FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, PART TI

A Magic Moment

BURSTING THE TOP OFF THE SUBLIME SCALE

Taking His Rightful Place Amongst The Immortals

Thursday night was the epitome of the highest highs and the lowest lows, but on a sublime scale of 0 to 10—with 0 representing zero sublimity and 10 representing metaphysical sublimity—halftime in a totally ridiculous football game was 1000.

With metaphysical certitude the three greatest Packers quarterbacks will never be in the same house again and for an extremely fragile Bart Starr to make the trip and come out onto the his Field of Glory on a cold, rainy evening to honor Brett Favre was one for the ages.

Turkey and Bear Edition

It's a short week and I have come up short with my usual insights and musings. I have been busy with my evening job, but to be honest there hasn't been much new to talk about since the win over the Vikings.

I Was Wrong

I Was Wrong about #73 J.C. Tretter at Center

I'm seriously thinking about no longer making predictions because every time, except for when I'm off-blog I have been wrong lately. I started off wishy-washy and didn't pick the season opener with the Bears. I then predicted a 35-24 loss to the Seahawks before picking correctly, but not the right score wins over Chiefs, 49ers, Rams and Chargers. At that point I was 4-1-1.

 

Then the season went off the track both for the Packers and myself. I predicted a 27-21 win over the Broncos (wrong). I then gave up predicting the score and got it right by predicting a loss to the Panthers, but have been wrong the last two weeks predicting a win over the Lions and a loss to the Vikings to put my season record at 5-4-1. No as good as my day job, but I will press on with more predictions for the rest of the season.

 

In my day (or more exactly afternoon and evening) job I just finished my best season as a prep football picker for my daily newspaper where I finished tied for second out of eight with the reporter that always beats me year in and year out one game out of first place. My previous best was third place three games out. For the record over the course of 13 weeks I had an 82.6% success ratio picking 133 winners out of 161 games.

 

It's All About the Da' Coach

After what happened Sunday on and off the field there is absolutely, positively no doubt the Packer losing streak and its end was all about former Bears (and Saints) head coach Mike Ditka.

 

When the McDonald's commercials began airing the Packers were at 6-0 and for three weeks and two different versions, at least that's all I saw, the Packers lost games to Denver, Carolina and Detroit - yes the Lions of all teams and at Lambeau Field no less - while the Vikings won all three games during that span and it took a week (even Ditka can't pull off miracles) before the Bears won the next two games, so you all know it had to be because of demonic forces.

 

Maybe It's Not Olivia After All

Olivia Hoping to Kiss and Make Up

The revelation that Aaron Rodgers has an injured shoulder should take some of the heat off Miss Olivia Munn, if she has taken my advice and kept her mouth shut.

 

The disturbing thing about the Munn Polarization is how fast the RC Packer Fans and TITs turned on her. I would have thought Packer Backers were above that sort of thing, but I guess I forgot Wisconsin is mainly conservative country and today's conservatives are always ready to make it us against them and poor Miss Munn is about as them as they come being a liberal actress. It's only a small step to go after Rodgers because he is from California and they all know that is where all the nuts and liberals are.

 

It's funny how it started with Miss Munn taking umbrage at an ESPN columnist suggesting Rodger's less than stellar play could have something to do with a situation at home. If she had not said a word it would have come and gone and I bet the Packers fans wouldn't have picked up on it. But fighting back turned it into a bonified excuse for some segments of Packer society and they jumped on it and Miss Munn.

 

Once a conservative digs up a bone they don't let it go. Even if the truth comes out like a shoulder injury that makes no difference because they already have their explanation and they are sticking to it. Like I said before I'm afraid this has already gone too far and it won't end up good. I only hope those narrow minded Packer fans understand that going after Miss Munn might end up with Rodgers asking for a trade. Think about the unintended consequences.

 

Now back to the real world. The season is at that make or break point. A loss to the Vikings will only follow with a loss to Bears at Lambeau Field. The skid has to stop Sunday and all facets of the team playing at peak efficiency. The Vikings are not a pushover anymore.

Mumm's the Word

Are There Domestic Problems Ahead?

Olivia Munn should stay in the background and keep her mouth shut. Taking to the twitterverse to respond to an ESPN columnist is not a good idea. Girlfriends, wives, sisters and mothers need to stay out of the fight when their significant others are having issues on the field of play. Their involvement only intensifies the issues and makes the struggles their paramour or baby boy is having harder to overcome since they now have to take to defend their loved ones and take their concentration off the problems at hand.

