Last Chance?
I brought this topic up earlier in the Morning Minute. With an uncapped year looming, is 2010 the last real shot for the Green Bay Packers? I think it just might be.
lastchance
I brought this topic up earlier in the Morning Minute. With an uncapped year looming, is 2010 the last real shot for the Green Bay Packers? I think it just might be.
I'll admit I don't know the finer details of what is going on. What I do know is that this is another case of professional sports getting greedy at the expense of the cities and the teams. That's enough knowledge for me.
I have suffered through the small market blues my entire life. As a Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks fan, I have repeatedly watched team after team not be able to compete with the big money franchises. I don't expect the Packers situation to be any different. Granted, any team in any given year will have a shot; but the reality is, the Packers will always be scrambling to find young inexpensive talent on the rise that ultimately will end with that player leaving for better money once they hit their prime.
It's the unfortunate reality in my opinion. I have seen history repeat itself over and over and over again. Hopefully the Green Bay Packers can weather the storm better than some other of the Wisconsin franchises, but I certainly don't hold much hope.
History in tow, this may make 2010 the biggest season and perhaps the last real shot at a Super Bowl title. This is Ted Thompson's moment. If he is smart, he will go balls to the wall this off-season and try to establish an obvious contender. The pieces are almost in place, but come 2011 those pieces will quickly leave for bigger paychecks in high market venues.
Now is the time to hit free agency with authority, draft an impact player over a developing tackle, and assemble as many high quality veterans to bring smart football to the locker room. If we don't, rest assured that the playing field will never favor the Packers for years and years and years to come.
I'm scared, and I think I have every reason to be.
Comments (19)
February 10, 2010 at 10:06 am
I will not be watching the NFL if there is not a salary cap in 2011. Like you said, one year in, the Packers and other small market teams still have a chance. But there's a reason I don't watch baseball, the salary cap bring parity like no other trick or rule in any professional league. And without parity, the league will get boring and I'll just stop watching.
February 10, 2010 at 10:34 am
If there is a work stoppage in the 2011 season, the real NFL and football will die. However, if the pack manages to win the next super bowl it would be kind of poetic because one team will have won the first and last real super bowl ever.
Just an intersesting observation from my desk at work.
carry on
February 10, 2010 at 11:57 am
De Smith has said that if a new CBA isn't put into place now, and the salary cap lapses, it is unlikely it will return. I don't quite drink the koolaid on that one, but I am nervous too.
February 10, 2010 at 12:15 pm
If the salary cap disappears, I will have a difficult time supporting the NFL. My real dilemma is whether I would still funnel money into the Directv Sunday Ticket / Superfan thereby supporting the castrated $$NFL$$? I live in FL, so I have no choice if I wish to watch every game.
February 10, 2010 at 06:24 pm
Alex,
Tenuous times to be sure. But, if there is a stoppage, theoretically we should fair pretty well coming back a year (heaven forbid 2) later.
We all know Ted likes youth, this is an instance where youth could be a definite plus.
Keep the faith though.
While, It appears imminent that an agreement will not be reached before the March "soft" deadline, these thing have a knack for getting done in the eleventh hour. I don't think anybody benefits from a 2011 stoppage, both sides know that.
GBP 4 LIFE
February 10, 2010 at 07:19 pm
Alex you have to remember, the NFL is day by day becoming a more violent sport than ever. MLB and NBA don't have the casualty rates like the NFL does. Also, remember that the NFL is a chess match type of game where all 11 men have to do there job at the same time. Sure the big name free agents will get more productive with others, but that means coaches are under more stress to succeed in one year.
Not to mention the headache when a star player is a bench warmer for another star player who is better.
February 10, 2010 at 07:53 pm
Wow, Alex. I think you're WAAAAAY off in this one.
Comparing the Packers to another Wisconsin sports franchise... The other Wisconsin franchises, with all due respect, are just it. Other Wisconsin franchises.
The Packers are, dare I say, a global franchise, but certainly a national franchise.
Some polls put their fans (us) as the #2 in the country, football wise. Some put them at #1.
