Me thinks I should bring my raincoat this afternoon.....
-Scott
====================================================
Green Bay Update
by Jeff Ash, jeffash@netnet.net
Monday, November 6, 2000
"Green Bay update, Monday 11/6"
Greetings from Green Bay on a mild, overcast morning that will give way
to rain and wind, generally a nasty, blustery evening for a football
game.
The Packers (3-4) play the Vikings (7-1) at Lambeau Field at 8 p.m.
today. It'll be televised nationally on ABC, with Al Michaels, Dan Fouts
and Dennis Miller on the call. It'll be heard nationally on CBS radio,
with Howard David, Matt Millen and Boomer Esiason.
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 weather forecast from Keith, our longtime Update
meteorologist in Norman, Okla.: Cloudy and cold with rain likely; rain
may be heavy at times. Temperatures steady around 47 degress. East to
southeast wind 15 mph. Chance of rain during the game: 70 percent. For
updates, check Keith's web site (http://www.galstar.com/~kbrews/packwx).
The forecast for rain worries the Packers and the police, who fear a
repeat of the near-stampede when too many fans crowded into the Lambeau
Field concourse under the stands during a rainy Monday night game
against the Vikings in 1998. If you're going, use common sense and be
careful. You may have to wait outside if it's crowded. They're going to
use the turnstiles to control the flow of people into the stadium.
And, of course, here is Keith's take on the game:
Having more need of a miracle worker,
The Pack hosts a controversial smirker,
And while its Miller's time,
There'll be jokes more sublime,
Making men with remotes go berserker.
-- Last week, the Packers lost 28-20 to the Miami Dolphins. They
squandered a 17-0 lead, struggling mightily on offense after RB Dorsey
Levens went out late in the 1st half with a bruise on the underside of
his right knee cap.
The week's news and notes
-- Levens didn't practice last week, won't start tonight's game, and may
not play. A magnetic resonance imaging exam showed no ligament or
cartilage damage in his right knee, but the Packers seem to suspect
there's something more than a bruise, perhaps a bone chip, as was the
case during training camp for backup T Scott Curry. The only way to find
out may be arthroscopic surgery.
The Packers have a tough decision to make on Levens, who has been
increasingly hobbled by injuries. They've started talks to redo his
contract, because there's no way they'll pay him the $6 million he's
scheduled to make next seasion. The Packers are $10 million over next
year's salary cap.
-- Except for Levens, the Packers should have most of their injured
players back. DE Vonnie Holliday's pulled hamstring was a little sore
after the Dolphins game, but he practiced all week and will play tonight
as usual. DE David Bowens is ready to go after missing a couple of games
with a badly sprained right ankle. TE Ryan Wetnight also is ready to go
after being slowed by a pulled hamstring. LB Brian Williams didn't
practice Friday and Saturday because of a sore right knee, but he should
start tonight as usual. WR Corey Bradford missed Thursday's practice
with tendinitis in his left ankle, but will play tonight. DE John
Thierry also sat out Thursday to rest a sore knee, but will play as
usual.
-- Tonight's game will take place, in the rain, on new sod laid down the
middle of Lambeau Field since the Packers last played there on Oct. 15.
It goes the length of the field and about 5 feet beyond the hash marks
on either side. K Ryan Longwell isn't convinced it was necessary. A
quote from him: "It was the best it's been since I've been here. I guess
it pitted out a little bit and didn't look good on TV, but I thought it
was fine."
-- The Packers' early inactives for tonight's game are WR Charles Lee,
DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, RT Earl Dotson and S Chris Akins.
-- The Packers picked up Akins last Tuesday after he was cut by the
Cowboys. He was one of Green Bay's 7th-round draft picks last year, but
was signed off the practice squad by the Cowboys just 2 weeks into last
season. He's 5-11, 195, and likely will play special teams only. Akins
will wear No. 31 for the Packers. There was an open spot on the roster
after rookie S Gary Berry was put on injured reserve with a neck injury.
He's still getting doctors' opinions on how to proceed with treatment.
-- Just before the Dolphins game, the Packers cut rookie RB Herbert
Goodman and activated RB De'Mond Parker, who missed 11 months after
blowing out a knee last December. Goodman worked out for the Browns
early last week, then was signed to the Packers' practice squad.
-- DE Billy Lyon was one of the Packers' inactive players for the
Dolphins game and seemingly has become the odd man out on the defensive
line. He's back from having torn the medial collateral ligament in his
right knee, but has been passed by Cletidus Hunt and rookie Steve Warren
in the playing rotation.
-- Coach Mike Sherman changed last week's practice schedule, given the
extra day. On Wednesday and Thursday, the No. 1 offense worked against
the No. 1 defense rather than against scout teams simulating the
Vikings. That's rarely done during the season, but was done last week to
keep the players sharp. They prepared for the Vikings on Friday and
Saturday.
-- WR Bill Schroeder almost got benched after he threw a tizz -- and his
helmet -- after dropping a pass in the 4th quarter against the Dolphins.
The coaches were ready to sit him down, but QB Brett Favre intervened
and calmed everyone. Schroeder said he apologized immediately. A quote
from offensive coordinator Tom Rossley: "At that point in the game, the
game is still on the line, and we can't lose our cool. ... What he was
showing was that he was going to carry that with him."
