Two Things King Thinks…

A sure sign that the NFL season – or at least its training camps – are not too far away is that Peter King has resumed his regular MMQB column at SI.com. 

In this week’s edition, he makes two significant references to the Packers.  On the one hand, he says this about the recently suspended Johnny Jolly:

I think Johnny Jolly would have been one of the 10 most important players on the Packers this year and going into the future, but his yearlong suspension following his arrest in Houston makes it likely he'll never play for Green Bay again or for any other team in football.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/07/25/mmqb/3.html#ixzz0uq1jXVs3

He says it as though it is only a shame for Jolly.  But what about the Packers?  Isn’t it rather ominous to suggest that we have just lost one of our “10 most important players”? 

Still, it does not seem to have diminished King’s great expectations for the 2010 Packers.  As noted in an earlier post, King is predicting the Packers to go all the way.  And even the loss of one of our “10 most important players” has not changed that opinion:

It's early, very early, but I haven't backed off a San Diego-Green Bay Super Bowl. Two teams knocking on the door pretty consistently (Packers averaging 10 wins a year over the past three years, Chargers 11 a year over the past six season), both with terrific young quarterbacks (Aaron Rodgers 27, Philip Rivers 28), both with suspect defenses.

Kind of sounds like the Saints last year.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/peter_king/07/25/mmqb/index.html#ixzz0uq42VZgW

A good-news-bad-news report from Peter King.  That’s what he thinks… What do you think?

Technorati Tags: Peter King,SI.com,Johnny Jolly,Super Bowl predictions

The Road From Here to There

The 2010 NFL schedule is out.  The Packers’ slice of it is reflected now in the right-hand column of this blog.

Meanwhile, someone over at ESPN has kindly done the work for us of calculating the “strength of schedule” for each team, ranking the teams from the toughest schedules (the Texans and Titans are tied) to the easiest (the Arizona Cardinals).  Here is the link: 2010 NFL Strength of Schedule

Just those two extremes suggests a certain unfairness, of course.  The Titans, you recall, had a historically bad run during much of the 2009 season.  And while they ended strong, you wouldn’t think that they deserved to play the toughest schedule in 2010.  And the Cardinals, at the other end, made the playoffs (don’t we know it!) and don’t deserve the easiest schedule.

But, all politics is local.  So the Titans’ dilemma and the Cardinals’ delight are of little concern to us.  Our concern is the NFC North.

Happily, the Packers have the easiest schedule of the four teams in our division.  The hapless Lions face the toughest road (they’re tied for the 12th toughest schedule overall).  Then come the Bears and Vikings right behind, both tied for 14th place.  And then, very favorably situated in a tie for 22nd place, the Green Bay Packers.  We are the only team in the NFC North whose opponents combined for a winning percentage below .500 in 2009.

Of course, we know that in today’s NFL, a team can change dramatically from one year to the next.  Last year’s pushover might be this year’s Conference champ.  Still, in the off-season when there is nothing to do but hope, the strength-of-schedule analysis gives you and me some reason to hope!

Technorati Tags: NFC North,strength of schedule,2010 NFL schedule

Now Showing in Minnesota…

When the curtain opens, Tavaris Jackson, playing the part of Estragon, is trying unsuccessfully to take off his cleats.  He is joined shortly on stage by Sage Rosenfels, playing the role of Vladimir.  And together they wait.

The original Vladimir and Estragon did not have Godot’s address, but now we know that he lives just outside of Hattiesburg, Mississippi.  And Minnesota’s remake of Samuel Beckett’s classic includes a Brad Childress character, who reportedly made a recent trip to Mississippi to talk to Godot Favre.

Yahoo! Sports billed the trip as a recruiting trip (Childress recruits Favre).  If I were a Vikings fan – which I decidedly am not – I would be really annoyed by that characterization.  You’re only supposed to have to recruit players who aren’t already on your team. 

Of course, as a Packer fan, I recognize the show.  We spent several summers watching this same plot play out.  Ted Thompson was on the phone to Mississippi.  Mike McCarthy was on a plane to Mississippi.  And Brett Favre was on a tractor in Mississippi, holding the team and its fans hostage to his indecisiveness.

And now he’s doing it to the Vikings.  At the moment, methinks they deserve each other.

Still, with this annual Favre-watch following that parade of teams that courted and wooed LeBron James (see earlier post), I find that this whole public pandering to individual athletes is becoming quite nauseating.  Honestly, do you think some of these guys made their wives propose to them?

When Vladimir and Estragon were led to suspect that Godot was about to arrive, they exclaimed, “We’re saved!”  A similarly hopeful cry is likely to emerge from Minnesota when, after several weeks of avoiding workouts and training camps, Favre announces that he’s coming back for one more year. 

At least that’s how this tragicomedy has always played out before.

Technorati Tags: Sage Rosenfels,Tavaris Jackson,Brett Favre,Minnesota Vikings,Waiting for Godot

LeBrett Fames

Has any of the recent hullabaloo surrounding LeBron James looked familiar to you?

Admittedly, an unprecedented event can only look so familiar, and this circus has certainly been unprecedented. 

In that regard, it has been interesting to watch the sports writers and talkers simultaneously participate in and critique this whole charade.  When James was just the most sought of the various free agents, they willingly and cheerfully wrote and talked about him.  They happily joined the speculation and the debate.  But then, in the past few days, something turned.  When James began to exalt himself so conspicuously above the others, however – indeed, above community, team, and sport – the attitude about him began to sour.  It will be interesting to see if that bad taste remains in many mouths.

Jack McCallum of SI.com chided James for the spectacle (LeBron James TV Spectacle).

J.J. Adande of ESPN also criticized him (LeBron's Television Special).

And Adrian Wojarnowski absolutely skewered him at Yahoo Sports (State of LeBron).

All of this was written prior to James’ announcement.  The fact that he ended up making a one-hour, nationally-televised special out of leaving his hometown will likely intensify and cement some of that critique.

The question for Packer fans, however, is how James’ narcissism compares with Favre’s.  Both have tortured their teams and fans with prolonged indecision.  Both have allowed (positioned?) themselves to be the center of disproportionate attention.  Both seem to have exalted self above team.  And both have left people feeling betrayed in their wake. 

I don’t know who is worse.  I think James (though I reserve the right to feel differently once I see Brett in purple again).  Whatever the case, I come at least to this conclusion: the more popular and beloved you are, the worse your fits of selfishness look. 

Technorati Tags: LeBron James,Brett Favre