Does anyone read these things, or am I just wasting my time? Go PACKERS!
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Greetings from Green Bay, where a soft rain and a cool north breeze is
interrupting a long string of sunny, mild, pleasant days.
-- Training camp has started. Rookies and 1st-year free agents are going
through closed workouts through Friday. Veterans report Friday. Everyone is
tested for fitness and strength on Saturday.
Practice is open to the public starting Sunday, weather permitting. They
likely will be at 8:45 a.m. and 2:30 or 2:45 p.m. each day. The morning
practice is usually the longest and the best to watch. The afternoon practice
can be as short as an hour, and is for special teams twice a week. If it
rains, practice moves inside the Don Hutson Center, and is closed to the
public. There may be only 1 practice, or perhaps none, on Sundays in July.
That said, here's the preseason schedule, with practice schedules based on
coach Mike Holmgren's previous training camp routines:
-- Friday, July 25 -- Probably only one practice in the morning.
-- Saturday, July 26 -- Dolphins at Lambeau Field, 5:30 p.m. (Packers TV
network in Wisconsin only; Milwaukee ticket holders)
-- Sunday, July 27 -- No practice.
-- Wednesday, July 30 -- Probably only one practice in the morning.
-- Thursday, July 31 -- Patriots at Lambeau Field, 7 p.m. (nationally
telecast on ESPN; Green Bay ticket holders)
-- Friday, Aug. 1 -- No practice.
-- Thursday, Aug. 7 -- Probably only one practice in the morning; perhaps
none if the Packers travel today.
-- Friday, Aug. 8 -- Raiders at Oakland, 9 p.m. (Packers TV network in
Wisconsin only)
-- Saturday, Aug. 9 -- No practice.
-- Thursday, Aug. 14 -- The last day practices are open to the public.
-- Saturday, Aug. 16 -- Bills at Toronto, 3 p.m. (nationally telecast on
NBC).
-- Friday, Aug. 22 -- Giants at Camp Randall Stadium, Madison, 7 p.m.
(Packers TV network in Wisconsin only, and virtually sold out)
Later in this update, look for your visitors' guide to training camp.
-- The Packers on Tuesday signed rookie K Brett Conway and rookie LB Anthony
Hicks. No details on either deal, but Hicks reportedly was offered a 3-year
deal.
-- The Packers still have 4 unsigned rookies: T Ross Verba (he wants a 4-year
deal; the Packers want 5 years), S Darren Sharper (he's reportedly been
offered a 3-year deal averaging $418,000 and a $450,000 signing bonus), FB
Jerald Sowell (he's reportedly been offered a 2-year deal) and DT Jermaine
Smith. They can't come to camp until they sign. The Packers' rookie salary
cap is $2,286,044.
-- Former Packers K Chris Jacke signed Tuesday with the Steelers. He replaces
Norm Johnson, who wouldn't take a pay cut from $650,000. If Jacke signed for
less than that, no one is saying.
-- QB Steve Bono is wearing Jacke's old No. 13. Bono got a 2-year, $1.4
million deal from the Packers. It includes a $400,000 signing bonus, a
$450,000 salary this year and a $550,000 salary in 1998.
-- HB James Bostic and undrafted rookie FB Adam Salina have been cut. Bostic
never fully recovered after blowing out his right knee in last year's
preseason game in Baltimore. Both were victims of the Packers' depth at RB.
They'll likely keep only 5 on the final roster. HBs Edgar Bennett and Dorsey
Levens and FB William Henderson are locks, leaving Travis Jervey, Chris
Darkins and rookie Randy Kinder to duke it out for the last HB spot and
rookies Jerald Sowell and Emory Smith to battle for the last FB spot.
-- John Solomon and Dion Foxx, a couple of free agent LBs, also have been
cut.
-- The Packers acquired TE Henry Lusk from the Jets for past considerations.
Lusk is 6-2, 250, and was the Saints' 7th-round pick in 1996. He started 3
games and had 27 catches. He's a good receiver who runs well after the catch,
but he needs lots of work on his blocking. He'll also get a look on special
teams. He was cut by the Saints after the season and picked up by the Jets.
Lusk has a 1-year deal with a $164,000 salary and a $12,500 bonus if he makes
the roster.
-- The Packers also signed DE Tony Daniels as a rookie free agent. He's 6-5,
260, out of Texas Tech. Daniels has a 1-year deal for the rookie minimum of
$131,000.
-- The Packers are still trying to reach a deal with G Jeff Dellenbach. He
hopes to have it done by week's end.
