I’ve Been To The Mountain Top…..At Least For A Day And A Half

It’s been an emotional nine days. The Packers savior – I’m not the savior – Aaron Rodgers couldn’t pull off another miracle and Brett Hundley, who is not a NFL starting quarterback who couldn’t beat anyone, but the da’ Bears, the 0-16 Browns (needed overtime) and the still disappointing Bucs even without Vinny Testaverde, even though both former General Manager (I love that) Ted Thompson and current (I hate that) head coach Mike McCarthy think otherwise., drove a nail into the season with two losses to the Vikings (ouch) by his second shutout (OUCH) and the Lions (ouch).

The season ended with a rout and then within hours word began to leak out of Thompson’s FAKE NEWS operation that Dom Capers was actually being fired. Could it be? Or were they just screwing with the Packers Backers who have been hoping for this moment since 2011? Mike McCarthy loves the man. He didn’t care if the defense sucked or gave up a chance to go to the Super Bowl three years ago because McCarthy had Rodgers to bail the team out. He didn’t care that the same problems kept popping up game after game, year after year, because he had Rodgers to bail the team out. He didn’t care…..

So I was trying not to get too excited, but it seems there is another force acting here since the Packers just had their eight-year playoff streak broken and even the “Tedders” had to have a scapegoat since they couldn’t blame their demigod Ted Thompson for putting together a lousy roster. However by the time I went to bed Sunday night Dom Capers was still officially the defensive coordinator of the Green Bay Packers.

I slept fine because we’ve all been disappointed before, but when I got up “The Dom” was history as well as two of his assistant coaches defensive line coach Mike Trgovac and assistant linebackers coach Scott McCurley. To be honest I would have preferred the entire defensive staff shown the door, but I think the least disappointing part of the defense was the defensive line only because Capers doesn’t really use a line. Then a few days later assistant line coach Jerry Montgomery left to become defensive line coach with Texas A&M. That left three defensive coaches remaining on the staff, but more on that later.

Then the word came down from the frozen north the reign of the Tyrant Ted Thompson was over. Mediocre Mark Murphy {I don’t know if anyone noticed, but the top 3 in the Ted Thompson front office were hired using alliteration, Ted Thompson (TT), Mark Murphy (MM) and Mike McCarthy (MM). Did anyone notice this quirk or evil plan?} announced that TTT was being bumped upstairs and relieved of his day-to-day duties of maintaining the “Just Good Enough” Packers.

I’m sure when the word trickled down the pipeline Packer Backers around the world rejoiced. I surely did. Marvelous Monday was a day to mark in your Packers history, “ding, dong, the Ted is dead”. The long mediocre slide (6 playoff berths with no Super Bowls) the Packers have been on since 2011 was over and I went to bed Monday night with visions of future Super Bowls dancing in my head as I stood on the top of the mountain.

And Now I’m Sliding Down The Other Side

I woke up Tuesday morning and I wasn’t so thrilled as I was the night before and noticed I had started to slide down the other side of that mountain and I didn’t know why. So I turned on the computer and found TTT has signed MMM (Mundane Mike McCarthy) to a 1-year contract extension sometime during the season of our discontent through 2019 thusly tying the hands of the new General Manager because the Packers hate paying people when they are no longer on the team. Curse you TTT and the horse you rode in on.

It was also revealed TTT was not leaving the building, but given another office and the new title of Senior Advisor to Football Operations. He then showed he wasn’t giving up control and continued to wield the power of his former office by signing 7 players to reserve/futures contracts. I’m guessing nobody told him he was no longer General Manager. In fact, Packers.com still lists him as Executive Vice President, General Manager & Director of Football Operations as of 12:08 p.m. central time on January 9th, 2018 – a full 8 days after he was supposedly relieved of that title (is this just another example of how Packers.com is a waste of time or a sign that TTT is still in charge, but now behind the scenes “pay no attention to that man behind the curtain”. Inquiring minds want to know or at least my inquiring mind wants to know.).

I then started searching to see if indeed Dom Capers had been fired and once again I went to the bastion of breaking news (tongue firmly in cheek) Packers.com to see if “The Dom” was still listed as Defensive Coordinator and, to my relief, he has been scrubbed from the coaching list as of 12:26 p.m. central time on January 9th, 2018 (in fact he was gone from that list as of January 1, so it seems the mystery of what office TTT holds only deepens). Conspiracy theorists unite!!!!

When I got off the computer I put my foot down and slid 100 feet down the backside of the “Mountain of Joyousness” when on January 7th the Packers didn’t go outside the organization and hired TTT’s second in command despite what MMM (Mediocre Mark Murphy) did by hiring an outside firm to look for the TTT’s replacement (or not) and then basically saying “Murphy Will Leave No Stone Unturned in GM Hunt” (headline of Bill Huber article from PackerReport dated January 2nd). It seems he turned over just one stone.

