Ticket King Wisconsin – Sports – Concerts & Theater

The 2017-2018 season started with plenty of hype for the Big Ten. As many as nine teams were projected to participate in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, but the conference will not come close to having that many teams represent. Wisconsin stumbled out of the gate and fell apart mid-season. They finished with a 15-18 record and will miss the tournament for the first time in two decades. Minnesota had off the court issues, ending with a 15-17 season. Northwestern tried to get it together about a month ago, but they faded late, losing their last seven on their way to a 15-17 season. Iowa finished just 4-14 in conference play as well. The final result? We could have just four teams in the tournament from the Big Ten. But wait, those four are pretty darn good teams. Let’s run through the four Bit Ten teams that will make big moves in the tournament.  

Ohio State: The Buckeyes are not exactly the hottest team in the country entering the tournament. They have lost three of their last five, including two losses to Penn State, who won’t play in the tournament. They are anchored by power forward and All-American candidate Keita Bates-Diop who is average 19.4 points per game and 8.8 rebounds per game. In addition to Bates-Diop, Ohio State has three other players averaging double figures in scoring- Jae’Sean Tate, C.J. Jackson, and Kaleb Wesson. This is the type of balanced team that could make some serious noise in the NCAA tournament. Right now they are a projected five seed in the South.

Purdue: The Boilermakers have recovered from a three-game losing streak in February to finish strong, winning five in a row before losing to Michigan in the Big Ten title game. Usually the Boilermakers are anchored by a strong inside presence, but this year, their top scorer is their 6’1” guard Carsen Edwards at 18.5 points per game. They do have a strong big man though in 7’2” center Isaac Haas, who is averaging 14.9 points per game and 5.6 rebounds per game. Power forward Vincent Edwards has 14.5 points per game himself to go along with 7.3 rebounds. Every year these Boilermakers look good on paper, but for some reason, they just can’t get it together come showtime. Maybe this year will be different. Right now they are projected as a two seed in the Midwest.

Michigan State:Despite all the bad headlines surrounding the school, the Spartans have kept it together on the court this season. They were winners of 13 straight before losing to Michigan in the semi-finals of the Big Ten tournament. The Spartans are anchored by guard Miles Bridges, who is averaging 16. 9 points per game and 6.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Nick Ward has been a solid presence inside, averaging 12.6 points per game and 7.2 rebounds per game. Once again, “Sparty” looks like another serious contender to be in the Final Four come April. Right now they are a projected three seed in the West.

Michigan: The Wolverines are on fire entering the NCAA Tournament. Winners of nine in a row, Michigan pulled off a remarkable performance in the Big Ten Conference Tournament, defeating Purdue 75-66 in the championship game. Their best player is a 6’11” forward from Germany named Moritz Wagner, who is averaging 14.5 and 7.1 points per game this season. Despite the hot streak, buyer beware. This will be a long layoff before the tournament starts and this is not exactly a great team on paper. Right now they are a projected three seed in the East.

We are less than a month away from the start of the 2018 MLB season. While the team gets busy in Arizona, we can only guess as to the final 25 man roster that will take the field. Some player are a lock, but others are making their move to get a starting position. Here is Ticket King’s best attempt at trying to predict the Milwaukee Brewers Opening Day roster.

1. Zach Davies

2. Jimmy Nelson

3. Chase Anderson

4. Yovani Gallardo

Zach Davies emerged a year ago, winning 17 games and establishing himself as a potential top of the rotation option for this club. Chase Anderson will be the two. Jimmy Nelson will be the number three starter when he returns in June. Yovani Gallardo returns to the place where he had his best years. Hopefully, he can find the fountain of youth and be that pitcher again. Jhoulys Chacin gets the 5th spot. Look out for the Brewers to add someone else though, such as Jake Arrieta via free agency.

Bullpen
Matt Albers
Oliver Drake
Jeremy Jeffress
Josh Hader
Brent Suter
Jacob Barnes
Junior Guerra

There are a lot of unknowns in this bullpen. With this projected bullpen, the Brewers carry two lefties, Hader and Suter. Junior Guerra will be the long man. The question is, who is the closer?

