Friday, July 30, 2010

Bulaga signed, Packers kick off camp with everyone on board

The Packers' first round draft pick, offensive lineman Bryan Bulaga, is signed, sealed and delivered. Bulaga came to terms with the Packers this morning, according to reports, on a 5-year deal. ESPN reports that the deal totals nearly $15 million with almost $9 million of that guaranteed.

With Bulaga's deal, all 82 Packers' players are under contract for the start of training camp tomorrow afternoon. Pretty darn good.

Packers chances of hosting a Super Bowl?

One of the questions that naturally started to surface after the NFL awarded the 2014 Super Bowl to the cold-weather, non-domed new stadium in New York, was: What about Green Bay and Lambeau Field? Well, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell actually addressed that matter during yesterday's annual Packers' shareholder meeting. He said the issue wasn't so much the weather, as some might have expected, but rather the "infrastructure." Goodell said there needs to be about 25,000 hotel rooms within 60 miles of the chosen venue. With approximately 3,000 or so rooms in the Green Bay area, as Maxwell Smart might say (does that reference date me, by the way?), we probably will miss by that much. In other words, the chances are about the same as a snowball's chance in h-e-double hockey sticks...or, since we're talkin' football, h-e-goal posts.

The Packers also shared some interesting plans they have in and around Lambeau Field. One of the other cool little tidbits to emerge was that the new movie about Vince Lombardi (staring Robert -- "Are you talking to me?!" -- DeNiro) will debut in Lambeau Field the week before the Super Bowl. It will be very cool indeed if shown outside in the stadium rather than inside the warmth of the atrium.

For more on the above and other highlights from the shareholders' meeting just go here.