Packers' Green Machine

There is a group of Green Bay Packers players who call themselves the Green Machine, which has nothing to do with football. The Green Machine is a basketball team comprised of Packers players, organized by Packers' wide receiver Ruvell Martin, who received all-state and all-conference accolades in basketball while in high school. While fun is a high priority of the machine, raising money for various charities is the top priority for the guys. It appears that Martin is involved with many charities, donating time and money to the likes of the United Way and the American Red Cross. This type of character can also be seen on the football field.

Receivers Shaun Bodiford and James Jones, cornerback Tramon Williams, offensive tackle Orrin Thompson and running back Noah Herron are all regulars on the Green Machine team. It is to be commended that these guys take their own time to drive around the state to help raise money for those in need. During halftime, the players are happy to shake a few hands and sign a few autographs for the kids in attendance. Their opponents have ranged from school-age kids to former Wisconsin Badgers basketball players. With a solid record, the Green Machine best not think of quitting their day job!

Want to Stalk Favre?

If you want to head to the Edgewood Tahoe Golf Course in Stateline, NV, you might get a glimpse of Brett playing at the celebrity golf tournament, the American Century Championship July 8-13. Considering I wouldn't have known a lick about this event if it weren't for Favre participating, organizers are on the right track having a guy like him attend. They are reporting that they anticipate selling more tickets than last year simply due to the retired quarterback's playing. A nice getaway in Tahoe? Count me in. I will meet you at the 19th hole, Brett!

Packers in top third of ESPN Power Rankings

From ESPN, the following is how they see the upcoming NFL season to shake out. At the end of the 2007 season, they had the Green Bay Packers sitting at 5, and beginning this season at 10. Given the retirement of Brett Favre, I will take a 10 any day. That is a good thing. The Packers were solid on both sides of the ball last season and new quarterback Aaron Rodgers has been pretty good the few times he has hit the field for the Packers, most noteably was against the Dallas Cowboys last season when Favre went out with an injury.

ESPN lists their ranking for 2008 first, then in parenthesis is where the team landed in the rankings at the end of last season. We still see the Patriots at the top of the list. I guess that videotaping stuff doesn't help afterall?

1 (1)
New England Patriots
16-0-0

2 (2)
Indianapolis Colts
13-3-0

3 (6)
San Diego Chargers
11-5-0

4 (3)
Dallas Cowboys
13-3-0

5 (4)
Jacksonville Jaguars
11-5-0

6 (9)
New York Giants
10-6-0

7 (8)
Pittsburgh Steelers
10-6-0

8 (7)
Seattle Seahawks
10-6-0

9 (13)
Cleveland Browns
10-6-0

10 (5)
Green Bay Packers
13-3-0

11 (18)
New Orleans Saints
7-9-0

12 (15)
Minnesota Vikings
8-8-0

13 (14)
Philadelphia Eagles
8-8-0

14 (10)
Washington Redskins
9-7-0

15 (12)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
9-7-0

16 (11)
Tennessee Titans
10-6-0

17 (17)
Arizona Cardinals
8-8-0

18 (23)
Carolina Panthers
7-9-0

19 (19)
Buffalo Bills
7-9-0

20 (16)
Houston Texans
8-8-0

21 (30)
New York Jets
4-12-0

22 (25)
Baltimore Ravens
5-11-0

23 (21)
Denver Broncos
7-9-0

24 (20)
Chicago Bears
7-9-0

25 (22)
Cincinnati Bengals
7-9-0

26 (27)
Oakland Raiders
4-12-0

27 (26)
San Francisco 49ers
5-11-0

28 (29)
St. Louis Rams
3-13-0

29 (24)
Detroit Lions
7-9-0

30 (28)
Kansas City Chiefs
4-12-0

31 (32)
Miami Dolphins
1-15-0

32 (31)
Atlanta Falcons
4-12-0

There you have it. Now with the owners voting to go with out a salary cap two years earlier, we shall see if the playing field remains the same. All I care about is my Packers playing competitively and remining in Green Bay (which is a no brainer, I realize). The Packers

Packers Family Night 2008

Packers fans will get to enjoy the green and gold on this years' Family Night scrimmage at Lambeau Field Sunday, August 3, 2008. It is a great event to get ready for the regular NFL season. The Packers offense plays the defense to what usually is a sold out crowd. This is the NFL's most popular scrimmage. The nicely priced $8 Packers tickets for the Family Night event go on sale June 14th through Ticketmaster. Packers fans are limited to 8 tickets per person.

This will then mark the first stadium full of fans since 1992 without a Mr. Brett Favre in the building. Crazy.

Take your kids to Lambeau for this great Packers Family Night. You gotta start 'em young. Go Pack!

Current Green Bay Packers Roster

It always is fun watching the shuffling of big guys on an NFL teams' roster. I can't imagine the pressure the rookies feel and the excitement I suppose.

Quarterbacks
11 Brian Brohm
10 Matt Flynn
12 Aaron Rodgers
(I know Aaron Rodgers is set to start for the Packers this season, but isn't it a little fishy his name is last in alphabetical order? Is it a sign? The buzz is that this Louisville kid Brohm is pretty good. I am pulling for you Rodgers; you put in your time and deserve a shot)

Running Backs
35 Korey Hall FB
23 Noah Herron
32 Brandon Jackson
30 John Kuhn FB
28 Kregg Lumpkin
34 Vernand Morency
39 Ryan Powdrell FB
45 Corey White FB
42 DeShawn Wynn


Wide Receivers
13 Jake Allen
19 Shaun Bodiford
80 Donald Driver
83 Chris Francies
18 Rod Harper
85 Greg Jennings
89 James Jones
82 Ruvell Martin
87 Jordy Nelson
17 Johnny Quinn
6 Taj Smith
16 Brett Swain
(Should be another great year for veteran WR Donald Driver. He is such a great guy and caught the rockets thrown by Favre for years; he should be in good shape with Rodgers in the pocket. It always feels good though when the Packers have a long line of targets at wide receiver, helping to keep the defense guessing.)

