Category Archives: ESPNMilwaukee.com

5

March

Monday Morning View: Bounties Have No Place in the NFL

If you’ve been away this weekend or cooped up in a hole to avoid the weather, you might have missed the big story that hit all the media outlets on Friday afternoon. I first found out through our friends at CheeseheadTV that the New Orleans Saints have been found guilty of offering bounties (or payouts) to defensive players as a performance incentive. It wasn’t only for interceptions or fumble recoveries, though. No, they were getting rewarded for injuring other players.

I, for one, found this appalling.

Now, I’m no fool. I am well aware that the rules of the league are often broken to gain a competitive advantage. And some people in the CheeseheadTV comments section feigned a sarcastic state of shock in light of this news.

But what really got to me were the comments and tweets around the internet that this is commonplace and not that big of a deal. The only reason it’s a huge story is because the Saints actually got caught. Some people likened it to the use of performances enhancing drugs (PEDs), in that it happens all the time, yet only a few are ever found out.

22

December

CheeseheadRadio News 12-21-11. They Actually Lost a Game Edition

Weekly Green Bay Packers News from Twitter and other Sources by Al Bracco and Jayme Joers (As heard on Cheesehead Radio – 12/21/11 ). Interview with Jason Wilde of ESPN Milwaukee at the 75 minute mark.

To listen to the show, click on the play button below:

Listen to internet radio with Cheesehead Radio on Blog Talk Radio

 

CheeseheadRadio News:

Al : Well, there’s no doubt what the lead story is tonight. The Green Bay Packers no longer have a donut at the end of their record. The Packers suffered their first loss at the hands of the KC Chiefs after an ugly performance by the Packers while the Chiefs did everything right. The Packers finally met their trap team, ironically, just as C.D. stopped calling every game a trap game.

Jayme: As if losing wasn’t bad enough, the Packers offensive line was decimated during the game, adding injury to insult, so to speak. Bryan Bulaga left the game with a knee injury and then his replacement Derrick Sherrod, suffered a double leg fracture. The Packers quickly put Sherrod on Injured Reserve and signed street free agent Herb Taylor, a former backup with the Chiefs who hasn’t made a roster in 2 years. Bulaga will not be ready for the Bears, but Chad Clifton did some limited practicing today, so perhaps he may be available in the near future.

10

December

A Non-Packers Fan Guide To The Stock Sale

It took just 2 days for the Packers to sell 185,000 shares of stock, over 75% of the initial offering that was supposed to last until February.  That’s 48 hours, $43 million dollars total or over $1,500 dollars donated every minute.

The media (maybe most notably Bill Johnson of Green and Gold Today) and fans (even some Packers fans it appears), have been taken to ridiculing the idiots who have decided to buy a stock that offers little in terms of power within the Packers organization, does not constitute a stock in the traditional sense of the word (as stated on the website), and can only be resold to the Packers for 2.5 cents, which is a 100 fold loss.   Some have called the sale disingenuous (or greedy as Jason Wilde put it) since the Packers aren’t in dire economic troubles.

I think the biggest misconception that people outside of the Packers faithful (and even some Packers faithful) is that this is indeed a stock (which let’s be honest it really isn’t) So I’ve put this list together for all of you to why buying Packers stock isn’t a stupid idea.

23

August

Packers Fans – Do We All Think Like Ted Thompson Now?

Let’s change the pace a little bit, let’s talk about you.

Let’s talk about you the fan.

Now that General Manager Ted Thompson has won a Super Bowl using the “Thompson Method ™”, he can apparently do no wrong in the eyes of the fans.  People who had been clamoring for years to get more veteran free agents and big name signings have quieted down, ready to admit the error in their ways and venerate the white-haired one.  Even the most staunch Thompson hater is now ready to board the “draft and develop” bandwagon that Thompson preaches.

One interesting fact that I’ve noticed is that almost as adamantly as fans were criticizing him before he won a Super Bowl, fans are now just as adamantly supportive of him now that he has won one.  Fans now seem to think the same way as Thompson now, which brings up a interesting question: are Packers fans now psychologically predisposed to think like Ted Thompson?

It’s an interesting thought.  If you are a Packers fan right now, you couldn’t be happier and you’d like status quo to continue (repeat anyone?).  Obviously Ted Thompson did something right to win a Super Bowl (right?), so it makes sense that people are following in Thompson’s rationale now.

21

August

Talking Packers With ESPN Radio and Pigskin Paul

I was on the air with CHAD HOLMES @ ESPN Radio 100.5 in Wausau last night and he brought up a plethora of PACKERS questions for discussion. Since there is no posting of the show to send you to I thought I’d summarize some of our topics that might be of interest to PACKERS fans.

We discussed the lack of off-season OTAs and such this year, and whether or not it hurts the PACKERS, or gives them a slight advantage as an experienced, defending Super BOwl squad. Other than teams with new coaching staffs I think the PACKERS as a team will be hurt by the 4+ months of no contact. I say that primarily because under the TED THOMPSON regime this team relies of developing younger players to develop into starters.

Any time they lost that could have spent working with young guys like NICK McDONALD, FRANK ZOMBO, MARSHALL NEWHOUSE, JAMES STARKS, et al (not to mention their Rookies) can’t be regained. And progress lost, though hard to gauge, is a consequence of the Lockout. If the team should suffer through an injury plagued campaign such as last year, then time not spent developing these back-ups could be felt on the field of play.

11

August

From the Mouth of Jermichael Finley: Packers Should Score Every Time

NFL general managers, coaches and the majority of players give the most boring interviews in all of sports. Because football is run by multi-billionaires and is the most mainstream sport in America, the league and its teams spend a lot of money trying to control their message and ruffle as few feathers as possible when communicating through the media.

That’s why I love Jermichael Finley. Green Bay’s fourth-year TE apparently was absent when Packers PR staff provided media training to players and covered such topics as Cliches 101 and How to Say the Same Boring Stuff Over and Over Again.

Finley just says whatever is on his mind, and it’s great. For some reason, certain fans get upset when players are honest. I get that there’s a fine line between being honest and being dumb, but I don’t understand why some fans would prefer a player to just shut up instead of actually telling us what’s on his mind (even if whatever is on his mind might be dumb).

Actually, it probably has nothing to do with being honest or dumb. It’s more about being genuine. I think Finley is genuine, and that’s a good thing.

Here are some of Finely’s best quotes from the last couple of weeks along with my thoughts on each one:

10

August

James Jones vs. Randy Moss: Same Story, Different Ending

Aaron Rodgers and James JonesEveryone gather around and let me tell you a story:

In 2007 the story goes that Green Bay Packer franchise quarterback Brett Favre approached General Manager Ted Thompson about the possibility of signing wide receiver Randy Moss.  Thompson took to the phones but unfortunately New England offered the best deal and Moss became a Patriot.

In 2011 the story goes that Green Bay Packer franchise quarterback Aaron Rodgers approached General Manager Ted Thompson about the possibility of signing wide receiver James Jones.  Thompson took to the phones and fortunately Green Bay offered the best deal and Jones remains a Packer.

Same story, different ending.

So what gives?  Jason Wilde and Bill Johnson from Green and Gold Today on ESPN Milwaukee recently brought up this question, and after admitting they couldn’t figure out an explanation, they concluded that maybe it was because Aaron Rodgers is Thompson’s “guy”, maybe it was the familiarity with the offense, Randy Moss’ history as a locker room killer, the difference in talent between Moss and Jones, etc.  All valid points to some extent, but it doesn’t answer what the difference was between Brett Favre asking for Randy Moss and Aaron Rodgers asking for James Jones.