Nothing But Iron: In Search of Not Too by Steven R. Lagman, M.D., C.A.S.W. October 9, 2008 The Packers are a not too away from being not too bad. In the interim, while searching for that elusive not too, they are just bad. I don’t mean bad to suggest they are unable to do anything good, but bad as it applies to the entire body of their mistake-laden work, whose net effect is finding ways to lose three games in a row. There is enough positive that I don’t think Green Bay is far from being a contender, but close only matters if you win. So why are the Packers bad? Injuries can make a team bad in a hurry. Maybe they are bad because they are coming off a monster season, and this, as it often becomes in the wake of NFL success, is a rebuilding year. Fine if you want to attribute the apparent slide toward the slippery slope to recent personnel moves, but keep in mind, No. 4 didn’t play defense. The other explanation is that the season is still fairly young and the Packers are on the portion of their improvement graph whose slope is imperceptible. If so, they may still peak in time for it to make a difference. [Author’s note: I have this vague feeling that I used the not too theme before. Anyone remember it in a prior NBI? Is it possible that I am now old enough to be repeating the same stories?] You probably expect similar commentary on the Badgers, but I offer this instead: That’s more like it. No, it wasn’t a win, but it was damn good football, and that’s a damn good step in the right direction. Ohio State’s damn good was a little bit better than Wisconsin’s, but Saturday evening’s game resembled the collapse in Ann Arbor only in its devastating contribution to the loss column. And yes, devastating is melodramatic, but I could not find a gentler thesauronym to convey that back-to-back losses to open the Big 10 season is less than ideal. What could have been a season defining sequence—Wisconsin’s all-downhill 63-yard drive to take the lead, proved to be nothing more than a memorable series of well executed plays. OSU answered with the decisiveness of an eventual champion. Some will blame the failure of the defense to contain prodigy QB Terrelle Pryor on that fateful option play. Some will blame wasted time outs. Many will blame Allan Evridge for his ill-advised (at least from the high perspective of Row 34) pass that ended all hopes of a comeback. I blame the band. O.K., not really. It appears the band has at least a few bonafide idiots, and I missed the performances we have come to expect, but I don’t really blame anyone. I did fail to understand the fourth quarter tactic of not rushing Pryor. Wisconsin had plenty of success pressuring him in the first half. In my simple mind, the way to beat this kid, at least until he gets a few more games behind him, is to get into his head. Force him to make quick decisions. If he succeeds anyway, then he has earned it, and we write that he is just too good. Maybe the blitzes were there and well managed (I forgot to record the game, so I could not review it), but if Pryor’s leisure in the pocket was a result of a three- or four-man UW rush, then this loss reeks of failed conservatism. I stand by this conviction: Teams that play to avoid defeat deserve to lose. O.K. I guess I do blame a little, but I will qualify my criticism with the reminder that I know almost as much about defensive coordinating as Sarah Palin knows about the economy. A lot of fans are calling for Evridge’s ouster. Mr. Negative, a guy sitting directly behind me in the Camp wanted Evridge pulled just before the quarterback engineered Wisconsin’s first touchdown drive. It is human nature to assume that a viable replacement is waiting in the wings, though it isn’t necessarily intelligent human nature. As mere fans we don’t have enough information to know that. I wanted badly to turn around and challenge Mr. Negative to name Wisconsin’s second-string quarterback (Dustin Sherer). As for the game-killing interception, you probably saw an unforgivable breach of judgment. I saw an inexperienced college kid trying his best–maybe too hard–to live up to our expectations. Goats and heroes are separated by seconds and inches. Preliminary indicators suggest that Evridge has skill, but lacks the ability to call it up with the game on the line. Even so, I can’t help but admire his efforts. I do predict, if Evridge has a below-average game in a loss against Penn State, that Sherer will take over. If it happens, it will make sense, at least as an investment in the future. A third consecutive conference loss, roughly translated, means "wait until next year". If we can use this season to train the quarterback of 2009, then let the salvage begin. Having said that, I now turn the table in a rare show of bravado and blatant temptation of fate, by predicting a season-best performance for Evridge, which will include a masterful fourth-quarter drive to seal the win over the very-highly-ranked Nittany Lions this Saturday night. You heard it here first, and I implore (just be thankful I didn’t beseech) you to kindly forget that if I am wrong. Congratulations to the Milwaukee Brewers for extending their season to one game beyond that of the Cubs. Hats off Mark Attanasio and the Brewers organization for acquiring such a class act as CC Sabathia. I don’t even follow baseball and I’m in his fan club. I know a return engagement is unlikely, but I am happy for his impending prosperity. The Brewers are optimistic that they can make a legitimate play for Sabathia’s return, but how can they in this market (and I mean that in both the baseball and the global sense)? I should clarify my obvious disdain of the Cubs, just in case it doesn’t apply to you. I don’t have much against them, other than they are the arch rival of the team that is mine by virtue of geographical proximity in sport that is mine for two weeks out the year if I am not too busy with football and gardening. What I do have is the recollection of the Steve Bartman fiasco, and I will have it until the Cubs and their fans commit egregious small-mindedness surpassing that, which is hard to imagine. In case you don’t follow sports small-mindedness, Bartman is the long-time Cubs fan and regular guy who was crucified by Cubs Nation for trying to catch a foul ball coming right to him in the 2003 NLCS. If you burned, stabbed or shot Bartman in effigy, then I rejoice in your pain. If you sent him a death threat, then I wish you a lifetime of disappointment that extends well beyond your baseball team, but you probably already have that. Otherwise, I am deeply sorry for your team’s inexplicably rapid exit from the post season. As you might guess, my trip to the dahlia show generated considerable reader feedback. Brother’s Bruce and Mike entertained themselves at the expense of my masculinity. Michael Smith thought I went to see a Tibetan spiritual leader (the Dahlia Lama). I may post some of the responses after the hard frost when I have more time. Eric Evans thinks we should have a caption contest for the picture of me holding a freshly harvested rutabaga. His submissions: 1) Local doctor uses steroids to grow giant veggies. 2) Prostate gland successfully removed; doctors stumped by leaves growing from base of gland. My caption is: My first ever rutabaga. Now what? Feel free to submit your captions and your rutabaga recipes. Did I mention that my mom took the picture? She did. Thanks, Ma. ____________ Nothing But Iron is an amateur sports column. I am Steve Lagman, and I am sure that no political candidate approves this message. ©2008 DrTM Enterprises. All rights reserved.