TheBigCheese

One more thing...if any of you care to read a fantastic Packers forum, you might try www.PackerRats.com/ratchat. I know that I will reference this site to the GB faithful, especially considering we play each other this season... Sorry for the shameless promotion. BigCheese is OUT!

I read this fine forum every now and then, though, and Packer fans have been wondering how y'all feel about Craig Nall. I definitely can see how Nall is no savior, esp. when you've invested so much in JPL. But I'll share that Packer fans are either sad or indifferent to see Craig go. He was a great teammate, but obviously never got his chance to shine here. So not really a big loss for us - but a lot of GB fans would be very interested to see what would happen if he ever got a chance to start. AND - some GB fans are even wondering whether we should be considering JPL. Even assuming Favre is coming back, we only have A. Rodgers as a back-up, so we need at least one more QB to bring into camp.

Now, that's not right! I have to say that prevailing sentiment back in WIS is that Bills fans are smart and loyal. Now, Green Bay fans get mocked every now and then for being "small town," too - but we wear it as a badge of honor just like y'all. I sympathize with your QB situation - it's been, what, 15 years since GB has played QB roulette, so I don't even want to imagine the frustration.

Oh, and speaking of Bates, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel is reporting that Bates is thought to have received strong interest from the St. Louis Rams and Houston Texans and could have a job offer before the weekend is over. But since you still have Grey, there would be no reason for the Bills (and Sherman??) to reach out to Bates yet...

Thanks in return for all your thoughts on Jerry Grey, Mike McCarthy, and Packer fans in general. We loved hosting y'all for our family night scrimmage last year. I would love to see the Pack hire Grey at DC, but it's being reported here (Milwaukee) that Bob Sanders is the leading candidate (current D-line coach). I guess that would be a safe move, since Sanders is familiar with Bates' scheme. But if they wanted Bates and his scheme...why didn't they try harder to keep Bates in the first place? Bates was basically promised the HC job and then had the rug pulled out from under him. After his interview with our GM Ted Thompson, he even phoned Brett Favre with the thumbs-up. We are clinging to the hope of Favre returning, but as the saying goes, all good things come to an end.

What can I say? We Cheeseheads are die-hards when it comes to our beloved team, just like y'all. Bills and Packer fans come from the same mold, so we're especially happy to help. I suspect there'll be a few of us who will adopt the Bills as a second team should the Sherman deal go through. Plus we play y'all this year, which could be mighty interesting... P.S. Ted Thompson = Packers GM, hired after Sherman was demoted from HC/GM. Used to be Seattle's GM (w/ Holmgren). Nobody really knows what this guy is all about - before Sherman held the duties briefly, our GM was Ron Wolf. Now we got some guy tinkering with our franchise and we don't know what's up. Thompson never gave any clear reason why he fired Sherman - just that the team was moving "in a different direction." Then he snubbed Bates for McCarthy. So Thompson is getting portrayed as the "bad cop" in Wisconsin right now. Maybe that gives you some add'l background as to why so many fans are taking an interest in what happens to Sherman. Like I said, it would get real interesting if you guys hire Sherman and then we play you this year...

Bottom line: Sherman will absolutely be a satisfactory coach. I would love to see what he can do with another opportunity. I did not want him to leave GB, and think it's totally possible he can thrive in a new environment without Ted Thompson and the cloud of "4th and 26" hanging over him. He's a great man and would bring a lot to the Buffalo community.

That said, I was on the fence about whether Sherman should have been our coach for 2005. You'd think that a 4-12 season would have tipped me in the direction of wanting him fired. But I thought it was absolutely remarkable how Sherman kept that team together despite the very adverse conditions. There were no players complaining; there were no players pointing fingers. And as you've heard, many players were very upset at Sherman's dismissal. To have that kind of respect and support after an absolutely abysmal season makes you wonder. People have said Sherman is not a fiery coach? BS. That's a total pet peeve of mine - highly illogical argument. He's not a screamer - but think about it: are you motivated by your boss screaming in your face? Sherman has a quiet intensity; he keeps his emotions guarded. You want a rational decision-maker on the field of battle. And most importantly, you can't tell me that Sherman isn't a "fiery leader" when he went toe-to-toe with Warren Sapp after Sapp took out Chad Clifton. Offense - yep, at times I would say play-calling was a bit predictable. But I'd use that label moreso when we had Green running at full-strength and we seemed to always hand off on obvious running plays. But I would never characterize a Brett Favre-led offense as "bland." Also, there is a grey area where we sometimes did not know whether it was Rossley or Sherman doing the play-calling. Ultimately, the buck stops at Sherman either way. But you've got some fans who criticized Sherman for being too controlling, and others who thought he should take the reigns more on offense. So I wouldn't put too much stock in any of these arguments. Would love to see what Sherman could cook up with Losman to Evans!

TheBigCheese is not from PackerChatters (and I'll now stop referring to myself in the third person). But I came here yesterday to check out your thoughts on Shermy as HC and thought I'd contribute to the discussion. Maybe answer some of your GM vs HC questions if I can. Will try to be as objective as possible. In a nutshell, Sherman is a great man and a very good coach. The two major knocks on Sherman are his playoff failures and his tenure as GM. You already know that there are a lot of Packer fans who can't quite separate Sherman's record as GM with his record as coach. But even the biggest Sherm-haters would say he's an average coach - at WORST. The overwhelming majority of fans believe he is a good to excellent coach. The playoff loses - the one that really, really hurts for us GB fans is the Philly game. 'Nuf said about that. It also stings that the first-ever playoff loss at Lambeau came under Sherman's watch vs. ATL in 2002. A lot of things went wrong in that game; little to do with coaching. More the emotional reaction that came from losing the "Lambeau mystique." Last year's playoff loss vs. MINN - well, let's just say our team and it's terrible defense completely overachieved, winning four games on last-second FGs by Ryan Longwell. 2003 was our big chance, and we fans still aren't over it.

Gouda day to you from TheBigCheese, Bills fans! I think Sherman would be a great fit for y'all, but many of you already know that. I sure hope it happens - it makes good sense. Of course in GB, we all thought it made too much sense for Ted Thompson to hire Jim Bates as HC and it didn't happen. I'll post more of my thoughts on Shermy in the designated thread up top.