Lineup
1. Lorenzo Cain
2. Christian Yelich
3. Ryan Braun
4. Travis Shaw
5. Domingo Santana
6. Stephen Vogt
7. Orlando Arcia
8. Jonathan Villar

The Brewers made headlines this off season when they made two major moves, both on the same day, acquiring Christian Yelich from the Marlins and signing Lorzeno Cain via free agency. Both will be in the lineup opening day. Brett Phillips is expected to begin the season in Triple A while the Brewers find a trade partner for Domingo Santana.

Bench
Eric Thames
Eric Sogard
Keon Broxton
Hernan Perez
Jeff Bandy

Not much to say here. Broxton is the ideal fourth outfielder- he has experience at all three positions, has a strong glove, a good arm, a lot of speed, and can pinch run. Perez is a super utility man. Bandy will be the backup catcher. Thames could be traded any day.

The Green Bay Packers finished 2017 with a 7-9 record, of which only two games can be counted as true “first team” losses, since Brett Hundley was at the helm for a huge portion of the season. Still, with the weapons around him, there were exposed the flaws within this organization. The sub .500 season seemed to make the tough choices a bit easier. With that, the Packers franchise made massive changes top to bottom, replacing the general manager, some various scouts, and most of the coaching staff. The new general manager, Brian Gutekunst, is expected to be more aggressive in his pursuit of free agents than his predecessor, Ted Thompson. So who are some of the free agents he could look at?

Prince Amukamara/CB – Last off-season, the Packers brought back Davon House, who had his best seasons with the Packers in Dom Capers system. However, House is now a year older, coming off a major injury, and Dom Capers is gone. Expect the Packers to swap out House for another free agent cornerback, and Amukamara would be a good fit for new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine’s system.

Brian Cushing/ILB – The Texans released their all-time leading tackler just a few days ago, and coming without a hit to any team’s future compensation Cushing will be a desired free agent. One of those teams should be the Packers. Green bay is in need an inside linebacker to work along side Blake Martinez. Martinez has emerged as one of the league’s best linebackers. Cushing is another free agent who would fit Pettine’s system.

Ed Dixon/TE- One might ask why not Jimmy Graham here? Well, he is aging, and his best football is very clearly behind him, plus whoever signs him will most likely overpay for his services. Most Packers fans want to the team to pursue free agency a little more, but the also want them to be smart about it. Dixon would cost much less and put up more production.

Connor Barwin/OLB – The Packers need another pass rusher on the outside. Barwin is a good fit in Pettine’s system. As a veteran, he could rotate with Clay Matthews opposite of Nick Perry. Or, if the Packers also draft an outside linebacker high, Matthews could move back inside and take a pay cut. Either way, it works.

Drew Stanton/QB – Brett Hundley was a bust as a back-up quarterback. The Packers did not win three games without Aaron Rodgers because of him. They won three games without Aaron Rodgers in spite of him. Stanton could come in and backup Rodgers for a couple of seasons, while the Packers develop their next backup quarterback.

The Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball program has been one of the most stable programs in the country for nearly two decades. They produce results and have done so without the scandals that affect many other programs such as Louisville and Syracuse. The Badgers have made the NCAA tournament every year since 1999, and put up good results, making to the “Elite Eight” four times, and three trips to the Final Four during that stretch. However, that run is about to come to a close. The Badgers currently sit at 6-11 in Big Ten Conference play and are 13-17 on the season overall. Basically, they are going to have to make a miracle run in the Big Ten Tournament to keep that streak going. So what has led to their demise? We believe we have an answer, and it may not be what you think.

The first place to check are the stats themselves and the Badgers stats this season have clearly represented their issues. They are averaging just 67 points a game and shooting 45% from the field. Their free throw percentage, usually one of the best in the country every year, sits at just 69% on the season. Their defense, which has been their staple for two decades, has failed them over and over again, in key moments, all season long. Yes, those stats do not represent a good team, but they stem from perhaps a deeper issue. When a collegiate team drops off after a long run of success, the second factor many like to look at their recruiting. Taking a look at the Badgers recruiting classes lately, this is not the problem. In fact, due to their back-to-back Final Fours in 2014 and 2015, the Badgers have had better recruiting classes. So what is the problem?

