Sundays are rough without football, especially after how the Packers season ended.
I love Sundays, but I love Sundays more when football is on. Football makes you forget about your hangover from Saturday night and the fact that you have to go back to work on Monday. Football also makes you feel less guilty for lazing around on the couch all day, eating food that raises your cholesterol and swearing at your TV.
Now we’re stuck with the NBA, NHL, MLB and golf on Sunday for the foreseeable future. I like all of those sports, but none of them makes a Sunday like football. Those other sports are for the other six days of the week.
Sunday is for football.
To kill the time on these offseason Sundays, I’m going to publish Surviving Sunday: Packers New, Notes and Links for the Football Deprived.
It’ll be a regular notebook-style column that opens with a random thought or rant (like the one you’re reading now), followed by some quick opinions on a couple of key issues related to the Packers that I didn’t have a chance to cover with a full post during the week. From there, I’ll include links to must-read/must-see stories, videos and blog posts from the previous week and a preview of possible Packers storylines for the upcoming week. I’ll close each Surviving Sunday with a few words on a subject unrelated to the Packers.
I hope you enjoy reading Surviving Sunday as much as I enjoy putting it together. Anything to get in a little football on Sunday, right?
Scott Wells, Bryan Bulaga and the NFL Combine
- Ted Thompson needs to sign Scott Wells. Unless Wells is asking for the moon because he wants his comeuppance after the Packers were mean to him early in his career, Thompson needs to make this one work. Wells is an upper-echelon center. If there’s one thing that occasionally rattles Aaron Rodgers (or any QB), it’s pressure up the middle. Wells does a good job of setting the Packers pass protection and keeping those interior pass rushers out of No. 12’s face. For what the Packers need him to do, he’s worth a 3-year deal in the $17-20 million range.
- Bryan Bulaga should be moved to left tackle. Yes, Bulaga is playing well at right tackle, but left tackle is more important. There’s something to be said for keeping guys where they’re comfortable, but in the end, all a lineman essentially has to do is block whomever he’s assigned to block. Bulaga should be able to do that on the left side as well as he does it on the right side.
- Do people really take the NFL Combine that seriously? C’mon! I think the media flocks to Indianapolis every year and provides excessive coverage because it’s a nice excuse to drink and talk football for a week straight. Somewhere in between, they find time to file a story or two and chase down a few rumors.
In Case you Missed It
- The Packers resigned TE Jermichael Finley for two more seasons.
- Mike McCarthy hinted that changes to the running game could be coming.
- At the combine, Thompson conducted a news conference where he told the assembled media that he would say absolutely nothing, then proceeded to say absolutely nothing.
- Southern Miss QB Austin Davis has received coaching from Brett Favre.
- Here’s a review of Last Day at Lambeau, a film that chronicles and reflects on the Favre debacle.
- Brewers slugger Ryan Braun wiggled out of his steroid suspension because some dude left Braun’s urine in his fridge over the weekend. Aaron Rodgers was giddy.
- For you basketball nerds, here’s an excellent breakdown of Kevin Love’s low-post game.
Previewing next week’s Packers news
- Coming out of the combine, look for all sorts of profiles and speculation on possible Packers draft choices, especially outside linebackers and defensive linemen.
- Don’t be surprised if Chad Clifton is officially cut this week. I’m still skeptical about Driver returning, even if he agrees to reduce his salary.
- More rumors and speculation about Matt Flynn, we’re already seeing plenty of it regarding Flynn and the franchise tag.
- Topics I might write about at AllGBP.com if I can find the time: Why the Packers should cut Driver and info on free agent DE Red Bryant.
Non-Packers Thought of the Week
I went to WWE Monday Night Raw at the Target Center in Minneapolis this week. Longtime readers of my work know that I have an unhealthy obsession with professional wrestling. Going to Raw was a blast, but I still miss the glory days of Ric Flair cheating his way to victory in the NWA or Stone Cold Steve Austin dishing out Stone Cold stunners to Mr. McMahon in (what was then called) the WWF.
Modern wrestling would be better if there was more actual wrestling. Instead, the modern-day WWE relies too heavily on overly-scripted interviews and lame video packages.
But like I said, it was still a good time. I hadn’t been to a live wrestling show in about 15 years so it was good to get a little nostalgic again. Actually, it was my wife’s idea to go. That’s scary. If my wife starts enjoying professional wrestling, it might be time to look for a different wife.
(Just kidding, sweetie…..but quit trying to hit me with a steel chair.)
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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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Adam, don’t forget NASCAR. The best thing about that is it lets Mrs. Steve Cheez babble up her word quota for the first 75% of the race when nothing happens, then we can pay attention to the good stuff.
I still remember seeing Mad Dog Vachon at the Brown County Arena. Back in the day, you could barely see the ring from your seta because of all the cigarette smoke.
I was going to make fun of you for watching NASCAR, then I remembered that I watch wrestling and shouldn’t make fun of anybody.
My uncle used to tell a story about meeting Mad Dog Vachon in a bar one night, long after his wrestling days were over. I guess Vachon had a wooden leg and would take it off after he had a few too many beers and start threatening to hit people with it.
Regarding DD, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pack gave him a real low number to return after they release him. That way it appears more of DD’s decision not to return. I got a feeling the Pack really don’t want him back.
Considering DD’s popularity, the Pack don’t want anything near to what happened with Brent from a PR standpoint.
the move fron right to left tackle is a big deal. It’s harder than you make it sound. The foot work is completely different the way you proportion your weight is affected. The way you plant your feet. It’s different enough that it CAN make him go from being an elite blocker to a mediocre blocker or worse. A move like that should be a very closely monitored move and should not be forced if he doesn’t respond well… But ya if he’s good at it then switch him over. That would be great!
I think it’s the other way around. You’re making it sound too difficult. I’m not saying it’s easy, but a good lineman (which Bulaga is) should make the transition fairly smoothly.
Plus he was a 1st round pick at LT. It’s not like he’s never played on that side before. I’m sure he understands the footwork and the other technique adjustments required.
“there’s something to be said for keeping guys where they’re comfortable, but in the end, all a lineman has to do is block whomever he is assigned to block. ” that is what i was responding to. It’s not just about where he feels comfortable. It’s about the said techniques, muscle memory etc that we just discussed. Now that you say he was drafted at lt I’m more inclined to think it’s a good move. Plus I kind of think maybe they were gonna let cliffy finish out his career and then make the move. But then why didn’t they make the move last year when he got hurt? I’d like to think that the staff is good enough at their job ANYTING that fans come up with the staff has already considered. That being said the most likely scenario that I can think of that happened is that they tried it and he just didn’t perform up to his ability at lt at that point and if thats the case I say give it a fair shot during camp but let it go if it’s not working.