FINALLY DONE WITH SCHOOL, BUT GONNA BE A BUSY SUMMER

So it's been over a week since my last post, and I promise to try to not let that happen again this summer. I'm done with school so I'm at home and have already begun working, and I'm going to be a slave to jobs this summer trying to make as much money and do as much as I can to bulk up my resume. I'm glad that this busy week I just had came when it did, so I didn't have to follow up close the Brett Favre situation. As a huge Favre fan, I can't handle it. I even got the point that I said some pretty bad things about him, because I just cannot believe that he is even considering Minnesota. I mean, c'mon, after playing nearly his entire career with the Packers, becoming a beloved icon to Packer fans, football fans, and the entire state of Wisconsin, he wants to cross the borders and wear purple and yellow? Please God, do not let him make this mistake.

Anyways, I'll be bartending a lot this summer as well as trying to bulk up my resume working for a Cape Cod-like summer collegiate baseball league, but I will try to find as much time as possible for the Packers and my blog.

The Journal Sentinel is reporting that Quinn Johnson should step right in as the starting fullback because of his old-school style of bruising lead blocking. The JS also says that B.J. Raji, out of respect for Ryan Pickett, will accept playing the 5 technique, or defensive end, at points during the season, which is good to hear that Raji has some respect. Nick Collins hasn't been present with the team for a while now, but it is not believed to be simply over contract extension issues. Reportedly there is a very serious family situation that is keeping him away, and I hope that everything is alright for Nick and his family. I checked up on Nick Barnett's Twitter recently and, as I have also seen this on other athletes Twitters, he was eating fast food yesterday. Man, if I could afford to eat fast food and still maintain the physical shape and physique that these guys do, I'd die for it. But yeah, not so much.

Well that's about all I have for right now. I'll do my best to post as often as possible. Go Pack go!

FINALS WEEK

Alright well it's finals week now, so expect a slow week from me. I apologize, but I basically have a pretty much impossible paper. Expect things to pick back up possibly later this week or right at the beginning of next week. Let's just spend our week praying we don't have to see Brett in purple. That's all for now.

HAPPY MAY!

Oh, summer is in the air. Yesterday was my last day of classes as a junior undergrad student, and by this time next week, I'll be on my way home to Long Island for a wonderful summer of working my butt off in order to afford school next year. Yesterday, the Packers announced the numbers that all of the drafted rookies will be wearing in Green Bay (via the Journal-Sentinel blog):

90 - B.J. Raji
52 - Clay Matthews
70 - T.J. Lang
45 - Quinn Johnson
69 - Jamon Meredith
94 - Jarius Wynn
33 - Brandon Underwood
59 - Brad Jones

Exciting stuff for those desiring new jerseys. I honestly haven't gotten a new Packers jersey since at least 2002, and I still have the same Starter brand Brett Favre green. My plans, when I actually have the money to do so, is to get an Aaron Rodgers white #12, but who knows when that will actually happen.

Also, the construction of Nitschke Field is getting close to finished. Plans are for it to be done just in time for training camp at the end of July.

The Packers are looking into newly released former Cardinal Travis LaBoy. I think this makes a lot of sense if you can sign him for the minimum or near-minimum. He is coming off of biceps surgery, but in five years in Arizona had 23.5 sacks and could provide better competition with Clay Matthews than Brady Poppinga.

Many people in the Packer blogosphere prefer Mike Maycock of the NFL Network to Mel Kiper and Todd McShay of ESPN, and our favoritism gained validity during the NFL draft. From MJD at Shutdown Corner, "Mike Mayock is the mack daddy of mock drafting." In a scoring system explained on MJD's post, Maycock got 10 out of 32 of the first round picks correct, while Kiper got 8.5 and McShay only got 6.

The first video of Madden 2010 gameplay has been leaked, and I found it over on First Cuts (The Sporting News). This is one of the few video games that I still spend money on, so I was very excited to get to see the new gang tackles in this years game.

Nick Barnett has been a very good and consistent "tweeter." This morning he posted a "twit pic" of his wife on a plane. Quite a funny caption for all of the worries going around about the Swine Flu. "Is my wife parinoid or being safe on plane with the new swine flu?" Actually, it's not really that funny at all. But this is a football blog, I'll stay away from medical issues.

Well that's about it for the morning here on Beers, Brats, and Beating the Bears. I might check back in later this afternoon, but if not, have a great first weekend of May! Hope the weather is beautiful wherever you are.

OF COURSE, IT COULD NEVER HAPPEN THAT EASILY

Yes, that's right, the Jets have released Brett Favre. Yes, he is technically retired, but now what? If he comes back, he is free to go wherever he would want to go (aka Minnesota if interested). I, however, truly believe that he is done. You can probably count me as the lone believer. Some people may argue he doesn't want to go out after having the type of end to a season that he did with the Jets last year, but as I watched him play those last few games, you could tell something was different. The fire was gone, and I'm praying that he is too, as much as I never wanted his career to come to an end. It's been a joy Brett, even last year, but please don't drag it on again.

BEARS DRAFT A ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS CHAMPION

No, really, they did. Al Afalava was listed in Oregon State's media guide as the team's 2007 Rock, Paper, Scissors champion. Not really much to say here, just a lot of laughing on my part. Hope others enjoy this story as much as I do. Only 137 days until Packers vs Bears on Opening Weekend 2009!

LIST OF ALL NEW PLAYERS WITH THE PACK

Ok so now that I've taken a few days off (it was way too nice outside to be in at the computer all weekend, between 80 and 90 degrees and beautiful, which is rare in Ithaca, NY), I'm back with a list of all of the players that the Packers have either drafted, signed, or have announced plans to bring in for tryouts in the past few days.

DRAFTED (8):
DT B.J. Raji - Boston College
OLB Clay Matthews - USC
OL T.J. Lang - Eastern Michigan
FB Quinn Johnson - LSU
OL Jamon Meredith - South Carolina
DE Jarius Wynn - Georgia
CB Brandon Underwood - Cincinatti
LB Brad Jones - Colorado

SIGNED AS UNDRAFTED FA (10):
T Andy Hartline - Central Michigan
DE Ron Talley - Delaware
WR Andy Brodel - Iowa
WR Kole Heckendorf - North Dakota State
WR Jamarko Simmons - Western Michigan
WR JaRon Harris - South Dakota State
RB Tyrell Sutton - Northwestern
TE Carson Butler - Michigan
WR Patrick Williams - Colorado
OL Evan Dietrich-Smith - Idaho State

INVITED TO TRYOUTS (SO FAR 2):
QB David Johnson - Tulsa
QB Brian Johnson - Utah

I won't say much here, but how "Ted Thompsonish" is that? For the first time in the history of the universe he didn't draft a wide receiver, so he decides to go out and sign 5, yes FIVE, undrafted free agent wideouts. Ya gotta love it.

ATHLETES TWEET

While this isn't directly Packers related, it is something I find to be pretty cool. Recently, I had started trying to find out what athlete's "Tweet", or use the site Twitter. I couldn't find anywhere a list of all of the athletes, until today, when I found AthleteTweets.com. Its homepage updates as each and every athlete included on their list on the right side of the page Tweets. Nick Barnett is the only Packer I have found to date that uses the site, but he does it very often and this is a perfect tool for the athletes to get what they want to say out into the media without anyone altering it.