Back during the 2015-2016 season, legendary Badgers head coach Bo Ryan, the man who built this program, retired. Wisconsin selected his top assistant, Greg Gard to replace him. The transitionwas smooth, and for a year or two the decision looked good, as the Badgers kept winning. But now, in year three, as this becomes Gard’s team and these are his players, there are signs of a drop off (see stats above.) We’ve seen this rodeo before in college sports. In 2013 Chip Kelly left Oregon for the NFL and his top assistant Mark Helfrich replaced him. For a year or two, Helfrich won games with Kelly’s players. Then, as they became “his” players that he recruited, the results tapered off. This is not to say that it never works the opposite direction. And yes, there are been injuries to key players on the Badgers roster.  This has also forced freshmen into the starting position.The final conclusion here is that Greg Gard is far from finished. If he can steer clear of the injury bug, and get his more experienced players back on the court, the team may turn around. I’m afraid that it’s too late for a tournament run.

Now that the NBA’s All-Star weekend is over, the league, and their fans turn their attention towards the final months of the regular season. That means gearing up for the NBA Playoffs. The Bucks, who are 9-3 in their last 12 games, are likely to be one of these playoff teams yet again. Adding to the good news for the Bucks at the moment is that former lottery pick Jabari Parker is back, and has settled in as the first guy off the bench. Following two major ACL injuries, it is unlikely that Parker will ever be the player they thought they were drafting. He can, however, be a dangerous player off the bench for the rest of his career, if he can avoid any more major injuries. So how do the Bucks stack up against other playoff teams?

As it stands at the moment, the Bucks are the 6^thseed in the Eastern Conference, which means they would draw the third seed, the Cleveland Cavaliers. That would be the worst possible draw they could get. In a serious of high profile moves, Cleveland redid their team at the trade deadline which “rejuvenated” Lebron James. They have won four in a row and are looking good. I don’t see any ways these Bucks could beat Cleveland. The good news is the Bucks could climb up to the fourth or fifth seed, where they would take on the Wizards or Pacers team, neither of which are that impressive. That is a series the Bucks could win.

The other scenario that could unfold is the Bucks could drop down to the seventh or eighth seed, which means they would get either Boston or Toronto in round one. Of the two they would have a much better chance of beating the Celtics. Cleveland has been playing great, but this Raptors squad is the team to beat in the East. They have been together for a long time, and are better as the season is going along. Meanwhile, experts question if the Celtics can get it done in the big moment in the playoffs due to their team chemistry and structure. Regardless of what happens, the East could be very entertaining come playoff time.

The Green Bay Packers had about as well documented of a 7-9 season of any team who finished a year with that record in recent memory. The broken collarbone of Aaron Rodgers, which exposed the flaws in this organization, and the performance of backup quarterback Brett Hundley, all led to the franchise making massive changes up and down the organization. Here is the rundown of the major personnel changes for 2018.

Brian Gutekunst/General Manager– The highest profile change came first when Mark Murphy relieved longtime general manager Ted Thompson of his duties and replaced him with the Packers best scout, Brian Gutekunst. He has been with the Packers for 20 years as a scout, and then became director of player personnel for the last two years. Most people wanted Eliot Wolf, the prodigal son of Ron Wolf as the new general manager. However, if you look at the whole scope of this, Gutekunst is the better choice. He is 10 years older than Wolf, and unlike Wolf, he has both played and coached football, which he did for his alma mater, Wisconsin-La Crosse. From what we hear, Gutekunst is going to be more aggressive than his predecessor.

John Wojciechowski/Director of Player Personnel– Replacing Gutekunst in his old position is John Wojciechowski, who begins his sixth season with this Packers. Prior to joining the Packers, he spent time with the Cowboys, Jaguars, and Steelers organizations.

Joe Philbin/Offensive Coordinator- Perhaps the favorite hire of them all was Joe Philbin who returns to the Packers after spending three seasons as the Dolphins head coach and two seasons after that with the Colts. Philbin didn’t work out as a head coach so do not expect him to leave so soon this time. This is a great hire. When Philbin was here this offense, and team in general, was at its best.

Frank Cignetti Jr./Quarterbacks Coach– Brett Hundley was Alex Van Pelt’s project, so obviously Van Pelt should have, and did, take the blame for Hundley’s play. Replacing Van Pelt is Frank Cignetti Jr., who comes to the Packers with nearly 30 years of coaching experience, most of it with quarterbacks. He has been all over the place in both college and the NFL, having a proven track record at both levels. This is not a sexy hire, but a great one nevertheless.