-- CB Tyrone Williams was released from a Lincoln, Neb., jail on July 1 after
serving 126 days on a misdemeanor weapons conviction stemming from a 1994
incident. He's still on 2 years' probation but will be at camp. He's said to
be in good shape, though the Packers' coaches expect him to be a little
rusty, having missed all the minicamps.
-- Bill Nayes is the Packers' new administrative assistant for football
operations. He's 28 and is from Boyd, in western Wisconsin. He spent the last
3 years as a program assistant on the University of Wisconsin coaching staff.
He replaces Gary Reynolds, who becomes the Packers' offensive assistant for
quality control.
-- Nothing new to report on the stock sale. The board of directors met last
week to discuss it. If a new proxy statement was approved, a special
shareholders meeting might take place in early August.
-- The Vince Lombardi postage stamp will be issued at noon Tuesday, Aug. 5,
at the Brown County Expo Centre, between the Packer Hall of Fame and the
Packers' practice field. Special first-day cancellations will be available.
-- The Packer Band will no longer play inside Lambeau Field during games.
Instead, they'll walk the parking lots before the game, playing for fans. The
Packers' spin on this one is amazing. They say it'll make fans and band
members happier because the band has had increasingly fewer opportunities to
play during games. In real life, the Packers' need to play more commercials
on the replay boards during timeouts is squeezing out the band. Too bad. We
have fond memories of the band, and not for anything it played. Janet and I
used to sit in Row 1 right behind the band, and we used to peer over their
shoulders to watch replays on a little TV one of the trombone players put at
his feet.
-- The Packers have cut back on the free tickets given to some media. They
were giving out 250 grandstand seats. Now they'll offer about 50, and that's
still more than some NFL teams. A quote from team president Bob Harlan: "We
had tickets going to radio and television stations that don't even cover us.
They were just using them to see the game." If you're curious, my employer,
the Green Bay Press-Gazette, pays for its season tickets. The folks who cover
the games for us have press box and photo passes.
-- Scott Favre, the older brother of QB Brett Favre, may have to spend only 1
year in prison for violating the terms of his house arrest for manslaughter
while driving under the influence. Mississippi's house arrest law allows for
only the original sentence to be imposed in such an instance. Favre was
sentenced to 15 years in prison with 14 years suspended, 1 year to serve
(originally on house arrest) and 2 years of probation. After the year in
prison, the judge can decide whether Favre should spend any of the 14 years
in prison.
-- Jeff Favre, their younger brother, is opening a tavern on Kelsey Drive in
Muskego, a Milwaukee suburb. It's called the Broke Spoke, just like the bar
in their hometown of Kiln, Miss. Jeff also will work at Brett's new
steakhouse, which opens this fall at 500 N. Water St. in downtown Milwaukee.
-- It's official: Gross Street, a north-south street a long block east of the
Don Hutson Center in Ashwaubenon, has been renamed Holmgren Way. Holmgren
preferred Holmgren Boulevard, but the street doesn't have a median, so
Holmgren Way it is.
-- You never know where you'll see Packers players around town. In the last 2
weeks, we've seen LB George Koonce, strength coach Barry Rubin, rookie FB
Emory Smith and rookie DE Tony Daniels at Schlotzsky's Deli on South Oneida
Street, about a mile and a half south of Lambeau Field.
-- Don Hutson, called by some the greatest Packers player ever, died June 26
in Rancho Mirage, Calif. He was 84, and had been hospitalized for 10 days
with an undisclosed illness. Funeral services were private.
Hutson was 6-1, 180 and had 9.7 speed in the 100-yard dash. He was a receiver
on offense, a safety on defense and a kicker. From 1935 to 1945, he was to
football what Michael Jordan has been to basketball in the last decade,
inventing pass patterns and astonishing fans and players with his speed and
grace on offense. He is in the Pro Football and Packer halls of fame. He is
on the NFL's 50th and 75th anniversary teams.
The Packers won 3 NFL titles with Hutson, and he was back-to-back NFL MVP in
1941 and 1942. He still holds almost 20 Packers records and 11 NFL records.
Hutson's No. 14 is only 1 of 4 numbers retired by the Packers (the others are
Tony Canadeo's 3, Bart Starr's 15 and Ray Nitschke's 66). Look for the
Packers to commemorate his passing in some way this season.
Now, your guide to training camp
-- Expect big crowds. In good weather, most practices take place outside at
the practice field along South Oneida Street just east of Lambeau Field. The
Packers also will use a new practice field on the other side of the Don
Hutson Center, just east of the existing practice field. There is bleacher
seating for about 200 people along Oneida, and it fills up quickly.