BEERS, BRATS, AND BEATING THE BEARS LINKED TO ON CHEESEHEAD TV

Yesterday, as I went through my usual list of Packers sources (newspapers, blogs, websites) I came across a post on Ol' Bag of Donuts which stated the same case that I had back in February. Naturally, I commented on their post saying "Thank you for noticing this as well. I thought I was the only one." And I linked to my post. Cheesehead TV later posted on the same topic, linking back to Ol' Bag of Donuts, US!, and the piece on CBSSports that orginally triggered my post on the topic.

I posted a comment back to Aaron of CTV thanking him greatly for linking to my post. As far as I know, this was the first time anyone ever has. I doubt I have had any/many readers at all previous to this, and maybe this link could boost the viewership of Beers, Brats, and Beating the Bears! Thanks again Aaron, and on with Beers, Brats, and Beating the Bears!

THE ODDS ON THE NUMBER 9 PICK ARE OUT

Bob Wolfley at the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel included in his SportsDay article today that the odds of who the Packers are going to take with the number 9 pick have been released. B.J. Raji leads the way, followed by Brian Orakpo and Aaron Maybin.

I'M SHAKING IN MY BOOTS

Although it had already been leaked onto the internet because of a mistakenly released toy truck, the new Detroit Lions logo was officially revealed yesterday. I don't know about everybody else, but the the ferocity of the new lion has me forgetting all about that 0-16 season they had last year. I'm even worried that they might win a game. I mean, come on Detroit, it's just like MJD said over at Shutdown Corner.

When you're coming off an 0-16 season, rarely is the logo at the top of anyone's list of concerns. For example, no one in Detroit had this conversation last year:

Fan 1: Man, we went 0-16. We are awful. This franchise is in terrible shape.
Fan 2: I know. And you know what's worse? Our lion logo doesn't even have a discernible mouth!

I will be there when the Packers get their first shot at taking down these new (and improved? no) Lions on October 18th. I hope Aaron Rodgers doesn't fear the new lion like the University of Maryland suggests you should "Fear [this] Turtle."

ON A FUNNY NOTE

I don't know if fans in Wisconsin feel the same way that I do, but growing up in New York, I have a severe hatred of the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick and his dirty cheating ways have made me despise of that entire franchise. Not to mention Josh McDaniel's running a franchise quarterback out of town the second he got to Denver and sending him along to the Chicago Bears. That is why I find this, via FanIQ, absolutely hilarious.

WITH THE DRAFT COMES BUSTS, WITH BUSTS COMES TONY MANDARICH

As we lead into Saturday's draft, ESPN is covering/talking about/rambling about the NFL draft like none other. Figures though, as they will broadcast it live over the weekend. During Sportscenter, Todd McShay gave his most underrated and most overrated players, which naturally segued into a piece about Tony Mandarich, who I had posted about nearly two months ago.

While I was too young to know much of anything about Mandarich, besides the obvious, the piece that Outside The Lines did for Sportscenter was very interesting. Despite the level of a bust that he was, and the many negative things he said about Green Bay and his time there, you have to feel bad for this guy. Check out OTL's story here.

HAPPY DRAFT WEEK 2009!

After a long weekend of beautiful weather, writing papers, and playing softball, it is time to get back to the Packer Blogosphere and wish everyone a Happy Draft Week 2009! As a rookie in the NFL blogging world (I just started in January), I am quite amazed at how long and often people blog about the draft leading up to it. It started all the way back in January and will culminate on Saturday when Ted Thompson makes his pick at number 9 (or trades the pick away). I've tried to keep my draft posts few and far between because there are so many out there mine would be lost in the masses, unless I had a unique and legitimate case to make (ie Michael Crabtree).

But here we are, the week of the NFL Draft. And not much at all is set in stone, not even Matthew Stafford at number one. And while the Pack has been rumored to be looking at B.J. Raji, Malcolm Jenkins, and a few of the hybrids that could play OLB in the 3-4, their views of the offensive tackles might not be the same as what has been said in recent weeks. Bob McGinn of the Journal-Sentinel has an interesting article about the top four tackles expected to be taken, and how not everyone is as high on them as previously believed. That is quite interesting, especially since it has not been discovered until so close to draft day. All I have to say is, as much criticism as people give Ted Thompson for some decisions that he makes, I can only thank God I don't have his job this week.

A LITTLE LATE, BUT NONETHELESS

On Tuesday, the Packers signed defensive tackle Brian Soi. Soi has the size of a NT in the 3-4 at 6'3", 334, but hasn't been able to catch on with the Dolphins in '07 or the Giants in '08. In trying to research Soi, I found some interesting information. While only these two stints with NFL teams have been documented, and he has never actually played, he is quite the veteran and should bring some leadership to the Packers.


Please catch onto the sarcasm there; Rotoworld lists him as being 109 years old.

SO WHAT DOES THE SCHEDULE MEAN?

Well, if you're looking for a breakdown of the schedule, Greg Bedard of the Journal-Sentinel gives a great one. When I ask what this schedule means, I ask it in a more personal way. Basically, how does this affect me? Ah, quite drastically. Now that all information has been released, I can more specify my dreams of a roadtrip, and update them in the future. Please excuse any repeating as I try to sum up what is going on for those who have not read my previous posts.Well, I guess I should start by giving everybody a little bit of a background about myself. I was born and have lived my entire life in the Empire State (New York). This would seem to lead to the simple question, "Why are you writing about the Green Bay Packers?" Lambeau Field is nearly 1100 miles from the house I grew up in, and NFL ticket was non-existent to my family and I. Yet, I have always been in awe of the green and gold, their history, and the city of Green Bay, my entire life. My mother was born in Green Bay and grew up in the state of Wisconsin. My father grew up on Long Island but was in middle school and high school during the dominant years of Lombardi's Packers, so he always rooted for the them. My grandparents had season tickets and were at the Ice Bowl. I mean, honestly, how many people can say they knew someone who was at the Ice Bowl? Well I guess maybe in Wisconsin the number of people who can is a bit higher, but I've grown up in New York and have been able to tell people this my entire life; and people have always been amazed, as am I. When I was younger we would take at least one yearly trip to Titletown and stay with family that lived in the suburbs, and I will admit that I developed a "man crush" towards the Pack. Yet, I've only been to one Packers game, and that was at Giants Stadium in 2007 when Brett Favre broke John Elway's career wins record for quarterbacks.

Next year I will be finishing my undergraduate degree, so my time in the "not so real world" is coming to an end. I have always enjoyed traveling, especially driving. While I was back home, in January, I decided that I needed to do something crazy before I have to enter the real world. I've never made the typical college spring break trip, I haven't really made trips to visit friends from high school at the colleges they attend, and I have constantly wondered if I made the wrong decision by not going to a big time school with division one NCAA athletics, ie Wisconsin. My passion is for sports, and I want to work in the sport industry after graduation. And Ithaca, NY and Ithaca College's small-time division three athletics just have not filled my appetite for big time college sports. I decided what my "something crazy" during college would be: A roadtrip to Wisconsin over my four day weekend (Fall Break) in October, praying that both the Badgers and Packers have home games for me to attend in Camp Randall Stadium and Lambeau Field. How would an extremely poor college student like myself pull this trip off (considering I pay for all of tuition, rent, utilities, car insurance, repairs, etc. by myself)? Yes, that's right, piggy banks.

