Rating this season a success..at what point?

[Sanguine camper]

Lombardi said "You play the game to win championships". There is no greater source for football wisdom. Success is defined as a championship. If you win one you have been successful if not, you are a loser.

 

[Half Empty]

We are already in the top 1/4 of the league with 8 teams left of the 32. That's in the history books as well with the division championship... That's all good to me.

But this team has a lot more potential. Despite the bumpy 10-6 season, this team is built to win now. The young guys are playing good. Plenty of veteran leadership. We still have the #1 and then most likely #2 seeds left to make it to the big show where we will most likely play steelers and big bens 2 superbowls, or Brady and his 4 superbowls..... Long road ahead.

First bold is what I sometimes use to defend my own Lombardi-or-bust stance. How many NFL championships do the Packers have? I'll bet you'd have the right answer if you were asked that in your sleep. How many Super Bowls have they been in, how many wins? Again, any even casual Packer fan knows that. Now, other than the current streak of playoff appearances, which is too recent to qualify, start asking how many division championships, playoff appearances, winning seasons, et. al., and I have to believe it would be much harder for most to answer correctly. If they win it all this year, we'll all add the 2016 season to our auto-memory; if they don't, we'll have to look it up when asked in a decade or so.

The second bold is the other reason that total success is the only success. After the recent run, even I am getting dangerously close to being optimistic. They were in top few to be a SB favorite at the start of the season, and they're playing lights-out now, so I just can't be satisfied with this season if they lose again this season.

As before, satisfaction in sports is like satisfaction in anything else - whatever makes you happy is fine. The key is for folks like me not to disparage those for whom it's all gravy from here on out, while they need to let me set my own goals.

 

[Half Empty]

Lombardi said "You play the game to win championships". There is no greater source for football wisdom. Success is defined as a championship. If you win one you have been successful if not, you are a loser.

Don't forget the ever-popular "Winning isn't everything, it's the only thing". Not an original Lombardism, but one which he did use.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

First bold is what I sometimes use to defend my own Lombardi-or-bust stance. How many NFL championships do the Packers have? I'll bet you'd have the right answer if you were asked that in your sleep. How many Super Bowls have they been in, how many wins? Again, any even casual Packer fan knows that. Now, other than the current streak of playoff appearances, which is too recent to qualify, start asking how many division championships, playoff appearances, winning seasons, et. al., and I have to believe it would be much harder for most to answer correctly. If they win it all this year, we'll all add the 2016 season to our auto-memory; if they don't, we'll have to look it up when asked in a decade or so.

The second bold is the other reason that total success is the only success. After the recent run, even I am getting dangerously close to being optimistic. They were in top few to be a SB favorite at the start of the season, and they're playing lights-out now, so I just can't be satisfied with this season if they lose again this season.

As before, satisfaction in sports is like satisfaction in anything else - whatever makes you happy is fine. The key is for folks like me not to disparage those for whom it's all gravy from here on out, while they need to let me set my own goals.

So what you are saying is, "If you ain't first. your last"?

 

[Half Empty]

So what you are saying is, "If you ain't first. your last"?

Yup. One team wins, 31 don't.

 

[PackerDNA]

Yup. One team wins, 31 don't.

Another term would be" also rans." Sorry , but this schtick about getting double digit wins and in the playoffs is nice, but it ain't cuttin' it. Over a third of the league makes the playoffs. And a team with a generational QB should do more than go 10-6, barely make it in , then win one game or be one and done. Title or bust.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

10-6 or division champ should be par for GB as long as Rodgers is our QB. He has won 5 of the last 6 divisional championships, after starting 0-3 as the starter.

He has completed 8 full seasons as starter and has won a superbowl....12.5% of all the superbowls in that time. We are also in the divisional playoffs right now, in his 9th season...

 

[Arod2gjdd]

I'm greedy, after all the heartbreak the past few years and with Aaron Rodgers as our QB, I at least want to WATCH the Pack in the Super Bowl, would be exhilarating considering where we came from. Also considering where we came from, I am grateful just to be able to watch a meaningful, exciting football game in Dallas on January 15, 2017.

