Off the clock

Draft day seems to be an appropriate time to shut down this blog. I have absolutely nothing to say about the draft that hasn't been said at excruciating length elsewhere by people who have a lot more time to look and obsess than I do. The draft is pure hype, a huge promotional stunt that provides maybe one third of its perceived value to the teams. Maybe two or three players actually make a first-year impact; some more come along and eventually become good players; most are camp fodder and will eventually head to the arena leagues or a McDonald's near you.

As for other items, again, I have little to add that isn't alreayd out there in the overcovered NFL. To do better would require much more time than I have.

Thanks for reading, and good luck to the Packers.

I'll leave this blog open for a while for those who may find some answers in it while searching for information.

DrBear

Favre number retirement at opener

The Monday night opener against the Vikings, that is - and thank God THAT was decided early, or we'd hear nothing else for months.

The 2008 schedule with comments

Let's see...two division games on Monday nights ... a Sunday and a third Monday nighter ... but 10 Sunday Noon starts.

So here's the schedule, with comments: (All Wisconsin times, home games in bold, national TV in italics)

Mon., Sept. 8 Minnesota Vikings 6 p.m. ESPN

As previously announced, Adrian Peterson, now healthy again, takes on the Packers in the first game of the post-Favre era. On national cable.

Sun., Sept. 14 @ Detroit Lions 12 noon FOX

This may be tough, if only because Detroit usually shows enough in its first few games to get their fans excited, then falls apart. Again.

Sun., Sept. 21 Dallas Cowboys (Gold Pkg.) 7:15 p.m. NBC

Not a suprising pick for prime time. Remember, this was going to be the NFC Championship last year, until the Giants got hot. But the time is bad news for Milwaukee fans who have to make a late drive up here.

Sun., Sept. 28 @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers 12 noon FOX

Remember when this was a regular feature on the schedule? September should still be plenty warm in Tampa.

Sun., Oct. 5 Atlanta Falcons 12 noon FOX

The Falcons will be better than they were last year ... but not that much.

Sun., Oct. 12 @ Seattle Seahawks 3:15 p.m.FOX

Or, last year's playoff game without the snow.

Sun., Oct. 19 Indianapolis Colts 3:15 p.m. CBS

Well, it ain't Manning-Favre. But somebody should remember the old days when these teams fought hard for the NFL Western Conference crown. CBS thinks enough of this one for the prime spot.

Sun., Oct. 26 Open Date

Sun., Nov. 2 @ Tennessee Titans 12 noon FOX

I can never tell in advance if the Titans are good or not.

Sun., Nov. 9 @ Minnesota Vikings 12 noon FOX

We'll have to see if the Viknigs have been able to build around Peterson.

Sun., Nov. 16 Chicago Bears (Gold Pkg.) *12 noon FOX

Milwaukee's payoff for having the Sunday night game - their fans also get the Bears. The Packers should finally win one of these - as Jon Lovitz said as Michael Dukakis against Dana Carvey's George HW Bush..."I can't believe I'm losing to this guy." The asterisks mark games that are eligible to be switched to Sunday nights for NBC, but with the other Bears-Packers game on Monday night, don't expect this one to be switched - a 10 percent probability.

Mon., Nov. 24 @ New Orleans Saints 7:30 p.m.ESPN

Interesting choice for a game - the Packers sliding from last year, the Saints trying to prove they're not one-year wonders.

Sun., Nov. 30 Carolina Panthers *12 noon FOX

A team we don't see too often, but a tough one. But if in contention, a 30 percent probability of a switch to nighttime.

Sun., Dec. 7 Houston Texans *12 noon CBS

Remember the ESPN Sunday nighter when they tried to convince us that David Carr was the new Favre? Neither one will be here on this day. 10 percent switch probability.

Sun., Dec. 14 @ Jacksonville Jaguars *12 noon FOX

The Packers have had some tough times here. Probability of a switch to nighttime: 40 percent.

Mon., Dec. 22 @ Chicago Bears 7:30 p.m.ESPN

A Monday night in December on the lakefront. God, it'll be cold.

Sun., Dec. 28 Detroit Lions *12 noon FOX

Only if Detroit improves -a LOT - will this one be semi-meaningful. 5 percent chance of a nighttime move.

The 2008 preseason schedule

(NOTE: Times/dates added as of April 15; time still not set for San Fran game.)
With some tweaking left to do:

• Mon., Aug. 11 CINCINNATI BENGALS Bishop’s Charities Game 7 p.m. Central, ESPN
• Saturday, Aug. 16 at San Francisco 49ers TBA state TV
• Friday, Aug. 22 at Denver Broncos 8 p.m.state TV
• Thursday, Aug. 28 TENNESSEE TITANS (Gold pkg.) Midwest Shrine Game 7 p.m. state TV
  

Wisconsin times.

New rules

Wednesday rules changes passed by the NFL owners, with comments:

-- No more force outs. A receiver will have to have both feet in bounds in order for a catch to be made unless he is carried out of bounds. If he's pushed out, it's no reception. The vote was 31-1.
I'm surprised it was that easy a vote. I still expect arguments.

-- The right to defer. Teams can now defer the decision whether to kickoff after winning the opening coin toss, same as in the college game. If a team defers, it has the option in the second half of choosing to receive or to defend a certain goal. "It's an individual thing," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said of how often he thinks teams will defer. "It will be interesting to see what the philosophy will be." The vote was 28-4.
I've never thought it was that big a deal, although it gives those coaches who like to start on defense an opportunity to do so without being scorned, as they can always say they want to start the second half on offense. It's used a lot in college ball, but I don't see the advantage.