Otherwise, you must stand along the chain-link fence. In either case, you are
on a narrow strip of land along a busy 4-lane street. You will see the
players up close, but access to the players is limited to when they arrive
and leave the field. Players allow pictures and autographs only when they are
in the mood. If you want to shoot videos or pictures of the action, you will
be doing so through the chain-link fence unless you stand on the top row of
the bleachers.
-- The newly expanded Packer Hall of Fame is right across the street from
Lambeau Field and just north of the practice field. Its address is 1901 S.
Oneida St., Green Bay, WI 54304. Phone (920) 499-4281. It's open 9 a.m. to 6
p.m. every day during the summer and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day the rest of
the year. It's busiest during training camp.
-- Tours of Lambeau Field are available during the summer only. Stadium tours
are popular, so be sure to buy your tickets at the Hall of Fame early in the
day to ensure that you'll get on a tour when you want. Call the Hall of Fame
number above for more information.
-- The Packers Experience, a new theme park-like attraction mostly for kids,
is open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day through Aug. 3 in the Brown County
Expo Centre, next to the Hall of Fame. You can hit a blocking sled, throw
passes, kick field goals, run a 40-yard dash and so on. It's $7.50 for 12 and
older, $5 for 3 -11 and senior citizens.
-- There are some free Packers attractions, too: A Super Bowl ring will be on
display for a short time at the Packer Pro Shop at Lambeau Field. The
goalposts from Super Bowl XXXI stand outside Damon's Clubhouse, a restaurant
and sports bar at 909 Plymrock Terrace, just off South Oneida Street about a
mile and a half south of Lambeau Field. A small exhibit on the Packers' NFC
and Super Bowl titles and the local celebrations that followed is at the
Neville Public Museum, 210 Museum Place on the west bank of the Fox River
downtown.
-- If you come to Green Bay, you'll find Packers merchandise and souvenirs
available almost everywhere. The Packer Pro Shop and Hall of Fame gift shop
have a few exclusive things, but also carry many items found elsewhere.
Prices go down slightly elsewhere, too. Bay Park Square mall, about a mile
south of Lambeau Field on South Oneida Street, has several stores that carry
Packers stuff.
-- Now, as promised, some of our readers' suggestions on what completes their
trips to Green Bay. Check the phone book when you arrive for addresses.
Thanks to everyone who dropped us a line.
-- Restaurants: By far the most nominations for Kroll's, for hamburgers,
cheeseburgers, shakes and malts (visitors prefer the west side location
across from Lambeau Field; locals prefer the east side location on Main
Street). A fondly recalled second place for hamburgers is Joe Rouer's in
Duvall, a tiny crossroads on Kewaunee County A just off Wisconsin 57 north of
Dyckesville, about 25-minute drive northeast of Green Bay. We agree on both
counts.
Other nominations, in no particular order: Chili John's; Los Banditos
(Mexican); Zeppelin's (subs); Maricque's, Farr's Grove, Kropp's or Rite Place
(Friday night fish fries); Jake's, Sammy's or Frank and Pat's (pizza); Prime
Quarter (steaks); Victoria's (Italian); Titletown Brewing Co. (brewpub); Sue
Ann's Bagels; Simon's Cheese store in Little Chute; Hansen's (ice cream).
-- Taverns: Stadium View sports bar (a long block east of Lambeau Field);
Fuzzy's Shenanigans (on South Monroe Avenue, owned by former Packers G Fuzzy
Thurston, who drops by occasionally); Candlestick Lounge and Maloney's
(downtown); Cock and Bull (a young peoples' bar on Main Street); The Bar
(southeast side).
-- Attractions: The favorite is Bay Beach Park, where about a dozen amusement
park rides cost only 10 to 30 cents each, so $10 can go a long way. Other
nominations, in no particular order: Neville Public Museum; Oneida casino
across from the airport in Ashwaubenon; Door County; Bay Beach Wildlife
Sanctuary; NEW Zoo in Suamico; East Stadium (old City Stadium); St. Norbert
College campus in De Pere; Bay Shore Park near Dyckesville.
-- Shopping for Packers gear: Bay Park Square mall; ShopKo; Wal-Mart; K mart;
antiques and collectibles shops. For the latter, check out Packer City
Antiques, a shop devoted to Packers collectibles in a strip mall just south
of the corner of South Oneida and West Mason streets.
-- The Titletown Trolley, a new summer bus service, can take you to some of
these attractions. Its regular stops are the Hall of Fame, the museum, old
City Stadium, Bay Beach, downtown, Glory Years Bar & Grill (in the Packers'
old downtown headquarters), Hazelwood Historic Home, Heritage Hill State Park
and the National Railroad Museum. It's $2 for an adult day pass and $1 for
students and senior citizens. Kids under 5 are free. It doesn't run on
Mondays, or on the days of the Packers' home preseason games.
