Pack + the Playoffs (not in the same paragraph)

Throughout the past few weeks, some strong winds of change have whisked
through 1265 Lombardi Avenue (that's the offices of the Green Bay Packers
for all you who ain't knowin'!). I've declined to post any comments
here yet partially because I've been pretty busy and partially because I
wasn't sure how I felt about the situation. My beloved Packers
went out and hired Mr. Mike McCarthy, Offensive Coordinator of the SAN
FRANCISCO 49ers?!? The collective gasp and ensuing backlash from much of the
Packer faithful luckily isn't being felt to the same magnitude out here in
Minnesota, but reading and hearing things from afar, I can tell that GM
Ted Thompson is on a very short leash with fans from here on out.

As someone who tends to let my emotions control my reactions and
judgements, I tried to remain level-headed and find out more about Mr.
McCarthy before joining the lynch mob in the streets of Green Bay (I wanted
to see Thompson hire Defensive Coordinator Jim Bates). So a lot of
reading, I found out that McCarthy...
-Is a no nonsense guy from blue collar Pittsburgh who demands respect
from players
-Has a good track record of developing Quarterbacks, including Aaron Brooks, Jake Delhomme and Matt Hasselbeck
-Is widely regarded as a creative playcaller in NFL circles

In addition, McCarthy has a relationship with Brett Favre after serving
as Packers Quarterbacks Coach in 1999. Hopefully it's enough to bring
Brett back for one more go around. If he doesn't, we'll be starting the
2006 season with a first-time, unproven head coach (and the third named
"Mike" in a row); a new, first-time Offensive Coordinator; a new
Defensive Coordinator; and an inexperienced, second-year Quarterback. It's
sure to be quite an interesting season. I'm going to support the coach and wait to see how things turn out. Good Luck "M3" -- you might need it.

Alright, enough Packer talk for now. I'll put it away until the draft
pending any major events.

Only 14 days 'til Super Bowl XL. I can't say I was sad to see the Colts
lose last week. Peyton Manning just can't get it done during the
playoffs. I kinda feel bad for Dungy though. It's fine to give your
intelligent, highly skilled QB the license to call the plays and audible at the line of scrimmage, but when you let him wave off the punt team in
your face on 4th and 2, your authority -- and balls -- are starting to
come into question. Then again, why were they even going to punt that late
in the game when they were down by three scores?

I'm not even going to comment on the atrocious call by the officials
in that game. I'll leave that to Joey Porter...

Today's Conference Championship games should be some great ones.
I can't remember the last time the playoffs were this wide open. Any
team could win it, but my picks for the Super Bowl are Pittsburgh and
Seattle. A hard-nosed defense versus a the league's most high-powered
offense could make quite a game.

Next time I post I'll deviate a bit from the football talk. It's just that football, beer, and snowboarding is what it is this time of year.

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