A new book landed on my desk this week. Its a hardcover titled “The 50 Greatest Players in Green Bay Packers History” by Robert Cohen. According to a press release the author has done this kind of thing before. He has written similar books on the New York Yankees, The Boston Red Sox, The St Louis Cardinals, The Detroit Tigers, The New England Patriots and the New York Giants. He compiles stats and uses quotes from teammates and opponents to gauge who were the best to ever put on the Green & Gold. It really is a fools errand when you think about it. How do you compare players of different eras and rank them? Dave Robinson or Clay Matthews? Favre, Rodgers or Starr? You can understand the problem. These kinds of books are fun to look back at some of the best players in franchise history but to rank them 1-50 seems like its just done to create discussion and arguments. I won't list all 50 which includes such luminaries as Sterling Sharpe, Donald Driver, Leroy Butler, Antonio Freeman and Ahman Green. He also has some guys you might not even know like Charley Brock & Verne Lewellen. And of course, most of the Lombardi Glory Years teams are on the list. Not to give away his main plot I will list the Top Ten in alphabetical order and you can arrange them as you see fit. Herb Adderly, Willie Davis, Brett Favre, Forrest Gregg, Don Hutson, James Lofton, Ray Nitschke, Aaron Rodgers, Bart Starr, Jim Taylor. Let the discussion begin.
I will be interviewing Coach Mike McCarthy each Thursday on WSAU. It will air right around 6:45-6:50am. The first one happens today.
So, as Green Bay heads into the season where do you have them? I've seen the Vikings getting alot of love from the so-called experts but they have suffered alot of injuries especially to the O-line. I say the Packers are 13-3 and win the division. The league did them no favors after their bye week. They play on opposite coasts on back to back weeks…LA vs the Rams on Sunday Oct 28 and the following Sunday at New England. Say they drop one of those games, andl also lose at Minnesota and maybe to the Falcons at Lambeau. Of course, its all predicated on injuries…especially to #12.
One of the original “Not Ready For Prime Time Players”, Jane Curtin, turns 71 today. She played the straight “man” to geniuses like Gilda Radner and Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi so well.
I'll be at Thom Field on Friday night as the Wausau East Lumberjacks will go for 2 in a row when they host the Merrill Bluejays. You can hear the game live on Foxsports Radio AM1390 & FM 93.9 at 7pm (pre game show at 6:30). Also, a reminder that all of mmy East broadcasts are archived at everythinglumberjacks.com.
Things to annoy you today
* Prices rose at their highest clip over the last year. The Labor Department reported that inflation was 2.9 per cent for the 12 month period ending in June. Prices are up for rent, food and gas (24% for fuel) and have risen at the same rate as wages which wipes out any gain that many workers might have hoped for with bigger paychecks. And, you can expect prices to continue to rise if the tariff wars continue.
Republicans will tell you we can't have universal healthcare like other countries enjoy because its socialism and socialism is “bad”. Just so we are clear, here is a list of things that are “socialist”….The Dept of Agriculture, Amber Alerts, Amtrak, Public beaches, Public busing services, business subsidies, the Census Bureau, the CIA, Federal Student Loans, the Court System, Dams, Public Defenders, Disability Insurance, The Dept of Energy, The EPA, Farm subsidies, The FBI, The FCC, the FDA, FEMA, Fire Departments, Food Stamps, Garbage Collection, Public Housing, The IRS, Public Landfills, Public Libraries, Medicare, Medicaid, the Military, State and National Monuments, Public Museums, NASA, The National Weather Service, NPR, Public Parks, PBS, The Peace Corps,Police Departments, Public Schools, the Secret Service, Sewer systems, snow removal, Social Security, Public Street Lighting, Dept of Transportation (highways, roads and bridges), Vaccines, Veteran health care, The White House, the WIC program.