Over my winter break I realized that I had a collection of coin banks that I have been accumulating since I was a baby (one was even actually a blue plastic pig with my name surrounded by stars in teal, clearly something I got when I was very young). Another was Mickey Mouse. Another, a Green Bay Packers helmet. I would break all of these piggy banks, count the change, and continue collecting as much change as possible in order to finance my planned trip on the weekend of October 17th and 18th. And the schedules have worked out perfectly. Wisconsin's homecoming is on the 17th against Iowa, and I now know that the Packers host the Lions on the 18th.

According to Mapquest, the trip from Ithaca, NY to Madison to Green Bay and back to Ithaca is 1837.79 miles, so I figure about 1900 miles in traveling, through finding places to stay, hopefully with family. The calculated total estimated fuel cost, also according to mapquest, is $169.56 for the 1837 miles. However, I estimate about $225 to be safe (1900 miles, 23 mpg even though my car is supposed to get 25 highway, and gas at $2.75, while the national average is currently much lower). Because my best friend from college has agreed that this is something he wants to experience as well, splitting that in half means about $115 per person for gas. The next step is finding tickets to each game.

Currently on StubHub, the least expensive ticket to Wisconsin's homecoming game against Iowa is $111, which is more than I'd like to spend, but I have vowed to make this trip. While I will work on trying to find someone within my family, or a friend of the family who can get these tickets for cheaper, I need to assume for my own purpose that I will pay around $125 for my ticket. That raises the cost to $240 for the trip. Also on Stubhub, the cheapest tickets for the Packers vs Lions game are currently at $120. This increases the cost of the trip to approximately between $380 to be safe. Just like with the game in Madison, I will try to find a less expensive way to get tickets to this game, although I know that will be hard.

We have reserved two beds in a hostel in Madison for Friday night, and I plan to stay with family in Green Bay. The hostel is about $25 per person, so this increases the base cost to around $400. Adding in food and other assorted costs, the trip should be somewhere around $500 if paying full price for tickets to both games. But how much do I have set aside so far?

As of the last time I counted the change, I had approximately $450 between the few coin banks I have had. So if I assume I can amass together $50 more through saving all change I get from all purchases I make and paychecks I receive this summer, I can account for $500 to put towards this trip. Here is my breakdown of potential costs of the trip, moving from least expensive to most expensive:

More simply viewable (as a total cost, which will be split in two):

Gas - $225
Hostel - $50
Food/Assorted expenses - $180
Tickets to Madison (if full price) - $250
Tickets to Lambeau (if full price) - $270

TOTAL - $975

While that is the most that we should pay for this trip, we hope that we can find some gracious benefactors to help lower the cost for two poor college students with big dreams. If said help exists, we hope to knock the cost of the games down significantly, and if anybody who happens to read this has a way of getting tickets, please let us know.

Attending a game at these two venues has been a longtime dream of mine, and I am determined to make those dreams come true in October.

THE 2009 GREEN BAY PACKERS SCHEDULE

So it has been released! We now not only know who and where we play, but when we play them. The NFL released the 2009 schedule last night at 7:00PM EST, and I would have posted on it earlier, but I had class. The class is actually quite pertinent to what I do; it's called "The Evolution of Sport Media." Anyways, the schedule is as follows:


Much more to come about the 2009 schedule!

LESS THAN FIVE HOURS

We are now less than five hours away from the release of the 2009 NFL regular season schedule. I have talked much about my plans to roadtrip to Madison and hopefully Green Bay in the fall. If you haven't read about it yet, read here. Because the home game against the Bears and the road game in Detroit have already been released, I currently have a 7 in 15 chance that the Pack have a game at Lambeau on October 18th. Because I have class at the time of the NFL's announcement, I will have to find some other way to find out how the schedule falls. But the excitement is in the air as I hope for the opportunity to see my first game on the frozen tundra!

LIST OF WISCONSINITES IN NFL DRAFT

The Journal Sentinel has an interesting article, or more-so a list of players that played either high school or college football in the great state of Wisconsin that have a legitimate chance at being picked in next weekend's NFL draft.

THE PACKERS NEED A POINT GUARD

Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Packers have worked out Duke University's Greg Paulus. What may be peculiar to many is that he is known as the Blue Devils former point guard whose role basically disappeared during his senior season. What many people do not know, however, was that in high school he was just as good a quarterback as he was a point guard. He was offered scholarships to Notre Dame and the University of Miami to play quarterback, but he decided playing point guard at Duke was what he wanted to do. Now that his basketball career has clearly derailed, he is apparently looking for a shot to get back into football, and the Packers are the team that is giving him a shot. I would imagine that his skills as a quarterback are still there, but his footwork at the position has probably deteriorated and will need some work. In high school he was the 2004 Gatorade National Football Player of the Year and set the New York state record in passing yards with 11,763. He also holds five other state records at QB, and led the Christian Brothers Academy of Syracuse to a 42-3 record while throwing 152 TD passes.

This was quite interesting to me, first of all as both a Duke and Green Bay Packers fan, but also because a friend that I've been doing the ESPN work with saw him play quarterback in high school (their high schools were rivals), and he said he was an absolutely amazing QB. We had a long conversation about his decision to play basketball and if that was the right one, but Paulus is hoping to change his fortunes and get a shot in the NFL.

MORE ESPN SUCCESS

While not at all Packers related... This is what I do.

ANOTHER PICK FOR THE PACK!

BREAKING NEWS: Ted Thompson is elated. HE NOW HAS ANOTHER DRAFT PICK!... in 2011's draft. The Packers have traded longsnapper J.J. Jansen, who spent his entire rookie season last year on IR, to the Carolina Panthers for a conditional pick in 2011. The pick will depend on how long Jansen lasts with Carolina. Jansen would have been the longsnapper for the Pack in '08 if he hadn't torn his ACL, but the team signed Brett Goode (pictured above) in his absence and he proved to be an adequate replacement.

NON-MANIC MONDAY

Again news is slow coming out of Titletown today, so there isn't much to talk about. The anticipation, however, for the NFL's release of the 2009 schedule tomorrow is immeasurable right now... At least for me.

FORMER MEMBER OF THE GREEN AND IS GOLD GOING GREEN

I thought that I had heard something recently about the building of a "green" (environmentally friendly) city in the US. MJD of Yahoo's Shutdown Corner allowed a non-news-consumer like myself get the lowdown on this amazing idea.

Former Packer Syd Kitson (drafted in 1980) is leading the development of Babcock Ranch in southwest Florida. Kitson, whose career as a guard lasted six years of protecting quarterbacks, is now doing his part in protecting the environment. And for someone like myself who goes to school in Ithaca, NY, the most leftover hippy-dwelling and greenest city that I've ever been in, this story is quite interesting. The city is projected to cost about $2 billion, but with 100% of the city's energy coming from solar power and being reusable, it could save a lot of money and can help save the planet in the long run. While the economy probably isn't in the best place to pursue such an idea right now, if these guys really care about the environment, I believe they know that they can receive the financial backing necessary. Watch the virtual tour video; this really is something special.

FINALLY AN ANSWER... KINDA

The Green Bay Press-Gazette understands my yearning for the schedule to be released. And the NFL has answered my call for the schedule. Tuesday night it will be! Ah, excitement fills the air, as I await the announcement of the Packers game on October 18th, PRAYING it is a home game. Help me out NFL! I'm just a kid with a dream!

THE NFL IS KILLING ME

Ever since I decided on my road trip to Wisconsin, the question as to whether or not the whole trip will work out the way I want it to has been in the NFL's hands. And they just won't let me know! When they released the opening weekend games and the few prime time matchups, I was sure that the rest of the schedule would soon follow. Not so much.

