Big A HG

In terms of TE's...I'm not sure what you see that I don't about the tight end situation, but I guess we can agree to disagree. In terms of WR's...a fast WR with great hands is useless if he isn't a good route runner. You need to run precise routes in a modified West Coast offense like the Packers do, and that's what has made mediocre WR's successful in the Packers offense of late. In terms of RB's...a great RB is useless without at least a good O-line. The line has been the primary reason why the Packers haven't been greatly successful at running the ball. The poor running game the Packers are believed to have is a bit of an abberation. Before this year, Ryan Grant was a top-4 RB statistics-wise over the previous 3-4 seasons, which has been quietly impressive. This was likely overshadowed by the whole Favre/Rodgers situation. Then, when Grant went down, in came Jackson. That guy is just terrible, and has led people to believe the Packers can't be a good running team without a good RB. When Starks came in, you saw a big change. Starks, despite only having limited playing time so far, is without a doubt the best RB on the team, even moreso than Grant. Starks is patient in waiting for a hole, finds holes that Grant couldn't find, and always runs downhill even when tackled, gaining a few extra yards on poor plays. He also has the quick burst through a hole that may only be there for an instant. He's not the next Adrian Peterson, but more like a poor man's Chris Johnson...and I'm fine with that. If the Packers had a better offensive line, Starts would be a 1100 yard rusher guaranteed, and if lucky, maybe more. So, IMPROVE THE OFFENSIVE LINE!!

I could walk into the Ralph any time of the year blindfolded, and know I was there. Bavarian Almonds aren't unique, but the smell coming from inside the building is. It's one part sweet, savory almond, and one part vintage hockey. I can't describe it any other way. Even in July it smells that way, but on gameday it's especially there. What's funny is, I just placed a large order from the Sioux shop a month or so ago, and the best part about receiving my items was taking a big whiff in the clothes (I'm weird, I know), and smelling the sweet smell of The Ralph locked inside each shirt.

Is Kelley's middle name Obama? If you read the description you posted, you could think it was either.

I only disagree with you when it comes to the Packers TE's. Jermichael Finley is a stud as a receiving tight end, Aaron considers him the best in the league (maybe a bit biased, but he's one of the best no doubt). His blocking had improved. If he was healthy all year, the Packers would have been more of a monster than they already were. If you look at Finley's first year and a half at Tight End, he seemed virtually worthless at times, but showed promise here and there...then he figured it out, and became a stud. I think Andrew Quarless, who was the primary tight end most of the year for the Packers fits that same mold. He was a rookie, and his body is extremely athletic (huge and quick). Once he "gets it" like Finley after learning the offense for a year or two, they will be a tandem you won't be able to stop. The Packers will also have Donald Lee at tight end, and though he's not a great receiving tight end, he is a great blocking tight end. I also agree with you about the Packers WR. I don't know how some can say their receivers are as good as they are. I think what makes them decent is they understand the offense and run good routes, but their hands as a whole are mediocre at best and they've been dropping key passes long before the Super Bowl. James Jones becomes a free agent and Driver is getting older, so this needs to be addressed sooner rather than later. Larry Fitzgerald and Greg Jennings are really good friends and actually workout competitively against each other in the offseason. Larry fits the Packers mold of the type of personality that would work in the Green Bay organization, but it probably isn't much more than a nice thought considering Ted Thompson likes to keep a tight wallet. I don't think you'll see Green Bay spend one of their top picks on a Running Back. The Packers are too smart to waste a pick on a RB that high. You can put anyone behind a good O-line and they will run for 1000 yards, but the Packers had neither a RB nor an O-line they could rely on once Grant went down. I think Starks showed good promise, and with Grant coming back, they will have plenty to count on at RB, so long as they improve that O-line, so I see them picking up another lineman or two before another RB.

