Here is today's Green Bay Update from Jeff Ash. If you have any questions
or comments about the update, contact Jeff (mailto:jeffash@netnet.net).
--------------------------------------------------
Greetings from Green Bay on a clear, cool fall night with the Goodyear
blimp in the air over town and toilet paper in the trees in the
neighborhood on this, Green Bay East's homecoming weekend.
-- The Packers lost in the Silverdome as usual last Sunday, falling 23-15
to the Lions. Complete coverage of the game is at the usual web sites
listed below.
-- The Packers (1-1) face the Vikings (1-1) at 3:15 p.m. Sunday at Lambeau
Field. It's the national doubleheader game on Fox with Pat Summerall, John
Madden and D.J. Johnson. It'll be aired on the Packer Radio Network with
Wayne Larrivee and Larry McCarren, and aired nationally on the Westwood One
network with Tony Roberts and Jack Ham.
-- The forecast, from Keith, our longtime Update meteorologist in Norman,
Okla.: Early morning clouds, then partial clearing before increasing clouds
again in the late afternoon. Warm and windy. Southwest wind 15 mph with
gusts to 20, becoming west by late afternoon. High in the low 70s, dropping
after wind shift into the low 60s. 40 percent chance of rain. For updated
forecasts, check Keith's web site at galstar.com
And, of course, Keith's take on the game:
The Vikings leave their frozen home,
To sail to where the Guernseys roam;
Says Eric to Olaf 'n Leif,
In shock and disbelief,
"Uff da, there ain't no plastic dome!"
It has been an interesting week, having spent most of it on vacation in
Minnesota. We listened to roughly half of the Packers-Lions game on the
Packer Radio Network station in Duluth, traveling from Duluth west to a
cabin north of Brainerd during the game, then got to see how the other side
gets pumped up for Packers-Vikings week. The Twin Cities papers are down on
the Vikings and not quite sure what to make of the Packers. Even so, the
game is a hot ticket, with some brokers asking $475 per seat.
-- TE Mark Chmura will spend the next 2 weeks checking with experts around
the country to try to determine whether he can, or should, continue to play
football. He has a bulging disc in his neck and went numb in his arms for
the 3rd time in 6 weeks after a helmet-to-helmet hit with Lions LB Chris
Claiborne on Sunday. Chmura, 30, also sustained a concussion on the play.
Though there was some grousing that it was spearing, the hit was modest,
far from the hardest one Chmura has taken or might take.
It seems likely that Chmura is done for the season. An option being
discussed is surgery to fuse the discs, and one of the doctors he is
consulting is the one who did the fusion on WR Sterling Sharpe's neck. If
so, the Packers are in no rush to put Chmura on injured reserve because the
bye week follows the Vikings game, and they wouldn't need to make a move
for another 10 days or so. If Chmura goes on injured reserve, that would
give him the rest of the season and the offseason to determine whether he
can continue to play. But ...
Chmura's career may be over as well. Retirement seems increasingly likely.
His wife, Lynda, and his agent want him to retire, and most of his
teammates seem to realize that may be his best choice, too. Though we have
never met Mark, we know Lynda and their 2 boys, who attend Evan's
preschool. For their sake, we hope he retires.
But if Chmura retires, it won't help the Packers' salary cap. Because he
was on the roster on opening day, his $1 million salary is guaranteed. The
remaining, prorated $2 million of his $3 million signing bonus goes against
the 2000 cap if he can't play for medical reasons. But the Packers could
try to recoup some of the signing bonus if Chmura is cleared to play, or
refuses surgery that could do so. It all depends on how his contract is
worded.
-- Tyrone Davis takes over as the starting TE, with Jeff Thomason becoming
the No. 2 guy. Thomason won't have as many special teams duties now. Though
neither Davis nor Thomason blocks as well as Chmura, who routinely handled
DEs, the Packers won't change their blocking schemes unless necessary. Nor
will Davis become solely a receiving TE and Thomason a blocking TE. Both
will be asked to block as Chmura did.
-- Without Chmura, look for the Packers to use more 3-WR formations, with
Antonio Freeman, Bill Schroeder and Corey Bradford complementing Davis, and
fewer 2-TE and 4-WR formations. A quote from offensive coordinator Sherman
Lewis on why he won't go with 4 WRs: "Then I'd have to take Ty out of the
game. If I'm thinking about passing the ball ... then I'm saying that my
4th receiver is better than Ty. I'm not sure that's true."
-- The Packers also re-signed Lamont Hall, whom they'd cut from the
practice squad little more than a week ago, to be the No. 3 TE. He'd since
been on the 49ers' practice squad. Hall again wears No. 49. To make room
for Hall, the Packers cut T Barry Stokes.