PLEASE NFL, I'M BEGGING OF YOU, RELEASE THE REST OF THE SCHEDULE AND HAVE THE PACKERS IN GREEN BAY ON OCTOBER 18TH!!

THE LAMBEAU LEAP IS SO SWEET IT WAS TURNED INTO A SONG

While many Packer fans probably knew about CWA, some other music that has come from Titletown went a little bit less noticed. Well, at least as far as I can tell. Remember Robert Brooks? Yeah, thought so. Number 87 was a great receiver for the Pack from 1992-1998, and after tearing his ACL in the Super Bowl championship season of 1996, he came back to help lead the team to Super Bowl XXXII and received the Comeback Player of the Year award. Injuries ended his career after a short try at a comeback with the Denver Broncos in 2000, but Brooks caught 32 of Brett Favre's career TD passes, and the following stat stands out even more to me: The Packers were 24-2 in games in which Favre threw a TD to Brooks. That is outstanding, and it proves how important he was to the Pack's return to prominance in the 1990's. But what is often forgotten, maybe rightfully so, was his music career while with the green and gold.

Ah, this may strike up a memory in some minds, but others may be thinking, "What? Robert Brooks' music career?" Again, on one of our many family trips to Green Bay, my cousin asked me if I had heard Robert Brooks' song "Jump." Being from New York, of course I hadn't, the same way I had never heard Cheeseheads With Attitude until a family vacation. So he put the tape in (yes, the cassette tape) and I listened. Back then, I thought it was awesome. Robert Brooks had made a song about the Lambeau Leap! Looking at it now, my god, what was he thinking? He created a record label "Shoo-In 4 Life" and produced two CDs called "Jump" and "Down Wit' Tha Bay." Brooks explains his musical pursuits on his official website, which clearly has not been updated in years.

Please, I beg you to take the time out of your day to watch the music video Brooks made for "Jump."

CONTINUING THE MUSIC THEME

In honor of Aaron Rodgers weekend in Vegas, more specifically his Sunday night with Lady Antebellum's Hillary Scott, a couple of music-themed posts have found there way to my fingertips at a perfect time.

After one of our many family trips to Wisconsin, years ago, we returned home with a CD by a group called Cheeseheads With Attitude. It was called "Straight Outta Wisconsin," and it was hilarious. So, recently, I decided to look more into this CD and the parody-based, pro-Packer musical group. Some of the things I found were quite interesting, but for my post today, the humor will be the highlight (due to the fact that it is April 7th and snowing in central New York).


First, Stevie Rachelle, who attained fame by being the lead singer of the 80's glam band Tuff, was a member of CWA. Rachelle grew up in Wisconsin and graduated from Oshkosh West High School before moving to California and striking up his original music career. CWA created parodies, like the famed Weird Al Yankovic, by taking hit songs' melodies and altering the lyrics to take a pro-Packer form. The most widely known example is the Cheesehead's take on Beck's "Loser." The Wisconsin trio struck fame with their version entitled "Cheesehead Baby." The transformation of the lyrics is as follows:

Beck: Soy un perdedor. I'm a loser baby, so why don't you kill me?
CWA: Oh, gosh darnit don'tcha know, I'm a cheesehead baby, the pride of Wisconsin.

Cheeseheads With Attitude even performed in front of 10,000 fans at the official Super Bowl XXXII pep rally in San Diego, CA. That performance featured a song off of their second CD "Cheesehead's For Life" entitled "P-A-C-K", a parody of the famed "YMCA" by the Village People. The refrain was changed to, "It's fun to cheer for the P-A-C-K... Wearin' green and the gold, Lambeau covered in snow, You can tailgate out in the cold."

A chain record store's district manager even said at one point that Cheeseheads With Attitude was outselling Garth Brooks and the Spice Girls in many Wisconsin stores during the 1996 holiday season. An official history of the trio can be found here. CD's and MP3's can easily be found on the internet at sites like Amazon.

QUIET TIME

Right now is quiet time, it seems, around 1265 Lombardi Avenue. While the organization is hard at work still breaking down draft prospects and some players are working hard with the new strength and conditioning coach, not much that is going on is newsworthy. That's why Aaron Rodgers is making news for being in Vegas this past weekend. Being a ladies man. See here. Oh, but A-Rod wasn't done after spending Saturday night with that blonde. Sunday night, Rodgers was seen out and about with country group Lady Antebellum's lead singer Hillary Scott, pictured above. Looks like Rodgers went 2-0 this weekend. And his "newsworthy" weekend has given me some ideas for posts during this quiet time in Titletown!

Does that make him 3-0?

HILARIOUS

Green Bay, Booze, and Broads posted a video yesterday "In honor of Jay Cutler", who is known to have diabetes. Because I am basically a religious The Price is Right viewer, I see these commercials all the time and find this absolutely hilarious.

MY TAKE ON THE JAY CUTLER DEAL

So by now it is old news that Jay Cutler has been traded to the dreaded Bears. I talked about my thoughts of possible trades to the NFC North the other day. Acquiring Jay Cutler definitely helps Chicago, but I think that they definitely slowed their all around team improvement process by making this deal:

Chicago Gets:
Jay Cutler
2009 5th Round Pick

Denver Gets:
Kyle Orton
2009 1st Round Pick
2009 3rd Round Pick
2010 1st Round Pick

So they improved at a position that has basically been a revolving door since Jim McMahon. They desperately needed a quarterback. But what about the rest of the team? By giving up two first round picks and a third round pick, they have drastically lowered the chances of actually getting a wide receiver for Cutler to throw to. Right now he has Devin Hester, a realistic number 3 receiver, as his number one option. The defense has been very questionable over the past few years, and could definitely use some new blood to regain the physicality and fear it had just a few years ago during their Super Bowl run.

They also signed Orlando Pace yesterday in an attempt to sure up the left tackle position. I'm on board with this move for Daaaa Bears. They needed somebody, and a seven time Pro Bowler can be the answer. But if I'm Jerry Angelo, I'm not done yet. They need to take a serious look into acquiring Torry Holt or Marvin Harrison. Neither is at the skill level they once were, but Angelo can't give up so much for a top-tier quarterback and then leave him out to dry with no options. Trading for Jay Cutler was a great move for the Chicagoans, but by giving up so much to acquire him, he has become just the first step in a number of moves that must be made to justify this blockbuster deal.

MY BID FOR TAKING MICHAEL CRABTREE IF STILL AVAILABLE AT NUMBER NINE PICK

First of all, I realize that this does not fill one of the immediate needs that has been created by either the switch to the 3-4 or the aging and injuries to our offensive tackles. This pick, however, could do so much for the team. And we know Ted Thompson likes to take highest value/best player available over need. So at number nine, Michael Crabtree has inexplicably fallen because of his injury and is still available. The Packers choose him. Why?

1. As I already stated, Thompson is known to pick for highest value/best player available.

2. Donald Driver, while still a very legitimate receiver, will not be for very much longer. He turned 34 in February, and even Jerry Rice had somewhat of a downturn (in Jerry Rice-esque fashion) after he turned 34. He was only elected to two Pro Bowls after the season during which he reached 34. Same with Cris Carter. After he turned 34, he was elected to one Pro Bowl (when he was 35) and only played three more seasons. Marvin Harrison's last Pro Bowl season was the year in which he was 34. Since, there has been a strong downturn in production, and he is currently struggling to even find a team.

