Green Bay Update
by Jeff Ash, jeffash@netnet.net
Friday, December 15, 2000
"Green Bay update, Friday 12/15"
Greetings from Green Bay on an overcast morning that at 15 degrees and a
wind chill of 5 below is still one of the warmest mornings we've had this
week.
Needing to win out for even a chance at an NFC wild-card playoff berth, the
Packers (7-7) play the Vikings (11-3) at the Metrodome in Minneapolis at
noon Sunday. It'll be televised regionally on Fox, with Kenny Albert and Tim
Green on the call again this week. It's also on CBS/Westwood One Radio with
Joel Meyers and Bob Trumpy
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).
America's Pack is hosting a game-day party at Lambeau Field, opening the
club seats so folks can watch the game on the JumboTron scoreboard. There's
an extreme tailgating contest at 9 a.m., with gates opening at 10 a.m. and
the club seats opening at 11 a.m. There also will be a silent auction and
raffles to benefit Special Olympics. Tickets are $8 for America's Pack
members, $10 for others. For information, call the club at (920) 497-6500.
With no game weather forecast needed, here's the early forecast for
traveling to Minneapolis from Keith, our longtime Update meteorologist in
Norman, Okla.: Expect partly cloudy and cold conditions Sunday. High in the
low 20s after a single digit low. Snow is likely on Saturday morning with
blowing snow possible Saturday afternoon. 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:
For the Vikes another vic'try clinches,
The home field in this game of inches,
The Pack just hopes to survive,
And keep their dreams alive,
As they take on the purple Grinches.
-- That pretty much sums it up. The Packers kept their wild-card playoff
hopes alive with a 26-13 win over the Lions last Sunday. The Packers still
need to win both of their remaining games. They can catch only the Lions,
Rams and Buccaneers, but they need the Lions to lose a game and they need
the Rams or Bucs to lose 2 games. They can't catch the winner of this week's
Rams-Bucs game. Nor can they catch the Vikings, Eagles, Giants or Saints.
News and notes from the week:
-- CB Tyrone Williams sat out practice on Wednesday and Thursday with a sore
neck, but is expected to play against the Vikings. He lasted only 1 series
against the Lions before coming out with neck spasms. ... CB Tod McBride is
bothered by a twisted knee and didn't practice Thursday, but also is
expected to play Sunday. ... FB Matt Snider missed Wednesday's practice with
a sore hip, but expected to practice today and play Sunday. ... TE Ryan
Wetnight sustained a concussion against the Lions and didn't practice
Wednesday, but should play Sunday. With Tyrone Davis slowed with a torn
rotator cuff in his right shoulder, Wetnight has been taking his place in
the 2-TE sets with Bubba Franks.
-- The Packers again are practicing with crowd noise cranked up in the Don
Hutson Center, in the hopes of getting a feel for what the noise in the
Metrodome will be like.
-- RT Earl Dotson has started doing some football drills with shoulder pads.
He's working with the Packers' strength coaches. The Packers are trying to
figure out what to do with Dotson after 2 surgeries for a herniated disc in
his lower back. ... LB Brian Williams had his the abscess in his right knee
drained 2 weeks ago. The infection is cleared up. ... RB Dorsey Levens is
spending 3 to 5 hours a day on rehabbing his right knee. ... None of the 3,
plus WR Corey Bradford, will be back this season.
-- DT Santana Dotson stopped by the locker room on Wednesday. He had surgery
2 weeks ago to repair his torn right quadriceps. His leg will be in a brace
for 6 to 8 weeks, and then he'll start rehab. Neither Dotson nor DT Steve
Warren, who had the same injury and surgery, are expected back until
training camp in July or August.
-- FS Darren Sharper is the Packers' only representative on the NFC Pro Bowl
team, making a terrific comeback from a dreadful 1999 season. He had the
word "perseverance" tattooed on his shoulder during the offseason and has
lived up to that, getting 8 interceptions so far.
The Packers have 4 alternates: QB Brett Favre is a 2nd alternate, KR Allen
Rossum is either a 1st or 2nd alternate and FB William Henderson and K Ryan
Longwell are 3rd alternates. Favre has said he won't play if he's picked.
Rossum will go if the Lions' Desmond Howard drops out. It's doubtful that
either Henderson or Longwell will go.
Longwell thought he got hosed in the fan voting, getting passed over for
Bucs K Martin Gramatica. A quote from Longwell: "Like I've said my times, I
don't think it's a mere coincidence that a Pro Bowl kicker and punter are
from Florida and Arizona, the 2 best places to kick. ... Basically, I get a
free ticket to watch the game from my living room. ... I expected it to go
this way, but it's disappointing.
-- RB Ahman Green needs just 60 more rushing yards to reach 1,000 for the
season. Look for the Packers to consider Green as their feature back from
now on, not the aging and injury-prone Dorsey Levens. Green's emergence has
lessened the Packers' need to find an RB in the draft or free agency. He has
6 runs of 25 or more yards this season. Only Jim Taylor has had more in a
single season since 1950, doing so 4 times from 1960 to 1964.