I know football is a long ways away, but let's fire up the discussions, because there's a lot to cover still in the offseason. What do you think of the potential lockout? Will it happen? What are you NFC North or Super Bowl predictions? Who does your team need in the draft? Any trade possibilities? My NFC North Predictions as of right now: 1) Green Bay (12-4) - They found some chemistry and have a ton of guys coming back that weren't there in the Super Bowl run. They might lose a couple guys, but maybe only one or two of any real significance. They figured out how to win the close games as well 2) Chicago (9-7) - They are getting older on defense and their offense needs some more work. The Jay Cutler situation may have put some quiet doubts in some of the players minds as well, but they are too talented to not be competitive. 3) Detroit (7-9) - Things are looking up for the Lions, but I'm not ready to jump on any sort of playoff talk bandwagon yet. They have a ton of good, young tools, but are still missing too many key pieces. Consistent QB play will be the x-factor. 4) Minnesota (5-11) - The future is none too bright for the Vikings. Where will they play? Who will play QB? A lot of key players are up there in age, but they still have some talent to win a few games. They need a good draft and to maybe pick up a few key guys in free agency or via trade. Carson Palmer or Donovan McNabb? Kevin Kolb? The Vikes need a long-term fix at QB, but that option isn't there yet, so another band-aid is needed. Super Bowl predictions: New England 31 - Atlanta 20 in one of the more boring Super Bowls in recent memory.

Rodgers had a 400+ yard passing game if not for those drops. You're not going to make every completion in a football game, but if you actually look at the throws he makes, there's no denying he will be one of the great one's when it's all said and done. So many of those throws he makes look easy that other QB's simply cannot do, like that first TD to Greg Jennings. He throws accurate lasers. He didn't have the best second half, but he was playing the league's #1 defense (#1 scoring defense and #1 defense when it comes to QB ratings). Keep in mind that he did all this without Driver for half the game AND with no running game. The Steelers knew the Packers offense would be one dimensional via the passing game, so they had two weeks to gameplan on how to stop Rodgers, but couldn't. Like I said, he didn't have the best second half, but played great when he needed to, and that's what really counts. On a side note, he made Troy Polamalu (the DPOY) look silly the entire game, and that was ALL Rodgers. (Side note: Troy Aikman was grinding his teeth every time he had to even try to complement during the Packers playoff run, even during Aaron's game against Atlanta...that guy doesn't care for Rodgers/Packers at all, so take his comments with a grain of salt...especially when virtually every other current/former NFL QB gives Rodgers his credit when/where it's due) I agree that Rodgers' performance wasn't the best QB performance in a Super Bowl, but it was still a great game by him and will go down as such. Also, to be fair, no Packer-related individual made these claims about Rodgers having the best Super Bowl performance ever...but it was Steve Young (who?) and Trent Dilfer (what a hack). To say anything else is purely being a homer. The only people that think he's overrated are Viking fans, so go figure. Maybe one day you'll be able to see your team play in another Super Bowl and if you're lucky enough, you might see 'em win it. But, until then, spare your criticisms. It's very comical to see Sioux fans who are also Vikings fans comment about Gophers fans, because every Sioux fan I know that likes the Vikings acts EXACTLY like a homer Gopher fan when he/she is talking football. Packers: 4 time Super Bowl champions; 5 time NFC champions; 13 time World Champions Vikings: 0 time Super Bowl champions; 4 time NFC champions; 1 time World Champions [Lions: 0 time Super Bowl champions; 0 time NFC champions; 4 time World Champions] Vikings Super Bowl rings:

Two of my three still have tags, and the other I've only worn once, so no, I haven't washed it. If I ever did wash them, I'd probably do it on a cold cycle and air dry it, or just have it dry-cleaned. I'm too lazy to look at the tag on the jersey, but I'd see what it says on that first.

No, unless it was undocumented and worn for a special game, but considering it isn't much different than the jerseys worn during that time period, I don't have any reason to believe it would have been a special one-game type jersey or an alternate. It was just a replica style jersey that was sold at the time that they decided to use for the occasion I do believe.