-- LB Jude Waddy is back at practice after completing his 4-game suspension
for flunking a steroid test. He'll see plenty of duty on the struggling
coverage teams on special teams. Waddy is ready to go. A quote from him:
"I'm going to try to go in thre and take somebody's head off." The Packers
must make a roster move to create a spot for him, but hadn't announced one
as of Friday.
-- Mike Wahle will start again at LG, but Joe Andruzzi will play there in
spots, as he did against the Lions. The coaches are trying to find out
which one is most effective, and the only way to do that is in a game.
-- Injury update: DT Santana Dotson seems iffy for Sunday's game with a
stinger. He missed practice Wednesday and Thursday. ... RT Earl Dotson
continues to be bothered by a bulging disk in his lower back and missed
practice Wednesday, but returned to practice Thursday. ... Freeman is
getting over the flu and practiced without pads on Thursday. He didn't get
much sleep early in the week and is trying to catch up. ... QB Brett
Favre's right thumb remains sore, but he practiced as usual this week,
insisting he's better with the work rather than resting it. A quote from
him: "Last week I didn't practice at all and I could tell it affected the
way I played. I could tell it affected the offense. I tried to go every
snap (Wednesday. I may have taken all but 2 or 3. I need to be in there."
-- The Packers brought back rookie P Chris Hanson for the practice squad.
He again wears No. 7, with P Louie Aguiar switching to No. 10. Aguiar has a
1-year deal for the veteran minimum of $400,000. ... The Packers also
brought back S Chris Akins for the practice squad. He was cut at the end of
training camp and wanted to stay in Green Bay, but was sent elsewhere for
tryouts by his agent. Akins has since replaced that agent. ... I haven't
seen who was dropped from the practice squad to make room for Akins.
-- Rookie P Josh Bidwell will have 2 rounds of chemotherapy in Portland,
Ore., after doctors found his testicular cancer had spread into his lymph
nodes. Even so, the cancer was caught early and he was given a 90 percent
chance that it won't return. K Ryan Longwell, Bidwell's best friend on the
team, says Bidwell should be able to start walking on a treadmill by
December and return to the Packers next year.
However, Bidwell isn't covered by the NFL's medical insurance because he
wasn't on the roster at the start of the season. So, some of the Packers
are hosting a golf tournament to help cover some of his medical expenses.
The Christian Fellowship Golf Tournament will be Tuesday, Oct. 5, at Wander
Springs Golf Course in Wayside, southeast of Green Bay. It's open to the
public and Longwell, Schroeder, LT Ross Verba and CB Mike McKenzie are
scheduled to play in it. More details available on the Packers' web site
(http://www.packers.com)
-- Retired DE Reggie White will be honored at halftime of the Sunday night
game against the Bucs on Oct. 10. He'll receive the jersey he wore in his
last regular-season game. Though the NFL frowns on retiring numbers, the
Packers will all but do so, with GM Ron Wolf saying: "No one will wear that
number as long as I'm here." It's the same thing Vince Lombardi said after
Paul Hornung left after the 1966 season, and No. 5 has rarely been issued
since even though it isn't officially retired. Remember the tizz that
ensued when QB Don Majkowski was issued No. 5 as a rookie under Forrest
Gregg in 1987? He switched to No. 7. Remember also that NT John Jurkovic
was the last to wear No. 92 before White arrived in 1993?
-- LB George Koonce wants to do something to help people in his native
North Carolina, which is reeling from flooding caused by Hurricane Floyd.
Koonce grew up New Bern and has family in Greenville. He'd like to do a
clothing drive, but nothing official has been announced.
-- In case you missed it: Favre's wife, Deanna, no doubt caused plenty of
jaws to drop on Sunday, when she admitted she'd talked to an attorney about
a divorce if Brett didn't quit carousing during the offseason. Her
typically candid response came in an interview with Fox's Terry Bradshaw.
A quote from Brett: "I went back to my old ways. Running with the guys and
drinking, and not respecting her, not respecting my kids. Footloose and
fancy free." So Bradshaw asked Deanna how close she'd come to leaving
Brett, and she said: "It was so close that I had already spoken to an
attorney." A quote from Brett, in an interview with ESPN's Chris Mortensen:
"She basically said, 'It's us or the partying.'" That prompted Brett's
preseason vow to give up drinking and dedicate himself to family and
football. A quote from Deanna, on Fox, on how it's going: "He's a totally
different person. We went through this when he did the rehab (for an
addiction to the painkiller Vicodin in 1996). He has once again turned
around. It's been a tremendous turnaround."
