Sunday, April 30, 2006

Draft Day 2

Back for more? Sounds good. After having a night to think about the OL and read up more, they do sound like exactly the type of OL we need for the zone blocking scheme. I feel much better about them as picks.

Round 4
Cory Rodgers (WR) Texas Christian
Told you TT would take more WR in this draft. Rodgers broke tackles and made defenders miss in college. Had a poor combine workout thus he fell down the charts, so the Packers likely got him at a bargain here as he played well above his combine numbers in college. Like him.

Will Blackmon (WR) Boston College
Return man anyone? Only played WR for a year as made the switch from DB, but did it well. Still is a project at that position, but he's drafted as a return man and special teamer. Has excellent punt and kickoff return abilities. TT did a nice job improving the special teams with this pick.

Oh, and Eslinger and that lovable WI FB Bernstein are still available. Bernstein is a blocking machine and I would love to see him in Green and Gold.

Round 5
Ingle Martin (QB) Furman
3rd string QB possibly. He's a project (plus he's had a history of being a punter, so TT may have drafted a punter possibility)

Tony Moll (OT) Nevada
Oh come on TT, draft Bernstein would you? You have no replacement set up for Henderson and you are jerking around with more OL. Tony is a 6'4" 300 lb former tight end turned OT. Again, more athletic OL. I get it, we need those to implement the blocking system, but enough already. This guy would have likely been a non-drafted player. Eslinger and Bernstein will be drafted and they are going to be solid NFLers, IMO.

Round 6
Sorry for the delay on posting the picks, I try to have some life outside of this.

Johnny Jolly (DT) Texas A&M
Ok, the name along necessitated us drafting him. He's what you would label a bit of a project and a team that drafted him was needing to have a good DL coach and in an aggressive style of DL play. In other words, perfect for the Packers. The Packers D-Line is pretty deep, so he has a chance to develop.

Tyrone Culver (FS) Fresno State
Labelled as smart player who will contribute on special teams right away. Only started 1 season at Fresno State, so that is concerning. However he rarely gets beaten and has good instincts. Could be late round gem.

Round 7
Dave Tollefson (DE) NW Missouri State
The 2005 MIAA (D-2) Defensive Player of the Year. Nice pass rusher and physically looks way too much like Kampman.

Well, that's it. TT started the draft with 7 picks and ended up with 12. That would make 23 picks over the last 2 drafts. With that many picks, TT is bound to come up with some solid starters and good roster depth. I sure as heck hope so at least. This draft does seem pretty good. Not spectacular at this point, but if 4 of these picks makes a positive impact on the team this year, this will be a good draft.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

2006 Packer Draft

Round 1
WE GOT AJ HAWK!!! HELL YEAH!

Not that this is too great of a surprise, but still is a great pick. He will instantly start and help make our defense a legit top 10 one this coming season. Couldn't be happier. Now let's see what TT has in store for round 2 and if a Walker trade is part of the equation.

UPDATE!!!
Apparently Sirius NFL Radio has reported that Denver has agreed to trade a 2nd rounder to the Packers for Walker. No word on which 2nd rounder it is, but the Pack could pick back-to-back in the 2nd round. Wheeee!

Round 2
UPDATE #2

Packers traded their 2nd rd pick to NE, not sure for what, but dammit, loads of talent available and TT passes on it.

UPDATE #3
Confirming earlier reports, the Packers did trade Walker to the Broncos for their 2nd rd pick, but now they have just traded that pick to Atlanta, not sure of the compensation though. We all knew TT was going to do this to get more picks, still frustrating though.

UPDATE #4
Here's how all the trade scenarios worked out (thanks JS):

The Packers traded the No. 36 pick (2nd round) to New England for the Patriots' picks nos. 52 (2nd round) and 75 (3rd round).

Green Bay dealt the No. 37 pick (2nd round) and its pick no. 139 to the Falcons for pick Nos. 47 (2nd rd), 93 (3rd round), and 148 (5th round).