Jim Hostler/Pass Game Coordinator– The Packers created new titles on both sides of the ball for run and pass game coordinators. This was to give extra focus on each area of the game on both sides of the ball. Hostler will work with wide receivers coach David Raih as well as Philbin to keep the passing game in sync. Hostler has nearly 30 years of coaching experience, most with tight ends and wide receivers.

Mike Pettine/Defensive Coordinator– Most of the coaching changes came on defense, most notably with the play caller. Pettine comes to the Packers having formerly served as the Browns head coach for two seasons and spent last season with the Seahawks. Pettine has never been in charge of an NFL defense that finished lower than ninth, a stat that should comfort Packers fans for the moment.

Patrick Graham/Run Game Coordinator/Inside Linebackers– Graham comes to the Packers after serving for the last two seasons as the Giants defensive line coach, and before that he spent five seasons in New England mostly as the linebackers coach. The Packers want their inside linebackers to get more aggressive, which is what Graham teaches.

Joe Philbin spent most of the 2000’s as a Packers assistant coach, rising to become their offensive coordinator in 2007. About those aforementioned exciting game plans and unstoppable offenses, he put those together, including that immortal 2011 offense. There is more to the story. Along with then quarterbacks coach Tom Clements, Philbin trained Aaron Rodgers. He also trained Matt Flynn. So clearly, he has a track record of training quarterbacks. Following that 2011 season, he left to become the head coach of the Miami Dolphins. That really didn’t work out. Some coaches are great in lower level, or very specific coaching roles. Others just don’t have what it takes to be a head coach. This was the case for Philbin, and he was fired after three seasons in Miami. After Philbin left, the Packers offense became stale and predictable, leaning on Aaron Rodgers to bail them out. So after serving as an assistant coach with the Colts the last two seasons, McCarthy brought Philbin home late last week. I don’t think I could possibly like this decision anymore than I do. Joe Philbin brings out the best in Mike McCarthy, and maybe likewise. When he was in Green Bay, Philbin had the type of relationship with both Thompson and McCarthy that allowed him to be frank, when it came to certain players. As stated at the top of the piece, both Edgar Bennett and Alex Van Pelt were fired. That is mainly because Brett Hundley was their project, and we can all agree that the results were pretty much a disaster. I believe the Brett Hundley story would have gone differently had Philbin been here the whole time. Either Hundley would have been more prepared, and the Packers would have picked up the extra win or two needed to get to the playoffs, or the following would have happened instead.

Prior to the 2015 NFL Draft, the Packers were looking to grab and develop their next “great” backup quarterback. This is a franchise with a long list of solid bench warmers – Ty Detmer, Mark Brunell, Aaron Brooks, Matt Hasselbeck, Doug Pederson, and Matt Flynn. When Brett Hundley fell to into their lap in round five, it looked like a steal, and he was next in line. After all, he looks the part of a great NFL quarterback. 6’3”, 230 pounds, big strong hands perfect for gripping a football, a big arm, and natural athleticism that most people dream about. He definitely has “a five million dollar body, and a million dollar arm,” as I have said in the past. However, he showed us this season that he’s lacking in areas that will probably never change for the better. There are basic concepts that any NFL quarterback needs to understand on day one that he clearly does not. We can forget all about those lucrative trade rumors surrounding Hundley at the start of the season. Those are long gone. He will probably latch on with another team for a stint in training camp after his time in Green Bay, but he will fade out of the league in a couple of years.

If Philbin were running the offense the entire time, I don’t think Hundley would have ever been a Green Bay Packer. Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy were so excited with the prospect of grabbing what they thought was raw talent, one that had the makings of a great back up to Rodgers, and possible starter for another team. They trusted Bennett and Van Pelt, when the pair gave Thompson the green light to pick him up.  

The general manager and the head coach don’t get to focus on minute details like their assistants do. I firmly believe that Joe Philbin and Tom Clements would have caught those deficiencies in their pre-draft film sessions and interviews, and then told Thompson and McCarthy to pass on Hundley.  So yes, the bringing back of Joe Philbin fixes half the problem. And no, they should not bring back Tom Clements. He doesn’t have the energy or desire to coach anymore, but I trust Philbin to tell McCarthy who he wants as his quarterbacks coach.