 

Munn had done well staying out of the daily issues her professional high-profile athlete lover has had to deal with this season, but now she decides to get into the fight when Aaron Rodgers needs to concentrate more to stop his season from totally going over the cliff.

 

The comment she objected to is speculation there might be something going on at home to cause Rodgers' declining level of play. He didn't say she was withholding sex or they were having knockdown drag out fights or anything else specific. Just the 5th possible reason on a list of five.

 

It Figures

 

The Packers can't win for losing. Hell, the Packers can't win period right now losing to one of the worst teams in the NFL at Lambeau Field.

 

1. As Timmer said two weeks ago all the superstitious and ritual things Packer Backers do mean nothing to the play on the field, but it seems an old nemesis, now a TV pitchman, has put a real curse on the Packers. IT FIGURES.

The most beloved Bears coach of all time Mike Ditka (sorry George Halas, but it's true) is currently doing a series of commercials for McDonalds and in them he has donned Packer regalia and is rooting for the Packers. When it first came out Bears fans to a man were mad as hell, but there was method in that old man's madness. Since they started running the Packers have lost three straight games. (this BEARS repeating) IT FIGURES!!!!!!!!!

 

2. The last thing the Packers needed was to lose to the Lions before hitting the road against the first-place Minnesota Vikings and playing a Thanksgiving home game with the possible appearance of Bart Starr against the suddenly resurgent Chicago Bears. However, the Packers did lose. IT FIGURES.

 

3. Despite all the offensive woes during the game the Packers would have won the game if Mason Crosby had made a last-second field goal. Despite blowing the 2-point conversion the Packers recovered an on-side kick and gained enough yards to win the game. However, when you are snake bit things happen and Crosby's kick was blocked. IT FIGURES.

 

Sober and Somber

Lions snap 24-year old losing streak at Lambeau Field

It's a gloomy day and it has nothing to do with the rain coming down outside. The Packers have officially hit their low mark of this season with the loss to the lowly Lions for the first time at Lambeau Field since 1991. There are no knights on white horses coming to save this season, so it's now left to the players on the field, the coaches on the sideline and up in the sky box to dig deep down and come up with a solution, if there is one.

 

Packer Backers are very superstitious with our rituals and wearing the same clothes, etc, etc, etc, but something Timmer said during the loss to the Panthers, "nothing we do means anything," hit the problem right on the head. I guess I was the only one who heard him because he wasn't saying to anyone, he was just lamenting to himself about the futility of the fans and I would add pundits to do anything about the play of our beloved Packers. The Packers are now in free fall with a chance of a long losing streak in the offing.

 

Stark Reality

James Starks riding to the rescue

This week the Packers offense better be back to normal and maybe the benching of Eddie Lacy in favor of James Starks will be the catalyst. If it isn't this might be the beginning of the unraveling of the Packers season with the Vikings as the national doubleheader game coming up followed by the resurgent Bears and finally a rematch against the Lions.

 

As far as Starks is concerned this will be his 7th career start and 2nd this season. He also started the Chargers game even though Lacy wasn't on the injured list.

 

It's funny about Lacy. He went to the airwaves this past week to dispel rumors he was fat or hurt. After he said his ankle wasn't bothering him and he wasn't fat, he said "I honestly don’t know what it is. Definitely, I’m off to a different start. I’m not playing how I was the previous two years. Later on in the season, maybe it’ll pick back up. But as of right now, this is just the move that is going to be. This season [Starks] has definitely been the better player between the both of us. That’s just the move. Who knows how long it’s going to be like this," Lacy said. "Maybe things pick back up for me and it’s right back and we’re never having this discussion again. You don’t know where this could lead to. But as of right now, for the team, this is pretty much the best move."

Another Maalox Moment

Maalox Moment

I absolutely hate playing wounded teams and especially struggling quarterback, especially now that Defensive Coordinator Dom Capers has survived another week. The Lions are the epitome of dysfunction with both the team in general and quarterback Matt Stafford in particular stuck in a funk. With the last three games as my only yardstick I could be swigging Maalox early and often with a green liquor chaser (last week's desperation shot of choice).

 

Any hope for Capers being fired any time soon or possibly ever has been squashed after Head Coach Mike McCarthy was quoted as saying, "discipline in his approach" is Capers’ best attribute as a coordinator. "I think it says a lot about the man. He believes. He believes in the system. He believes in the players. He believes in the program. We’re very fortunate to have him here, and he’s been an excellent – not only defensive coordinator – but he’s been very good from a head-coaching perspective to bounce things off of." Like maybe asking how to cope when your area of responsibility sucks.

