GB reporters mad: weekend rookie camp closed

[motife]

execpt for Friday. Saturday and Sunday are off limits to reporters.

deeply disappointing said the dean of reporters. until McCarthy's arrival this weekend was always open the weekend after the draft.

the 2nd and 3rd day would give a lot better snapshot than the first of the rookie class.

you wonder, why? doesn't seem very fan friendly. there are no time constraints, like "hey we want to get this practice done on time." I don't like it one bit. I'm going to register a complaint with McCarthy.

[RashanGary]

I don't like it either. What do they have to hide?

[Patler]

Who cares?

The play-by-play that reporters seem to want to do with practices now days has gotten out of hand anyway. This will take some of the pressure of the rookies, let them get to know the coaches and each other without the press dissecting every move they make.

[gbpackfan]

Reporter cry babies!

I could care less. There is enough pressure on these guys as is, they don't need to be picked apart by a bunch of nerds.

14-4 is all I care about baby! :P

[KYPack]

Seems goofy to me, too.

I have noticed that there is a big trend to "keep score" at these things, reporting a blow by blow of who beats who.

Maybe they are trying to shield the kids from this?

No excuse, but a thought.

[Lurker64]

I have to say that while I would like to know as much as I can about this team and the new players that are on it, I fear that constant media reports of "X is doing very well" and "Y is doing very poorly" might hinder the development as players of both X and Y so I don't think this is necessarily unreasonable. Potentially they might wish to open more practices to the media for public relations reasons, but if there are practices on three days keeping 2/3 private seems entirely reasonable.

[GrnBay007]

but if there are practices on three days keeping 2/3 private seems entirely reasonable.

I agree. Stinks for fans, but let them get down to business without worrying about media.

[CaliforniaCheez]

Let's throw a little spin on this.

1) It's done not to embarrass or have negative things written about nervous rookies.

2) They have not played football for months.

3) They are not used to the ways o0f the NFL or the Packers. Things will go a little slower and will be confusing to some.

Look if Jordy doesn't need Bob McGinn counting dropped passes and Brohm doesn't need him counting bad passes. McCarthy is easing them in to the team.

[LL2]

I do not see why reporters need to be at all the practices either. We all crave info on our favorite team, but the weekend is more of an orientation weekend.

[Scott Campbell]

This is a team that understands the involvement of the community, and I don't think they'd close it unless they had their reasons.

[Noodle]

I'm ok with this. The reporting, blogging, metricing has just gotten too much. Let the kids screw up in private for a few days. We'll get to see plenty of them over the Summer.

Good for M3.

[The Leaper]

the 2nd and 3rd day would give a lot better snapshot than the first of the rookie class.

But none of the 3 days is really going to tell you anything worthwhile. This is intended to be more of a introduction to the culture of the Packer organization and professional football.

Anyone who thinks they can deduce who is going to be a player from staring at a group of wide-eyed rookies experiencing their first foray into pro football is looney.

I am assuming the writers still have access to players...just not during the practices. I am looking forward to getting to know the players better and hear about their first experiences with the organization. I just really don't care who slipped on a blocking drill or who overthrew 5 slant routes.

[MadtownPacker]

The lone fact most of the reporters arent worth a shit when it comes to providing info to the public makes this move fine with me. M3 shouldn't have to reveal all his secrets anyways.

[Merlin]

Who cares?

[pbmax]

I'm not OK with this. If it was good enough for Butler, Favre, Brooks, Freeman, Williams (both), Driver, Holmgren, Harlan and Wolf (et al), then its good enough for Brian Brohm, Thompson, Murphy and McCarthy.

The more information out, the better. Would I like MORE accurate information? Yes. Would I like LESS uninformed opinions? Yes. Going to happen by closing rookie camp? No.

And don't give me any yada, yada, yada about 24 hours news coverage, ESPN, blogs and the like. Green Bay has been obsessed long before ESPN and the internet. McGinn has been there covering it all the way through and no one has died of embarrassment.

If there is a good reason, then discuss it publicly. This is the big time, running and hiding just delays the inevitable.

[MadScientist]

One major difference is that this is supposed to be a rookie orientation camp, not a full mini camp. MM may want to see how well it works without reporters watching, as well as letting the rookies get some work in without being in a fishbowl.

[GBRulz]

This has been my one gripe with M3. He's closed off so many practices to the fans and I don't totally understand why.

If you guys lived here, perhaps you'd look at things differently. Imagine always being able to stop by and check out a practice, only if you have a few minutes to spare. Because they were all open to the public, they weren't so crowded, either. Now, there are limited practices open to the public and people are 5 deep along the fence and you can't even see anything.

Selfish reasons on my part, yes. But like I said, if you were local, I think you'd feel differently.

[The Leaper]

Selfish reasons on my part, yes. But like I said, if you were local, I think you'd feel differently.

Yeah...those damn locals just don't get ANTYHING.

Draft parties, Scrimmage games in Lambeau, Fan Fest...I completely agree there is NOTHING whatsoever for the locals to do if they want to follow Packer football.

:roll:

Does Bill Belichick allow a bunch of access in NE? Of course not. That's why his teams win. They are focused and not distracted by the dumb ass media and fan base 24-7...mostly telling them how to do their job.