Now for the other half of the problem. That defense. Yeah. That defense has been mocked, laughed at, made fun of, and ridiculed by non-Packers fans over the last four seasons. Finally, and mercifully, Mike McCarthy made the change, firing Dom Capers. McCarthy called on Mike Pettine, who comes off the Rex Ryan tree of knowledge. Ryan invented the modern NFL defensive style, and this change needed to happen. Dom Capers runs what is called the 3-4 zone stunt blitz defense. The basic concept is to sit back, play zone coverage, and stunt blitz on the line of scrimmage, to both stop the run game, and pressure the quarterback. When the West Coast Offense was first created by Bill Walsh in the 80’s, defenses had no answer. The original concept of the West Coast offense is run the ball, throw it vertical to the wide receivers, and throw the halfback screen. Dick Lebeau and Dom Capers invented the 3-4 zone stunt blitz in Pittsburgh as the answer. When played right, the 3-4 zone stunt blitz is the ultimate kryptonite to the original West Coast offense. It cuts off the vertical routes, forces a change in the running game, and when the quarterback is forced to hang onto the ball for an extra half a second, it helps provide needed pressure, and throws off timing.

There’s just one problem. Nobody plays the original version of the West Coast offense anymore. Mike McCarthy should know this. When the Packers hired him in January of 2006, he sat in the room with Joe Philbin and he took the original concept of the West Coast offense, and invented the exciting modern offensive football that we all enjoy watching today. In this day and age, quarterbacks are too intelligent, too precise, and too quick with their releases for the zone blitz. Yes, quarterback throwing motions and releases are much quicker these days. They coach young quarterbacks to use as little arm movement as possible, don’t wind up, snap the wrist as much as possible, get the ball out with blazing speed. When the Packers had the great 2010 defense that led them to the Super Bowl, there were still teams running the older version of the West Coast to hide it. However, as teams switched to the modern style invented by McCarthy, Capers’ system was shown to be past its prime. To be honest, Capers should have been fired following that debacle in San Francisco in the divisional playoff round in 2013. But they hung onto him for another five years. Fan could be angry about it, but what’s done is done. Let us instead focus on what’s next.

So what does Mike Pettine bring to the Green Bay Packers? He’s learned that an aggressive defense is the way to go these days. Pettine has never coordinated an NFL defense than finished lower than ninth in the league. This is a great hire. During the early stages of the hunt for new coaches, the Packers scared us. In the end, I think that they made the right choices for their GM, and both of their coordinators. Because of these decisions, we will see a much different Mike McCarthy in 2018, hopefully the “real Mike McCarthy.” 

On October 15^th against the Vikings, Packers “All-World” quarterback Aaron Rodgers broke his collarbone, and would not return until December 17^th against the Panthers, losing that game. The Rodgers injury exposed the flaws within this organization, as the Packers finished below .500 for the just the third time since 1991. This injury brought about an off-season of change that was long overdue. Ted Thompson was reassigned to finish out his contract, and will retire at the end of next season. Longtime defensive coordinator Dom Capers, offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett, quarterbacks coach Alex Van Pelt, defensive line coach Mike Trgovac, and inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley were all fired or did not have their contracts renewed. The Packers organization is also hoping that most of the rest of their remaining assistants leave to pursue other opportunities. They have already hired a new GM, Brian Guteknust, and settled on a defensive coordinator, Mike Pettine. To make sense of all of this, we called upon our insightful in-house analyst T.J. Bryce to give us his opinion.  

For some of you that have been lucky enough to have experienced it, you might want to think back at the time when you had ridden on Disney’s Space Mountain, the fast-paced indoor roller coaster attraction at the Magic Kingdom. It is a fast-paced, thrilling fun ride, in the dark, so you don’t see what’s ahead of you. All you feel is the very real sensation of going up and down.

Actually, every Packers fan in the world has been on that ride since week one back in September. We finally got off the ride, two nights ago at about 8:30 p.m. U.S. Central time, when the Packers announced Mike Pettine would be their new defensive coordinator. Before proverbial “ride” started, the first five weeks of the season went as expected. After their thrilling comeback in Dallas, 2017 had the makings of a very special season. But the very next week that broken collarbone changed not only the Packers season, but the landscape for most of the league. In the days following the news Aaron Rodgers would likely miss the remainder of the season, the roller coaster ride took a sharp turn. For about a month, it stayed like that. But then strange things started to happen. The Wild Card contenders in the NFC started to lose. The Packers pulled off minor miracles two weeks in a row, in overtime, against the Buccaneers and the Browns. The Browns overtime win was perhaps less than a miracle, but more a product of quite possibly the dumbest decision an NFL quarterback has made in recent memory. That’s when DeShone Kizer decided to launch the ball straight up in the air on third down, on his team’s one and only overtime possession.

