Well, last week’s early matinee wasn’t really worth writing about. The highlight reel was complete after the first offensive play from scrimmage, and the rest ... well, it wasn’t worth writing about.
One particularly horrible play of note, however, was third-string quarterback Ingle Martin’s whomper-jawed interception. Probably the worst pass I’ve seen in four decades. Hopefully, that’s the last we’ll see of poor Dingle ... forever.
A lot of folks might have gotten worked up over this most recent pre-season shucking, but not this seasoned columnist. Mostly, I just laughed, and nibbled on slices of Red Delicious off the blade of my pocket frog sticker. Yum.
But starting this Sunday, the shenanigans needn’t continue. This is the real deal. The big cheese. Yessiree.
Week one pits our young squad against the Chicago Bears, on the not-yet-frozen long-grass tundra. Ask any expert on the league who’s the favorite to win the North, and they’ll likely spout some line of hooey-diddle-do about the Bears ferocious defense. As my cousin Walter says - “Now that, is a whole heap of malarkey.”
That there is the thing with these so-called pigskin experts and the rest of these television hot-shots. They’re like my neighbor’s ankle-bitin’ rat-dog: Obnoxiously loud, but easily subdued with common sense or a high-powered leaf-blower. Seriously.
Anyways, I’m sure you’ve all heard roughly three-thousand doomsday predictions about the lowly Packers this summer, but let me tell you, I wouldn’t buy into that “defeatism,” to hesitantly borrow a phrase from another hot-winder.
I’m not going to sit here and spout off delusional pipe dreams, myself, but I’m definitely not buying into the “repeat performance” scenario as laid out by so many talking heads, either.
For starters, the NFC North is once again one of the easiest division in football. As far as this old columnist is concerned, it’s anyone’s to win. And if the Green and Gold can keep away from the injury bug, and quit playing catch-up all year, I think the squad will have a decent shot at beating out the other three for the title. And if this team can find a way to make the playoffs, well, who knows?
I still feel as though Brett can lead this team to pay dirt on any given day, and if enough of the things that went wrong last year go right this time around, we could have ourselves a winner once again. We’re not that far away, and most importantly, Mr. Thompson’s got this team heading in the right direction. Huzzah!
Anyhoo, there’s a big batch of left-over Labor Day Meat-Balls in the fridge calling my name, so I’ll leave my speculations at that. This week’s test against the “favorites” should be a good indication of how the season will turn out. And ever the optimist, I’m looking for a thumping: Chicago - 9, Green Bay -24.Until next week, then.
F.G., circa 1929