[GBRulz]

Selfish reasons on my part, yes. But like I said, if you were local, I think you'd feel differently.

Yeah...those damn locals just don't get ANTYHING.

Draft parties, Scrimmage games in Lambeau, Fan Fest...I completely agree there is NOTHING whatsoever for the locals to do if they want to follow Packer football.

:roll:

Does Bill Belichick allow a bunch of access in NE? Of course not. That's why his teams win. They are focused and not distracted by the dumb ass media and fan base 24-7...mostly telling them how to do their job.

Well, aren't we just a ray of sunshine as usual? You also just validated my point... unless you live here you think differently. We get spoiled with living in the same city as the best football team, I'm not denying that.

Oh and the next time one of us meddling fans posts a training camp report or photos of practice, you can elect not to read about it, ok? I mean, I know we hardly have won any games over the past two decades and it's definitely because the fans and media are getting in the way. :roll:

[Partial]

Selfish reasons on my part, yes. But like I said, if you were local, I think you'd feel differently.

Yeah...those damn locals just don't get ANTYHING.

Draft parties, Scrimmage games in Lambeau, Fan Fest...I completely agree there is NOTHING whatsoever for the locals to do if they want to follow Packer football.

:roll:

Does Bill Belichick allow a bunch of access in NE? Of course not. That's why his teams win. They are focused and not distracted by the dumb ass media and fan base 24-7...mostly telling them how to do their job.

Source?

[The Leaper]

Well, aren't we just a ray of sunshine as usual? You also just validated my point... unless you live here you think differently. We get spoiled with living in the same city as the best football team, I'm not denying that.

Well, that's my point. Stop whining about missing a damn rookie orientation and be glad you have access to dozens of events many other Packer fans do not.

[Tarlam!]

Lota of love being generated. I am glad I have Johnnie here to keep me shielded from the radiation!

[cheesner]

Overall, I think MM and TT generally try to make the team open and accessible. Whatever their reason to close off rookie orientation, I am sure they feel it is in the best interest of the team. And that seems, as it should be, the driving force on everything TT and MM do. To win football games.

[KYPack]

Leap,

It's a local tradition.

Many times in my youth, we'd get 2-3 guys together and just go watch practice. It's happened for years and MM seems like such a tradition oriented dude, it surprises me he'd limit it.

So what if McGinn puts it in the paper that the #2 pick got beat in skeleton. It ain't like NY media attack.

It's tough to live in them North woods and the Fox Valley. Getting the kids together and watching practice in a perk and it's had value for a long time. I think they should leave it alone

[motife]

the only guy who ever told you about the actual practices was Cliff Christl. McGinn or Silverstein never write a word about it. I would guess Greg Bedard would give even more info than Cliff did. He seems eager, and knowledgable.

The Press Gazette is worthless for giving practice info during training camps. I wrote to complain one time. What in the heck are you guys being paid for? Nothing whatsoever about OTA's or minicamps.

One practice is not going to give you any info, especially when they're not wearing pads. But you can tell overtime who's really separating themselves. I think that was true with Greg Jennings and James Jones. I also remember people raving about Vonnie Holliday very early and reporting how excited position coaches were. Vonnie's first season was awesome.

One play I remember with Vonnie was he had Daunte Culpepper NAILED on a sack, but Culpepper wsa so big and strong he just shook Vonnie off, without any footwork or anything and threw a completion on what should have been a big loss.

[CaliforniaCheez]

What got me into message boards was some fan just watching and giving his impression. I wouldn't know the guy from Adam but usually the people who would do it were relatively fair.

They often did a better job than journalists.

If you check around the net, no team puts out more information than the Packers.

Yet we still want a lot more. We care about what is going on.

[Guiness]

Yes, it sucks for the fans to be banned from the practices. KYPack brings up a good point, and I remember going to the local junior hockey team practices to watch.

I wonder why it is being done. Certainly not giving away team strategy in a couple of rookie practices. Has the media turned these practices into a fishbowl? Some here are saying they report metrics, who beat who, etc, and others say they just give general impressions?

[neil38133]

OK, maybe this is a weird idea, but maybe M3 wants the rookies to be able to concentrate on football?

[The Leaper]

OK, maybe this is a weird idea, but maybe M3 wants the rookies to be able to concentrate on football?

Exactly.

These kids coming in and having a bunch of gawking fans staring and yelling at them while they practice is just another DISTRACTION to deal with, and McCarthy has the chance to effectively nip it in the bud.

I see no reason why anyone should feel like they are missing anything. The draft picks won't be doing anything physical on the field...they aren't under contract yet. The UFAs will be fighting for spots on the camp roster...but are you really that pissed off that you can't see a bunch of guys fighting to merely be camp bodies that ultimately will probably all be cut in August?

Yawn.

Go watch some Arena Football if you are that hard up for pigskin.

[KYPack]

Have you ever lived in that part of the country, Leap?

[pbmax]

I don't think McGinn or Silverstein are good looking enough to really distract any rookies.


OK, maybe this is a weird idea, but maybe M3 wants the rookies to be able to concentrate on football?