Plus, we're in a much better condition than almost every other franchise, by the simple fact that we do not aim profit. We only exist to play football.
So if times are though, no owner is going to shut the Packers down because he's not earning money, he's not going to relocate the team.
IMHO the Green Bay Packers are fine. As long as this sport depends on locker room and on field chemistry, as well as in talent, there's no way a team build solely from the FA will win it all...
February 10, 2010 at 08:00 pm
Steinbrenner would disagree I guess, but you are right to a point. I am not worried in the slightest about the team moving or disbanding. That will never happen. What I am worried about is perennially sucking. That I think could be a possibility - as it was in the past.
We had all this talk about not going back to the seventies when it relates to players. Organizationally, I think the same feeling is certainly valid.
February 10, 2010 at 09:50 pm
If the Packers go onto perenial suckiness, it'll have A LOT more to do with administration than with the market, IMHO.
It's easy for a fool to get lucky in easy times. It's though times that determinates who are really good and who're not fit to exercise. That's what I believe in. Dumb riches like Dan Snyder will hit bottom if there's a prolonged uncapped market. He's still in business because he only spend millions with one or two poor fits per year. If he's bringing a bunch of high-priced players that he doesn't need/bring bad chemistry, he's going to file for bankrupcy. Till last year I thougth the same about Jerry Jones. But let's give him some time; Pacman will be able to play next year, I believe.
And I think that, with the current administration, we're fine.
February 10, 2010 at 10:18 pm
Determinates?!?! I LOVE it!
RS,
You're not really 'Dubbya', are you?
That sounds like a "Bush'ism" if I ever heard one.
On the real though, I agree with 86.4% of your posts. Very respectable grade... yet room to improve =)
GBP 4 LIFE
February 10, 2010 at 07:58 pm
Let me say something... The way TT has approached the roster... Not spending much in FA and all... It's almost like he knew there would be no cap... If this pans out, if we win the SB, TT will look like Ron Wolf II, to say the least...
February 10, 2010 at 08:19 pm
So true,
I think Ted might just be the last one laughing.
February 10, 2010 at 11:29 pm
I want him to be a little more agressive, though. Like I said in another time, you can neglect FA if you hit almost 90% on the first rounds of the draft... Hawk (for a 5th), Brohm and Harrell don't allow that kind of approach IMHO.
February 10, 2010 at 08:09 pm
I agree. If TT does it I'll poop my pants.
February 10, 2010 at 10:45 pm
TMI, TM F'ing I
February 10, 2010 at 11:26 pm
<blockquote cite="comment-7826">
<strong><a href="#comment-7826" rel="nofollow">FITZCORE1252</a></strong>:
</blockquote>
Did I spell it wrong?
About "Dubbya", huh? Did you offend my mother or something in there?
About Bushisms, or whatever, I tend to stay away from politics, specially ones not from my country (Brazil), but pretty much everybody outside US thinks Bush is an incompetent war-loving moron. You know, the same way we think about our drunk, lazy, patronizing president...
And about 86.4%, I thought I was unanimity amongst Packer fans... Sigh... If only I sharted like Barnett... What was wrong in my posts? I bet it was because I voted on GETTING RID of Jarrett Bush and not KEEPING him, right?
;)
February 11, 2010 at 06:21 pm
Shoulda been 'determine'. I'm not the grammar cops, don't care... just thought it was something I'd hear 'W' say in a speech, kinda jumped off the screen at me, thought it was funny. No offense intended.
GBP 4 LIFE
February 11, 2010 at 10:48 pm
Hmn... http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/determinate
I though it was "it determinates", not "it determine"... "it" being "though times"...
Anywho...
February 12, 2010 at 11:41 pm
LOOK,
You 'T-H-O-U-G-H-T' (I assume by "though"??? You meant 'thought'???) W-R-O-N-G. I was never trying to be a Dick, but if you wanna beat a dead fucking horse... go ask your local 1st grade English teacher, maybe she has the time to explain it to you. I'm over it.
P.S. - If you post a link to back a up a statement, you might wanna understand it. And I quote one Brady Quinn... "Now I'm done".
72.3% now
GBP 4 LIFE