Brats & Beer

Warning to Brown County criminal masterminds: Avoid breaking into homes occupied by members of the Green Bay Packers. Apparently a couple douchebags broke into the home of Noah Herron and one of them ended up in the hospital when the Packers running back used “justifiable force in protecting his life and property” with a bedpost.

That’ll leave a mark.

So what did I do during the long Memorial Day weekend? Well, I did not think about Ryan Grant’s contract negotiations, I did not stop to consider whether or not Ted Thompson should make a trade for Jason Taylor, and I certainly did not worry about what the Packers organization should do with Brett Favre’s locker. In other words, it was three days of rest and relaxation, and here in Texas that can mean only one thing: brisket.

Oh sweet, glorious barbecued beef. Big ups to the grill master Josh for cooking up a big spread Saturday night for the first game of the Stanley Cup series. The sweet, succulent meat and icy cold beers not only hit the spot but also helped distract me as the mighty Penguins got their asses handed to them by the Detroit Red Wings. My goodness that was a beatdown.

Thankfully, though, the Pens were able to rally at home last night and start digging their way out of a 2-0 hole. If Pittsburgh is going to win it this year they’ll likely need all seven games to do it, and if the rest of the series is anything like last night there’s a lot of great hockey left to be seen.

I’m hoping there might still be some more of that brisket to go along with it.

With grace, economy, and forceful beauty, Cheesehead TV echos my very thoughts on Justin Harrell showing up to OTAs with a back injury.

Now that the NFL owners have gone and opted out of the final two years of their collective bargaining agreement with the players’ union, I’m feeling a little like Charlton Heston at the end of Planet of the Apes looking up at the ruin of the Statue of Liberty. “You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you. God damn you all to Hell!”

Okay, maybe I’m over-reacting just a little, but you have to admit the CBA has been pretty good for small market teams like the Green Bay Packers. The salary cap has kept billionaire owners like Jerry Jones from cornering the market on talent and revenue sharing has helped prop up the bottom line during lean years. Thank goodness the team has more than $100 million socked away in a mattress someplace because Bob Harlan was afraid this might happen.

The vote by owners was a unanimous 32-0, meaning Packers CEO Mark Murphy voted with everyone else to void the final two years of the labor pact. Maybe he and the other small market teams were convinced they needed to put up a united front against the NFLPA, but I’ll be interested to hear his reasoning for how this will be good for the team in the long run.

On the upside, though, Green Bay has actually been paying into the revenue sharing scheme the past several years thanks to the solid support from fans and appearances on prime-time TV, and Ted Thompson has proven he’ll always try to get the most talent for the least amount of money. But longer term, I worry how the Packers will be able to compete and survive in the league without those provisions of the CBA in place.

Happy weekend!

The writing was on the wall when Ted Thompson selected Jordy Nelson first in the draft that either Koren Robinson or Ruvell Martin would probably be on the short list to be cut from the Packers roster. Today that list got shorter: Robinson has been released.

Robinson is 28 now, which doesn’t seem over-the-hill old but his best years are obviously behind him due to a lingering knee injury. TT brought him in during 2006 to help out on kick returns, but Robinson never performed up to his Pro Bowl expectations, and as a wide receiver he was just adequate with 21 catches for 241 yards in nine games last year.

That doesn’t mean Robinson won’t find employment somewhere in the league, as the past two seasons in Green Bay have probably helped rehabilitate his image in the league. As far as I can tell, he was a model citizen and a good teammate while a Packer, so someone will probably be willing to take a chance on him.

Maybe it’s just me but hasn’t this seemed like the longest week ever? (Obviously it’s not because I have been so hard at work posting here on this blog.) Whatever your week’s work situation, we all deserve to celebrate this afternoon with a tall icy cold one.

Although if you are in an adventurous mood — and you live in Canada — you might try a Corsairs Mojito, a new brew being made at Minhas Craft Brewery in Monroe. According to The Capital Times, those crazy kids at Minhas installed a clear malt filtration system at the brewery to make what they call a malt-based cooler. I’m not sure what to think about that, but the ads for it look kinda funny.

