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W.O.S. Bar in Paris France

Special to ALLGBP.com:

Being thousands of miles away from home is not an excuse to miss out on every Green Bay Packers game in the NFL. Despite the dwindling NFL fan base in Europe, the Packers have solid roots in the heart of Paris. We’re talking about the WOS bar in Rue Saint Jacques.

After NFL Europa was disbanded in 2007, many Parisians who were inevitably hooked on American football had nowhere to go to get their daily dose of the NFL. Since Europe is still primarily soccer country, even American migrants find it hard to pay tribute to the sport.

The only American tradition that seems to have melded nicely into European mainstream is the game of  Texas Hold’em. The poker game has claimed Paris and the entire European community in popular gaming sites like partypoker français. Because poker claims to have its roots in Europe, its presence online is nothing short of ubiquitous. Partypoker became successful in cornering the market by integrating multilingual functions, a feature that lets you use play money, video tutorials and its very own Android application.

If only the NFL were able to captivate the European scene in the same way poker did, we’d have a lot more Green Bay fans in the romance capital of the world. But thanks to WOS bar, any Packers fan will feel right at home.  Read more... (470 words + 1 image, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

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So now all the guess work is over and the NFL Draft is in the books. As I write this most Packers rookies are showing up for their first taste of an NFL OTA.

And it is obvious that unless I am going to be totally oblivious of my readers’ desires, which is not a good thing at all, I am going to have to relent of my “no Draft Grades” stance, at least relative to the PACKERS and the rest of the NFC North.

So let’s start right at the top of the list with the team that is the clear choice as “America’s Team”, to the vast majority of my readers.

GREEN BAY PACKERS  2013 DRAFT ANALYSIS

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I hear defense, defense, defense fans for this draft. In my other piece on the offensive side of the ball, I stated the offense fell from #3 in 2011 to #13 in 2012. The defense improved across the board in 2012 over 2011, and I expect a lot more of that improvement this coming season. I don’t believe we will see a repeat of last year, but there are needs that have to be addressed in the draft, where in the draft is the big question.

Based on the opinion of many, need and BPA make a convergence in this draft with a number of DT/DE prospects rated around the Packers #26 pick. All of these Defensive linemen have those warts I talked about in the offensive piece.

Lets start with Sylvester Williams,
A some what under rated DT, not as hyped as others right now, but very talented. But there are questions about him, Real concerns? Hype? Misinformation? All in the eye of the beholder.

To continue the Williams theme lets go with Jesse Williams NT/DE Alabama,.  I like this Williams because he can play NT, DE and that 3 technique used in the nickel and dime for the Packers. He is raw and limited in pass rush. Back to these players having questions.

Lets look at Jonathon Hankins,  more warts, but a possibility for the #26 pick, what I don’t like is two years of knee injuries. But quick long arms another prospect that can play multiple spots in the defense.  Read more... (1078 words + 1 image, estimated 4:19 mins reading time)

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Draft Target Bulls Eye

How many mock drafts have you checked out? How many positional ranking lists have you pondered? Maybe a scouting report or two? The draft is less then a week away. The NFL Draft might be one of the greatest marketing wonders of the world. Three days of TV coverage, on two Networks, with Parties at most home Stadiums and so much out there you can’t swing a dead cat and not hit something related to the NFL draft.

And I have to admit, I love it.

The amount of buzz created this time of year about everything football is quite amazing when you consider not that long ago, Well at least in my time as a Packer fan, which to some would be a long time ago, the draft was a much different affair. The year the Packers won the first Super Bowl, Vince had twenty two picks in 17 rounds. And that year of 1967 was the first year of the combined draft. The NFC and AFC had got that point to end the bidding war between the two Leagues for the Top prospects.

Today a player had better be a Super Star out of the box or that “B “ word gets tossed out there pretty quickly. We will also all hear what team had the best grade in the draft. That is the one thing out of today’s draft that makes me mumble short worded sentences that Jersey Al won’t put on his site.  Read more... (1209 words + 1 image, estimated 4:50 mins reading time)

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2013 NFL Draft

Since my Packers Mock Draft a little while back, I’ve received request for a Bears mock draft as well.  So here goes nothing. But I do have one disclaimer. I am not familiar with the long term work of PHIL EMERY, so this one is purely on me with no inside information to draw from. And at the request of more than a few folks whose favorite division is the NFC North, here’s the whole division for you.

(As with my previous PACKERS MOCK the number in parenthesis after the Pick name and vitals is where I currently have the player ranked on my Regardless of Position Prospect list.)

DA BEARS   2013 MOCK DRAFT

Round 1, Pick 20    ALEC OGLETREE/LB/GEORGIA/6’3/242(22)

The LB position is the biggest rebuild unit on this team now that VFA has been used to finally upgrade the OL. If EMERY can get past the off-field issues OGLETREE could be an instant starter for them, on the outside in my opinion. He’s an excellent athlete and his ex-S skills can be put to best use outside rather than in the Middle where he’d be a bit undersized for the NFL.

Round 2, Pick 50    MARKUS WHEATON/WR/OREGON STATE/5’11/189(50)  Read more... (2532 words + 1 image, estimated 10:08 mins reading time)

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Packers GM Ted Thompson

Trying to figure out Mocks that involve all 32 teams seems absolutely impossible to my old mind. Trying to construct something that captures the scheming and mechanization of TED THOMPSON’s mind may be even more daunting. But at least it only involves 8 Picks and no one in their right mind expects anything close to it to actually occur at the end of April. So here is my first PACKERS 2013 Draft projection.

Just a brief explanation of the effort. I am using my Top 300 prospect list and then selecting at the pick spots currently held by the PACK. When they are scheduled to select at spot 26 in Round 1 I consider prospects that I have ranked from 24-35. Thus I am hoping that Whitey likes someone in that 12 spot range. Within those 12 I am also considering needs as I view them. Even though Thompson professes the “best available athlete” philosophy as his drafting mode, he is far from oblivious to roster need factors if he has a group of players that are pretty much equally ranked on his Draft Board.

Even though I believe this to be a very good Draft to trade back a couple of times because of high quality depth I refuse to even begin speculation on when and where he might trade. Therefore, this projection is confined to the current 8 Picks that the PACKERS organization holds.  Read more... (984 words + 1 image, estimated 3:56 mins reading time)

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Ted Thompson on the Prowl

Since Ted Thompson has had final say in who the Packers draft, there have been a number of, WHO?, picks. Nick Collins, Jerron McMIllian, James Jones, Josh Sitton come to mind looking back at different drafts and remembering the comments by many of the sideline GM’s. You could have got this or that player way later and TT should have taken this or that player instead. When you look at these picks and how they have turned out, I give TT the edge over the sideliners.

All of these picks were either smaller school players or players that had little or no buzz about them heading into the draft. For those that don’t know me, I have always been a big fan of these types of players. A college OT that makes the move to OG, a college DE that makes the move to OLB or even ILB like Lattimore now with the Packers. My thoughts have always been that good football players are good football players, it does not matter where they come from or who they played against. Call them reaches or for some flyer picks for this we will call them sleepers. With most of these player there is little of no Video on them, but I will get what I can for your viewing pleasure.

Here are a few that have caught my eye so far in the pre draft process. I am not putting any importance on a position, just prospects I think need a closer look.  Read more... (658 words + 1 image, estimated 2:38 mins reading time)

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