So they have 2 2nd round picks, 3 3rd round picks and 2 5th round picks. That's 9 picks in the first 5 rounds total from the 6 they originally had. TT loves draft day deals. In a deep draft like this the number of 2nd and 3rd round picks are nice.

UPDATE #5
TT had to pick sometime, after all, he couldn't keep trading down, could he?
He selected: Daryn Colledge (OT) Boise State ?
What the hell? He's a good athlete by all accounts, but he needs like 2-3 years development. He has good footwork and is agile, which goes with the zone-blocking system, but we would have to move him to OG. We traded down for this? A shocker to say the least.

UPDATE #6
Greg Jennings (WR) Western MI
A solid choice at WR, he does a lot of things very well and is a good route runner. Lacks elite speed, and is similar to Driver. This is what I think will be first WR taken by the Packers.

Round 3
Abdul Hodge (ILB) Iowa
Now this is a great pick here. Hodge is arguably just slightly below his teammate at Iowa, Chad Greenway, who went #17 overall. Just amazed that he was available at this point. Packers got a great value here. Let the speculation of a Barnett, Hodge and Hawk LB corps begin!

Jason Spitz (C) Louisville
An athletic Center who can get to the LB quickly, but his biggest knock is that he gets pushed around too much in the running game. He'll have a shot at being the starter, but he is a likely backup. Would have loved to get Hagan or Stovall at WR here instead. If they wanted a Center, they could have waited until later in the round and gotten Eslinger who is better suited to the zone blocking scheme.

UPDATE #7
The Packers have traded their third, third-round draft choice, originally acquired from Atlanta, to the St. Louis Rams for a fourth-round choice (No. 109) and a sixth-round pick (No. 183).

That ends my night. Today was just immediate reactions to picks. Love the Hawk and Hodge picks. Williams is a solid WR. Granted, I'm not real thrilled about the OL, but then who knows how they will do.

Friday, April 28, 2006

The official Oracle of Cheese Packer draft crapshoot

Well, the NFL Draft is this weekend so I figured I would put forth who I think the Packers are going to take in the first 3 rounds of the draft. Yes, only 3 rounds as everything after that is a total guess that nobody can pick. Granted, draft day trades will affect what the Packers are going to do as I feel there is about an 80% chance that they will either trade down in the first round and get additional 2nd and 3rd round picks, or even get a 2nd rounder for Javon Walker. Given I don't know what they are doing, I'm just going to do the straight up picks at the spots they are at. I will give my pick as to what I think the Packers will do, other possibilities and my dream scenario (and not the one involving Daisy Fuentes and Stacy Kiebler either).

With the recent signing of Charles Woodson, this would mean that Ashton Youboty is off the Packers radar, so won't even consider any DB in the first 3 rounds. Also, with Favre coming back, no QB is going to be taken either (yeah, like that was going to happen anyway).

Round 1 (ding ding)
My Pick: AJ Hawk (OLB), The Ohio State University.
Other possibilities: Mario Williams (DE), NC State; Vernon Davis (TE), Maryland; trade down
Dream scenario: AJ Hawk

AJ Hawk is still the man that will do the most for the Packers not only this year, but for many, many more. I certainly won't be disappointed should the Pack get Super Mario, but I feel he will be gone prior to the #5 pick. Davis is gaining more popularity in order to give Brett a better downfield target over Franks. I feel that he is more of a luxury item for the Packers at this time and there are other areas that need attention, like say LB.

Round 2
My Pick: Davin Joseph (OG), Oklahoma
Other possibilities: Mathias Kiwanuka (DE) Boston College; Tamba Hali (DE), Penn State, Demeco Ryans (OLB), Alabama; Bobby Carpenter (OLB), The Ohio State University; D'Qwell Jackson (OLB), Maryland
Dream scenario: Nick Mangold (C), The Ohio State University

Mangold is not an unrealistic wish here. He is the best C on the board and is an extremely smart player and an instant starter. If he is gone, look for Joseph to be called. This is against the typical Packer draft philosophy of picking OL in later rounds, but the talent that will be available here is too great to ignore, especially with the issues on the OL the Packers have. Kiwanuka is a great pass rushing DE and is similar to KGB, but is fairly weak against the run, just like KGB. Although the two of them on the field on passing downs would be a heck of a speed rushing duo. Hali is a bigger DE, but isn't really a huge pass-rushing threat, but still has a good deal of talent. If Hawk is not taken in the first round, look for one of those LB to get called, likely Jackson. Gotta address that poor LB situation.