I’m just a little old fashioned, so I’ll stick to their other fine brews — if only I could get Berghoff down here in Texas.

With rookie camp underway, Packer Nation is all abuzz to find out how these new players look and what kind of impact they are going to have for the team this season. Greg Bedard at the JS Packers Blog does an admirable job with some thoughts watching them on the field for the first time, but he admits you can’t tell much from what went on yesterday; they were after all just running around in shorts getting used to their first NFL-style practice.

Those of us less fortunate who could not be in Green Bay to see the practice can however get a first impression of these new guys from the video clips posted on the Packers.com site. Overall I think they come across as well-spoken young men ready to play some football. I’m especially impressed with Jeremy Thompson, the defensive end from Wake Forest selected in the fourth round. Before camp, Thompson says he brushed up on his Packers history and did a little research on Green Bay to familiarize himself with his new home. I’m definitely pulling for him to make the team and to make an impact this year.

Some other reactions: Jordy Nelson comes across as humble and just happy to be playing football, Brian Brohm says all the right things in regards to Aaron Rodgers and the starting job (though I still think he’s a prima donna who’s going to have a tough time adjusting), and Patrick Lee seems confident bordering on cocky — the way you want a young corner back to be.

And then there is Brett Swain, the wide receiver from San Diego State who was Ted Thompson’s final selection in the draft. Just like Bedard, I don’t want to pile on anyone their first day, but check out Swain’s interview and see if you don’t agree he might be a couple pints short of a gallon. Swain strikes me as being somewhere between a surfer dude and a valley girl: Everything is “hey” and “whoa” and “organ-I-zation,” and he took a photo of his locker just to prove he had an NFL career. I’m betting when the veterans show up for mini-camp, Swain is the first one to get duct tapped to a goal post and bombarded with water balloons.

Great play by Joe Pavelski scoring the winning goal in overtime last night against the Dallas Stars and staving off playoff elimination for his San Jose Sharks. Of course what else would expect from a Wisconsin native who helped lead the Badgers to an NCAA title just a couple years ago?

Rookie camp opened in Green Bay today, our first chance to see what Ted Thompson netted in the NFL Draft and from the pool of rookie free agents. So what did we learn? Not a whole lot, except that Mike McCarthy is a happy guy: He’s “happy with our draft picks,” “happy with everyone,” and “very happy with the group we have.”

But with new players showing up for the first time in the locker room, there’s also the question of what to do with Brett Favre’s locker. It’s just as No. 4 left it at the end of last season and everyone wants to know what will the Packers do with it. Where else was a quarterback so important to a team, and the team so important to a community, that this would even be a question on anyone’s mind?

Some have suggested that the Packers should seal the locker in a glass case and leave it unoccupied for all time. Obviously no would feel worthy of taking over that piece of real estate, so they should just make it a tribute, a shrine, to the legend that is Favre. But rather than a museum piece, I think they should make it a living tribute to the man’s legacy.

To me, the greatness of Favre isn’t the records, isn’t the three league MVP awards, isn’t the Super Bowl ring and the NFC Championships. To me Favre’s greatness stems from the fact that he achieved all that as such an unheralded player coming into the league. Unlike Peyton Manning, Marino, or Elway, Favre was largely overlooked in the NFL Draft, barley made third string on the Falcons, and his trade to the Packers raised eyebrows because Ron Wolf gave up so much to get a player no one thought would succeed in the NFL.

So to pay perfect tribute to a living legend, why not assign his locker to the low man on the totem pole? It would certainly be a huge honor and an incredible source of motivation for that player to give it their all while inhabiting that space in that locker room. Then if it works out that he makes an impact and comes back the next year, the locker would pass to the next guy to get that last spot on the squad.

No one in Green & Gold will ever wear #4 again, and no one will ever fill those shoes, but a tradition like this would keep Favre’s spirit alive in that locker room, inspiring players for years to come.