Tight Ends
88 Jermichael Finley
49 Joey Haynos
84 Tory Humphrey
86 Donald Lee
47 Mike Peterson TE/FB
(We will have to keep an eye on Tory Humphrey who has had lots of injury issues thus far in to his career.)

Offensive Linemen
78 Allen Barbre G
64 Brennen Carvalho C
76 Chad Clifton T
73 Daryn Colledge G
60 Ryan Considine T
62 Junius Coston G/T
68 Breno Giacomini T
61 Ryan Keenan G
75 Tony Moll T
71 Josh Sitton T
72 Jason Spitz G/C
67 Cameron Stephenson G
65 Mark Tauscher T
69 Orrin Thompson T/G
70 Joe Toledo G/T
63 Scott Wells C


Defensive Linemen
93 Conrad Bolston DT
90 Colin Cole DT
94 Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila DE
91 Justin Harrell DT
57 Jason Hunter DE
77 Cullen Jenkins DE
97 Johnny Jolly DT
74 Aaron Kampman DE
98 Alfred Malone DT
96 Michael Montgomery DE
95 Daniel Muir DT
79 Ryan Pickett DT
99 Jeremy Thompson DE


Linebackers
56 Nick Barnett ILB
55 Desmond Bishop ILB
54 Brandon Chillar OLB
53 Spencer Havner OLB
50 A. J. Hawk OLB
52 Abdul Hodge ILB
58 Danny Lansanah LB
51 Brady Poppinga OLB
44 Marcus Riley LB
59 Tracy White OLB
(Big competition here between Chillar and Poppinga. Will be interesting who gets the start, regardless though, more quality is better.)

Defensive Backs
43 Condrew Allen CB
20 Atari Bigby SS
27 Will Blackmon CB
24 Jarrett Bush CB
36 Nick Collins FS
29 Tyrone Culver S
31 Al Harris CB
22 Patrick Lee CB
26 Charlie Peprah SS
40 Joe Porter CB
37 Aaron Rouse FS
41 Kyle Ward CB
38 Tramon Williams CB/KR
21 Charles Woodson CB/PR
(The Green Bay Packers defense has been solid the last couple years. The mix of veteran experience and young talent have helped make the Packers defense a force to be reckened with.)


Special Teams
2 Mason Crosby K
7 Ken DeBauche P
48 Thomas Gafford LS
46 J. J. Jansen LS
9 Jon Ryan P
(We do like the Aussies.)

Favre Jersey for Years?

I like my Favre jersey, but wearing it every day for 1,581 days? This story hit elsewhere last week, but I didn't want it to go without mentioning it. This young boy from Connecticut wore his #4 jersey since receiving it as a gift Christmas 2003 up until April 23, 2008. Yes, it was washed and repaired regularly, but this young Green Bay Packers fan really took the extra step in showing his love. And to think some "tough guys" will poo-poo wearing gear even to a game!

Good for you David Whitthoft!

One Special Locker

So the story goes that weeks and weeks after Brett Favre retired from the Green Bay Packers, his locker sits as it did when he last was in Green Bay. No one wants to be the guy to take over a legend's locker. The Packers don't want to take his stuff down. Looks like Favre's locker will just become a bit of a shrine I guess. Word is that some of the rookies who came in for their minicamp were taking pictures of said locker. I certainly would and I don't play the game...Good for these new kids to come in with the understanding that they are coming to Green Bay at a pretty cool time. They respect what was and the years of history the team has compiled, but still know they have an opportunity to create the start of another great run. Maybe even a run to the post-season again. Wouldn't it be great if the Packers play host to another NFC Championship this coming January?

Favre on Fox?

It would be so simple to do a play on words with the rumor that former Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre is in talks with Fox to add his commentary to their Sunday morning studio show. I mean the guy is Foxy, right?

I guess this would be a fair compromise. If we can't enjoy Favre in his green and gold uniform each Sunday, we can get a dose of his casual attire and witty remarks on our local Fox affiliate. The news of these talks was leaked during a speech given by former Dallas Cowboys coach Barry Switzer. It is Switzer who may get the boot to make room for Favre. Interesting.

Packers Tickets Scam; Dude Busted

Last season, Ben Huettl screwed a bunch of Packers fans out of the Packers tickets they thought they purchased through his website, lambeautickets.com. In fact, these folks did purchase the tickets, Huettl just chose to take the money and never deliver on the tickets. Nice.

Lesson to people looking to buy Green Bay Packers tickets, or really any tickets to a sold out event; be certain you are buying from a reputable source. Ticket brokers who are reliable are members of the NATB, on Ebay be sure to buy only from sellers with high ratings and a large quantity of transactions. Another lesson is to do your homework. I heard a story of someone looking for Packers tickets on Craigslist, saw some he was interested in and the seller said for him to meet her where ever and she would give him his tickets, now, in May. This is impossible. Packers tickets, nor really any NFL tickets are printed by the teams yet for the upcoming 2008 season. This could have been a bad deal, but thankfully something caused this craigslist.com shopper to be suspicious.

Back to this nice chap Huettl. While he wasn't prosecuted, he has agreed to comply with a number of state sanctions including no options of running a website. He paid the money back to the Packers fans, who ended up buying tickets at a discount from a friendly local Wisconsin ticket broker. The discount was offered when this story was shared. Sounds like a nice deal in a bad situation.

The lesson is to do your homework, work with reputable resellers and understand the delivery on Packers tickets.