Round 3
My Pick: Martin Nance (WR), Miami of OH
Other possibilities: Max Jean-Giles (OG) Georgia, Mark Anderson (DE), Alabama; Brian Calhoun (RB), Wisconsin; Derek Hagen (WR), ASU
Dream scenario: Brian Calhoun (OK, I'm a homer)

With the whole Javon Walker thing going on, look for TT to grab a WR here. I like Nance as he is a big, fast WR that TT loves, and is a big playmaker. Had he had a good combine workout, he would be an early 2nd rounder. Hagan is a solid WR much in the mold of Driver, except bigger and taller. Good route runner, excellent hands, will go across the middle. Only knock is that doesn't have that elite speed to go deep. Giles would add much needed depth the to OG position and challenge for a starting spot. He's a bit big for the zone blocking scheme, but still has real good potential. Anderson is a tweener DE/OLB, but would come to GB as a pass-rushing DE. Not as athletic as Kiwanuka and doesn't have the credentials he does, but loads of upside. Calhoun would be a great addition and could even start as the 3rd down back. With the injury history of Green and Davenport, doesn't hurt to have another set of legs back there.

Other players I would love to see drafted by the Packers after round 3: Greg Eslinger (C), Minnesota; Brandon Williams (WR), Wisconsin; any OL help we can get and additional WR.


I'm going to try and post this weekend during the draft to give my immediate reactions to what happens. I still predict that TT is going to trade down at some point to get more draft picks. If he doesn't get enough, he may go all Schindler on us like "This 3rd rounder, I could have gotten a 4th and 6th. This 4th rounder, a 6th and 7th" and continue mumbling to himself like that until Harlan drives him away back to Lombardi Avenue.

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Walker told to get out

ESPN is reporting that the Packers have granted Javon "Crybaby" Walker permission to seek a trade. This move really doesn't surprise me and as much of a talent that Walker is, I'd rather get something from him than just letting him walk. The two teams most interested in him are the Broncos and the Saints. Walker is visiting the Saints today and Broncos tomorrow. Look for the Packers to get a 2nd round pick from one of them for him. Frankly either the 2nd (Saints) or 5th (Broncos) pick in the 2nd round would be fine with me. Some think that TT will take either Stallworth (Saints) or Leile (Broncos) and a lower draft pick for Walker. I don't think so. TT loves draft picks and would likely take a higher draft pick that he could parlay into 2 other picks. Likely any deal will not be announced until draft day.

Woodson signs with the Pack

Charles Woodson signed a 7 year $52M deal yesterday with the Packers as TT finally spent some of that cap $ that's been burning a hole in his pocket before it got to little Teddy (I'm just guessing as to what he calls it). The deal is pretty good for the Packers as 10.5M of it counts towards this season and 7.5M of it is over the next two seasons after that, so it fits in nicely with the cap room they have now, without hampering the cap in future seasons. Now all that's left is for Woodson to stay healthy and perform at the high level that we all know he can. At least I hope like hell that this will happen. After all, aren't fans supposed to be all giddy after their team signs a big-name free agent?

The CB combo of Harris and (a healthy) Woodson makes for a very solid duo and combining them with safeties Collins and Manuel creates what can be one of the better defensive backfields the Packers have put forth in quite some time. The Packers have definately addressed the secondary this offseason and made that unit into a strength. This signing also moves Carroll to the nickel back position where I believe he can flourish at. He made some great strides last year in his game and this is an opportunity to continue his improvement.


Tune in tomorrow for who I think the Packers will take in the first 3 rounds of the draft. Not that I have any great insight mind you... wait, I am the Oracle of Cheese after all, so yes, I do have some insight.

