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Optimists club eager for season to start
Posted: July 18, 2007
Green Bay - If there is power in positive thinking, the Green Bay Packers should start dusting off a spot to place their fourth Super Bowl trophy, the 13th piece of championship hardware in team history.
In fact, there is so much positive energy inside the walls at 1265 Lombardi Ave. that you would think the reincarnation of Norman Vincent Peale has replaced John Jones as president of the Packers.
Of course, upbeat vibes at this time of year are always plentiful among the 32 NFL teams. There are nearly as many optimists out there as arrest warrants. Hey, when you're on vacation, training camp is still more than a week away and you can't lose a game that matters until September, life is beautiful.
But the buzz in Titletown, spewing from administrators, coaches and players - veterans and rookies - seems a little over the top this year, even in a state where optimism about the pro football team is an annual export.
"The World Championship is what we're looking for." Hmmm . . . Those words came from Shaun Bodiford, a second-year wide receiver you might think would put winning a job ahead of a Super Bowl.
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila is among the most outspoken of the Packers, "If Chicago can do it, I think we can do it."
Then there's James Jones, the wide receiver drafted in the third round, who said, "It's just about working together, being a team now, so we can strive to get this championship."
Or how about fifth-round draft choice David Clowney, who is thinking well beyond earning a spot on the roster: "I'm loving it. I'm very excited. Just knowing the fact that we have the opportunity to be a Super Bowl-winning team. We have the talent here."
Of course, confidence is to be expected, especially with young players who have known nothing but success. You don't make it to the NFL by lurking timidly in the shadows.
But among the most outspoken is Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, the eighth-year defensive end who knows all about winning and losing, succeeding and failing.
"If Chicago can do it, I think we can do it," Gbaja-Biamila said. "Because I think we're a better team than Chicago."
"KGB's" words might become bulletin-board material for the Bears, the defending National Football Conference champions and losers of the Super Bowl to the Indianapolis Colts.
But if you're a fan of these Packers, you love to hear them talk the talk. You much prefer their battle cry to be, "Super Bowl, here we come!" rather than, "We suck! We can't win. Please don't hurt us!"
But where does this positive approach and optimism come from? After all, this is a team with a 12-20 record over the past two seasons.
Maybe it was born at Soldier Field last New Year's Eve. Maybe these Packers see themselves as the team that routed the Bears, 26-7, in the season finale, not the one that opened 2006 by taking a 26-0 thrashing from Chicago.
Maybe these Packers see themselves as a team on a roll. Maybe they see themselves not as an 8-8 team from a year ago, but as a juggernaut smokin' into the 2007 season on a four-game winning streak.
The critics, the so-called "experts," of course, see something else.
The critics see a Bears team that played dead in Chicago because their focus was on the playoffs.
The critics see a winning streak that was built with victories over three losing teams - San Francisco, Detroit and Minnesota - with a combined record of 16-32.
The critics see a Green Bay team with a shaky, no-name running game after losing Ahman Green to Houston.
They see a team led by Brett Favre, an aging quarterback with a banana peel in his immediate future.
They see an offense with no tight end to catch the ball and stretch the field.
They see a defense with a big question mark where the strong safety should be.
Of course, many of these critics are sportswriters who couldn't find a positive thought with a bloodhound and MapQuest. (But hey, it's what we do).
Most of the critics see the Packers finishing second to the Bears in the NFC North and out of the playoffs. And some see them in third, behind the Lions.
Ted Thompson isn't one of those critics, which is good, because as general manager he's the lad who put this team together.
"We want to win and we want to win now." Thompson told Rob Reischel of Packer Plus. " . . . I'm ready to win. I think it's time for this team to win and I think we're ready to do that."
By winning, Thompson isn't talking about finishing second or third in the NFC North. He isn't talking about 8-8. But you don't hear much of that talk outside of Green Bay or Packer Nation.
And Thompson's head coach, Mike McCarthy, isn't interested in anything short of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
"Until we achieve the ultimate success of winning the Super Bowl, we will not be satisfied," McCarthy said. "I'll never be completely satisfied until we reach the top."
The experts see the New England Patriots, who loaded up with talent such as Randy Moss, breezing to the Super Bowl then beating the New Orleans Saints, or Dallas Cowboys, or maybe the Bears for the championship.
And the Packers? Well, in the national chatter right now they aren't even part of the conversation.
But clearly, they have plans to interrupt.
