Q&A w/TT---McGinn kicks him in the balls over & over

[bbbffl66]

Yup, I'm totally convinced that TT was a politician in a previous life. Lots of lip and is careful not to slip.

I give credit to McGinn trying to get something out of TT though. A few of his questions were rude, but as a good journalist, you want a story that doesn't contain the same info over and over again. It's probably safe to assume that we won't be hearing of any TT interviews with McGinn for a while!

How about an exit interview?

[woodbuck27]

It was a good interview. There is nothing wrong with asking tough questions. I thought Thompson did a pretty good job of not getting too defensive and just answering the questions to the best of his abilty. Fortunately for Thompson it's the football on the field and not the lower half of public perception that is his ultimate judge juror and excecutioner.


I think Thompson said it pretty well, you can't really dwell on what people say or think. We have a season coming up and that will do the talking.

Yes it will.

[Joemailman]

It was a tough interview, but except for the "wisdom" question, I thought the questions were fair. I actually thought TT came across pretty good in the interview. He didn't get real defensive, and didn't appear thin-skinned at all. I think he has a lot of confidence that his plan his working, and figures he'll be justified in the near future.

[Rastak]

I do miss the former court jester...he was harmless and pretty funny at times.

Wonder if you'd say that if you had to continually delete the ficticious user names he created, or make sure to read every post he wrote to ensure he wasn't starting trouble, or look up each IP address to see if he was "talking" to himself in a thread with multiple users names to try to start shit with someone else? Harmless? Nope.

I'm glad the little punk is history.

Hell, I caught him in at least two. I stand by my statement.

[The Leaper]

I've never been overly impressed by McGinn. To me, he comes across as a guy who always thought he should be the one running a football team...when he doesn't have either the qualifications or know-how to actually do it.

I thought it was an extremely poor interview. McGinn harrassed the GM of the Packers, and really did not get much information out of him...which is what I thought the point of an interview was. He missed several glaring questions that I'm still wanting to know the answer to. Also, where was McGinn questioning Sherman when he made bonehead decisions as a GM...of which there were ANY NUMBER to choose from?

I'm sorry. McGinn is a joke as a reporter. Anyone who thinks he is any good should try reading interviews from REAL journalists.

[wist43]

TT just tap dances all over the place...

One of the comments by McGinn that stood out to me was when he called TT a "grinder"... that's kind of how I view TT. Staying the course, even to his and the teams detriment.

As I've said, I view TT as a good talent evaluator, but I'm very skeptical that his overall approach can get us back to the SB.

[Packnut]

FA

TT just tap dances all over the place...

One of the comments by McGinn that stood out to me was when he called TT a "grinder"... that's kind of how I view TT. Staying to course, even to his, and the teams, detriment.

As I've said, I view TT as a good talent evaluator, but I'm very skeptical that his overall approach can get us back to the SB.

Not using FA to it's utmost advantage already has him one step behind almost everyone else. Injuries are starting early so once again he'll look for cheap un-talented replacements just to fill roster spots. His actions or non-actions with the TE spot are criminal to say the least.

Yet his backers will tell you Alcorn will come out of no where or Bubba will learn how to catch again. Nothing but fairy tale BS for people who have no grasp of reality.

I agree with you he is an above average drafter, but that is'nt enough in today's NFL. When you look at teams with winning records, 99.9% of them have at least an average TE. Hell even Clark was better last season than anything we had. So we have a QB who can use a TE better than most but no TE for him to throw to. PATHETIC!

[Cheesehead Craig]

Tough interview. I have to give TT credit that he did not lose his cool which is what McGinn was obviously trying to do.

[swede]

Re: Q&A w/TT---McGinn kicks him in the balls over &

Q.What do you count as the successes at the halfway point of your five-year appointment?

A. I think we've done a pretty good job building up the core of the team. I think when you have playoff runs like the Packers have had over a number of years you don't have maybe the normal turnover in a roster. You wind up getting a little top-heavy in terms of age. I'm not one of those people who tries to get young for the sake of getting young. It's just that it makes for a more healthy organism, really, if in fact you have a good mixture of veterans and youth. I think we've added competition. We haven't won enough games, and that's my responsibility.

I do think McGinn was being a prick, knowing that TT would either politely say little, which he usually does, or blow up in a temper, which wasn't likel;y to happen but would have made a great headline. McGinn is a member of the media. It is his right to be an obnoxious prick. TT represents the Green Bay Packers. It is his obligation to be a gentleman. BTW TT does not "tap dance" --he answers every question directly.

I liked TT's answer to the above question because it shows that his plan is to get better incrementally with an overall awareness of team age, contract issues, lockerroom chemistry, and improving every position while keeping the other issues in mind.

[Fritz]

I find it interesting that part of what people dont like abou
TT is his style. Becasue he does not say a whole lot or is not flashy, peopoe do not seem to like him. We wwil see how the team plays this year.

[wist43]

McGinn isn't an "ambush journalist"... he asks the tough question more junior or cowardly media won't.

If you want to read puff piece after puff piece - don't read McGinn. He'll give you the unvarnished truth. I disagree with him from time to time, but the guy has great sources in the business, and isn't afraid to tell it like it is.

A lot of those questions he put to TT were the very questions we bandy around in here, but rarely if ever see in the columns of the beat writers.

