The Packers should never have a goal to be compared to the Bucks.
On Monday it was proven why.
The Milwaukee Bucks went behind its general manager’s (and head coach’s) back by bringing aboard the highly questionable Jason Kidd to coach his second season of pro ball.
That would never happen in Green Bay.
The entire fan base is split on the jobs that Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy do, but what cannot be argued is that it truly is a first-class organization.
Is part of that because there isn’t an owner that’s meddling into player or coaching decisions? Perhaps.
But, even when the Packers were losing at an alarming rate in the 1970s and 1980s, a period that saw only four seasons over .500, the constant was how professional the team was.
Of course, the Packers had their fair share of coaching changes. They had five in that dry period alone. But at least the Packers had the decency to fire the coach first and then let the general manager begin the arduous task of trying to find the right fit.
And that’s why the Packers are one of the most respected NFL clubs along with the Steelers, 49ers and Giants. Green Bay knows it is fighting a losing battle against much larger cities — and many that boast warmer weather. But the one constant is how up front and transparent the Packers are.
I don’t expect the Packers to go and videotape an opponent’s practice anytime soon and I highly doubt that Lambeau will be able to generate anything close to the gobs of money that Jerry Jones makes at his AT&T Stadium.
The Packers have one of the richest traditions in all of sports and they play in a cathedral that serves as a Mecca for even non-Packers fans.
I guess it pays to do things the right way.
——————Cory Jennerjohn is from Wisconsin and has been in sports media for over 10 years. To contact Cory e-mail him at jeobs -at- yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter: Cory Jennerjohn
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I do not believe that the Green Bay fan base is split on the job done by TT & MM. It is only a vocal minority who are not pleased and I seriously doubt that they would be pleased with anybody as their desires will never be realized.
Who are the Bucks? Don’t they play beach volleyball or something in Racine? 😉
I’d quibble over the fact that the Packers have always been a classy professional organization. From the last 5 years of Lambeau to Lombardi was not only terrible on the field – it was chaos off of it. The Rookwood Lodge. An ever meddling board of directors. An inability to get anything approaching a national level of talent. Funding problems.
And then post Lombardi to Holmgren: Again – a meddling board of directors. A player pool that was… below average nationalls (ahem). Constant player turnover. Constant GM turnover. Constant coaching turnover. The Forrest Greg tenure. Charles Martin. James Lofton.
I could go on. Just goes to show how lucky we were when Bob Harlon took the CEO job, fired Infante and Hired Wolf – who in turn brought Favre, Reggie and the gang.
And all that’s off the top of my head.
GB football has a glorious history – for about 65 of it’s 95 (or so) years.
The entire late 60’s thru the early ’90’s the Packers were a dysfunctional mess. Harlan made some changes, but until he hired Wolf the problems continued. Harlan actually tried to hire Wolf about a year, maybe 2, earlier. Wolf declined due to the organizational dysfunction. Harlan realized he wouldn’t be able to hire a top quality football man till he changed the organizational structure.
Like you mentioned the Board of Director, executive committee had too much input on every thing from player acquisition to draft choices, and other things they knew nothing about.
Harlan made the changes that led to him being able to finally hire Wolf. It wasn’t until the GM was given complete control of football decisions that anything changed.
While they weren’t quite on the level of the Bucks coaching change, the organization was a dysfunctional mess organizationally for the better part of 25+ years.
I have occasionally whined about TT and MM, however, I believe they do a pretty decent job. I just feel that with a few minor changes they could be elite… That’s what makes TT and MM frustrating. Most people on here are just giddy that we have a winning record and are fine with 9-7 seasons. I for one know what we could and should have. So why settle for ok? Vince and I think we should have another ring or two.
The Bucks and Jason Kidd have been alarmingly sneaky. I read last night that as soon as the season ended, Kidd was trying to convince the Nets to trade Brook Lopez to the Bucks for Larry Sanders.
Obviously, he knew the Bucks were going to make him their coach and was setting himself up while screwing over the Nets. Not a very nice thing to do to an organization who gave him a chance as a head coach w/o having any previous coaching experience.
With that being said, if he turns the Bucks into a perennial contender, all will be forgiven.
I agree, winning will erase much of the stink from these happenings. However, Kidd does not have much of a coaching track record, and I fear this may head south in a hurry. If it does at least the Bucks should get another high draft pick.