Green Bay Update
by Jeff Ash, jeffash@netnet.net
Friday, September 15, 2000
"Green Bay update, Friday 9/15"
Greetings from Green Bay on a morning on which I find freshly baked,
made-from-scratch oatmeal raisin cookies cooling on one of the sports
sections needed to write this. A pleasant problem to have.
-- The Packers (0-2) play the Eagles (1-1) at noon Sunday at Lambeau Field.
It's NFL alumni weekend, sort of a homecoming game. It'll be televised
regionally on Fox, with Kenny Albert and Tim Green on the call. It'll also
be on the Packer Radio Network, with Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren on
the call. Radio coverage is available for free on the Internet, with the
game broadcasts offered via the Packers' web site (http://www.packers.com)
and 3 hours each of pregame and postgame programming offered via WTMJ radio
in Milwaukee (http://www.wtmj.com or 620wtmj.com).
-- Here's the early forecast from Keith, our longtime Update meteorologist
in Norman, Okla.: Welcome to fall. Mostly sunny and cool. High in the
mid-60s after a chilly morning with lows in the upper 30s. Light wind. For
updates, check Keith's web site (http://www.galstar.com/~kbrews/packwx).
And, as always, Keith's take on the game:
In a keep-up-with-the-Joneses event,
The citizens of Brown County went,
And did what Ray would do,
They upset the tea party crew,
And now must pony up one-half percent.
-- Indeed, there will be a renovated Lambeau Field. Brown County voters on
Tuesday approved a 0.5 percent sales tax to help pay for the project. More
on that later.
-- Last week, the Packers lost 27-18 to the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium
in Orchard Park, N.Y. Nice performances by WR Antonio Freeman, who came up
big after the coaches started running more plays for him in the 2nd half;
DE John Thierry, who shows good, quick pursuit down the line despite
nagging knee and shoulder problems; FS Darren Sharper, who continues to
play well; and P Josh Bidwell, who improved his hang time and didn't allow
the Bills much of a return all day.
-- RB Dorsey Levens is back at practice. He practiced without pain on
Wednesday and may play Sunday if his left knee doesn't flare up. The
coaches wants to see how it goes over 3 days of practice. If Levens plays,
he'll likely split time with Ahman Green, who still isn't fully recovered
from his right knee sprain. Green will continue to wear a brace on the knee
for a couple of weeks. ... Backup RB Basil Mitchell continues to be
bothered by a bruised knee and probably won't play Sunday. ... That rookie
RB Herbert Goodman got only 1 carry against the Bills suggests that the
Packers are more comfortable going with the veterans.
-- CB Antuan Edwards is out for at least a week with a sprained medial
collateral ligament in his left knee. Tod McBride will start at left
cornerback, with S Scott McGarrahan becoming the 5th DB for the nickel pass
defense and S Gary Berry becoming the 6th DB for the dime pass defense.
Regular starter Mike McKenzie will be out another 3 to 5 weeks after having
his left knee scoped. With Berry as the dime back, there's no one left as a
backup, so the Packers are taking a long look at practice-squad CB Jason
Moore this week. If he's activated, someone else will have to go. They're
also giving kick returner Allen Rossum some work at CB, where he
occasionally played for the Eagles.
-- It looks like RT Earl Dotson is done for the season. He again has
herniated a disc in his lower back and again will have arthroscopic surgery
to repair it. He went down on the 2nd play from scrimmage in the Bills
game. There's some concern that the injury may end his career, but that
won't be known until after the surgery, which likely will take place late
this week or early next week. Rookie Mark Tauscher takes over as the
starter. That leaves the Packers a little thin on the line, with just Barry
Stokes and Chad Clifton as backups at T.
-- DT Billy Lyon left Wednesday's practice with a minor knee injury. DT
Santana Dotson and DE John Thierry sat out the practice. Both have sore
knees.
-- WR Corey Bradford had the cast removed from his broken left leg on
Wednesday, but won't be able to start running until next week at the
earliest. He'd hoped to be back for the Bears game on Oct. 1, but he won't
be back until mid-October.
-- Coach Mike Sherman says the offense's struggles are being caused by
injuries to key players and inconsistency in execution. It is not, as some
folks are suggesting, because of lousy play-calling by offensive
coordinator Tom Rossley. Sherman says Rossley will continue to call the
plays. A quote from Sherman: "I haven't thought about (taking over the
play-calling), to be honest with you. Tom Rossley called the plays in that
2nd-half (TD) drive (against the Bills). Everybody caught the ball and
blocked and threw and did things pretty well at that point. ... People made
plays. When we make plays, plays are good. When we don't make plays,
they're not very good." Sherman did acknowledge that the Packers have to be
better on 3rd down. They were 2-of-12 on 3rd down against the Bills,
including 0-for-3 on the run.
-- The reporters who cover the Packers for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
have a couple of online chat sessions each week, and there's usually some
good insight. One chat session is right after each week's game, with
another early in the week. You can find the schedules and transcripts at
jsonline.com
And now, the stadium issue:
-- The Lambeau Field vote was 53-47 in favor of the 0.5 percent tax to help
pay for the renovation and expansion of Lambeau Field. The unofficial vote:
48,788 for, 42,580 against. There was a 57 percent turnout, a record for a
primary election in Brown County.