3. The Arizona Cardinals defense. Also, see Anquan Boldin, Larry Fitzgerald, and even Steve Breaston. The Cardinals finished 28th in the league in 2008 in team defense. Yet, they made it to the Super Bowl? How the...? Oh that's right, Kurt Warner and his receivers. They finished DEAD LAST in rushing yards as well. Their passing game was just too good. The Packers defense finished 26th in '08, and the rushing game 17th. But think about this: Aaron Rodgers would have Greg Jennings and Michael Crabtree for the future. That sounds like a Boldin/Fitzgerald-esque 1-2 to me. And that leaves room for Donald Driver to continue producing at whatever level he can for the next few years until he is done, and then James Jones or Jordy Nelson can step in and be Steve Breaston-like. It gives more leeway to Thompson if either Jones or Nelson doesn't develop and equate to the third and second round pick, respectively, that he spent on them. The team wouldn't need to continue trying to find a pass-catching tight end; Ben Patrick was the leading receiver at TE for the Cards and only had 11 receptions. They could stick to a run-blocking tight end, and Ryan Grant and Brandon Jackson could be solid running backs for the future that would, for sure, keep the team from ever finishing last in the league in rushing.

While I know it is said that offense wins games and defense wins championships, this one pick could sure as heck win a lot of games in the future for the Pack, and the issues on the defensive side of the ball could be addressed later in the draft.

INTERESTING PERSPECTIVE ON TED THOMPSON'S GENERAL MANAGING

Packer Update took an interesting look at Ted Thompson's strategy of being pretty quiet during free agency and building his team from within (ie the draft). Only 17.7% of the players currently on the Packers roster have worn another team's jersey in a regular season game. This is much lower than a team like the Minnesota Vikings, at 29.3%, which Packer Update claims is near the league average.

Because I am a big baseball fan, this reminds me of the New York Yankees. Although I am a big Yankee hater, when they were winning championships in the 1990's, it was with players from in-house that they brought up through their system. Since, they have become a team that delves into huge free agent contracts, they have had the league's highest payroll every year, yet they have not won a championship since 2000. While the numbers in baseball are quite different, in relation, it follows the same idea. In 1998, a historic season with 114 regular season wins and a World Series championship, only 54.06% of the players on the Yankees had played for a different team. Compare that to the 76.29% of the San Diego Padres, the team that they swept 4-0 in the World Series. In 2008, the world champion Philadelphia Phillies had only 57.5% of their players that hadn't come up through their system.

Maybe the comparison between the NFL and MLB is farfetched, but hey, when you're a Packers fan sitting around watching other teams make moves to improve themselves, and Ted Thompson is sitting still and banking on the draft, you gotta reach for something. Even Nick Barnett thinks that some help could be used.

APRIL FOOLS JOKES ALREADY BEING PLAYED IN AND AROUND TITLETOWN

Cheesehead TV posted "Peppers To The Packers: It's Official" and then linked to a Youtube of the muppets. I'm loving this Twitter thing. Nick Barnett, just minutes ago, tweeted "Hey every one. I have some bad news.. I have just been traded to the Minnesota Vikings :-( " Oh man, April 1st it is, and tweet on Nick Barnett, tweet on.

RIGHT ON TIME MR. SILVERSTEIN

In yesterday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, Tom Silverstein wrote an article entitled "NFC North Still Has Call to Arms." While his point is well made and well taken, the news out of Denver this evening is disheartening for any Packer fan. Broncos CEO and president Pat Bowlen released the following statement:

"Numerous attempts to contact Jay Cutler in the last 10 days, both by Head Coach Josh McDaniels and myself, have been unsuccessful.

A conversation with his agent earlier today clearly communicated and confirmed to us that Jay no longer has any desire to play for the Denver Broncos.

We will begin discussions with other teams in an effort to accommodate his request to be traded."

Yes, that's right; Jay Cutler is officially on the block. And why should this concern Packer backers? BECAUSE THE OTHER TEAMS IN OUR DIVISION ALL CURRENTLY HAVE INADEQUATE NFL QUARTERBACKS ON THEIR ROSTER:

Detroit -
Daunte Culpepper - washed up.
Drew Stanton - Detroit beat writers say he'll struggle to even make the '09 roster.
Drew Henson - tenure probably over, as QB coach (same one he had at Michigan) left for South Florida

Chicago -
Kyle Orton - has a neard (neckbeard).
Caleb Hanie - wait who? What's his name?
Brett Basanez - played at Northwestern. Believed to be signed strictly "for the fanbase."

Minnesota -
Sage Rosenfels - maybe the most legitimate of all with 30 TD and 29 INT in career. Not saying much if he's the most legit.
Tarvaris Jackson - Mr. I Play OK But Will Never Be Good Enough. Or more simply, Mr. Mediocre.
John David Booty - last name says it all.

So this means, in my eyes, all three of these teams should make a play for Cutler. Likely, all three will at least make contact with the Broncos, but we can only pray that for the Packers sake, a team like the Jets or Buccaneers makes a stronger push for Cutler's services. Thank you Josh McDaniels, for coming from the dirty New England Patriots and running a franchise quarterback out of town.

AS PROMISED...

A follow up to Nick Barnett's tweet about meeting new defensive coordinator Dom Capers... "Ok meet with capers so far I have a really good feeling about him.. Also the strengh program is real good!!" Barnett also added soon after, "Kevin Greene seems like he's going to be intense LOL imagine him moss together whoa!!!" Nick seems to take his involvement with Twitter quite seriously; in the past twelve hours he has tweeted on his own nine times, in addition to responding to fellow Twitter users' questions. I like this.

TWEET, AND NOT THAT CARTOON BIRD

Twitter is the new thing to do. I mean, everybody's doing it (except me I guess). Railbird Central informed Packers fans that Nick Barnett has an account on the site that encourages you to let people know what you're doing. Athletes like Charlie Villanueva and Shaquille O'Neal have become well known for their use of Twitter. Villanueva "tweeted" during halftime of a Bucks game vs the Celtics. O'Neal recently tweeted, "Anybody in portland touches me rt now will get two tickets I'm at redstar cafe," and later updated fans that "100 people n the prtland area just came for tickets wow portland twitterers r niiiiiice." Clearly, fans pay attention to this. Nick Barnett has been using his to update fans of his rehab progress and also, like O'Neal, just the general "where are you" or "what are you doing." This morning, Barnett tweeted "Going to meet capers today I'll tell you guys later what I think." And after really looking into Twitter for this post, I can guarantee I'll be checking back with Barnett later to see what he thought of the new Defensive Coordinator.

VIDEO OF RYAN MOATS SAGA

As many football fans have heard the story already, Houston Texans running back Ryan Moats was pulled over by a policeman outside of a hospital while his mother-in-law took her last breaths. The video of incident was either leaked or released onto the internet, and I came across it on Yahoo! Sports' Shutdown Corner blog. This cop disgusts me and should be fired immediately, and he should never be given a chance to be in a position of power like this again. Racist pig. Check the video here. See more about this story here.

PRESEASON OPPONENTS ANNOUNCED

Yesterday, the NFL released the 2009 preseason schedule. The Packers schedule is quite peculiar to me. In order, they host the Browns and Bills, then travel to Arizona and Tennessee. Why would the NFL schedule the Browns and the Cardinals during the preseason if they were already set to square off during the regular season? Also, why does the Pack have to travel to Arizona TWICE now? Their regular season match-up is going to be in Glendale as well. While I'm not a professional athlete and I can't speak from experience, I'm sure the miles add up over time. In 2007, when the Packers went 13-3, they flew just 10,738 miles during the regular season (fourth fewest in the league), and that was more than a 6,000 mile drop off from their 8-8 season in '06. While it's clear that more than the traveling contributed to the different seasons' outcomes, I'm sure it had its impact.

