woodbuck27
05-11-2007, 11:13 AM
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070509/PKR07/705090623/1959
Posted May 9, 2007
Mike Vandermause column: Apathy? Not in this mailbag
By Mike Vandermause
There is no offseason when it comes to the Green Bay Packers, and that applies to the letters and e-mails that pour into our office all year long. It's time to dip into the Packers' mailbag and respond to questions and comments from fans:
Who are you to say Brett Favre rambles in public! If he did not talk to the media, you would destroy him like you did Sterling Sharpe. If you feel this about Brett, tell him to his face.
— DannyBabyK
To his face, I would tell Favre to keep talking. But there was a point in my column last week about his "rambling." Packers chairman Bob Harlan used one Favre utterance following the 2000 season —
"This is the best team chemistry we've had since I've been here"
— to help build a case for Mike Sherman to become both coach and general manager, and that was a mistake.
Favre sometimes says things that shouldn't be taken at face value. Did he really think the 9-7 Packers in 2000 had better team chemistry than the Super Bowl teams in 1996 and 1997? I doubt it. In the excitement of a four-game win streak to close out the 2000 season, he likely was using hyperbole to emphasize the team was coming together.
Remember Favre's comment last summer about the 2006 Packers having more talent than any team he played on in Green Bay?
Trust me, Favre didn't mean last year's team was better than the Packers of the mid-1990s. Again, he was exaggerating to make a point. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as listeners don't take every comment literally.
The thing that frightens most Packer fans is there is no quarterback to succeed Brett. I don't think Aaron Rodgers is the guy. I am wondering if the coaching staff even believes he is the guy. Maybe this Jerry Babb guy is the answer!
— Bill
Nothing personal against the Ragin' Cajuns' Babb, but based on the arm strength he displayed at the rookie orientation camp, he definitely is not the answer.
Rodgers, meanwhile, is a mystery man.
He has done nothing to prove he can or can't be Favre's successor. We won't know the answer until Favre retires. If the Packers didn't believe in Rodgers, they would have selected Brady Quinn in the first round of the draft.
Ted Thompson must go, and he must go now! Remember the '70s and '80s when Green Bay was the Siberia of the NFL? That is where we are headed if Ted is not fired today!
— Mark of Minnesota
It would be foolish to fire Thompson a little more than two years into his tenure. He deserves a chance to prove himself. Take a chill pill and have a little patience. Thompson inherited a sliding team with some serious salary cap issues. You can't turn that kind of situation around overnight.
I watched the NFL draft and I could not believe Packers fans were booing. Never should we hear booing coming from Lambeau Field. Make every Packer fan aware that when they show bad sportsmanship, it disgraces all the Packer players that we so love.
— Andrew from Utah
A wise man recently told me that passion and tension go hand in hand. Booing tells me fans care about the Packers. That's preferable to silence, which means apathy has set in. Based on my bulging mailbag, that's not the case in Green Bay.
Mike Vandermause is sports editor of the Press-Gazette.
Posted May 9, 2007
Mike Vandermause column: Apathy? Not in this mailbag
By Mike Vandermause
There is no offseason when it comes to the Green Bay Packers, and that applies to the letters and e-mails that pour into our office all year long. It's time to dip into the Packers' mailbag and respond to questions and comments from fans:
Who are you to say Brett Favre rambles in public! If he did not talk to the media, you would destroy him like you did Sterling Sharpe. If you feel this about Brett, tell him to his face.
— DannyBabyK
To his face, I would tell Favre to keep talking. But there was a point in my column last week about his "rambling." Packers chairman Bob Harlan used one Favre utterance following the 2000 season —
"This is the best team chemistry we've had since I've been here"
— to help build a case for Mike Sherman to become both coach and general manager, and that was a mistake.
Favre sometimes says things that shouldn't be taken at face value. Did he really think the 9-7 Packers in 2000 had better team chemistry than the Super Bowl teams in 1996 and 1997? I doubt it. In the excitement of a four-game win streak to close out the 2000 season, he likely was using hyperbole to emphasize the team was coming together.
Remember Favre's comment last summer about the 2006 Packers having more talent than any team he played on in Green Bay?
Trust me, Favre didn't mean last year's team was better than the Packers of the mid-1990s. Again, he was exaggerating to make a point. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as listeners don't take every comment literally.
The thing that frightens most Packer fans is there is no quarterback to succeed Brett. I don't think Aaron Rodgers is the guy. I am wondering if the coaching staff even believes he is the guy. Maybe this Jerry Babb guy is the answer!
— Bill
Nothing personal against the Ragin' Cajuns' Babb, but based on the arm strength he displayed at the rookie orientation camp, he definitely is not the answer.
Rodgers, meanwhile, is a mystery man.
He has done nothing to prove he can or can't be Favre's successor. We won't know the answer until Favre retires. If the Packers didn't believe in Rodgers, they would have selected Brady Quinn in the first round of the draft.
Ted Thompson must go, and he must go now! Remember the '70s and '80s when Green Bay was the Siberia of the NFL? That is where we are headed if Ted is not fired today!
— Mark of Minnesota
It would be foolish to fire Thompson a little more than two years into his tenure. He deserves a chance to prove himself. Take a chill pill and have a little patience. Thompson inherited a sliding team with some serious salary cap issues. You can't turn that kind of situation around overnight.
I watched the NFL draft and I could not believe Packers fans were booing. Never should we hear booing coming from Lambeau Field. Make every Packer fan aware that when they show bad sportsmanship, it disgraces all the Packer players that we so love.
— Andrew from Utah
A wise man recently told me that passion and tension go hand in hand. Booing tells me fans care about the Packers. That's preferable to silence, which means apathy has set in. Based on my bulging mailbag, that's not the case in Green Bay.
Mike Vandermause is sports editor of the Press-Gazette.