The stage was set, and the roller coaster ride took another sharp exciting turn. Aaron Rodgers “Sat Up,” just as The Undertaker has in many a match over his near 30-year career in the WWE. Rodgers came off injured reserve and started in Carolina. Three interceptions later, the roller coaster ride took a nosedive. The very next night, Buccaneers kicker Patrick Murray’s kick went wide right against Atlanta, and the Packers missed the playoffs for the first time since the second Bush administration. The following day, Rodgers went back onto injured reserve (with a few barks from other teams regarding protocol,) and the hapless Packers lost their last two games, finishing below .500 for just the third time in recent memory. Those last two games were “auto pilot” games for most of the players, and it showed.

After the Packers embarrassed themselves in Detroit in week 17, fans were all geared up for change. It really didn’t happen at first, and the roller coaster ride took another noise dive. Ted Thompson showed no indication of pushing Mike McCarthy make any changes, and McCarthy took “forever” to decide to finally fire Dom Capers. The way they went about it, is what I believe to be the last straw for the “higher ups” in the organization. For a good 36 hours after the Lions game was over, they were acting as if it was no big deal, nothing happened, the ship was not sinking, and everything’s fine. They fired Capers, and then basically said they would replace him when they got around to it, possibly with an assistant.

That is when Mark Murphy said “Enough is enough.” and the roller coaster ride took an exciting turn for the better. Murphy marched into Thompson’s office Monday night and told him he was being relieved of his GM duties, effective immediately. This kicked McCarthy into gear, and in the following days he fired most of his coaching staff, including both coordinators, and many of his assistants. But then the roller coaster ride took another turn for the worse. Murphy seemed determined to name the Packers cap manager and contract negotiator Russ Ball the new general manager, because of their past relationship, and because Thompson told him too. Of course Thompson would want Ball to get the nod. If things took a turn for the better, he could still take the credit. The fan base wanted Eliot Wolf, the prodigal son of Ron Wolf, the man who brought the Packers out of the basement and into prosperity in the 90’s. None of this mattered, because Brian Guteknust “wowed” in his interview, and the Packers chose their best scout as their next GM. Crisis avoided. Having their cap manager as their GM would have been an EPIC mistake. Your GM should be your best scout, not a financial guy. At first, I wanted Wolf, but then I realized, Guteknust is 10 years older than Wolf, and unlike Wolf, he has played and coached football before becoming a scout. From what we understand, he is going to be more aggressive than his predecessor in player acquisition, not just (in my opinion) over-relying on draft choices. That is the change they needed. With that settled, the attention turned back to the coaching staff.

I have been calling for McCarthy to be fired since the middle of the 2015 season. After the decisions he has made this off season, and the way the rest of the coaching market has unfolded, I’m not so sure anymore. My two (realistic) choices to replace him were Jim Harbaugh and Jon Gruden. I thought either one would just jump at the chance to coach the Green Bay Packers and a healthy Aaron Rodgers in 2018. I was wrong. Jim Harbaugh said he was not ready to return to the NFL, and the Raiders threw stupid money at Jon Gruden. The raiders spent 100 million dollars for a coach. Let that sink in. There is no way in their right mind the Packers should even consider trying to match that. Aside from those two, there really aren’t any coaches out there who would be considered to be an upgrade for this upcoming season, especially after the decisions McCarthy made in the hiring department.

As I’ve told a few select people recently, we have the tale of two Mike McCarthy’s. The Mike McCarthy of the last few years has been a lifeless, emotionless, predictable coach. I want the real Mike McCarthy back. The original Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy, is a brilliant, innovative, unpredictable genius, with exciting but balanced game plans, running an unstoppable offense, and a man who knows exactly what button to push, at what time, with each player. When the real Mike McCarthy walked the Packers sideline, all of those traits were apparent. You know who made it all go? A man named Joe Philbin. We’ll stop right here, and return to this subject next week.