BRIAN BROHM GETTING SOME FACE, OR WORD, TIME ON PACKER BLOGS

Both Cheesehead TV and Ol' Bag of Donuts have posted about Brian Brohm over the past couple of days, and Adam over at OBOD does a great job trying to look into Ted Thompson's thought process behind choosing Brohm in last years second round. CTV links to Adam's post, but gives a bit of their own insight as well.

Going into the 2008 draft I thought that Aaron Rodgers had a good chance of being a solid NFL quarterback, but with only one game of experience, I was nowhere near confident enough to rest the full future of the Green Bay Packers on his shoulders. When Ted Thompson took Brohm in the second round, I was ecstatic. Just a year earlier, if he had left Louisville after his junior season, he was being considered as a top 10 pick in the draft. Here are his stat lines from his three years as the primary starter for the Cardinals:

Sophomore: 68.8 completion percentage, 2,883 yards, 19 TD 5 INT - missed 2 games, injury
Junior: 63.4 completion percentage, 3,049 yards, 16 TD 5 INT - missed 3 games, injury
Senior: 65.1 completion percentage, 4,024, 30 TD 12 INT

Yes, Brohm struggled during the 2008 preseason, and that caused him to lose out the number two QB position to Matt Flynn. But as CTV points out, "Brohm was in with a bunch of second and third level guys against a lot of number ones, while Flynn was in against scrubs almost exclusively." I find it hard to believe that a player like Brohm, who was always considered a great NFL quarterback prospect in college, with the tools and size (6'4", 228) that he has, showed his true abilities last season. Although his teams' success tailed off after coach Bobby Petrino left Louisville, what Brohm himself did in his senior season under a new head coach was quite remarkable. With all-do-respect to Matt Flynn, I expect Brohm to come prepared to camp in '09 and win back the number 2 QB position.

WHY I'VE AGAIN BEEN SO QUIET

Again over the past week, my posts have become few and far between, but I promise it has been for good reason:



That is now what you'll find when you search my name on ESPN.com. While I continue to pursue my undergraduate degree, I get busy with school and classwork quite often, especially when I am in the process of producing, shooting, and editing stories for ESPN. So forgive me, I was spending my time well and being productive, and I may have a few more to show in the near future. But check those out, and back to Packers blogging!

PRESTON TO THE PACK

My roommate and best friend from college is a HUGE Buffalo Bills fan. So when I heard the Packers were interested in Duke Preston, I immediately went to him for his insight into the former Bill center. His response, and I quote, "When the Bills don't resign a player it is for one of two reasons. Either they can't afford him, or he's so bad that even they don't want him. Good luck." Clearly he feels Preston fits into the latter. Not good enough to be on the Buffalo Bills? Ouch. Many people are high on his combination of size and athleticism, however, so we will see if he can give Scott Wells a run for his money at the center position. He's also a possibility at the guard positions.

STILL PLAYERS AVAILABLE TO FILL HOLES

While Ted Thompson insists that he is confident in the Packers' roster as is, many people still feel that there are holes that need to be filled in order to improve on 2008's 6-10 record. Offensive tackle, the defensive line, and cornerback are three of the main areas of concern, and Jeff Maillet pointed out this morning that there are still many quality free agents who can fit Titletown USA's needs. This includes offensive tackle Orlando Pace (a former number one draft pick), Tank Johnson and Darwin Walker who are slated as defensive tackles but fit the size mold of an end in the 3-4, and Ken Lucas and Chris McAlister who are both aging like Al Harris and Charles Woodson, but could definitely be temporary help for a team that has a chance to win now. Call me crazy for thinking that the Packers can win right now after going 6-10 in '08, but at a majority of positions, the talent is there. If these few holes are filled and the team stays healthy, unlike last season, the Pack is right back in the running for the NFC North.

GET TO KNOW THE POSSIBLE FUTURE

Wanna get to know possible future Packers? ESPN has an assortment of videos that feature many prospects in the upcoming 2009 NFL draft that is now only a month away. Names that have been linked to the Packers that are featured in these videos include Andre Smith, Brian Orakpo, Alphonso Smith, Aaron Maybin, D.J. Moore, and Michael Oher.

THOSE DARNED ACL'S

Two players important to the Packers over the last few years are notably trying to recover from ACL surgeries. Nick Barnett, according to Mike McCarthy, is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a surgery that took place only 17 weeks ago. He suffered the injury in a November 9th game at Minnesota, and while it was originally only diagnosed as a bruise or a sprain, depending one where you read, but the torn ligament ended his 2008 season. Barnett's been spending part of his off-season in Arizona with his family but he has been working hard and his rehab has been progressing very well.

Mark Tauscher is a different story. He too suffered a torn ACL, on December 7th vs Houston. His rehab has not been moving along as well as Barnett's, according to coach Mike McCarthy who has been in constant contact with the Wisconsin alum who will be 32 by the time the 2009 season starts. Coach McCarthy also says he doesn't believe Tauscher would be ready to play before October 1st. This is important because he is currently a free agent, and that leaves a whole at the right tackle spot, at least for the first month of the season if not the whole season if they decide to not resign him. While the team has many young offensive lineman on the roster, none have proven to be ready to start at the right tackle spot. Options include Breno Giacomini, Tony Moll, and possible rookies taken in next months draft.

Other notes on the injury front: Cullen Jenkins is recovering from a torn pectoral muscle and arthroscopic surgery on his ankle. McCarthy says that he is looking good but cannot do everything yet. He would consider it a bonus if he was ready any time before training camp. And finally, oft injured and yet to prove his worthiness of the 16th overall pick in the 2007 draft, Justin Harrell has not been cleared to participate in all physical activities yet, but pain is apparently no longer an issue. 2009 looks to be Harrell's shot at proving he belongs. With the switch to the 3-4, his size at 310 pounds slates him to be a run stopping defensive end, and the lack of depth on the defensive line will give him all of the opportunities he could need to show the organization and fans why he was picked so high two years ago.

MORE REAL FOOTBALL, LESS THIRD STRING QUARTERBACKS LOOKING LIKE STARS

::cough cough:: Brett Ratliff ::cough cough::... According to Shutdown Corner (via the New York Times), this May, owners will vote to lengthen the regular season. Roger Goodell explains this is part of "increasing value" in the struggle to generate more revenue in the current economic times. I like the decision more for the fact that it gets rid of one preseason game, because four is way too many for a few reasons. First, the more preseason games you play, the more likely one of your starters is going to get hurt. Second, with four games, players like Brett Ratliff build up an organization and fan base's hope that he can be a legitimate NFL quarterback by playing four times against third string defenses. Slow down New York, he's still a number 3. Finally, it's just not exciting football, and nobody watches after the first quarter when starters are pulled. The decision to increase the regular season to 17 or 18 games, while it won't go into effect any earlier than 2011, is a whole new issue of its own.

While yes, the NFL could probably make more money by increasing the amount of meaningful regular season games, the history of the game and the players should be taken into account. Many sports record books have been skewed by the increase in games played each season for years now, and the NFL would only be adding to that. Also, football is a very rough and physical sport, and playing up to 22 games in one season (18 regular season, wild card round, divisional round, conference championship, and Super Bowl) could ruin the careers of some of the sports greatest stars. In sport, however, you can never forget that most decisions are made from a business standpoint, so expect by 2011 that teams will be playing these extra one or two regular season contests.