Brewers
The Brewers sweep the Braves (although Turnbow sure made it interesting yesterday didn't he?) to get their record to 12-10. The starting pitching was phenominal all series long and maybe things will start to come around for them.

Wednesday, April 26, 2006

He's Baaaaaack!


I thought you would retire Brett, thanks for proving me wrong.

Monday, April 24, 2006

Well, look at that!

I'm mentioned in the St. Paul Pioneer Press! Didn't even know that I was going to be mentioned there and found out through the glorius tracking machine that is Sitemeter.

Apparently Gary "he cannot be" Derong listed me in the online version of the Press on Saturday under the title
"Nothing But Net" and lists some of the predictions I've put on here and that the site "offers a fairly succinct view of sports in Wisconsin from its author's perch in Minneapolis". Damn, I'm blushing and all. Personally, I think it's the cheese background that did it for him. Thanks for the plug Gary!

Since I am now advertised as talking about sports, I better get to it.

Packers (that's America's Team for those of you uneducated on the subject)
Well, as expected, but against my hopes,
Lavarr Arrington signed with the Giants over the Packers. He had said all along that he wanted to play in the NFC East so that he could play against his old team, the Redskins twice a year. I was hoping that TT would give him a good offer and from what his agent said was that it was, it was just that the Giants gave him just about top dollar and we all know that TT wasn't going to do that. Feel like we were used to get more $ out of the Giants too? I'll admit, I have visions of a LB corps of Barnett, AJ Hawk and Arrington dancing in my head. Well, 2 out of 3 won't be bad.

Oh, and don't believe all the garbage you hear about that the Packers might be taking a QB. It's just the smoke screen that all the GM's are putting up to disguise what their real intentions are. It's going to be AJ Hawk, period.

Brewers
A 5 HR inning in an 11-0 whoopin' of the Reds followed by an embarassing, get this, 11-0 loss to the Reds the next day. That's our Crew this year, completely unpredictable. Very early in the season, and they have been playing some good teams, but let's hope they start getting this season under control.

Westwood Softball Club
Tonight starts the beginning of the Westwoodies softball season, so I'll continue the trend from last year with the recaps of our games. This past weekend we had our first tourney and not only were out 2 of our better players for the games, but our 3B tore an Achilles tendon in our first game and is out for the year. I get along great with him as his son was our unoffical batboy all season and is the same age as my son. We'll miss you Mike. Oh, and we played like a bunch of horses @$$e$ as well and lost both our games.


Sorry for the delay in posting today, Blogger is being difficult.

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Let's go Bucky!

Bucky Badger named one of the 10 best mascots in college sports by CNNSI. Add this to the Badgers men's and women's hockey titles and Outback Bowl win over Auburn, and you have even more proof of the greatness that is the University of Wisconsin.

Friday, April 21, 2006

Friday Fun

Let's start off with a link to the video that proves that the Easter Bunny hates you .

After you are done with that, enjoy a joke:

The IRS decides to audit Ralph, and summons him to the IRS office. The IRS auditor is not surprised when Ralph shows up with his attorney.

The auditor says, "Well, sir, you have an extravagant lifestyle and no full-time employment, which you explain by saying that you win money gambling. I'm not sure the IRS finds that believable."


"I'm a great gambler, and I can prove it," says Ralph. "How about a demonstration?"

The auditor thinks for a moment and said, "Okay. Go ahead."

Ralph says, "I'll bet you a thousand dollars that I can bite my own eye."

The auditor thinks a moment and says, "No way! It's a bet." Ralph removes his glass eye and bites it.

The auditor's jaw drops. Ralph says, "Now, I'll bet you two thousand dollars that I can bite my other eye."

The auditor can tell Ralph isn't blind, so he takes the bet. Ralph removes his dentures and bites his good eye.

The stunned auditor now realizes he has wagered and lost three grand, with Ralph's attorney as a witness. He starts to get nervous.

"Want to go double or nothing?" Ralph asks. "I'll bet you six thousand dollars that I can stand on one side of your desk, and pee into that wastebasket on the other side, and never get a drop anywhere in between."

