Green Bay Update
by Jeff Ash, jeffash@netnet.net
Friday, September 29, 2000
"Green Bay update, Friday 9/29"
Greetings from Green Bay on a warm, sunny morning much too nice to be
sitting inside.
-- The Packers (2-2) play the Bears (0-4) at 3:05 p.m. Sunday at Lambeau
Field. It'll be televised regionally on Fox, with Curt Menefee and Brian
Baldinger 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.: Cloudy, breezy and mild with breaks of sunshine. Chance
of an afternoon shower or thunderstorm after rain Saturday night. High in
the upper 60s. Southwest wind 15-20 mph. Chance of rain during the game: 30
percent. For updates, check Keith's web site
(http://www.galstar.com/~kbrews/packwx).
And, as always, Keith's take on the game:
Though the offense looked rather sleek,
And the opponent seems somewhat meek,
'Tis no time to demur,
As one can be sure,
Things can get rough in Bear week.
-- Last week, the Packers beat the Cardinals 29-3 at Sun Devil Stadium in
Tempe, Ariz. Nice performances all around, especially by K Ryan Longwell,
who tied Chris Jacke's record of 5 FGs in a game, and by at least 20,000
Packers fans, who took over the place when the Packers took over the game.
Must have been huge fun, but folks apparently were too toasted to file a
postgame report for viewer mail. It was the 1st time the Packers' defense
has gone 2 games without allowing a TD since 1996. The 6 points scored by
the Eagles and Cardinals in the last 2 games are the fewest the Packers
have allowed since 1966.
-- LB Brian Williams is expected to play against the Bears on Sunday. He's
been cracking the books and watching film, trying to learn the new defense,
but that isn't the same as seeing it and doing it on the field. He hasn't
played since tearing the patellar tendon in his right knee last November,
so expect him to be rusty. He's in good shape and is close to last year's
playing weight of 245. The Packers will work him in slowly.
-- DE Vonnie Holliday will miss the Bears game with a badly strained
hamstring. The Packers are describing the injury as "week to week," and it
seems likely that he also may miss the Lions game on Oct. 8. Cletidus Hunt,
who has been playing well, will start in his place. Billy Lyon, who usually
backs up Holliday, returned to practice this week after spraining his right
knee and will be available only for part-time duty on Sunday.
-- Otherwise, no new injuries of note. C Frank Winters returned to practice
Thursday after missing last week's game with a strained Achilles tendon. He
may play Sunday. ... RB Dorsey Levens didn't practice Wednesday or Thursday
because of a nagging ankle injury and a little pain in his left knee, the
latter a leftover of his arthroscopic surgery in August. He'll play Sunday.
Coach Mike Sherman concedes that he may have used Levens a bit too much in
the last 2 weeks, but adds: "We're a different team when he's out there."
... LB Nate Wayne has a hip pointer and may see only spot duty against the
Bears. ... CB Antuan Edwards, still bothered by a sprained knee, likely
won't be back until the Lions game. ... RT Earl Dotson, who had back
surgery last week, has started 2 to 4 weeks of light rehabilitation. Then
he'll do more intense work for another week or so. After that, the Packers
will have a better idea of whether to keep him on the roster or put him on
IR. ... The Packers are hoping to get CB Mike McKenzie and WR Corey
Bradford back for the 49ers game on Oct. 15. McKenzie tore cartilage in his
left knee in the opener and Bradford broke his left leg in mid-August. If
they're not ready by then, the bye week follows, so it could be the Oct. 29
game against the Dolphins.
-- The Packers are carrying so many injured players on the roster that 3rd
QB Danny Wuerffel is usually the only healthy player on the inactive list
for each week's game.
-- RB Basil Mitchell, who disagreed with the Packers over being put on
injured reserve, was waived Thursday with an injury settlement. He believes
he can play again this season, and is free to sign with another team after
an undisclosed period of time. He was paid for the number of games he
likely would have missed had he not been on IR. The Packers have a crowd at
RB, with rookie Herbert Goodman on the roster and De'Mond Parker eligible
to come off the physically unable to perform list after the Lions game.
-- The Packers made a move to improve the depth on the defensive line,
re-signing DT Chuck Osborne on Tuesday. The Packers got him in a trade with
the Raiders in late August, but he flunked his physical with a groin pull.