And now, viewer mail, starting with fans seeking fans:
-- If you're in the Washington, D.C., area, and you want to get together with
fellow displaced Wisconsinites, Bill invites you to check out the Wisconsin
State Society's web page at geocities.com
-- Julie is moving to St. Louis next month and wants to get in touch with
that area's Packers fan club, especially if it's the gang from Freddy
Froghammers that is planning a trip to Indianapolis. If you can help, she's
at Packrbuni@aol.com
-- Jill in Memphis invites folks to her Packers fan club's gatherings at T.J.
Mulligan's Sports Bar on Quince Road. She explains: "We started because there
were a lot of us Wisconsinites transferred here (a lot from the Jos. Schlitz
Brewing Co). Now the fever has taken over and we have so many people, you
have to get here early to get a seat. We have the beer-and-brat tailgate
parties in the parking lot before the game, and wear all our Packers garb.
Come join in the fun." To learn more, she's at Packrena@aol.com
-- Cindy in Kenosha wants to know the name and address of Mike Holmgren's
restaurant in San Francisco. She and her husband will be there for the season
opener. If you can help, she's at GBPNFLfan@aol.com
-- Mitch in Tijeras, N.M., will be in Columbia, Mo., during the Packers'
preseason opener on July 26, and is seeking a place to watch the game or the
satellite coordinates for the telecast. If you can help, he's at
Mrmathome@aol.com
-- Dick in Cayucos, Calif., is seeking "an article which summarized the high
school coaching career of Mike Holmgren which started poorly but did not
affect his ambitions as a coach." If you can help, he's at dweiss@slonet.org
-- Brian and Lynn, both in Indiana, pass word that the Packers-Colts game in
Indianapolis on Nov. 16 is sold out. The Colts offered individual game
tickets to their season ticket holders, and they bought them all.
-- Matt in St. Paul, Minn., wonders why some Packers games weren't televised
there on Fox, even though the Vikings were blacked out or were being shown on
a different network or at a different time. If the Vikings play at home at
noon, Fox can't show the 2nd game of its doubleheader. It's the same even in
Green Bay. If Fox has a telecast, and the Vikings are blacked out or not
scheduled, I believe it's up to the local Fox station to ask for a certain
game. In short, lobby your local Fox station to air the Packers whenever they
have the option of choosing a game. I believe the folks in Los Angeles
successfully did so last season.
-- Dan in Milwaukee shares this brush with the stars: "On Saturday night, I
was flying back from Salt Lake City to Milwaukee. I had a 3-hour layover in
Las Vegas. I got to Vegas about the time the Tyson-Holyfield fight ended. The
flight from Las Vegas to Milwaukee was pretty full. It was 1:45 a.m. before I
even got on the plane. I glanced forward and saw a familiar-looking face. It
looked like Robert Brooks. Then I saw his distinctive smile and knew that's
exactly who it was. I looked around the cabin and saw that about 3 rows up
and on the other side of the plane, Edgar Bennett and LeRoy Butler were busy
giving Brooks some good-natured ribbing. After we landed in Milwaukee, I was
able to see Leroy's ring. It caught the sun's light (it was 7:15 a.m. in
Milwaukee) and it almost blinded me. I heard another passenger talking to
LeRoy and he confirmed they were in Vegas for the fight. I was never able to
catch up with them. I realized later that when I stowed my luggage, all I
would have had to do was look down and I would have seen Bennett and Butler
and been able to say something. Oh, well, maybe next time."
That's it.
Your questions, comments and e-mail address changes (new and old addresses,
please) also are welcome at jeffash@netnet.net
If you know someone who'd like to receive the updates, they won't get on the
list until they send me a message with 3 things: their real 1st name, the
city and state in which they live, and the e-mail address to which they want
the updates sent. These are the rules.
If you wish to show your appreciation for these Packers updates, volunteer or
make a donation to the charity of your choice. We've had many people doing so
for 3 years now.
This week's sources: Green Bay Press-Gazette, Packer Plus home page
(http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/), ESPNET SportsZone.
Adventures with Evan, who will be 2 and a half at month's end: I forgot to
mention this classic. Last month, Evan and I were home alone. He was playing
quietly in his room. Or so I thought. I walked out to the kitchen to discover
Evan had created a kitchen omelet. He'd taken all of the eggs (almost two
dozen) out of the fridge, cracked every one of them open on the floor and
thrown some into the recycling bin in the back hallway. Eggs all over the
place. At the time, one of his favorite magazines had a story about a cat
that learns the difference between eggs with chicks and eggs for cooking.
Evan was checking it out for himself.
Thanks, Jeff
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-scott |
