Mailbag: Writer “freaking nails it,” draws ire

By Os Davis  |   Wednesday, October 04, 2006  |  Comments( 1 )

Green Bay Packers
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It's amazing what ire an innocent little prediction can draw. After an insanely speculative piece detailing the miracle-like ways in which the Green Bay Packers could have beaten the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night, this writer threw in a score forecast: 31-7, Eagles.

Admittedly, even while keying in the digits, there was second guessing in mind. And, if allowed to go back on my written prognostication, I probably would have given the Pack a few more points due to the shredded Eagle secondary.

The point of the prediction tagline was ultimately just to state that the Eagles would cruise in this game and that my overly optimistic "ifs" were actually "what ifs." Philadelphia is a Super Bowl contender, folks, and Green Bay is...well, it's going over scouting reports of hot college cornerbacks.

In came the critiques, fast and furious, questioning my mental state:

"...You are so wrong. The score will be more like 31-28 Pack win. At the worst we will be within eight points."

"No way that Philly will beat Green Bay 31-7."

"Brett owns Monday Night Football...Pack 31, Eagles 20."

"You have flipped your lid!!!! The Eagles might win this one, but they aren't holding the Pack to less than 21."

"I believe that Philly will win 34-28 with all their problems in the secondary."

"OK ... Keep tellin' a Man like Brett he is too old and washed up ... Go Pack Go ... Titletown 35, Philly 16."

"I see the Pack putting up 35 points..."

Gee, I didn't hear that Roy Williams had been traded to Green Bay. And why is he writing me twice?

Baffling, too, how so many are convinced the Pack have an offense capable of putting up four TDs in a game. Why? Because they put together 31 points against the Detroit Lions, the 30th or 31st best team in the league? Sure, the Pack put together 27 points against the New Orleans Saints, but 14 of those points were rung up in the first quarter after the Saints turned over the ball on their first three possessions.

A guy named Tre had some axes to grind:

"Sounds like a bunch of what-if's? You could do that for every team every game. Lame article. Philly will win. PS, Can I get a little of what you're smoking?"

Tre, to answer: Yes, I could "do that" for every team every game, but I don't. Glad you enjoyed the piece.

Yours,
Os.

PS: No, you can't.

A couple of more realistic responses came from Green Bay land:

Packer Nation writes, "Three solid games in a row is something that Favre has pulled off about once in the last three years. The odds favor a classic Favrian multiple turnover game. Of course, I'm sure it'll be blamed on the line, the receivers, the defense and the coaching."

Indeed! Wasn't it funny when Joe Theismann kept insisting on speaking about "Driver's dropped pass" in the third quarter which turned the game? It used to be that Favre was a Randy Johnson out there, firing precision bullets from wild form. Favre's 2006 model is like a Randy Johnson as well, but a Randy Johnson after about a fifth of whiskey. Oh, and that shaky handoff to Vernand Morency which resulted in a fumble? That was Morency's fault. All Morency's fault.

JasonDofC wrote, "Philly will blow us out. It's a sure thing, like Classy Philly Fans booing Santa Claus. It will be that ugly. Of course, I want GB to win, I just do not believe they will. We're lucky if we win five this year."

Truly sorry, Jason, that things turned out as badly as you'd feared. Is anyone else looking forward to Philly fans pelting T.O. with pill bottles on Sunday?

"I'm surprised no one is giving the Eagles more than 31 points- I'm going with PHI 41 GB 28 ... As much as I want the Pack to win, our defense is awful."

Seeing Philly run up 31 points on Green Bay (or even predicting it) wasn't overly surprising: Wasn't anyone watching the way Donovan McNabb lit up the Houston Texans in Week 1? No? All right, then.

On one hand, all the prognostications of a close game were surprising, given the 11-point line out of Vega$. On the other hand, this strange sort of hypnosis that Favre has woven over NFL fans will ensure that most in your office pool will be losing at least one game as they go with the green-and-gold plus double-digit lines week after week.

Finally, surprisingly, one further comment was added after the game by my main detractor Tre: "...SCOREBOARD: 31-9. The writer freakin' nailed the score."

Thanks for the props, Tre, but you're still not getting any of this.

Fearless thoughts on the Green Bay Packers constantly at RealFootball365.com.
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About Os Davis

Os Davis has taken a twisted route to get to RealFootball365.com in his nearly 17 years in professional writing, working in any number of capacities in the sportswriting, news reporting and film criticism worlds. In print media, Os has served as editor at a few publications, including Albuquerque's ...
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