I trust McGinn more than I do TT.

[Zool]

McGinn isn't an "ambush journalist"... he asks the tough question more junior or cowardly media won't.

If you want to read puff piece after puff piece - don't read McGinn. He'll give you the unvarnished truth. I disagree with him from time to time, but the guy has great sources in the business, and isn't afraid to tell it like it is.

A lot of those questions he put to TT were the very questions we bandy around in here, but rarely if ever see in the columns of the beat writers.

I trust McGinn more than I do TT.

I agree to a point that he asks legit questions, but the whole thing seemed like he was pushing an agenda. Like McGinn is showing what a bad-ass journalist he can be and I ended up having a lot less respect for him, probably because this kind of journalism is laughable. You can ask tough questions without being an ass-hat.

[The Leaper]

McGinn isn't an "ambush journalist"... he asks the tough question more junior or cowardly media won't.

So where was it with Sherman, Wist? I can't recall ANY tough questions being asked of Sherman...who made more questionable moves than Thompson has overall IMO.

McGinn is a patsy...unless the mob is crying for someone to be hung, he simply mumbles under his breath taking rogue pot shots while collecting a paycheck.

A lot of those questions he put to TT were the very questions we bandy around in here, but rarely if ever see in the columns of the beat writers.

Not really. I saw nothing in the interview about Jones, who I think is a pretty large piece of the offseason puzzle. Other GMs won't sign character risks? Funny, I see an awful lot of teams with character issues somewhere on the roster.

What I did see were a bunch of retarded questions that were practically rhetorical. We KNOW the answers to most of these questions. YES, Bubba's contract was too big. YES, Thompson goofed by not doing more to save an elite OL in his first year. YES, the RB position is shaky...what do you expect when you've had the same 2 backs in the lineup for 6 years and they finally move on? The fact that McGinn is trying to get Thompson to admit the answers isn't hard-hitting or insightful journalism. This entire interview was like Tom Brokaw spending 20 minutes asking George Bush if he struggles with public speaking and whether or not he is able to accept constructive criticism well. Pointless.

McGinn may not be an "ambush journalist"...but this was an ambush interview that accomplished little other than making McGinn's job a hell of a lot tougher for himself. It is one thing to not be a homer. It is another to make an ass out of yourself. McGinn did the latter.

[wist43]

McGinn isn't an "ambush journalist"... he asks the tough question more junior or cowardly media won't.

So where was it with Sherman, Wist? I can't recall ANY tough questions being asked of Sherman...who made more questionable moves than Thompson has overall IMO.

McGinn is a patsy...unless the mob is crying for someone to be hung, he simply mumbles under his breath taking rogue pot shots while collecting a paycheck.

A lot of those questions he put to TT were the very questions we bandy around in here, but rarely if ever see in the columns of the beat writers.

Not really. I saw nothing in the interview about Jones, who I think is a pretty large piece of the offseason puzzle. Other GMs won't sign character risks? Funny, I see an awful lot of teams with character issues somewhere on the roster.

What I did see were a bunch of retarded questions that were practically rhetorical. We KNOW the answers to most of these questions. YES, Bubba's contract was too big. YES, Thompson goofed by not doing more to save an elite OL in his first year. YES, the RB position is shaky...what do you expect when you've had the same 2 backs in the lineup for 6 years and they finally move on? The fact that McGinn is trying to get Thompson to admit the answers isn't hard-hitting or insightful journalism. This entire interview was like Tom Brokaw spending 20 minutes asking George Bush if he struggles with public speaking and whether or not he is able to accept constructive criticism well. Pointless.

McGinn may not be an "ambush journalist"...but this was an ambush interview that accomplished little other than making McGinn's job a hell of a lot tougher for himself. It is one thing to not be a homer. It is another to make an ass out of yourself. McGinn did the latter.

Since when do we talk incessantly about John Jones??? And why McGinn ask TT about Jones??? Jones is Harlan's responsibility, and TT has little or nothing to do with it.

As for your contention that McGinn didn't go after Sherman - that's a load of crap. When the Packers were 10-6 I saw them as a 6-10 team, or worse... so did McGinn. He wrote some scathing articles about Sherman and his moves.

McGinn knows football... he's easily the best Packers beat writer. Some may not like him, but he's definitely respected. How many other writers talk about a DB's backpedal, or how a WR sets up a DB and gets into and out of his breaks, or how a DT is better suited as a two-gap vs. a 3 technique, et al...

I'll McGinn over the other yahoo's out there any day.

[Packnut]

TE

How is it "ambush journalism" to point out we SUCK at TE? I mean c'mon, I'm fine with the kool-aid drinking crap but anyone who thinks this group of TE's is going to give us the production you need in a WC offense is pretty much brain dead.

That's the main point some of you won't deal with. We run a WC offense and like it or not, the TE is IMPORTANT to the over-all production.

As far as the RB questions go, wake up! EVERY freakin journalist/analyst/former players question what Thompson has done. The ONLY people who believe we're ok at RB are the Thompson supporters. Again, how is asking Teddy questions about that mean spirited?

It's fine and dandy to support Ted and believe in what he's doing. It's another altogether to be completely blind and oblivious to very real and potential problems that this team that we all love may have.