The auditor, twice burned, is cautious now, but he looks carefully and decides there's no way this guy can manage that stunt, so he agrees again.

Ralph stands beside the desk and unzips his pants, but although he strains mightily, he can't make the stream reach the wastebasket on other side, so he pretty much urinates all over the desk.

The auditor leaps with joy, realizing that he has just turned a major loss into a huge win. But Ralph's attorney moans and puts his head in his hands.

"Are you okay?" the auditor asks.

"Not really," says the attorney. "This morning, when Ralph told me he'd been summoned for an audit, he bet me twenty thousand dollars that he could come in here and piss all over an IRS official's desk and that you'd be happy about it."


Finally, one of my all-time favorite pictures (thanks to Green-N-Gold), in response to all the grief I've received from the Minnesotans about the Pack lately. Tune in on Monday to hear all about the opening weekend of the softball tourney the Westwoodies are in. Have a good weekend all!

Thursday, April 20, 2006

These picks are made for Walker

Sorry for the Nancy Sinatra reference there ("These Boots are made for walking", get it? Oh never mind). Yesterday the 49ers traded their 2nd and 3rd round picks for one of the Broncos 1st round picks (#22 overall). So, what does this have to do with the Packers you may ask? One could look at this as the Broncos acquiring an additional 2nd round pick in order to trade for Javon Walker.

The Broncos have expressed very serious interest in acquiring Walker from the Packers and TT has apparently stated privately that he will not accept anything less than a 2nd round pick. With the Broncos now having 2 2nd rd picks, they could trade the one they just got from the 49ers (which is the 37th overall pick) for Walker, which would give the Packers 2 straight picks in the 2nd round. This would enable the Packers to get rid of the crybaby Walker and be able to pick up a potentially 3 starters through the draft.


On a sad note, the Packers have announced that they are going to release Terrence Murphy. Murphy had a very bright future at WR for the Pack, but a spinal cord injury has knocked him out of the game. He was a 2nd round pick last year. I was really hoping he could continue to play, but it looks like the medical experts disagree.

The 2006 draft is coming up next weekend, and I'll look at who we can look forward to the Pack possibly selecting in the first couple of rounds next week.

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

Disappointment Avenue

Man, when WI sports go bad, they really go bad.

Brewers
Just a brutal road trip so far. Even though they have played some of the better teams in the NL, 2-6 is still a rather, shall we say, disappointing record. Great to see that Lee and Fielder are bashing the hell out of the ball and Fielder is hitting his way up the batting order. The pitching has been brutal over the last 3 games, but the offense has been pretty good. It's early in the season, so no need to panic at this point.

Bucks
They lose to Washington in their last game of the season and go from a 5th seed in the playoffs to an 8th. This whole season was disappointing in that for some reason they could not figure out a workable rotation, TJ Ford was inconsistant and Bogut was not utilized effectively enough. Whether it was the 5th or 8th seed, it didn't matter much as the Bucks won't win their first round matchup regardless. However, should they somehow win 4 against Detroit, I still reserve the right to go ape-sh*t.

Packers
All that money and nobody willing to take it. Disappointing that there is no offer at all for Arrington. Disappointing that everything seems to be about Favre Favre Favre (let it go media people). I just want the draft to get here and have the Packers select AJ Hawk. A LB corp of Hawk, Barnett and Arrington would make most of Packerland toast some beers and eat some cheese curds. Not that we need an excuse or event for that mind you.

Monday, April 17, 2006

Van Glorious!

What a simply phenominal day yesterday was. In the 70's sunny, light breeze, just perfect weather. Couldn't imagine a better day for Easter. The kids had a blast finding Easter eggs two times yesterday. Once at home inside prior to going to church and the other was outside at the in-laws. It truly is a joy to watch them run around, find the eggs and yell (Adam) or squeal (Leah) with delight. Spent a lot of time outside and had the Easter lasagna. That's right, lasagna. It's always great going to my in-laws place as we usually do not have the traditional fare for hollidays. We've had country style ribs for Thanksgiving and steak for Christmas and such. As usual, the food was fantastic as was the whole day.