WILLIE DAVIS AND THREE IN A ROW

Cheesehead TV has been putting up videos that they shot during Fan Fest a couple weeks ago, and many have been interesting. Today's brought back some childhood memories, and it also linked to something very interesting that I had never heard before.

As I've stated before, my love for the Packers, both now and when I was very young, is immeasurable. Especially for a kid who has never lived any closer than 875 or so miles from Green Bay (and I've only been that close for college). I had a video that I watched religiously called "Three In A Row" about the Packers teams in 1965, 1966, and 1967. What type of little kid has two thumbs and would care so much about a team that was more than 30 years ago? ::Picture me pointing both thumbs toward myself:: This guy! The likes of Bart Starr, Paul Hornung, Jim Taylor, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderly, and Willie Davis were commonplace to me as a five year old. And today's video that CTV posted features Willie Davis. Clearly he is a Packer legend, and CTV mentions that he was the only guest speaker to receive a standing ovation. They also link to an archived section of letters to Lee Remmel, the famed and now retired 62-year employee of the Pack, who mentioned a member of the Professional Football Researchers Association said this of Davis' time with the green and gold, which occurred before sacks were an official statistic: "... Research indicates Davis had in excess of 100 sacks during his 10-year Green Bay career (1960-69), 'possibly more than 120,' including a minimum of 40 over the 1963-65 seasons alone." Also, Davis himself says that Paul Hornung reminded him that he had 25, yes twenty five, sacks in one season.

Wow. Standing ovation for Davis from 875 miles away for this.

WHILE THOMPSON RECEIVES CONSTANT CRITIQUE, NFL USES PACK AS EXAMPLE

Because the Packers are a publicly owned entity, their financial records are open for anyone to see. This leads to the NFLPA using them as an example for how much other teams make, and it appears that the Pack is quite an exemplary franchise. While Ted Thompson continually receives criticism for his offseason strategies (myself semi-included), Fox Sports highlights his way of work.

MORE DRAFT SPECULATION... AND DISAGREEMENT ON MY PART

This morning as I was going through my usual set of Packers links, I realized that on ESPN they had two videos projecting who the Packers would take at the number nine overall pick in the draft next month. While they are between a week and two old, I will say now that I just can't agree with either choice that Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal or Todd McShay of ESPN projects for the team.

First, Wilde was being interviewed for ESPN's First Take and projected Malcolm Jenkins, the cornerback from Ohio State. A few months ago, I could have agreed with this pick. Currently, not so much. Cornerback, if you find a good one, is not that difficult of a position to transition into the NFL at. Especially not as hard as other ones such as offensive tackle, defensive line, and someone trying to learn outside linebacker in the 3-4. These other positions have a big adjustment either due to a change in size and speed of their opponents and completely learning a new position in a new system. Corners don't seem to have such a hard time adjusting in the pros. Al Harris and Charles Woodson still each had good years in 2008, and while I know they are getting old, they proved they can still play, and the corner position can be put on the backburner either until later in the draft or next year. That is why I find it hard to believe that the Pack will take Jenkins at number nine, especially if, as the mock draft that Wilde participated in shows (above), B.J. Raji and Everette Brown are still on the board. Also, Michael Oher, while this mock draft has him already taken, has moved onto the Packers radar as an offensive tackle and he will get the chance this Thursday to prove himself to be a top ten pick at Mississippi's pro day.


Todd McShay disagrees with Wilde. He has the Packers leaning towards my defensive front seven and offensive tackle needs, but he decides to go with Aaron Maybin of Penn State. While his stock was very high during his last season at PSU, his combine wasn't very impressive, and that has dropped his stock on many draft boards. I like that McShay didn't put too much of his own stock into the combine here by still projecting Maybin at number nine, because I agree that the combine has come to be blown out of proportion. However, I see Everette Brown's size advantage over Maybin to aid in his switch to outside linebacker in the 3-4. Also, McShay has Michael Oher still on the board here at number nine, and if he can have a good pro day on Thursday, he can prove himself worthy of the Packers pick.

DAAAA BEARS

Well, the title of my blog is "Beers, Brats, and Beating the Bears" and the Packers will get the shot to do just that on opening weekend in the 2009 NFL season! The Packers have the featured Sunday night game on NBC for opening weekend as they play host to the Chicago Bears. Also, it was announced that they will face the Lions on Thanksgiving in the early afternoon game. That's two primetime games already for the Pack, which means that the powers that be in the NFL and in TV both think that they will be a big draw in 2009. Exciting. This also means I still have a 7 in 15 shot of them having a home game on October 18th! Very exciting!

FAN MEMORIES AND MY PLAN

This morning I was browsing through my normal assortment of Packers sources online. On the Packers official website, there was a link to a feature they will be running called Packer Fan Memories. It's self explanatory. Basically, fans can submit up to 100 words and a picture that tell of their best memories as a fan of the green and gold, and the organization (or the people who run the website) will choose a certain amount of submissions each week to feature on the page. I've only been to one Packers game, and that was at Giants Stadium in 2007 when Brett Favre broke John Elway's career wins record for quarterbacks. This section of the website, however, prompted me to submit my plan that will hopefully result in many memories, a plan that I came up with back in January. I will now share that plan with you, my readers (or lack there of).

Next year I will be finishing my undergraduate degree, so my time in the "not so real world" is coming to an end. I have always enjoyed traveling, especially driving. While I was back home in January I decided that I needed to do something crazy before I have to enter the real world. I've never made the typical college spring break trip, I haven't really made trips to visit friends from high school at the colleges they attend, and I have constantly wondered if I made the wrong decision by not going to a big time school with division one NCAA athletics, ie Wisconsin. My passion is for sports, and I want to work in the sport industry after graduation, and Ithaca, NY and Ithaca College's small-time division three athletics just have not filled my appetite for big time college sports. I knew what my "something crazy" during college would be: A roadtrip to Wisconsin over my four day weekend (Fall Break) in October, praying that both the Badgers and Packers have home games for me to attend in Camp Randall Stadium and Lambeau Field. How would an extremely poor college student like myself pull this trip off (considering I pay for all of tuition, rent, utilities, car insurance, repairs, etc. by myself)? Yes, that's right, piggy banks.

Over my winter break I realized that I had a collection coin banks that I have been accumulating since I was a baby (one was even actually a blue plastic pig with my name surrounded by stars in teal, clearly something I got when I was very young). Another was Mickey Mouse. Another, a Green Bay Packers helmet. I would break all of these piggy banks, count the change, and continue collecting as much change as possible in order to finance my planned trip the weekend of October 17th and 18th.

The next step, once I came up with this crazy idea, was to see if the plan would even work. My break begins on Wednesday the 14th after classes, and it would end on Monday the 19th when classes resume in the morning. I needed to check the team's schedules. Wisconsin's works out perfectly. The 17th is the Badgers homecoming against Iowa. What about the Packers? The NFL doesn't release schedules usually until some time in April, so unfortunately, going to Lambeau is still in question, but I pray every day that the NFL wants this trip to work for me.

So the trip to Madison is a definite, Lambeau is in question, but next was calculating how much the trip should cost and then counting the money I had in those banks.

