giant’s dirty play, I think NE is the worst in the league at this. Vince Wilfork is the dirtiest player in the NFL (eye poke and JP Losman injury prime examples), with Junior Seau, Bruschi and Harrison also hitting questionably late and unnecessarily. Oh, and Belichick cheats. This is the kind of game that could devolve into fighting and some ugliness. I’d root for SD, but Rivers makes it hard with all the trash talking he does - and he’s not even that good. If Volek plays, I’ll root hard for SD.