Just to take a shot at my neighbor, he got to spend the afternoon in the Metrodump watching the Twins get their butts kicked by the Yankees. Granted, he was in a suite and did offer me a ticket. However, I think I got the better part of that deal yesterday.

Friday, April 14, 2006

It's Friday, and that's about it

Just a couple of sports notes today:

Brewers
They finally win one against the Cardinals yesterday with a 4-3 win in 11 innings. Not only was Carlos Lee a stud with 2 huge game-saving catches, but he hit the game-winning HR. Given he is on my fantasy baseball team, that was very much appreciated. Also, thanks to his HR, Turnbow notched another save and he is also on my team. So a good day was had by the Polka Playing Possums, which is the name for my team.

Packers
Mr. Critic over at the Packer blog Nietzsche or Nitschke? has a very interesting article on the Packers cap situation. Basically he quotes an article from John Clayton of ESPN that the Packers actually need to sign Woodson and Arrington. Because should Favre retire, the Packers would be about 16M under the MINIMUM cap number (Clayton says 19M, but he's counting a 10M savings instead of the 7M they would have, just my opinion). You don't think the Poston brothers know this and will expect some larger offers for thier people do you? Hmmmmm.

Last night I saw V for Vendetta with my neighbor Shane. Outstanding movie. Prior to the movie Shane had said that the movie was aimed to make you think. Well, after seeing it, I did come away thinking about something: that Natalie Portman bald is better looking than a lot of other actresses with a full head of hair.

Thursday, April 13, 2006

Thanks!

I've noticed that this site, somehow, has received increased traffic over the last couple of months and decided to look and see who is stopping by. Here is a copy of the last 100 hits to the site. Given I get more than this in a day, I know this is not everyone. I am especially impressed that the hits from Europe and Australia are pretty consistant. So I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who stops by (whether on purpose, by accident, or by losing a bet). Feel free to comment and let me know where you are from.

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

You know, this might actually work...

The Packers have met with both Charles Woodson and Lavar (not to be confused with Jill) Arrington. Both of these players are certainly the 2 biggest names still left in the FA market and if TT is going to make a "splash" with a signing, this is his last opportunity.

If both of these players sign on with the Packers, one thing is for sure, the defense would be much improved. Woodson can easily cover any #2 WR out there and that would leave Carroll as the nickel back. I like Carroll and feel that he made huge strides last season and can cover most #3 WR in the league. Being at the nickel slot and learning from Woodson would only help Carroll become a better CB. Arrington, while having a reputation as a freelancer, would be an immense upgrade to our LB corps. Add drafting AJ Hawk in the first round and the Packers go from having one of the worst to one of the best LB corps in the NFL. So there is definate plus to signing these guys (not to mention themanthemyththelegend Favre might decide before 2011 if he wants to come back if these guys sign).

However, there is a reason these guys are still around, they want a butt-load of money and they have injury histories. However, there is one thing, actually 2 things that work out in the Packers favor and that is the same guys represent both Woodson and Arrington, Carl and Kevin Poston. These are the same boneheads that forgot to activate a clause in Arrington's contract that cost him $6.5M, and Lavar stayed with them! So as cutthroat as these brothers are, they don't seem to be the brightest guys out there. Maybe TT can take advantage of these guys. Pipe dream perhaps, but given that the well is running dry in FA land, the Poston's may not have much of a choice.

EDIT: A commenter, Jeramey, correctly pointed out that I had originally referred to Charles Woodson as Rod Woodson. Thanks for the catch, the change was made and thus, further proof that I'm an idiot.

Monday, April 10, 2006

When you say Wisconsin, you've said it all!


Way to go 2006 National Champions of college hockey!!

Friday, April 07, 2006

High Noon

Well, the NFL schedule came out yesterday and the Packers play a whole lotta noon games, 11 of them in fact. Good, I like consistency like this so that I don't have to wait all afternoon to have my Sundays ruined by a Packer loss, I can get that out of the way sooner in the day. Also, thanks to the NFL who had the Packers and Vikes play on the Thursday prior to Christmas as an apology for making them play on Christmas Eve 2 years ago.