According to Mapquest, the trip from Ithaca, NY to Madison to Green Bay and back to Ithaca is 1837.79 miles, so I figure about 1900 miles in traveling, through finding places to stay, hopefully with family. The calculated total estimated fuel cost, also according to mapquest, is $169.56 for the 1837 miles. However, I estimate about $225 to be safe (1900 miles, 23 mpg even though my car is supposed to get 25 highway, and gas at $2.75, while the national average is currently much lower). Because my best friend from college has agreed that this is something he wants to experience as well, splitting that in half means about $115 per person for gas. The next step is finding tickets to each game.

Currently on StubHub, the least expensive ticket to Wisconsin's homecoming game against Iowa is $111, which is more than I'd like to spend, but I have vowed to make this trip. While I will work on trying to find someone within my family, or a friend of the family who can get these tickets for cheaper, I need to assume for my own purpose that I will pay around $125 for my ticket. That raises the cost to $240 for the trip. While the Packers haven't actually announced their schedule because the NFL is still sorting them out, if the Packers do play at Lambeau on October 18th, I have looked at the range of the lowest priced tickets for each home game on StubHub so far. They range from $127 to $234. This could therefore move the trip to potentially between $380 and $480. Just like with the game in Madison, I will try to find a less expensive way to find tickets to this game, although I know that will be hard. Adding in food and other assorted costs, the trip should be somewhere between $450 and $550 dollars if paying full price for tickets to both games. But how much do I have set aside so far?

As of the last time I counted the change, I had approximately $450 between the few coin banks I have had. So if I assume I can amass together $50 more through saving all change I get from all purchases I make and paychecks I receive this summer, I can account for $500 to put towards this trip. Here is my breakdown of potential costs of the trip, moving from least expensive to most expensive:

IF WE CAN FIND SOMEONE WITH TICKETS TO BOTH GAMES THAT WILL GRACIOUSLY GIVE THEM TO US: $185-$200.

IF WE CAN FIND SOMEONE WITH TICKETS TO THE PACKERS GAME THAT WILL GRACIOUSLY GIVE THEM TO US: $225-$325

IF WE CAN FIND SOMEONE WITH TICKETS TO THE PACKERS GAME THAT WILL GIVE THEM TO US FOR FACE VALUE: $285-$425

IF WE CAN FIND SOMEONE WITH TICKETS TO THE WISCONSIN GAME THAT WILL GIVE THEM TO US FOR FACE VALUE: $305-$355

IF WE CAN FIND SOMEONE WITH TICKETS TO THE WISCONSIN GAME THAT WILL GRACIOUSLY GIVE THEM TO US: $325-$425

IF WE SPEND FULL STUBHUB PRICE ON TICKETS TO BOTH GAMES: $450-$550

Ah, well, quite a post here. Maybe it will actually spark some interest and attract some readers! Or some help! I think it's an interesting story, but who knows. We'll see! What's most important is that the NFL makes the Packers play a home game on October 18th so this whole trip can come together! Please Roger Goodell, I'm begging you...

NICK COLLINS, TONY GONZALEZ, AND A "TO DO" LIST

So the word has already spread that Nick Collins hasn't shown up in Green Bay for the beginning of the offseason program. That is interesting considering he is currently under contract, and Tramon Williams, who has yet to sign his exclusive rights tender to remain with the team, is taking part in the strength portion of the program. Collins obviously wants the Packers to look into extending his contract now, after a Pro Bowl season in 2008, rather than risking his production going down in the new 3-4 and losing out on money. However, Aaron over at Cheesehead TV doesn't think that signing Collins should be in the top six (that's as far as he goes) of Ted Thompson's offseason priorities. I agree, but think that they should try to get it done at some point, but not rush and overpay because he still needs to prove he will be the same player in the new defense. Resigning Greg Jennings is the obvious choice at the top of Aaron's list, as well as Ted Thompson's according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

Moving down along CTV's list at number four is trading for Tony Gonzalez, which Packergeeks has also posted about today. The Packers have been talked about as one of the top possible destinations all along, since the rumors of a Gonzalez trade came about during the 2008 season. Packergeeks says that Thompson should be willing to give up a second rounder for Gonzalez, but I completely disagree. Gonzalez is still a top notch tight end, definitely still in the top 5 in the league. But he is 33 years old, and only has a few more years left in his career. While some help at the tight end position could benefit the offense, with the switch to the 3-4, the defense and bringing in players that fit the new mold is a much greater need. The offensive tackle spot needs to be figured out before we go out and trade a second rounder for a tight end. I wouldn't mind possibly a third rounder, because in the first two rounds we could go for a defensive front seven player and a tackle (or possibly two front seven-ers), but any earlier is paying too high of a price for a position that isn't nearly the glaring need that these others appear to be.

OFFENSIVE TACKLES

Both Cheesehead TV and Acme Packing Company have been talking about the offensive tackle positions today. CTV quotes a Pro Football Weekly article that talks about Mark Tauscher pretty much being out of the mix because of surgery, and that the coaching staff is looking at moving bodies around and putting them out of position again. I don't like how the team has moved around so many lineman to different positions in recent years rather than just trying to put a solid depth chart together. It appears, however, that will be the case again in 2009.

Acme talks about the line in a different approach, saying that the team should take care of the problem with the first round pick. I disagree with this, unless they plan on trading the pick away and moving down in the first round while also acquiring an additional pick. Jason Smith and Eugene Monroe will both be off the board by the #9 pick. Andre Smith is a complete headcase that I do not wish upon any NFL franchise right now, although I feel for him and hope he can get his act together because he is a great talent. Michael Oher is a solid possibility, but not at number 9 overall. If the team sticks with the ninth pick, they should go defense, preferably front seven. If they trade down, offensive tackle is a definite need and possibility, and there is the talent to take.

AN UPDATE ON GEORGE KOONCE

In an earlier post, I blogged about how former Packers linebacker George Koonce was one of the candidates for the athletic director position at my mother's alma mater, UW-Milwaukee. Yesterday, Koonce was named to the position, a job he has dreamed of having for a long time now. He had been working as senior associate AD at Marquette since 2007, but now he will be moving across town to become a Panther as of April 1st. Check out the Journal-Sentinel's article. Koonce really has a good head on his shoulders, and great things should be in the future for UWM.

A COUPLE MORE PRESENTS FOR ST. PATTY'S DAY

Mike Montgomery and Jason Hunter both resigned yesterday as well. Two more non invigorating moves. It adds depth to the front seven, something the Packers definitely need to work on, but only in the reserves. Neither will start barring a multitude of injuries, but Montgomery is a tweener and the coaching staff will have to decide whether he will play end or outside linebacker. Expect special teams to be Hunter's biggest contributions.

AND AS A PRESENT... WE GET...

Jarrett Bush. While he isn't an amazing player and keeping him isn't a very exciting move, I don't see how matching the Titans offer sheet can be knocked. He was second on the Packers in special teams tackles in '08, and special teams was obviously a weak spot. It can't hurt to keep your second best special teams tackler, even if his role changes. Bush is only 25, so there is still a ton of time for improvement, and while many people don't see much change in his future role, the kid gets it done on kick and punt coverages.

I mean, it's not a crazy rah-rah exciting present for St. Patrick's Day, like that Super Nintendo was for Christmas in the early 90's, but it's like that underwear that you opened after it. You weren't crazy about getting it, but you know it would definitely be of use. So while it's not a splash move that some Packers fans have been hoping for, it's something. I mean, it's not like Julius Peppers is now being shopped for a second round pick (reportedly).