Going to miss the daily repartee...
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So his daily fluff/Packers-can-do-no-wrong pieces is going weekly? Oh OK.
Sorry, I never found his condescending ass kissing of the Packers all that great.
I never read it, unless somebody posted something from it here.
I think he was great as a team writer. His opinion on the running of a team is consistent with his opinion before he was hired at 1265. Aside from a perceived bias, he had a great depth of experience from all his years covering the league/ the game and those experiences developed his advice on viewing it. He has a few good eye rollers every day but also some really good bits of advice.
Sure he had fluff pieces, but he was employed by the team. If he started ripping on them he wouldn't have had a job for long. I liked his stories from "the old days" and how much freer players were with what they said compared to today's canned crap. He also did a pretty good job putting things in perspective after wins and losses, probably due to a couple of near-death experiences he had.
Why would you go any where else but X4? Here you can get all your condescending, whining and anything else you want. It is pure gold!!!
True.
But I have never met a professional football player who would talk to me. (I have met 3 and they never acknowledged my existence even when I tried saying hi - not a complaint, just a fact). Maybe the rest of you have talked to a player, no matter how briefly.
But guys like Vic and other sports writers have talked with players. So their perspective interests me.
Vic has had some entertaining posts. He had some good historical anecdotes from his time covering the Steelers and Jaguars. If you're looking to him for hard analysis, you're going to be disappointed. I would say the same goes for meeting past players. I had a chance to sit and shoot the breeze with Bruce Wilkerson for a few hours one time. Nice dude, had some really funny stories from the Raiders and Packers, but not much more than that.
Ghost of Lambeau posted:
But I have never met a professional football player who would talk to me. (I have met 3 and they never acknowledged my existence even when I tried saying hi - not a complaint, just a fact).
I think it's your approach.
I had no problem with Vic shilling for the team. That's his job. His arrogance bothered me. He chastised people for complaining about the play calling. And even after McCarthy stripped the play calling away from Clements, Vic still insisted there was nothing wrong with the play calling.
This. I get he works for the Packers and obviously he's not going to rip on his bosses.
But what annoyed me was the "ZOMG! How dare you question Capers, MM, TT, play calling, the draft, FA or fill in ___" That, coupled with his "well, you're just a fan so what would you know about X or Y pissed me off. Big time turn off and would much rather read the informed takes on here then that patronizing jag.
GBFanForLife posted:Why would you go any where else but X4? Here you can get all your condescending, whining and anything else you want. It is pure gold!!!
This truly is an added value kind of site.
Ghost of Lambeau posted:True.
But I have never met a professional football player who would talk to me. (I have met 3 and they never acknowledged my existence even when I tried saying hi - not a complaint, just a fact). Maybe the rest of you have talked to a player, no matter how briefly.
You should have tried mentoring one.
That, coupled with his "well, you're just a fan so what would you know about X or Y pissed me off.
I never saw him imply that. He could get spicy with fans who were stirring the pot or making accusations but I like spicy. He had an edge you don't see much anymore in sports journalism. That may be why I end up here so often. 
I don't mind Vic's column for what it is, but I am nervous about where team coverage is heading. Teams are gearing up right now to produce more of their own content which is great for the fans - until it starts to come at the expense of outside media coverage.
Just last summer, the Bears introduced some fairly restrictive policies on media coverage of training camp. They did so under the guise of protecting competitive information, but I'm sure they also enjoyed having some exclusive, team-controlled access to the news of the day. Have to think this will only grow in coming years.
If more people have to go to team website for news = more clicks = more $.
Since most of the news outlets in the world are owned by I think it's six companies, we should all be worried about consolidation of the message. Packers are no different. I don't agree with the restrictive media policies put in place by the Bears, or anyone else for that matter. I want to know what players think and what's going on behind the scenes!
I wonder if a media outlet would buy X4? 
They wouldn't be able to handle it.
Fedya posted:Ghost of Lambeau posted:True.
But I have never met a professional football player who would talk to me. (I have met 3 and they never acknowledged my existence even when I tried saying hi - not a complaint, just a fact). Maybe the rest of you have talked to a player, no matter how briefly.
You should have tried mentoring one.
I've met a few guys over the years, but none really went much further than a handshake and a compliment or two. I worked in the county where the Falcons original training complex was located, and we would get a rush of players getting cars worked on after TC broke every year.
Pierce Holt was as country as turnip greens, drove an old Ford pickup, dressed like a cowboy, and dipped Skoal! Very nice guy. Pretty refreshing change of pace from the blinged out cars we usually saw.
I met a guy named Ruffin Hamilton at another location, he was a 6th round pick in '94, but only spent the one season in Green Bay. Atlanta eventually picked him up a couple of years later, but he was a FA again when I met him. Also very nice; he had his personal assistant bring me an autographed 8 x 10 glossy the next day!
Met Mike Kenn a couple of times after he had retired; the owner of the company I worked for and he would meet for lunch on occasion. Also real nice and personable, but strictly business. Never saw him at "idle" for more than a few seconds.
Met Craig Heyward after he had retired and was having the brain tumor/cancer issue. Of course, none of the young guys in the shop had any idea who he was when he dropped his car off, but I showed them pics and info from his playing days so they could be suitably impressed when he returned to pick it up.
Jerry Glanville brought a hot rod he had into another shop (same company) for some work. If memory serves, this was after he was fired by Atlanta, and was in his NASCAR phase. I thought he was an ASSHOLE; he loved to brag and boast about himself, but he was very nice to the other customers there who came up to shake hands and meet him, and probably spent 15-20 minutes talking to them.