Now comes the part that I get quite a bit of amusement out of: the predictions fans start making on the records. You see and hear things like "We got an easy schedule this year and you know 10-6 looks real possible" or a game-by-game prediction of what's going to happen. There's been no draft yet, no camp, and no injuries yet and everyone knows that things can change drastically during the season and the whole "any given Sunday" phrase sure plays itself out enough during the season. Add in to the fact that we don't know who the hell our starting QB or RB is, whether our #1 WR is coming back or how the new coaches are going to do; and these predictions are just silly and overall meaningless.

This will not however stop me from joining in and being an idiot myself. The great Oracle sees this team being: 7-9. Not a real impressive record for sure, but this is not a real impressive team at this point. We're rebuilding here people, the sooner you realize that, the better adjusted you will be on expectations. Of course I reserve the right to change this prediction at a later time.

Thursday, April 06, 2006

Time for Tailgating!

The age-old tradition that is tailgating has it's history rooted back in ancient days dating back even to the Mayan empire in 2600 BC. Citizens of that mighty empire would gather outside the areas and grill meat and meat products over open fires while warriors would play games inside the arenas where the winners would receive great rewards and glory and the losers would die. Wagers would be placed on the outcome and colored flags flown atop high poles to show support for one's team.

Now it is your turn to join in this ancient event and support your team, the Green Bay Packers in the National Tailgating Competition in Las Vegas! Here is a letter from the organizer for the Packers and author of the incredibly funny
Cheesehead University. A highly recommended read for all.

Greetings Cheeseheads,
We have just gotten an invitation at
www.CheeseheadUniversity.com to take part in a National Tailgating Competition in Las Vegas, Nevada on July 22nd. We are going to pair up with a couple other organizations for sponsorship and representation in Wisconsin and send a huge "Strike Force" of die hard Cheeseheads. This event is to receive a slew of national attention from Late Night Talk Shows, to ESPN, National News Networks and Radio. It is also the venue for a feature in Sports Illustrated! We have a chance to not only represent, but We are compiling some of the most notable characters in the Packer Community, like the Packelope, Arch Bishop Lombardi and Captain Cheese to lead a Cheesehead Army. We are in the beginning phases of putting together a Beer Garden with Polka Bands. We want a huge showing if we commit.

I am starting to formulate a team and am looking for initial interest. If you or your group has an interest in this event and have any ideas that will help us further the effort, please shoot me an email and let me know. Feel free to forward this on to others and help us in the initial grass roots campaign. I travel on business this week, but will respond this weekend. This would make for a fun weekend with the family or friends, as Las Vegas has much to offer on so many fronts. I am compiling a list for future information, so let me know!

Craig P.
Head Chancellor
CheeseheadUniversity.com


If you know of anyone who love the Packers and loves to tailgate (I know, big stretch there), pass this info along to them. As Craig P. says, we need to represent big at the event and bury the competition. Since there wasn't much of that during the season, the least we can do is win the battle of the parking lot.

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Packers news and gifts

Well, let's see what's up with America's Team, the Green Bay Packers lately:

The Packers have brought in Charles Woodson as a potential starting CB, replacing Carroll in the lineup and moving him to the nickel back. Woodson left GB without signing a contract. Now, some in the Packer community will have you believe that TT has let another potential big-time FA slip through his fingers. They would be the Chicken Littles of the fans. Woodson may very well sign elsewhere, but the fact that he left does not necessarily mean that he won't sign here (see the Pickett example for the exact same scenario). It is well known that Woodson and his agents (the same ones that screwed Arrington out of millions with their incompetence) are looking for big-time $. They are not going to get it and kudos to TT for not bowing to their demands. There are other teams chasing after Woodson and I'm sure he is considering what his best move will be. Should the Pack be able to sign him, the secondary would be quite solid and allow Carroll to work on his techniques more as the nickel back.

