Green Bay Update
by Jeff Ash, jeffash@netnet.net
Saturday, December 9, 2000
"Green Bay update, Saturday 12/9"
Greetings from Green Bay on a clear, cold night with the stars out and 4
inches of light, feathery snow covering the yard.
This update is going to be a short one, partly because it's coming late at
night and partly because I have to spend today getting our house ready for
window replacement on Monday if I want to have any chance of watching the
Packers on Sunday.
-- The Packers (6-7) play the Lions (8-5) at noon Sunday at Lambeau Field.
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. This 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 weather forecast from Keith, our longtime Update
meteorologist in Norman, Okla.: Cloudy and cold, with a chance of light
snow. High around 28. Light and variable wind, becoming north to northeast
at 10 mph in the afternoon. Chance of snow 60 percent. If you are
traveling, try to avoid Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning. Conditions
will worsen by then. For updates, check Keith's web site
(http://www.galstar.com/~kbrews/packwx).
Here is Keith's take on the game:
The Packers play on borrowed time,
As December comes with snow and rime;
Not mourning the loss,
Of their Bobby Ross,
The Lions find its Moeller's time.
-- The Packers kept their distant playoff hopes alive with a 28-6 win over a
dreadful Bears team last Sunday. The Packers still need to win all the rest
of their games and get lots of help from other teams to have a chance for
the playoffs. If they run the table, the Packers would hold the tiebreaker
over 4 to 5 of the 9 teams they need to catch to make the playoffs. They
couldn't pass the Vikings or Giants, and would need help to pass the Rams,
Saints and Panthers. They'd be OK against the Lions, Bucs, Eagles and
Redskins. I think.
-- The Lions practiced outside for about an hour on Monday and Wednesday to
get ready for the cold at Lambeau Field. The Packers, who practice inside,
seemed amused. A quote from SS LeRoy Butler: "We feel like it's our element.
We're used to it. We look forward to it. When it is cold, we play a lot
looser, a lot more reckless." A quote from RG Marco Rivera: "Our type of
weather. We'll all have bare arms. It kind of sends a little message, 'It's
not bothering us and I see, it's bothering you.' "
-- Injury update: Rookie DT Steve Warren had surgery on Friday to repair the
torn quadriceps above his right knee. He'll be out until training camp next
July, as will DT Santana Dotson, who has the same injury. The torn quad is
such a rare injury that the only other Packers player believed to have had
one in the last 20 years was CB Mike McCoy in 1983. ... Rookie LB Na'il
Diggs is expected to return on Sunday against the Lions after missing the
last 3 games with a badly sprained left ankle. ... C Frank Winters has a
badly strained right bicep, but he insists he'll play as usual on Sunday.
... RB Ahman Green bruised his right knee against the Bears, but put on a
brace and kept playing with no apparent ill effects. He sat out Wednesday's
practice to rest, but will play as usual. ... WR Antonio Freeman is slowed
by a strain in the middle of his back. ... CB Tyrone Williams sat out
Thursday's practice with a sore hamstring that's been bothering him at times
all season, but will play as usual on Sunday. ... CB Mike McKenzie is still
slowed by a sore left knee, but is playing. ... Doesn't look as if WR Corey
Bradford will be back this season. He's still struggling with a sprain and
loose cartilage in his right knee. ... TE Tyrone Davis continues to struggle
with the torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder, so Ryan Wetnight is
playing more.
-- The Packers replaced Warren on the roster with DT David Richie, who spent
the 1st month of the season with the Jaguars, then was cut. Since then, he's
been running his excavation company in Washington. He's 27, 6-4, 290, a
third-year player out of Washington. He's wearing No. 99. Don't be surprised
if he plays against the Lions. With Warren and Dotson out, the Packers are
scrambling on the line. Look for Cletidus Hunt and Russell Maryland to play
more than usual, with Billy Lyon and perhaps even DE Vonnie Holliday playing
inside to spell them. The Packers worked out 4 free agents before settling
on Richie, but didn't consider Gilbert Brown or any of the DTs who were cut
in training camp, such as Ron Moore or Jermaine Smith.
-- Backup S Scott McGarrahan was fined $6,600 for missing 2 meetings and
being late for a 3rd on Wednesday. He said he overslept. He missed an 8:30
a.m. special teams meeting, a brief team meeting that followed and was late
for the defensive backs meeting after that. He was at practice at noon as
usual, though. The 1st meeting cost him $600. Each of the next 2 meetings
cost him $3,000 each.
-- K Ryan Longwell's return doesn't seem to be such a sure thing anymore.
He's a free agent after the season and likely will command a contract along
the lines of the Colts' Mike Vanderjagt, whose 5-year deal averages $1.55
million a year and included a $1.6 million signing bonus. Such a deal may be
too expensive for the Packers, who are still about $6 million over next
year's salary cap.
-- The Packers are close to finishing the lease for the renovated Lambeau
Field, and hope to start work next month. The blueprints for the 1st phase
of the work are out for contractors. It's a 629-page package. Blueprints for
an average house are about 10 pages, and the blueprints for the original
Lambeau Field were just 22 pages. If you'd like a copy of the renovation
blueprints, they're being sold by Green Bay Blueprint at (920) 468-7233. No
word on the cost, but I suspect if you have to ask, you can't afford it.
-- Here's how the project will proceed: Next year, the frame for the
Titletown atrium and the west-side tower with new luxury boxes will go up.
In 2002, the offices and locker rooms will move into the atrium, the old
administration building will be torn down and the stadium bowl will be
expanded. In 2003, work in the stadium bowl and both end zones will be
finished.
-- The Green Bay Press-Gazette is gathering fans' favorite memories of
Lambeau Field, to be published before the last game on Christmas Eve. If you
want to participate, keep it to 300 words and include your name, address and
phone number so they can contact you if needed. Send your stories to
localnews@greenbaypressgazette.com
-- This week's viewer mail consists only of this, from Bob in the Twin
Cities, further investigating the matter of glitter in the Packers' helmets:
"I studied this a little closer during the Bears game. I'm definitely seeing
glitter. Maybe it doesn't come across on analog TV, but it definitely does
on DSS. Not all the players have glitter helmets yet. The 'stars' do.
Brett, Green, Freeman, Santana, Butler, etc. Most of the linemen" don't yet.
Very curious." Well, I have to admit that I just don't see it, but it's
possible. As always, you be the judge.
As always, your questions and comments are welcome at the new address:
jeffash@new.rr.com
Adventures with Evan: Well, that 2nd lower front tooth finally came out, and
a new tooth is already on his way in right next to it, where the 1st tooth
came out. ... The kindergarten classes from Webster School walked a couple
of blocks over to the nursing home on Friday morning to sing Christmas
carols. Evan found himself in the back row and thus wasn't too interested in
the proceedings. So the teachers moved him to the edge near the front. Then
he got with the program, more or less. Let's just say he practices a lot
better than he performs. ... With Janet off to Chicago for the day and me
off to work later this afternoon, Evan is looking forward to his 1st
sleepover, at his cousin Jeremiah's house on the other side of town. Evan,
who turns 6 at the end of January, is about a year and a half older than
Jeremiah and always looks forward to the opportunity to be the big cousin.
This week's soundtrack: "Soul Christmas," a 1991 collection from the
Atlantic/Atco vaults; and "Frosty the Bluesman," by Michael Powers, a
Seattle jazz and blues guitarist.
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. 'Tis the season
for that, you know.
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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