Whom Shall We Blame?

[Fritz]

All right, good people, it's time to get serious about preparations for the upcoming season as we head into the third pre-season game - the most important pre-season game of the pre-season, according to conventional wisdom.

When Mike McCarthy came to Green Bay, he said handling success would be harder than overcoming failure. That may be true of players, but it is definitely not the case when it comes to us fans.

If the Packers somehow win the Super Bowl this year, that will be easy for us. We will clink glasses in celebration, pretend we saw it coming way back when, and bump threads that show how prescient we were. Some of us will deny ever having any doubt, and others will attribute the Super Bowl to Ted Thompson getting lucky and having the advantage of Mike Sherman's best players - and even two of Ron Wolf's. We'll cheer, we'll gather and drink. Bretsky will perhaps encourage the female rats to celebrate with expressions of affection for one another, and the world will be a happy place. A few of us will propose to MJ Ziggy. Old enemies will slap one another and the back and proclaim friendship, and world peace will break out. Partial will toast Aaron Rodgers and we will join him.

But what if the Packers don't win? What if they fail miserably?

This is where we must prepare. Now is the time to start thinking about assigning blame for the Packers' failures. Thus, the poll.

1. Kurt Schottenheimer. We blamed him when Shermy was here. We blamed him last year. He has been the whipping boy in many a thread at Packerrats and we reveled in blaming him. Why stop now?

2. Jeff Jagodzinski. He's not here any more either - but that's the point. He was supposed to teach the ins and outs of zone blocking, and then he left, and now James Campen is holding the bag. Sure, now they're pretending that zone blocking is no big deal, but that's what the Masons say about themselves, too. And everybody knows they run the world. Not everyone can be a 33rd degree mason, and not everyone can teach zone blocking. The Masons are a cult. So is zone blocking. If Jags hadn't bailed, the Packers would be able to run the ball, and everybody knows that's the key to the game. Well, everybody who still watches Big Ten football from the 1970's, anyway.

3. Ted Thompson. Okay, okay. He's still not in Matt Millen territory, but Millen's record as GM is as safe as Cy Young's career wins record. But if it's year five and the Packers are in the pits of the NFL, then maybe he really didn't get it right.

4. You. It's your fault. You were sitting on the couch, right on the corner, and the Packers were winning. But when you got up and grabbed a beer and came back, your mother-in-law/daughter/spouse/dog had your spot, and you didn't fight for it. You sat in the La-Z-Boy instead and the Packers lost. That's on you, Bud. And what about the time you said, "Gee, if _____ gets hurt, the Packers' season is screwed" - and then ______ got hurt. You know you caused that injury. You know you did.

5. Other. Injuries? This poll? Obama?

[Brando19]

i vote nothing...this is a pretty stupid poll.

[Scott Campbell]

I guess this means I can't blame Mike Sherman anymore.

[Fritz]

i vote nothing...this is a pretty stupid poll.

Listen, pal, when you're sputtering at the end of the season because you can't find anyone to blame due to a lack of preparation, don't come crying to those of us who have worked so hard to blame others. We will be mightily self-righteous and there will be no room for you.

[superfan]

Re: Whom Shall We Blame?

If the Packers somehow win the Super Bowl this year, that will be easy for us. We will clink glasses in celebration, pretend we saw it coming way back when, and bump threads that show how prescient we were. Some of us will deny ever having any doubt, and others will attribute the Super Bowl to Ted Thompson getting lucky and having the advantage of Mike Sherman's best players - and even two of Ron Wolf's. We'll cheer, we'll gather and drink. Bretsky will perhaps encourage the female rats to celebrate with expressions of affection for one another, and the world will be a happy place. A few of us will propose to MJ Ziggy. Old enemies will slap one another and the back and proclaim friendship, and world peace will break out. Partial will toast Aaron Rodgers and we will join him.

I'll bump this thread if/when we win the SB.

I voted Shotty, but was tempted to blame myself. You made some compelling arguments for that one.

[Brando19]

i vote nothing...this is a pretty stupid poll.

Listen, pal, when you're sputtering at the end of the season because you can't find anyone to blame due to a lack of preparation, don't come crying to those of us who have worked so hard to blame others. We will be mightily self-righteous and there will be no room for you.

I MEANT this was a stupid poll because Michael Jackson's death was not a main option. I mean...C'MON! Geesh!

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Blame it on the rain (rain)
Blame it on the stars (stars)
Whatever you do don't put the blame on you
Blame it on the rain yeah yeah
You can blame it on the rain

[Fritz]

I guess this means I can't blame Mike Sherman anymore.