He's healed now. Osborne is 26, 6-2, 300, a 5th-year player. He'll be a
backup for Santana Dotson, replacing Hunt, who is spending most of his time
at DE. To make room for Osborne on the roster, backup T Barry Stokes was
cut.
-- Just before they left for Arizona, the Packers re-signed G Raleigh
McKenzie to be a backup on the line. He got to Green Bay just in time to
catch the plane, then played 1 snap against the Cardinals in relief of
starting C Mike Flanagan. Winters' injury left the Packers thin at C.
-- To make room for McKenzie, the Packers cut TE Kaseem Sinceno. Needing a
little insurance there, the Packers re-signed TE Adam Newman to the
practice squad on Tuesday. He was with the team in training camp, but was
released in the last round of cuts. He's 6-5, 248, a rookie out of Boston
College. G Tom Schau, signed just last week, was cut to make room for
Newman.
-- Hoping to get them ready for another Packers-Bears game, Sherman showed
the players a 5-minute video of highlights of the rivalry, with action
dating to the 1940s. A quote from Sherman: "I challenged them. I said,
'People say the young adults or whatever you want to call these guys don't
have a whole lot of respect for tradition.' But I think we do. That's part
of being a Packer, that you do respect that tradition."
-- Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush and his entourage crashed
the Packers' closed practice while campaigning in town on Thursday. Sherman
seemed vaguely irritated at the surprise visit, but was understanding. Bush
threw a short, wobbly pass to TE Bubba Franks, who also hails from Texas. A
quote from QB Brett Favre: "He can get Bubba to catch and run the right
route." Favre gave Bush a team jacket and said "Thanks for getting me out
of practice."
-- Remember when the Bears' Bryan Robinson blocked Longwell's last-second
FG try in last November's game at Lambeau Field? The Bears put a picture of
it on the cover of their media guide. In doing so, they doctored the
picture to have all of Robinson's hand blocking the ball, when he got it
with his fingertips only. A quote from Longwell's holder, QB Matt
Hasselbeck: "Hopefully, it's a motivating factor for our FG team."
-- SS LeRoy Butler missed Wednesday's practice after the death of his
father. They'd been estranged for most of Butler's life, but recently had
reconciled.
-- Remember LB Paul Rudzinski, who played for the Packers from 1978 to
1980? His son, John, is a solid, intense, physical 6-2, 225-pound FB and LB
-- and straight-A student -- for Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay. He's
being recruited by Division I schools, including some Big Ten schools, who
see him at LB.
Finally, a farewell to Milwaukee County Stadium
-- Willie Davis, Fuzzy Thurston, Jim Taylor and John Anderson represented
the Packers at the ceremony closing County Stadium after the Brewers-Reds
game on Thursday afternoon. Bart Starr and Jerry Kramer couldn't make it,
nor could Favre. Team president Bob Harlan watched from the box seats.
Most of the ceremony focused on the Braves and the Brewers, but we'll let
some of our Update readers share their memories of the Packers at County
Stadium:
-- "Otto" in Mount Prospect, Ill., recalls the Packers' last game at County
Stadium, against the Falcons on Dec. 18, 1995: "I was one of six ticketless
guys who rendezvoused in at the stadium from Lodi, Madison, Milwaukee,
Appleton and Illinois. John brought a case of Old Milwaukee to the
tailgater in recognition of the last Packer game at County Stadium. 45
minutes before game time, grill extinguished, we left the lot and each
scored tickets walking to the stadium for no more than $15 over face. We
regrouped inside at a point probably as far as possible from what turned
out to be Favre's winning run. We heard the roar of the crowd and knew what
happened."
-- Scott in Madison recalls this Dec. 6, 1992, game against the Lions: "One
of my favorite memories of County Stadium is when Sterling Sharpe caught a
long pass and sprinted down the field toward the end zone (the one with the
stands cutting across the corner). A light snow had been falling, obscuring
most of the field. Sharpe reached the end zone and stopped, only to have a
defender run up and hit him from behind, knocking the ball loose. A
scramble ensued and Sterling was able to recover the ball in the end zone.