-- Look for the Packers to announce a big contract extension for Favre in
early January. It's expected to be 3 to 7 years, with a signing bonus of $10
million to $20 million. Getting increasingly harder to see how the rest of
the offseason signings will go. The Packers face a tough call if Sharper
asks for more than they can afford, considering that they'd also like to
re-sign Longwell, Green and Rossum.
-- Sports Illustrated's Peter King was in town for the Lions game and had a
pretty entertaining interview with Favre on the CNNsi.com web site last
week. Among the tidbits: Favre loves golf, and likes to hit balls inside the
Don Hutson Center. ... On the Sunday before the Monday night win over the
Vikings, Favre had a good practice in the morning, played 9 holes of golf,
went bow hunting and got an 8-point buck, and got to the hotel on time for
meetings at 7 p.m. ... He likes to watch The Learning Channel, the Discovery
Channel, Animal Planet and National Geographic on CNBC. ... He was out
shoveling snow in shorts and clogs the other night. ... His favorite prank
of the year was pulling down special teams coach Frank Novak's pants at the
end of a practice. ... He doesn't have an ATM card. ... As for why he wears
underwear autographed by QBs Matt Hasselbeck and Danny Wuerffel, you have to
check out the full interview. Go to the NFL portion of the site
(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/), then go to the Inside Game
area and click on Monday Morning QB link. Better do it before next Monday
rolls around.
-- The Packers signed DT Austin Robbins and cut DT David Richie, who was
signed last week. Robbins is 29, 6-5, 300, a 7-year veteran who has mostly
been a backup with the Saints and Raiders. Robbins was cut last month by the
Raiders when they needed to sign an extra kicker. The Packers picked him up
because they wanted a bigger body to play the run in the middle. Robbins
wears No. 99.
-- The Bengals signed G Craig Heimburger off the Packers' practice squad.
Even though he was an all-NFL Europe player this spring, Heimburger was
buried on the Packers' depth chart, and they apparently decided he wasn't
worth activating to keep him. He was replaced on the practice squad with G
Ed Kehl, who was cut by the Seahawks during training camp after playing DT
for them. He's 28, 6-4, 305, out of Brigham Young, and was with the Jaguars
and Eagles during training camp in 1999. Kehl wears No. 75.
-- The Packers and the city of Green Bay have agreed on a 30-year lease,
with details due out today. If you go to games, it will cost you more. There
likely will be a 10 percent ticket tax. So, a $53 sideline seat will cost
$58.30, and so on. The only other major change is that the city will be
allowed to hold 1 non-football event (such as a concert or a sporting event)
at the stadium each month from February through June. The Packers
traditionally have been reluctant to have such events, fearing damage to the
field. The city will use the revenue from the ticket tax and the
non-football events to help pay off the cost of the stadium renovation. The
Packers also pay $500,000 in rent, with it going up 2.75 percent a year, but
keep all parking, concession and advertising revenue. The Packers also can't
move the team from Lambeau Field without the permission of the city and the
stadium board.
-- Needing another pro scout to keep up with all the leagues popping up, the
Packers have hired Marc Lillibride. He's 28, a former Iowa State and NFL
Europe LB who was on the practice squads of the Dolphins and Saints.
-- This week's viewer mail is continuing confirmation that you're seeing
glitter in the Packers' helmets. Well, it must be so. Thanks to everyone who
took the time to drop me a line.
JoAnn in Neenah says: "I don't know if all of the Packers have glittery
helmets, but some certainly do. We have a 27-inch analog TV and watch over
the air, off an old-fashioned antenna. Even with this primitive method of
receiving television signals, we're seeing glitter in Neenah!"
Jim in Connecticut says "Yes, the glitter is definitely there. I have NFL
Sunday Ticket and I can definitely see it."
Scott in Killeen, Texas, says: "I, too, have seen the light ... er, glitter!
I've noticed it mainly on Favre's helmet the last few games. The first time
I saw it, I thought it was mist forming, making the gold glisten, but then I
realized it was not raining!"
-- And finally, this from Bob, a longtime reader in San Diego, noting that
Al Gore's quest for the presidency wound down with one of his allies
invoking a quote widely attributed to Vince Lombardi: "We didn't lose the
game, we just ran out of time." 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: He can't wait to put up our Christmas tree. We went up
to the tree farm along the Oconto River on Wednesday afternoon, and we
tramped through the field, with Evan inspecting all 3 outhouses. After we
got the tree baled and into the van, the top hung over Evan's seat, so he
got the rare treat of sitting up front on the way home. ... However,
Christmas at our house is being held hostage by home improvements. We were
to have 14 windows replaced on Monday. We got a winter storm instead. Then
the rest of the week apparently was too cold to do the work. Now it is
scheduled for Tuesday. So the house has been torn up for a week, with drapes
and blinds off all the windows and things cleared from in front of the
windows. But the tree goes up Saturday, and they'll just have to work around
it.
This week's soundtrack: "A Motown Christmas," the 1973 classic that may be
the best Christmas album I own; and "Jingle Bell Jazz," another collection
of classics on the Columbia label from 1974.
This week's sources: Green Bay Press-Gazette (http://www.packersnews.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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