No, no, Scott, you're onto something. It's not as compelling as the Lions never being able to recover from William Clay Ford buying the team in 1964, but still - Sherman so decimated the team through his lousy drafting and poor playoff coaching that five years of Ted Thompson is not enough to re-stock the roster, and good coaching cannot overcome the devastation of Sherman's 4th-and-26 coaching legacy.

No, I think you've done some stellar work there, Scott.

And Brando, you too are correct - how could I fail to include Michael Jackson's death?

Damn him and his desperate need to sleep!

[Bossman641]

Other - I blame Rock Gullickson

[pbmax]

I plan on blaming Schottenheimer until he comes back to work for the Packers. And then I will blame him some more. Like the Cubs have the Billy Goat, the Packers now have Schottenheimer. There may be no known cure, except to move the franchise, leave behind the name and records and hire Brian Billick.

That cure might be worse than the disease.

[Fritz]

I think I'm leaning toward Jags on this one. MM hired him in part because he brought some continuity with his tight ends coaching work, but mostly because the guy supposedly had gone down and been indoctrinated into the cult of Alex Gibbs, the Zone Blocking Guru.

According to my sources, the secrets are passed on via strange and ancient rituals. All that is known is that participants had to eat peyote and smoke up the peace pipe with Gibbs, Yoda, and David Carradine, who of course played Kwai Chang Caine in that most awesome television show, Kung Fu (I still love his big line: "I . . . am Caine").

Then there are goat intestines and monkey bones involved, heads get shaved, and the secret knowledge is secreted through orificies better left undescribed.

Jags carried this info back to Green Bay and dispensed it as carefully as a German mother dispenses love. But the Packers were on their way.

And then the job, the love of his life came calling: Boston College. He wouldn't have left for any other job, was the implication. But this was the beloved alma mater and it had fallen low; he needed to return and save the townspeople from their football shame.

So he left. And we were left with James Campen, who seems like a nice guy, but then again so was Walter Brennan, and he didn't know anything about zone blocking either.

And the running game blew magnificently. Guys like Tony Moll blocked the air, thinking they were blocking in a zone while a guy two inches outside the "zone" ran past them. Coach McCarthy became confused. Was zone blocking really different than other kinds, or was it really all the same? hell, he didn't know - he left that shit up to Jags, as Mac preferred to hang out with quarterbacks and guys from Pittsburgh.

That confusion exists to this day. We were told the Packers wanted more athletic linemen - because zone blocking required mobility. But no, wait - they want Scott Wells to put on weight, and they've started drafting bigger guys like Breno Gicomocko after initially being thrilled guys like Colledge and Spitz were available because they didn't fit the traditional power scheme.

So at the end of this season, should it go south, or west, it will be all on Jags. Traitor. Everyone knows that if you can't run the ball, all else falls apart. Your QB can't throw because everyone's keying on the pass. Your defensive line sucks because they have to be out there more. Your special teams suck because they feed off the offense and defense.

It's Jags, man. I'm telling you, it's Jags.

[sheepshead]

The one guy who's job is on the line in GB is Mike McCarthy. He's not on the list.

[Fritz]

Well, Sheepy, you just added him in as a write-in.

Since this thread is about blame, I wanted to add something I just read about Manny Ramirez, a Lions' 4th round pick in '07 who is battling for a starting job this year.

This is from the Free Press. "Yarno" is the current offensive line coach;


"Ramirez said the past two years under Jim Colletto, he always worried about his technique -- trying not to cross his feet, for example. He said even if he beat his man, he would hear about it if he didn't beat his man the way he was supposed to. He said now he just plays.

'I feel like I'm more aggressive now because I don't hold back as much," Ramirez said. "I'm not worried about going out there and messing up anymore. If I mess up, I let it go. Next play. In the past, you would get in your stance, 'Don't mess up. Don't mess up. Do it the way he wants.' With Yarno, it's nothing like that.'"

Ah - so it was the previous offensive line coach's fault that Ramirez did not start and play well.

This is a man I can admire. He knows how to place blame - on someone who's no longer around. That's why I also like the poster who suggested the Packers' future misfortunes might all be caused by the deposed Rock Gullickson.

That's good thinking. Cuz if he hadn't screwed up Justin Harrell, well, Harrell would be a Pro-Bowler this year, for sure.

[AtlPackFan]

I voted "you" but I really, really want to blame pad level.

[MichiganPackerFan]

I blame congress for stalling when action was direly necessary

I also blame global warming

I blame Mike Sherman

I blame Nixon

I blame Cyndi Lauper for any Monday Night losses

I blame the neighbor for knocking on the door at the wrong time

I blame the barkeep for my resulting hangover

I blame Scott Campbell

I ultimately blame Fritz (but keep MI company for me!)