-- Far from assured of approval, the Packers and their supporters lobbied
furiously right up to the end. Packers president Bob Harlan and VP John
Jones skipped the trip to Buffalo for Sunday's game and went door-to-door
on the weekend before the vote. The campaign was especially wearing on
Harlan, whose mother died recently after a long, difficult illness. He has
aged visibly. Harlan, who turned 64 last week, now says he may not stay on
as Packers president until he's 70, which he's said previously. One last
campaign story: When Jones went to vote Tuesday, he was voter No. 66 at his
polling place. A quote from Jones, who in 1974 was hired by the late Ray
Nitschke to edit his Packer Report: "I thought, 'Oh, my God. Ray, if that's
you, please be with us. We need to win.' "
-- Tom Content of the Green Bay Press-Gazette wrote a terrific analysis of
how the Packers almost blew the deal by misreading and underestimating the
people of Brown County. You'll find it on the Press-Gazette web site at the
URL listed below. It appeared in the paper on Sept. 13.
-- The tax goes into effect Nov. 1. It will fund $160 million in bonds or a
loan for construction. It'll be paid off by 2012 or 2013 at a total cost of
$262 million to $334 million.
-- How the $295 million project breaks down: The Packers will pony up
$125.9 million, most of it -- $92.5 million -- from the seat license fees
of $1,400 per Green Bay ticket and $600 per Milwaukee ticket. (The Packers
are working on payment plans, so ticket holders won't have to pay in a lump
sum.) The Packers also have $20.4 million from the 1997-98 stock sale and
will get a $13 million loan from the NFL. The state is expected to provide
$9.1 million in transportation money for street work near the stadium, but
legislators are already arguing about that. Naming rights can be sold for
at least $120 million by the 2003 season, with the city and the Packers
splitting it 50-50.
-- The Packers hope to break ground in January, but have plenty of work to
do before then. They must negotiate a 30-year lease with the city-county
stadium board. Construction plans and some architectural work need to be
finalized. Some parts of the design could change, perhaps even be scaled
back, as the project progresses. A quote from Harlan: "Some of this will be
different as we're going along. We're not just going to reach for the
stars. We want something that's going to work for 30-plus years for the
fans, and for the organization."
-- If work starts on time, the Packers hope to have it done for the 2003
season. The Packers will continue to play at Lambeau Field as usual while
the work is under way. Most of the work will be during during the
offseason, from January to July. There will be a new red brick exterior,
but still the same aluminum bleacher seats. Of the 10,000 new seats, 4,000
will go to Brown County residents on a single-game basis. The number of
club seats will more than triple, to 6,260 from 1,920. There will be 167
skyboxes, with the price of each doubling, to $61,984 from $30,000. The
so-called Titletown atrium will have the Packer Hall of Fame, Packers Pro
Shop and a stadium club restaurant and food court. The project also will
expand the lower concourse, add an upper concourse, add and improve
bathrooms and add concession areas.
Now, finally, the viewer mail:
-- Dave also will be at the Packers-Cardinals game in Tempe, Ariz., on
Sept. 24. He's organizing a weekend full of activities for 80 people, but
he says there's still room for more. He also says he has some extra
tickets. The activities include a Friday golf outing, Saturday volleyball,
Saturday night party and a Sunday tailgate. For more information, he's at
Dave.Peck@kla-tencor.com
-- Speaking of road trips and parties, Jill is helping to organize the UW
Alumni Club of South Florida's tailgate party before the Packers-Dolphins
game on Oct. 29 in Miami. Jill says "we are still taking orders for game
tickets ($40 per person) and tailgate ($5 per person, location to be
announced)." For more information, she's at Jill.Krynicki@kornferry.com
As always, your viewer mail, questions and comments are welcome at
jeffash@netnet.net
Adventures with Evan: We are off on one of our grand adventures this
weekend, heading up to Duluth, Minn., for the NorthShore Inline Marathon.
Evan loves traveling, and is looking forward to the new aquarium on
Duluth's lakefront, which is our Saturday afternoon destination. On our
return Sunday, we'll stop in Eau Claire to visit friends, and Evan will be
in hog heaven with his buddies David and Daniel. But we fully expect a
major tizz when we announce it is time to leave not long after the
Packers-Eagles game ends. It is, after all, a school night. ... Evan is
still not thrilled at walking to school. He was so poky on Thursday morning
that we had to run to school. The good news is that he seemed to enjoy that
more than walking.
This week's sources: Green Bay Press-Gazette (http://www.packersnews.com or
greenbaypressgazette.com), Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
(http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/) and Packers (http://www.packers.com)
web pages. Check the Packers' current roster at
packers.com
-- If you wish to show your appreciation for these Packers updates,
volunteer or make a donation to the charity of your choice. Thanks as
always to Janet for saving the papers and to Scott for providing the mail
service and the web space on South End Zone.
Thanks, Jeff
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