Even so, Brett suggested to Mortensen that it's still one day at a time:
"In this job, guys drink beer. The linemen go out and drink beer after the
game. I went to drink beer. Yeah, I've done all those things, but I can't
wait to get home and hold my baby now. That's different than the Brett
Favre of a year ago. So maybe it's a good sign. Maybe it's a brief stint. I
don't know. But for now everything has been going fine."
-- Only in Green Bay: One of the items up for bid at the Green and Gold
Gala charity auction on Friday night was the gold sweater and skirt with
the green "P" worn at the Ice Bowl by Mary Jane Sorgel, who led the
Packers' Golden Girls cheerleaders from 1959 to 1974. Friday's event
featured a reunion of 40 former Golden Girls. Sorgel was the original
Golden Girl, a national-champion baton twirler who was named head majorette
of the Packer Band in 1954. Described as "the striking blonde in the
glittering, gold-sequined outfit," she led the band onto the field to
perform at halftime of games at old City Stadium. More recently, Sorgel has
performed on David Letterman's show, twirling a baton while her Yorkshire
terrier, Muffy, sits on her head.
Now, the viewer mail, dominated by folks seeking places to watch games. If
you can help, their addresses follow.
-- David, a freshman at Illinois Wesleyan, needs a place to watch in
Bloomington or Normal that allows underage folks. He's at
dgetzin@sun.iwu.edu
-- Bob will be in Orlando, Fla., in October and needs a place to watch.
He's at Bob_Groth@bradycorp.com
-- Steve is in Edinburgh, Scotland and needs a place to watch. He's at
shafer@sgi.com
-- Gary is going to San Diego to see the Packers play the Chargers and is
seeking a Packers-friendly tavern. He's at gkais32@aol.com
-- Chris is new to the Los Angeles area and is seeking fellow fans and a
place to watch in Manhattan Beach or near LAX. Chris is at
CSteinman@glhec.org
-- Bob in Minneapolis says he's found the audio for some of the Packers
shows on WDUZ radio in Green Bay at packernet.com
-- Finally, Keith's "putrid poetry" from the Lions game:
Under his thumb
The team who once had us down
Under his thumb
The team who thrice grabbed it down
It's down to Favre
The difference in the scoreboard there
Down to Favre, the drive has come
They're under his thumb
(apologies to the Rolling Stones)
That's it for now. As always, your comments and questions are welcome at
jeffash@netnet.net
This week's sources: Green Bay Press-Gazette
(http://www.greenbaypressgazette.packersnews.com), Milwaukee Journal
Sentinel (http://www.jsonline.com/packer/news/) and Packers
(http://www.packers.com) web pages. If you're seeking the Packers' current
roster, it's at packers.com
To try to follow the Packers via Internet radio, check these sites:
packers.com or
connect.net
or premier.packers.com (the latter is the Packers' pay site)
-- Adventures with Evan: We went down to Appleton 2 weeks ago to visit
Evan's newest cousin. As usual, he was excited about the prospect of
meeting Markie Rae, the new sister to his beloved cousins Jake and Beau,
but didn't want to have anything to do with her when we finally arrived in
Aunt Lisa's room. So it goes. ... Evan had a big time on vacation in
Minnesota. He loved the Aerial Lift Bridge, the lake freighters anchored
offshore, the fish sculpture fountain and the little blue drawbridge in
Canal Park in Duluth. He also loved the fitness center in our hotel,
repeatedly asking to go down to check out the treadmill. (We were up there
so I could skate in the NorthShore Inline Marathon. We had a light, but
shifting headwind and crosswind, and I finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes, or
17 minutes slower than last year, when we had a healthy tailwind. An
enjoyable day nonetheless.) ... When we got to our cabin in Backus, north
of Brainerd, we showed him the paddle boat at the dock and he announced he
wanted to "go sailing." So Janet took him out on Pine Mountain Lake, and he
loved it. ... Evan also roasted marshmallows over the grill for the first
time, and we found the perfect stick in the woods, one with a Y-shaped tip.
He likes his marshmallows brown, not burned. ... On our way home, we
stopped in Eau Claire to visit friends. Last year, they gave Evan an old
Superman costume their boys had outgrown. As we ate dinner, Evan announced:
"Doug, I think you should give me a new costume." Asked which one, Evan
thought for a minute and said "Batman!" Needless to say, Evan and I had a
little chat about that later.
-- For those of you asking where the soundtracks have gone, I just haven't
been listening to tunes while I do this lately. Some of the more recent
Updates have been done rather quickly.
-- As usual, 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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