* We're supposed to believe that James Comey, Rod Rosenstein and Robert Mueller acted as pawns for Hillary Clinton. Each of these men is a registered Republican. Comey was appointed by President Bush to the #2 job at Justice and he was confirmed as FBI Director with 45 of 46 Republicans voting Aye….Rosenstein was appointed to two high level jobs at Justice by two Republican Presidents and also worked on the Whitewater investigation of Bill & Hillary Clinton….and Mueller was appointed to high level jobs by 3 Republican Presidents and when appointed FBI Director by President Bush received a unanimous vote from the Senate…just remember this when Trump tweets about a “Democrat Led Witch Hunt”
* House Republicans 2019 Budget proposal calls for $537 billion in cuts to Medicare…$1.5 trillion in cuts to Medicaid…and $4 trillion in cuts to Social Security over the next decade to pay for their deficit-exploding tax cuts for the wealthy.
* Feb 2016 “I think he's a kook. I think he's crazy. I think he's unfit for office. Sept 2018- People who think there is something wrong with Donald Trump don't know what they're talking about”.-Senator Lindsey Graham.
Quotes of the Day
“When we give billions of dollars to bail out farmers its called being fair. Billions to bail out banks its called good for the economy, Trillions to billionaires its called good for America. But money for homeless vets, insurance for the sick, food for children and social security for the elderly…OH MY GOD NO, THATS SOCIALISM”-Thomas Warley
“To be an FBI agent every aspect of your life is investigated. Family, friends,employers questioned, polygraphs. You need a 4 year degree, pass tough tests, be physically fit and commit to be a selfless public servant. The man bitching about the FBI, couldnt get into the FBI.”-Christopher Titus
“Republicans fell all over themselves to give trillions of dollars of tax cuts to the wealthy and to big businesses, and they want to give them even more. But when it comes to working people, retirees and the disabled, suddenly deficits matter again.”-Rep Adam Schiff
“Hey Donald Trump, there may be anonymous resistance in your administration, but I'll go on record. Youre a treasonous, incompetent fraud, and we're not relenting until your Presidency is dismantled. Count on it.” John Pavlovitz
“We lock up too many people for too long. Its about time we change the dynamics. I apologize for that.” Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson (on building too many prisons in state)
“Thsi was an absolutely brutal day of testimony for Kavanaugh. On multiple occasions he was exposed as lying or misleading the committee. He frquently appeared rattled and unprepared. And more documents showing his deception are being kept secret by Republicans.”-Judd Legum
“Has Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh had a conversation about Robert Mueller and his investigation with anyone at Trump's personal attorney's law firm? We don't know. He refused to answer the question.”-Sen. Kamala Harris
“There was a time when Trump's authoritarian tweets seemed frightening. Today he has tweeted about tightening libel laws, charging a dissenting staffer with treason, and demanding a news organization out the staffer. These used to be scary but now seem mostly pathetic.”-Ryan Lizza
“Just a side note: Lindsey Graham has gone from being a nebbishy nobody to one of the most repugnant human beings imaginable. Fascinated by his descent.”-Tony Schwartz
“Very strange how Tucker Carlson's website, the Daily Caller, hired a deputy editor who wrote for a Nazi website, even though Carlson says Nazi's don't exist.”-Adam Serwer
“If you are quietly undermining the President but are not telling Americans how unfit for office he is, you are not my hero. You are an enabler. Show some courage. Step up and speak out. This. Is . Not. Normal.”-Rep Eric Swalwell
“A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their spells dissolve, and the people, recovering their true sight, restore their government to its true principles…if the game runs sometimes against us..we must have patience til luck turns.”-Thomas Jefferson
“Things can always be better or worse, and I'm by no means saying we have found the societal arrangement that maximizes happiness. But I'm also not sure humans are built for happiness, even though we like to think otherwise, and thats why so many of our schemes to achieve it fail.”-Ezra Klein
Songs Of The Day (the album “Fleetwood Mac”, the first featuring Lindsay Buckingham and Stevie Nicks, hit #1 on the charts on this date in 1976. It took over a year to hit the top of the charts and also spent 15 months in the Top 40 and 37 weeks in the Top 10. It included these gems