-- Instant replay on field goals and extra points. The replay will be limited to whether the attempt clears the crossbar or makes it through the uprights. It cannont be used on kicks in which the officials make a judgment call on kicks that pass over the upright. The vote was 32-0.
One of those obvious ideas that didn't occur to anyone until the problem took place, as it did last year. I've always thought a good idea would be for night games to have a laser at the top of the goalpost.

-- Eliminating the 5-yard facemask penalty. It will be a 15-yard penalty if a player grabs and twists an opponent's facemask. Any other contact will fall under the guidelines of illegal hands to the face. The vote was 28-4.
I'm in favor of that - it's a dangerous practice.

-- A snap that does not touch the quarterbacks hands is no longer a false start. Regardless of whether it hits the quarterback's hands, it's a live ball.
Again, a sensible thing that could resolve arguments. If you don't get the fundamentals down, you deserve to face possible disaster.

-- If a player attempts a forward handoff beyond the line of scrimmage and fumbles the ball is live. Previously, it was considered an illegal forward pass and constituted a 5-yard penalty and loss of down.
See the last post. When it obviously isn't a pass, why treat it as one?

The proposal that called for a new playoff seeding format had such weak support that it never made it to a formal vote. Teams were clearly not ready to go to a format that rewarded home playoff games to wild card teams with better records than division winners.
The competition committee originally proposed giving the top two division winners playoff byes and then seeding the remaining four teams based on record. When that received lukewarm response, it amended the proposal to make it so the top three division winners would get home playoff games and the other three would be seeded by record.
The owners wouldn't go for it.
And neither do I. If that's the case, just have two eight-team divisions instead of four four-team divisions. I'm still not sure how to handle the problem of teams running for the bus in the final games if they've clinched a spot and can't improve, however.

Rams to practice with Packers?

The Cheese League may be back in business.

The St. Louis Rams are looking at a practice site in Wisconsin. They had considered UW-La Crosse, but that school is remodeling its stadium, so the Rams are looking at UW-Oshkosh and UW-Whitewater, neither of which has hosted a team.

An obvious boost for Oshkosh is that, according to Tom Silverstein at the Journal No Hyphen Sentinel, the Rams and Packers have agreed to possible joint practices.

Which would be a nice draw for training camp. I remember covering the joint practices when the Packers hosted the (old) Browns under Sam Rutigliano during the Lindy Infante era. It'll lend some spice to the proceedin's. (The last time the Packers did this was against Buffalo in 1995.)

And as a proud UW-O alumnus, it'll be nice to see it get some ink.

Preseason: Packers to visit Broncos

The Denver Post is reporting today that the Packers' Week 3 preseason game will be at Denver. No date or time set, but it should be around Aug. 23, the paper says.

No word from the Packers yet on their preseason slate, but that should be out in a week or two. It's probably ready, but with the league schedule expected out soon, the Packers will probably wait.

Favre retirement date set?

Looks like we may have the date for the Brett Favre jersey retirement.
The Minneapolis Star Tribune reports that the NFL will announce today that the Vikings will play the Green Bay Packers in the Monday night opener at 6 p.m. Sept. 8 on ESPN, probably at Lambeau Field, according to an industry source.

(The early time is because ESPN plans to do another season-opening MNF double header.)

Consider that it's national TV, a division rival and the season opener, and the whole thing becomes obvious. Nice way to put some extra pressure, though, on Aaron Rodgers in his first game as a starter...

Update: it's official, says the NFL, but as far as the Favre retirement, that's still to be determined...

4 No More: The number's gone, too.

Mark Murphy, president and CEO of the Green Bay Packers, told the Journal Sentinel Wednesday that the Packers plan on retiring Brett Favre's number sometime this coming season. From the post:

Murphy said he had had a preliminary discussion with Favre, and that both
Favre and the organization agreed that his No. 4 would be retired in 2008.
"Our plan and his is to retire his number sometime this season. And we will make
a decision after the schedule comes out," Murphy said.
Needless to say, that
game will be a hot ticket for Packers fans. The event also is guaranteed to gain
national attention.
Murphy stressed that any plans are preliminary,
with many details yet to be worked out. "Our initial thought is to retire his
number during a game. But what more might be entailed will be worked out," he
said.

The most obvious game would be against the Bears or Vikings, but if they're Milwaukee-ticket games or late-December games, that wouldn't work as well. If there's a Sunday or Monday night game against either one of those two early in the season, that would be the best. I'm a bit surprised they're doing it right away, but it was inevitable. Now, do all the people wearing No. 4 jerseys have to retire them?

So he hasn't TOTALLY retired...

Looks like Brett Favre won't just go fishing for a while. Note the following from the Mississippi Business Journal's blog:

Want a shot at playing football with former Green Bay Packers and Southern Miss quarterback Brett Favre? Here’s your chance:
URGENT!! OPEN CASTING CALL!
We are looking for several fit, athletic men to play touch/tackle football with Brett Favre in a Wrangler Jeans commercial and print ads.
Please be:
Physically fit, Under 6′4″ in height, Between the ages of 25 to 40, Have a general knowledge of football and be able to play a casual game of touch/tackle football.
This will be shot in and around Hattiesburg, so please be able to travel to and from there easily.
Shoots dates and payment info will be at casting.
CASTING:
TUESDAY MARCH 18 11:00 AM - 1:30 PM & 4:00 PM - 6;00 PM; WEDNESDAY MARCH 19 11;00 AM - 1:30 PM & 4:00 PM - 6:00 PM.
COURTYARD MARRIOTT 119 GRAND DRIVE HATTIESBURG, MS
TO VIEW THE PREVIOUS AD PLEASE GO TO www.splendad.com/ads/show/1491-Wrangler-Brett-Favre
QUESTIONS? PLEASE CALL BRANDY SNOW 323-595-0048

You ain't seen nothin' yet, apparently.