-- Favre made a keen observation on the state of the Packers' offense at
his press conference last Thursday: "I feel like I can carry any team
regardless of the situation. I have that much confidence in my ability.
I also know that that can't happen. You can only carry someone so far. I
think I've come to a realization I can only do so much."
He added this: "I don't know if we're able to overcome much. We were up
17-0 (at Miami) and we couldn't close the deal. ... We're in the
2-minute drill (at the end of games), it seems every week. So my way of
thinking is, 'I know I'm capable of doing anything I think of on the
football field. But the one thing I can't do with a young team is dig a
hole when I don't need to.' "
Without directly saying so, Favre seemed to suggest that the Packers
need to get some better playerson offense. You be the judge.
-- Congratulations are in order for DT Santana Dotson, whose wife,
Monique delivered their 3rd child, a girl, Sanaa Christine, last Tuesday
in Houston. Dotson missed practice Wednesday and Thursday to be with his
family. Sanaa, pronounced sin-AYE, is Hebrew for "radiant."
-- A story in Sunday's Green Bay Press-Gazette raised the question of
whether people in Green Bay are burned out on the Packers, given all the
on-field struggles and off-field politicking.
A quote from Marv Niec, who runs Packer City Antiques, a local store
specializing in Packers memorabilia: "Everywhere you turned it was
Packer, Packer, Packer this year. We didn't get a chance to have an
offseason."
A quote from John Maino, who co-hosts a local talk radio show, says the
last year has been "strange. We went through that euphoric high of
back-to-back Super Bowls in '96 and '97, to 11-5 not being quite good
enough in '98, to the mistake of hiring Ray Rhodes in '99, to firing the
head coach, to renovating the stadium, to possibly renaming Lambeau
Field. To be perfectly honest, it's a lot of weird stuff to deal with in
a short span."
Another quote from Maino: "Back in the '80s, fans would say, 'If the
Packers got to the Super Bowl, life would be great. Bears fans couldn't
rip us. But it came and went so fast. Did we really and truly appreciate
it to the fullest? I do now. The problem is 'How do you top that?' I
think a lot of fans are struggling to find that next high."
-- The Packers last week took the rare step of revoking a couple of
season tickets in midseason for bad behavior. A Sun Prairie man, 31, was
arrested at the 49ers game for throwing a beer bottle onto the field. He
faces a $646 fine. The tickets weren't his, but the season-ticket holder
lost them anyway. The Packers had warned the unidentified season-ticket
holder several times before about bad behavior by people using the
seats, which are in Row 5 of Section 35 in the south end zone. The
Packers said the seats will be offered to the first person on the
season-ticket waiting list.
-- The Packers and the stadium board continue talks on a lease for the
renovated Lambeau Field, and will do so in public. The Packers wanted
the talks to be kept private, but the stadium board nixed that idea. The
Packers also wanted the lease to be done by mid-November, but it looks
like it won't be done until the end of the year. The Packers worry that
delays in the lease might delay the beginning of work on the renovation.
The 0.5 percent sales tax to pay for the Lambeau Field went into effect
last Wednesday in Brown County.
-- Finally, be sure to vote on Tuesday. A quote from FB William
Henderson, one of the most thoughtful guys on the Packers: "My one thing
is, and my grandmother preached it to me as a child and a young adult,
that we've put too much work and our forefathers have put too much work
into the ability to have a voice, and it really doesn't matter what your
opinion is if you don't go out and cast your vote because you're
basically showing that you really don't care. So get out there and cast
your vote."
That's it.
The viewer mailbox is empty again this week. As always, your questions
and comments are welcome at jeffash@netnet.net
Adventures with Evan: A big moment last Friday when Evan lost his 1st
tooth, one of the ones in front on the bottom. It happened in school,
and even though there was a little blood, it didn't faze him. He may
have been more excited about the prospect of getting something from the
tooth fairy. The 2nd bottom front tooth looks as if it will be out any
day. ... A big moment also when we got our new iMac and cable modem
hooked up last week. Even though Dad can do the Packers updates faster
and more effectively, what matters to Evan is that he can play all his
CD-ROM games and whatever new games Dad downloads from the Net. ... Evan
has a new bedroom, upstairs where our office used to be, though it is
still a work in progress. His dresser and bookcase are still downstairs,
and our printer is still upstairs. We moved the our office downstairs,
into his old bedroom, so we can keep an eye on him when he is on the
computer. ... Halloween was fairly low-key for Evan, who went as a
police officer even though Dad found a black knight's costume for him.
Evan and his pal Thomas went trick-or-treating in the neighborhood, but
didn't go far. They instead went go back to Thomas' house and play. Evan
and Thomas haven't seen much of each other since school started because
Thomas goes to half-day kindergarten at the nearby Catholic school. ...
On the Saturday night before Halloween, some neighborhood kids smashed
some of the pumpkins on our block, including 1 of the 3 we had on the
porch. Evan was not happy to hear about it, pronouncing them "mean
boys." ... And, yes, Evan behaved better last week, I suspect largely
because he more or less agreeably took his medication and got rid of a
pesky sinus problem.
-- Now that we have a faster, more powerful Mac, we can do lots more
visually, and with audio and video. I've found that the Packers have
desktop patterns, or wallpaper, for PCs and Macs on their web site
(http://www.packers.com/av_room/desktops/). They include a nice aerial
shot of Lambeau Field and a close-up shot of the turf.
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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