Posted: July 18, 2007
Green Bay - If there is power in positive thinking, the Green Bay Packers should start dusting off a spot to place their fourth Super Bowl trophy, the 13th piece of championship hardware in team history.
In fact, there is so much positive energy inside the walls at 1265 Lombardi Ave. that you would think the reincarnation of Norman Vincent Peale has replaced John Jones as president of the Packers.
Of course, upbeat vibes at this time of year are always plentiful among the 32 NFL teams. There are nearly as many optimists out there as arrest warrants. Hey, when you're on vacation, training camp is still more than a week away and you can't lose a game that matters until September, life is beautiful.
But the buzz in Titletown, spewing from administrators, coaches and players - veterans and rookies - seems a little over the top this year, even in a state where optimism about the pro football team is an annual export.
"The World Championship is what we're looking for." Hmmm . . . Those words came from Shaun Bodiford, a second-year wide receiver you might think would put winning a job ahead of a Super Bowl.
Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila is among the most outspoken of the Packers, "If Chicago can do it, I think we can do it."
Then there's James Jones, the wide receiver drafted in the third round, who said, "It's just about working together, being a team now, so we can strive to get this championship."
Or how about fifth-round draft choice David Clowney, who is thinking well beyond earning a spot on the roster: "I'm loving it. I'm very excited. Just knowing the fact that we have the opportunity to be a Super Bowl-winning team. We have the talent here."
Of course, confidence is to be expected, especially with young players who have known nothing but success. You don't make it to the NFL by lurking timidly in the shadows.
But among the most outspoken is Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila, the eighth-year defensive end who knows all about winning and losing, succeeding and failing.
"If Chicago can do it, I think we can do it," Gbaja-Biamila said. "Because I think we're a better team than Chicago."
"KGB's" words might become bulletin-board material for the Bears, the defending National Football Conference champions and losers of the Super Bowl to the Indianapolis Colts.
But if you're a fan of these Packers, you love to hear them talk the talk. You much prefer their battle cry to be, "Super Bowl, here we come!" rather than, "We suck! We can't win. Please don't hurt us!"
But where does this positive approach and optimism come from? After all, this is a team with a 12-20 record over the past two seasons.
Maybe it was born at Soldier Field last New Year's Eve. Maybe these Packers see themselves as the team that routed the Bears, 26-7, in the season finale, not the one that opened 2006 by taking a 26-0 thrashing from Chicago.
Maybe these Packers see themselves as a team on a roll. Maybe they see themselves not as an 8-8 team from a year ago, but as a juggernaut smokin' into the 2007 season on a four-game winning streak.
The critics, the so-called "experts," of course, see something else.
The critics see a Bears team that played dead in Chicago because their focus was on the playoffs.
The critics see a winning streak that was built with victories over three losing teams - San Francisco, Detroit and Minnesota - with a combined record of 16-32.
The critics see a Green Bay team with a shaky, no-name running game after losing Ahman Green to Houston.
They see a team led by Brett Favre, an aging quarterback with a banana peel in his immediate future.
They see an offense with no tight end to catch the ball and stretch the field.
They see a defense with a big question mark where the strong safety should be.
Of course, many of these critics are sportswriters who couldn't find a positive thought with a bloodhound and MapQuest. (But hey, it's what we do).
Most of the critics see the Packers finishing second to the Bears in the NFC North and out of the playoffs. And some see them in third, behind the Lions.
Ted Thompson isn't one of those critics, which is good, because as general manager he's the lad who put this team together.
"We want to win and we want to win now." Thompson told Rob Reischel of Packer Plus. " . . . I'm ready to win. I think it's time for this team to win and I think we're ready to do that."
By winning, Thompson isn't talking about finishing second or third in the NFC North. He isn't talking about 8-8. But you don't hear much of that talk outside of Green Bay or Packer Nation.
And Thompson's head coach, Mike McCarthy, isn't interested in anything short of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.
"Until we achieve the ultimate success of winning the Super Bowl, we will not be satisfied," McCarthy said. "I'll never be completely satisfied until we reach the top."
The experts see the New England Patriots, who loaded up with talent such as Randy Moss, breezing to the Super Bowl then beating the New Orleans Saints, or Dallas Cowboys, or maybe the Bears for the championship.
And the Packers? Well, in the national chatter right now they aren't even part of the conversation.
But clearly, they have plans to interrupt.
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