He finally realized that he had originally stopped just short of the goal
line. I can still remember the sheepish grin on his face as he stood there
looking embarrassed, like a mischievous little kid."
-- Jim in Kansas City agrees: "Snow is falling, the field is covered and
Sterling Sharpe catches a long pass for an apparent touchdown ... or is it?
Sterling, thinking he's in the end zone, gracefully drops the ball at the
5-yard line in celebration. After 54,000 fans wake him up, he quickly picks
up the ball and high-steps in, avoiding Lions defenders grasping at his
ankles."
-- Joe in Malibu, Calif., shares this, also from 1992, when he covered the
Packers for a Sturgeon Bay radio station: "Favre led the Packers to their
first 6-game winning streak in years. In the middle of it, Ron Wolf told
me: 'In time the locker room will be his locker room, and in time this team
will be his team.' Wolf made those comments after the then-23 year-old QB
had led Green Bay to a 27-24 win over the Eagles at Milwaukee County
Stadium (on Nov. 15), despite playing the final half with a dislocated left
shoulder. (It was the 1st win in the streak.) I'll never forget Favre
showing up at the postgame press conference, looking like he'd just been in
a car accident, one arm in a sling, the other hanging limply at his side.
Why hadn't he let himself be taken out of the game? His answer was simple.
Everytime the pain started to get to him, he just looked over at Majkowski
warming up on the sidelines. He'd worked hard to keep the starting job
after taking it away from the Magic Man and he wasn't about to give it
back." (That's an excerpt from the Packers pages on Joe's web site at
home.earthlink.net
Finally, this from Bill in Minneapolis: "Having grown up in New Berlin, my
family happened to have season tickets to the Milwaukee games, and when I
was 8 years old, I got to attend my first Packer game on Nov. 14, 1965,
against the Los Angeles Rams. ... The most exciting game I attended there
was also against the Rams, but this one was the 1967 divisional playoff
game (on Dec. 23), which the Packers won 28-7, one week before the Ice Bowl
game. What made this game especially memorable was the pregame
introductions. The crowd overpowered the PA announcer when Bart Starr was
introduced. ... The most bizarre game I attended was against the 49ers,
sometime in the late 60s, I just don't remember the year, but it had to be
a December game (probably Dec. 4, 1966), because it started to sleet
heavily during the 3rd quarter. Near the end of the game, the baseball
infield was glare ice, and the Packers were driving toward the north end
zone. A running play was called around the left end, and the 49ers stopped
the play. However, the pile of bodies hit this patch of ice, and just kept
going. In fact, the referee was standing in the path of the sliding pile of
humanity, and he fell on top of the pile when it slid into him. A truly
priceless moment."
I saw only 1 game at County Stadium, the Oct. 21, 1984, game against the
Seahawks, then led by QB Dave Krieg, with whom I went to high school. The
Seahawks won, and I remember almost nothing about the game, probably
because of my enthusiastic intake of beer that day. My lingering memory is
of sitting high in the upper deck along the 1st-base side, seemingly miles
from the field. I went to many Brewers games at County Stadium in the '70s
and '80s, but I don't believe I ever had as bad a seat as I had for that
Packers game.
And now, the rest of the viewer mail:
-- Dave in Phoenix sends a reminder that items from County Stadium,
including some Packers-related stuff, are being auctioned at
countystadium.com
-- Jim in Dallas has a busy couple of weeks on the road. He's in La Crosse
for Oktoberfest and in Green Bay for the Bears game this weekend, and will
be in Denver next weekend. He's seeking "a good place ... to watch the
Packers" next weekend. If you have a suggestion, he's at
jreynen62@hotmail.com
As always, your questions and comments are welcome at jeffash@netnet.net
Adventures with Evan: Last week's mention of our daily walk to and from
Webster School brought back some nice memories for our friend Stephanie in
Madison, who also grew up in the neighborhood. She also remembers stepping
on the crabapples in the church parking lot and says "Our other favorite
was to walk under the church canopy, not around. Wait 'til Evan starts
riding his bike through here." I shared Stephanie's story with Evan as we
walked home one day this week. He agreed that the parking lot would be a
safe place to ride his bike -- "But not on Sunday!" he insisted -- and I
could see him pondering the possibility of doing so.
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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