Tundra Vision Gets It Wrong
By PackerAaron
...and after all the nice things I said about them.
C.D. Angeli over at Tundra Vision has put up one of the most ludicrous posts ever to be formulated in the Packer Blogosphere. In a nutshell, Angeli is upset that Aaron Rodgers is getting press for hosting weekly barbeque's for his teammates. At least, I THINK that's what he's upset about. The post is War and Peace-esque in length and yet never makes a coherent point as to why it upsets Angeli that Rodgers is being portrayed as a good guy for hosting his teammates every week during the offseason.
Angeli seems particularly chapped at a comment Rodgers makes to USA Today about the attendance, or lack thereof, of Jennings and Driver. As written in USA Today:
Jennings and (Donald) Driver never came," Rodgers, with a wry smirk, says of the starting wide receivers. "But Ruvell (Martin, the No. 3 receiver) came. That's why he's my No. 1.
Now, anyone with a reading comprehension level above the 3rd Grade can tell that Rodgers is making a joke here. Apparently, Mr. Angeli's sense of humor has gone missing, because the above is taken as an obvious clue to Rodgers nefarious hidden motives in hosting his teammates every week:
...it is comments like these that make you question the whole intent of why he did it. On one hand, the article states that there were "no strings attached" for attending the Rodgers Party. However, there apparently are consequences for not attending.
Really? C.D. Buddy. It's called a joke.
It's this kind of manipulation to create negative impressions of Rodgers that I can not stand. Rodgers is a great teammate. His teammates love him, no matter who went to his gatherings and who didn't. And yet Mr. Tundra Vision would have you believe that Rodgers has deliberately planted his hosting-a-weekly-barbecue story in the press to augment his image as a great teammate when in Tundra Vision's alternate reality Rodgers was creating a hierarchy in the receiving corps, no matter what the depth chart says.
In a way, the post is instructive of the ridiculous level of scrutiny Rodgers is under. Only a Packer fan could take something as simple as Rodgers having people over as a way to open himself up to his teammates and twist it into some sort of Machiavellian plot. Good grief.
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Comments (13)
September 11, 2008 at 10:25 am
I think Tundra Vision may be onto something here. You know, Martin had that one huge catch for 13 yards. I know that ONE AND ONLY CATCH by Martin made me think that Rodgers had bumped him up to #1 in Rodgers' own personal WR depth chart.
September 11, 2008 at 12:49 pm
There was a story last week or so about Ruvell being Rodgers' guy. It's an inside joke in the Packer locker room.
Apparently in one game early in Rodgers' career, Rodgers threw toward Martin (who was the fourth option on the play). When he got to sideline McCarthy started chewing him out and asked him "why the hell did you throw it there?!"
Rodgers replied, "'Cause that's 'my guy'."
Pretty funny story.
PackerAaron
September 11, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I read that as well. They were on the scout team together and formed a bond. Makes sense.
September 11, 2008 at 01:54 pm
Look, I'm sure Martin will get more looks his way now that Aaron is the QB and they were scout team boys. But I seriously doubt he will neglect Jennings and Driver, two Pro Bowl quality players, to lock onto Ruvell freaking Martin.
And I think that was the point Aaron was trying to make with his post.
PackerAaron
September 11, 2008 at 02:17 pm
I don't think DDD was disagreeing with you Keith. I think he just thought the story was funny, which it is.
September 11, 2008 at 03:34 pm
People read so deeply into everything, like everything that happens is really part of some big scandal.
Stumbled across a pretty hilarious piece on college football tailgating that I'm passing on to you guys.
http://greenfaucet.com/lifestyle/tailgating-size-doesn-t-matter-really/6...
It's at UCLA and the one liners are amazing. Good luck to everyone and their teams this weekeend
September 11, 2008 at 04:34 pm
Hey,
So I wasn't able to watch the pre-season games. Is this Kregg Lumpkin the real deal?
September 11, 2008 at 04:43 pm
Now that I read my post I'm sure that it could come across as following up on DDD's post, but I kind of meant it as a more general statement.
September 11, 2008 at 05:57 pm
So, aaron...seriously...how do you feel about this? Quit holding back already, okay? :-D
Nefarious, no. Machiavellian, no. Conspiracy theory, no. I like Aaron Rodgers, always have.
But if I had a nickel for every writer who has cited these parties as making Rodgers a "great teammate" this summer, I'd have enough to buy you a beer or three at Curly's.
The comment he made was unnecessary. Joke or not, why mention that Driver and Jennings never showed at his parties to a national publication? Kidding or not, it comes off as trite and makes the parties appear as a method to ingratiate himself to his teammates.
As I said in the article, it may not have been a bad idea to come off as the anti-Favre, a social, giving guy willing to bond with his teammates.
If you read the whole thing to the end, my entire point was that it was time to stop using these parties as some sort building block of leadership. You build that in the locker room, on the practice field, and on the gridiron on game day.
And, there's nothing I've seen that suggests he's failed in any of those areas. So, let's use those to judge him on now, not how many times he catered a party. For cripes sake, we want him to be the next Bart Starr, not the next socialite.
PackerAaron
September 11, 2008 at 07:36 pm
L.A. - funny you should mention Starr. You know who used to host parties for the players and their wives? Lombardi.
Look, when I'm in the middle of a workday and I read a post like the one you wrote I can, admittedly, go a little overboard. I'm at home now, having put the girls to bed and am on my second Pabst. Much more of a chill environment - and your post is still absurd. There's nothing wrong with making a joke to a reporter for a national paper who's readers may not have been keeping up with the Packers offseason as obsessively as you and I. But to imply that Rodgers was using the parties to curry favor is, again, absurd.
I agree with you one hundred percent that we should use his ability to lead the team on the field on gameday and at practice during the season as the true barometer of his leadership ability. But I don't think anyone is "using these parties as some sort of building block of leadership" other than a national journalist who needs a lede for his story.
September 11, 2008 at 08:58 pm
Fair enough.
I'm just tucking in my own kids, and am ready to agree to disagree. I fully admit I tend to ramble and that article wasn't the tightest I've ever written.
I've seen a lot more folks than the national guys talk about how Rodgers is "doing all the right things" in succeeding Favre, and immediately bring up the parties as exhibit one. I don't see the connection.
Here's my question: what if, once he establishes himself, he discontinues throwing these parties next season or soon thereafter? Why would he have only done it the season he became starter...not the three seasons before or much after? Just food for thought.
And, I have no problem evaluating him as a leader based on what I saw Monday night. It was incredibly encouraging and relieving to watch after a really crappy Packer summer.
September 11, 2008 at 09:31 pm
The reason he did it when he became starter was to build up a level of trust with the rest of the team. He didn't have 16 years of experience in the NFL to inspire trust in his teammates - heck he didn't even have a full game under his belt. So how does he get their trust? By letting them see him in a leadership position and get to know him better as a person.
As for why he didn't do it before - he wasn't the starting QB before. And for him to do that would look like he was trying to usurp Favre's position. Whether or not he will continue this tradition, I don't know. But he likely doesn't need to as much since this season will (hopefully) provide enough evidence for any new teammates to trust his ability to help them win.
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