Time to set the alarm to drive to the airport tomorrow...followed by parade on Tuesday.

That one was worn 74-78. It is an identical jersey style to the one preceding it, the only difference being the crest logo (71-74 was a Blackhawk-esque logo, 74-78 being the ND logo). There was also a home version of the same style jersey worn during the same time period. I could never find any pics or records that better showed the logo, but what I have shown is pretty darn close. It says University above the ND logo and North Dakota below, but I could never see if there was the word "of" anywhere, so left it out since I never saw it included. That particular jersey is one of the hardest to find evidence of. Another strange fact about the "ND" logo jersey is that they used a Blackhawk-esque logo on their jerseys before and after the time period when they wore these ND ones, so I'm guessing there was some sort of logo dispute going on at the time. I never did any research on that particular subject, but it might be worth digging up. Lastly, on the home white version, I've only come across a couple different black and white photos of it, one being a team photo, the other showing a player wearing it in a game from behind (no front logo shot). Being that the photo quality was poor and that they were in black and white, I've had to do a bit of deciphering in the sleeve stripe colors. It appeared to me that the middle of the three sleeve stripes was always darker, so I'm pretty sure (almost 100%, but not quite) that it was black. Any help on that is appreciated.

I made it from scratch. Wasn't too difficult. Just did a rounded square and set the transparency to whatever looks best, then add the numbers, lines, etc. The reason that I haven't done it more is because I get lazy and it gets a bit time consuming.

I'm lucky I can read these forums, much less use a library. 'Nuff said.

I'm just glad I never got the option to root for the Vikings being from Wisconsin. That statement should tell you where my heart is for Sunday's game. My feelings of late have been wanting to: puke, pass out, dizziness, exuberance, fear...pretty much all of the above. Sunday will be a big relief, win or lose.

I have catologued nearly all Sioux jerseys, the only ones I'm missing time periods from are the football jersey era for the most part. In terms of everything since roughly 1950, I have high-res logos from each (including arm-patches and primary crest logos or script), documented time periods for each logo, graphical representations of each, materials used, etc... In my avatar to the left, it shows every green Sioux jersey worn from 1958-2009, in chronological order (made each one by hand, including some of the logos). It gets confusing in some of the 50s era jerseys because, for example, they'd use "x" home jersey for 6-8 years or so, but change the away jersey during that same time period. So, when they changed a home or away sweater style, they didn't necessarily change both home and road. The information AZSioux has for his current retros I spent hours documenting to confirm as much as possible...but, the best part is, there's still more to know...which continues to make it fun and interesting.

The inspiration from this one came from Reebokhockey.com. I had to improvise due to the limited photos I have for use, so it's similar but not identical in style to those. All-in-all, it turned out pretty decent I think. Thanks for all the support from everyone. Widescreen with Calendar: http://img821.imageshack.us/img821/60/febwallwscal.jpg Widescreen without Calendar: http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/3028/febwallwsno.jpg Standard screen versions coming soon... Enjoy

Finally got a chance to work on it today. Yesterday's storms put a damper on doing on work. Give me another hour or two and it should be done.

That makes sense, to a degree. However, if it wasn't incredibly serious, there's not much reason to wanting to be near home and around your family either.

The DOT Line nickname spread nationally and was even used during the airing of the Regional and Frozen Four that year.

It's pretty much a snow day for me tomorrow, so you can expect the new February edition as soon as I wake up and get to work.

I'm gonna be a day or two late with this one. Had a super busy weekend. My apologies.

Gregoire Trupp

At what point does Steven Stamkos start gaining household notoriety. He is incredible at putting the puck in the net.

No, the NCAA will determine that the name will hurt the feelings of too many people who have lost their own lives or friends/family's lives in a Tsunami.

We can only hope they listened to every word those great people said. Keep fighting.

That's pretty good...if he's golfing.