Everyone has heard about the
cat-fight between Chmura and Favre. Chmura came out and called Favre "a selfish player" and had other complaints. Among them are that Favre never called him during his underage rape trial. Wait, Favre is selfish? Really? I never knew that! Holy stating the obvious Batman! Chmura really lays a bomb on the WI sports scene with that "inside" info. Now, about the lack of calls during the trial. Let's see, Mark is in a hot tub with several 17 year old girls and reportedly has sex with one of them. He essentially gets off given who he is and that the trial is in WI within 200 miles of GB. Mark's all pissed that another person doesn't want to get his name sullied up in that horrific mess Mark created for himself? Give me a break, like I'm suddenly supposed to feel sorry for him. Also, why now with coming out with this? Chmura simply is trying to get some 15 minutes of fame on this.

The Gift
Prior to my wife heading off to Ireland, she asked me what I wanted her to bring back. I answered that I would like some Irish Whiskey. Now, I expected a flask sized bottle or something like that. What I got simply blew me away:

She got me a whole litre of a good whiskey known as Tyrconnell, go check out their site. The name is from a horse that was a 100 to 1 shot that won the big horse race in Ireland, "The National Produce Stakes" in 1876. Horses are a huge business and source of pride in Ireland and thus the label was changed after that victory to resemble the horse running to victory. I haven't tried it yet, however I shall break it out soon with my good buddy and neighbor Shane some evening while listening to some baseball on the radio on his porch. My wifey came through huge with this gift as this is not a whiskey one can easily get here in the states. Well done I say!

Tuesday, April 04, 2006

Fearless Prediction and Cub Foods

Fearless Prediction: Brewers will win 91 games this year. Last year I had them at 82 wins and was only off by one. Figured that this year, if I'm off again by 1, that would be just fine by me. The Crew won their opener 5-2 over the Pirates. JJ Hardy and Carlos Lee started thier All-Star seasons off with HR's in their first game (1st AB for JJ). The bullpen was stellar by only allowing 2 base runners in 3 innings, with Turnbow throwing 97 mph heat (holy crap!) to close it out. Nice way to open the season.

Cub Foods: I figured that if I posted this on Saturday everyone would think this was an April Fool's prank. I was shopping with my kids at Cub Foods and had just gotten my last item. I was at the back of the store when my son said: "Dad, I'm going to barf, run!"

Needless to say I was off like a shot down the aisle towards the front where the bathrooms are. This is the preferred place to go when a child is sick as barf all over the floor ruins the shopping trip for everyone else for some reason. Adam is riding on the front of the cart facing me so as I'm 2/3 of the way down the aisle, I see his mouth just balloon up. I tell him to hold it if he can and as I blaze down the aisle. When I get to the end of the aisle, there are several blue hairs (old people) just basically standing right in my way with their carts. I yell "Sick boy, coming through!" and swerve around them as they just stand there gauking, no doubt wondering what happened to the good old days and when Metamucil is going back on sale.


I stop the cart at the front of the store and grab Adam, who has shall we say "leaked" a bit already and run past all the registers carrying him up in the air. I run by 2 employees who figure that standing around is a great use of their time. I finally reach the bathroom, get him into a stall and run back out to get Leah, who is still sitting in the cart, simply bewildered as to what is going on. I pick her up and run back to the bathroom, leaving the cart.

So, after a while of cleaning the boy up, I determine that he is ok enough to sit on the bench outside of the bathroom (gotta have a plan people) while I go and check out the groceries. I use the checkout lane that is right in front of him and make sure the whole time he is ok. Got the groceries and the kids back home and finally took a breather. The last 4 months of working out paid off finally.

Tomorrow, pictures of the awesome gift my wife got me from Ireland and Packer news.

Saturday, April 01, 2006

Well, I finally did it

I have resigned from my position as the Packer writer over at The Frozen Tundra. Doing this site and that one finally drained me. The gang over there at the Most Valuable Network are a great bunch of guys. But it simply got to the point where it was not fun to write there anymore as it felt like something I had to do versus want to do. Maybe someday I'll go back, but not until I've run this site into the ground first.