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.