The Slide Is Becoming An Avalanche:

Brian Gutekunst is the new General Manager (I can’t find what his exact title is because of…you know) and I was not happy. I am even less happy when BG (I guess that’s an improvement) was introduced to the press on January 8th.

In His Own Words:

Speaking about TTT (Tyrant Ted): “Those are big shoes to fill. The last 10 years with Ted Thompson have been the most influential in my career. Just his humility, strength, his discipline and calmness in the face of tough situations and why he did what he did. That will have the most lasting impact in my career. As far as Ted’s role I would hope I could lean on him very much through this process. He has a ton of experience and is a very, very close friend. I expect him to be very involved as much as he can be.” (The Tedders should be ecstatic. In fact everything I’ve read on the various message boards has been very positive from the “Tedders”. Just for that reason alone I don’t like this particular hiring from within.”

Speaking about MMM (Mundane Mike): “We have a great relationship. I have a ton of respect for Mike as a football coach and a man. All things being equal it would have been a no brainer to me because of how I feel about him.” (This sounds very much like what MMM (Mediocre Mark) said about TTT (Tyrant Ted) last July at the Shareholders’ Meeting. What is it about the Packers organization that everyone has to have a man crush about his fellow workers. I think telling someone you might have to fire how much he looooovvveees him doesn’t make him want to work very hard).

Speaking about EW (I guess Eliot was doomed to begin with) sort of: “I want him to be part of this. I think the world of Eliot Wolf as a scout and as a friend…I’m very hopeful he will be here.” (Sorry BG Eliot will soon leave the building, but you still have TTT (Tyrant Ted.)

Speaking about himself: “I’m a great relationship guy.” (What can I say without being crude? Oh, here’s something. TTT (Tyrant Ted) had no relationships it seems, so that is an improvement.)

Speaking about his philosophy: “There’s a foundation of draft, development and retain our core players that won’t change a lot. It’s going to be the foundation of the way we build our roster.” (The more things change the more they remain the same at 1265 Lombardi Avenue. So like I said the “Tedders” are happy.)

“But I will lead in my own personality (TTT (Tyrant Ted) has no personality, so that is a big improvement) and probably more aggressive in certain areas. (The key word here is “probably”).

“We’re not going to leave any stone unturned as far as every avenue of player acquisition. Doesn’t mean we’re always going to get to the finish and sign the guy, but we’re going to go through the process and be in on every player acquisition. Obviously our foundation is the draft, but I think it’s an absolute must as an accessory piece. I told our guys we aren’t going to be able to sign every player and make that the foundation of our team and we want to be in the know of what’s going on. And if it makes sense for us not to be afraid and be prepared enough to pull the trigger.” (The key words here are “doesn’t mean” and “we aren’t going to be able” and that leaves BG an out as far as free agency is concerned. The proof is in the signing.)

‘I have a responsibility to not only the team and this organization, but to the Packer fans alike. A lot of times there was a perception there wasn’t communication. If we could communicate clearly that would take care of some of that.” (Here’s where BG said something bad about TTT (Tyrant Ted) without mentioning his name. The perception around the Packers was TTT (Tyrant Ted) didn’t listen to the fans (except the praise from the “Tedders”) and didn’t care what anyone thought. And is this case perception was reality.)

“We have a lot of quality pieces to this team, but also have a lot of work to do as well. We need to get competitive with every group. We need competition across the board in every group, so nobody feels safe. We need to take every opportunity to improve the roster from the top to the bottom. I don’t think we’re very far away.” (It seems BG thinks the roster is just fine except where it isn’t competitive. I don’t think anyone who watched the Packers play without Aaron Rodgers thinks the Packers roster is playoff quality. It seems BG is delusional just like TTT (Tyrant Ted) was. There must be something in the water at 1265 Lombardi Avenue or TTT (Tyrant Ted)’s front office was and is delusional.)

“There’s a substantial amount of work to done, but it can be done shortly.” (Really. Then we can expect a Super Bowl trophy next year. I think I will hold you to that prediction, BG.)

So as I tumble down the mountain I will take solace that for one day and a half I was at the top of the world looking down on creation with a song in my heart and dreams of better days ahead.

Even though I was happy with the “firings” of TTT (Tyrant Ted) and “The Dom” I would have been ecstatic if MMM (Mediocre Mark) and MMM (Mandane Mike) were also fired because the Packers had gone stale with the same people running the organization since 2007 and this year was a chance to change the culture and bring in some new blood with new ideas (I consider Eliot Wolf new blood since he really didn’t have any influence in Thompson Land).

I just hope MMM (Mediocre Mark) hasn’t just rearranged the chairs on the Titanic so that the Packers will continue to be the “Just Good Enough” Packers for years to come and the losing season was for naught and the opportunity was lost. I don’t think I can stand another year of where this team has been going.

If it turns out this way then sadly I will be staggering around my new apartment grabbing my chest and yelling, “It’s the big one, Elizabeth. I’m coming to join you, honey.”