Saturday, November 11, 2006

Guys Who Wear Purple...

In case you missed it this last week, and unless you happened to actually reside in Wisconsin or Minnesota you probably did, a couple members of the ViQueens' defense were whining about Packers' offensive linemen being "cowards" because they cut-block. First of all, guys who wear purple and prance around as ViQueens shouldn't be too quick to challenge someone else's manhood. Secondly, those cowardly Denver Broncos won a couple Super Bowls using this same technique. Finally, oh ye of the annoying recorded horn sound, there is nothing in the rules that prevents this type of block. So be quiet. Or do something productive with your time...maybe take a boat ride...like last year, remember?

From the sounds of things, the Packers' linemen, demonstrating their obviously superior grasp of the game, seemed to really care less about what the mouths in Minnesota are complaining about. Here are a few of the quotes from the Packers about this (as reported in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel):

"To me (Coach Mike McCarthy), that stuff is totally irrelevant to the football game. We play a certain way and they play a certain way. We try to put our players in the best situation to be successful, and that will be our plan Sunday."

"All you can do is laugh it off," center Scott Wells said. "If they're talking about it, they're talking it for a reason. Obviously, it's a concern...It's not a cowardice move so why would it be demeaning?" Wells said. "It's a legal technique and other teams have done it for years. If it was that dangerous it wouldn't be legal. If you're able to be an outstanding cut blocker, you can have a long career because a lot of teams need that."

"I could care less what Pat Williams thinks about the way we run our scheme," guard Daryn Colledge said. "I play for the Green Bay Packers, they pay me to do a job a certain way and I'm going to do it that certain way...If I had to pick my butt up off the turf 20 times a game I'd probably complain a lot, too," Colledge said. "It's just one more weapon. Those guys have no problem taking a hit on the quarterback or hitting a guy over the middle. We're out there trying to inflict a certain amount of pain and try to put them on edges."

"Whether they like it or not, that's part of the game," tight end Bubba Franks said. "Nobody's saying nothing when they're taking shots on us. You've got to get used to it and accept it and just try to beat it. They know us. We know them. Bring it on."

Wells summed it thusly: "Think about it," he said. "You're hitting the ground, too, and you got all that weight coming on you. It's not easy, especially when they know it's coming. It's all mind games and technique games. It's all part of football."

So, ViQueens, don't get your purple dirty tomorrow. Oh, forgot, you don't play on real grass either. Or outside. You don't like cut-blocks, you don't like to get dirty, you don't like to play outside and you don't like the cold. Yeah, and our guys are the cowards. Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiggggghhhhhhtttttttt.