Surviving Sunday: Packers News, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived

The Green Bay Packers are huge in Oregon.

If you’re too lazy to click on the link, it basically highlights how a recent poll showed that most Oregonians cheer for the Packers over the nearby Seattle Seahawks. This doesn’t surprise me. The Packers are the greatest team ever. Everybody should cheer for them.

Unfortunately, not everyone realizes this. On July 4, Deadspin asked which sports team is the most American. They shouldn’t even have to ask. It’s the Green Bay Packers. And it’s not even close.

What’s more American than having a professional football stadium next to a K-Mart? Instead of being surrounded by fancy clubs and five-star restaurants, the area around Lambeau Field boasts local pubs that serve beer and fatty foods that are dipped in batter and deep-fried. People tailgate before, during and after Packers games. In the stadium, you don’t sit in a cushioned seat with a back rest, you sit on old-school metal bleachers.

Packers fans wear Styrofoam cheese on their heads. And blaze orange deer hunting gear.

This is America, people.

I know the Packers are no longer the Little Engine That Could. They’re a large, rich organization that is trying to squeeze every last dollar they can out of their fans and customers, just like every other NFL franchise. But I don’t care. They’re still located in Green Bay, Wis., population 104,057. They’re still small-town in my book.

The Packers are about as American as you can get.

(Note: I realize that not all Packers fans are cheesehead-wearing, fried-food eating, beer-swilling bumpkins. I’ve been on vacation all week and I’ve drank a lot of beer and eaten a lot of bad food, so that’s the sector of Packers fan that I’m identifying most with at the moment.)

Packers Links

• There was another must-listen interview on Green & Gold Today this week. This one was with former Packers president Bob Harlan and is more than worth your time.
• One of the things that Harlan discussed is steps Favre could take to get back on the good side of Packers fans. John Rehor shared his thoughts on the subject over at Dick’s Favorite Blog.
• Mike at Packerpedia.com takes a look at Ted Thompson’s compensatory draft picks.
• Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press Gazette thinks the Packers will keep seven WRs.Seven WRs?!?! The Packers have kept a ton of TEs and FBs in the past. Maybe WR is the position group this year that keeps an extra player or two.
• If you missed out on previous opportunities to purchase a Packers Super Bowl ring, you have another chance.
• Lots of buzz about Randall Cobb becoming a stud this season. Gregg Rossenthal over at NFL.com hops on the Cobb bandwagon.
• Kevin at Acme Packing Co. lists S Charlie Peprah fourth on his list of Packers most likely to regress. I had a snarky comment about Peprah being so bad that further regression wasn’t possible, but his stats weren’t all that bad last season.

Non-Packers Links

• Randy Blythe, the lead singer of the heavy metal band Lamb of God, is in prison in the Czech Republic. Blythe is charged with manslaughter stemming from an incident in 2010 where a fan who rushed the stage several times sustained a head injury and later died after being (allegedly) pushed back into the audience by Blythe and hitting his head. It sounds like a BS case and Blythe’s bandmates have set up a legal fund for those who wish to donate to help get him out of prison. Hopefully justice prevails here. Condolences on the young man dying, but since Dimebag Darrell’s onstage murder in 2004, any fan who rushes the stage is an idiot and should not be surprised if a band member reacts aggressively.
• Louie is probably my favorite show on TV right now and show creator/writer/director Louis C.K. is hands down the best thing going in standup comedy. This clip from Thursday’s show sums up Louie about as best as any clip could. It’s totally NSFW and contains, ahem, adult situations. You’ve been warned.

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Adam Czech is a a freelance sports reporter living in the Twin Cities and a proud supporter of American corn farmers. When not working, Adam is usually writing about, thinking about or worrying about the Packers. Follow Adam on Twitter. Twitter .

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