 

FROM THE SUBLIME TO THE RIDICULOUS, PART NAU

PRETTY SUBLIME

Lombardi's Den

Today marks a milestone post 100. This blog began on January 11 of this year, so it took 10 months to the day to share 100 of my thoughts. I hope they were all worth reading.

Aaron Rodgers Gets Scared and So Am I


Aaron Rodgers throws tablet in Disgust - NFL Videos

One thing that came out of the Panther loss was Aaron Rodgers got scared. He had a chance to tie the game and show he is as clutch as Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, but "I got scared by something_" and threw an interception. Evidently the beating Rodgers has been getting is getting to him. It this continues he might be have to be replaced by Scott Tolzien and who really wants that.



Here's why Rodgers was so disgusted

I don't think he will be mentioned as the greatest quarterback playing today any more unless the Packers win the remainder of their games, including the Super Bowl, and that's not going to happen as long as Dom Capers is in charge of the defense because no matter how many points Rodgers puts up the defense will give up one more.

Panther Preview

Cam Newton after hearing he is facing the Packer defense

Now to the game at hand. The road game against the 7-0 Panthers has some interesting aspects.

 

First Sam Shields (shoulder-injured when he fell down and not after being hit), Ty Montgomery (sprained ankle) and Quinten Rollins (neck) are most likely out. Bryan Bulaga (knee), T. J. Lang (illness) and Mike Neal (hip) have been added to the injury list on Saturday and Bulaga and Land are listed as probable and Neal questionable. Clay Matthews (ankle/knee), Nick Perry (shoulder/hand) and Aaron Ripkowski (illness) are also probable.

 

Envious

Vince Lombardi's Grandson Joe

I watched with a heavy heart as the news came down about the spate of firings started with Joe Philbin formally of the Dolphins on Oct. 5 and Vince Lombardi's grandson Joe - the offensive coordinator with the Lions - (along with offensive line coach Jeremiah Washburn and assistant Terry Heffernan) on Oct. 28 left me wanting more.

 

This past week since the debacle at Mile High my mood turned to envy when the Titans fired head coach Ken Whisenhunt and the Colts fired their offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton. And later the Lions continued their purge, which will include the head coach Jim Caldwell eventually, with firings of Team President Tom Lewand and General Manager Martin Mayhew.

 

Humbling Loss Indeed - More Like "Mike, We Have A Problem..."

McCarthy, We Didn't Break Their Rhythm

 

I am totally depressed after the debacle Sunday night at Mile High Stadium. It was so bad I left the Packer Backers and drove home before the end of the game.

 

What I saw was not only a loss, but an embarrassing display in front of a national audition which showed just one thing the 2015 Green Bay Packers are nothing more than a pretender to the crown.

 

The receivers couldn't get open, the line couldn't open holes, Eddie Lacy still has amnesia thinking he is on Dancing With The Stars, and most glaring and most disturbing Dom "FUCKING" Capers is still Defensive Coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.

 

The problems on the offense will hopefully be fixed unless the talent level is really below par, but I don't believe that. But as long as Dom Capers is in charge of the defense the Packers will never win another Super Bowl.

 

Capers needed to be fired last night at halftime and replaced by Winston Moss. Then Kevin Greene needs to be contacted and flown to Green Bay to take over the defense as soon as possible. I asked for Greene to take over after last season and all that happened was he quit the coaching staff in disgust.

 

What happened was a total disgrace and all the RC Packer Fans and Vic Ketchman's out there should take the bull by the tail and face the situation, the ugly dirty asshole with dingleberries hanging off of it of a situation that the Packers have a systemic problem on defense. Not an injury here or there. If that was the case then General Ted Thompson (another one of their and the TITs favorites) needs to be fired too for not providing adequate backups to step up in Thompson's famous "Next Man Up" philosophy.

 

The problem as it has been since 2011 is Dom Capers and his leadership and schemes. I am a broken record on "FIRING HIS ASS", but please, please, please listen to me. If Kevin Greene was so fed up that he won't return there has to be someone out there that is better than Dom Capers. Maybe the solution for the remainder of the season is for Mike McCarthy to take over as Defensive Coordinator.

 

How many embarrassments do we have to endure as we have the past two games? 1,048 yards given up in two games is.....I can't think of a word that properly describes how bad the defense is after starting out great. Especially, letting a diminished Peyton Manning complete passes at will behind a patchwork offensive line.

 

Even Mike McCarthy with his Capers' blinders on has to admit the Packers defense has hit a new low. Grow a pair McCarthy and do the only thing that will save this season and FIRE Capers today (Monday).