 

[PackerDNA]

You can rack up all the 2nd tier accomplishments and shine them up in a big, pretty package as much as you like. In the end, it's championships-of the world, not division- that will be remembered and rightfully so. It is the goal.

 

[Half Empty]

10-6 or division champ should be par for GB as long as Rodgers is our QB. He has won 5 of the last 6 divisional championships, after starting 0-3 as the starter.

He has completed 8 full seasons as starter and has won a superbowl....12.5% of all the superbowls in that time. We are also in the divisional playoffs right now, in his 9th season...

Lots of numbers, but I still can't tell - at what point do you consider this season a success?

 

[Packer Brother]

It's only a "success" if we win the SB. We have a HOF QB and MM is considered a top five coach. If the Packers lose one of the next two games, it's all for not.

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

Lombardi said "You play the game to win championships". There is no greater source for football wisdom. Success is defined as a championship. If you win one you have been successful if not, you are a loser.

I believe that was very true back in the Lombardi era (when I viewed it as a true sport). Now, in the entertainment era I don't really don't have a specific line in the sand. If they are playing well, without a ton of turnovers and errors with a winning season, I figure I got my moneys worth. I appreciate every additional game in the post season.

DS

 

[Poppa San]

The bar has been raised so high that unless Murphy is waving the Lombardi after the SB, the season is a failure. We are far beyond the era when making the playoffs or even the NFCCG is a measure of success.

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Lots of numbers, but I still can't tell - at what point do you consider this season a success?

yes. Its at least Par at this point.

 

[AKCheese]

Its a QB driven league, we have one of the best QB's yet we barely make the playoffs. If we win a Super Bowl is the season a success? Sure it is. But this franchise is not squared away. We got hot a few years ago and won a championship, but with a premier QB, we are not an excellent team. We are what we are top of the middle third, bottom of the top third. Only thing that can pull "successful" out of 10-6 in a weak division is to run the table the rest of the way.

 

[BrokenArrow]

Lombardi said "You play the game to win championships". There is no greater source for football wisdom. Success is defined as a championship. If you win one you have been successful if not, you are a loser.

When did Lombardi say that? I have a 6 books on Lombardi and have searched the internet for that quote and the only place I found it was this post and another one from you 3 years ago. Just curious of the source because I love Vince and have tried to soak up as much information and knowledge of him as I can. Always excited for a chance to learn more!

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

This season is a success NOW in my opinion. There are fans of 24 teams who would give their eye-teeth for where we're at. I'm along for the ride as long as it lasts ... and guys, not for one minute did I think the 2010 team was a Super Bowl roster. Enjoy the ride. It's all good.

If we turn this run into a SB win, which I really believe we will, there shall be no more talk about "Wasting Rodgers's Prime." As disappointing as it is not to have more than 2 SB wins since 1992, that phrase is still ridiculous and tiring.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

Aaron Rodgers have saved a lot of jobs around greenbay. How long has the D been developing? This franchise shouldnt be struggling every year to make it to playoffs.

I don't call 15-1 in 2011, 11-5 in 2012, and 12-4 in 2014 struggling. 2013 may have been but when your star QB is gone half the season, that's usually what happens. These last 2 years IMO have been an anomaly of the Mike McCarthy era.

And call it struggling if you want, but at least they're actually making the playoffs unlike A LOT of other teams out there that are supposed to and don't.

 

[Sunshinepacker]

When your favorite football team has the best QB in the NFL, a Super Bowl is a successful season.

 

[Croak]

I take the view, personally, that any day your elbows aren't knocking pine is a good day. So on the team level, to watch these boys go through an epic turn around and even make it to the play offs in spite of the adversity, makes it a successful season. Just my point of view.

 

[Poppa San]

that any day your elbows aren't knocking pine is a good day.

The reference is obscure. Is that like pushing up daisies? Worm Food? Long sleep?

 

[Croak]

The reference is obscure. Is that like pushing up daisies? Worm Food? Long sleep?

Yep

 

[GreenBaySlacker]

Yep

Cherry wood is very resistant to weathering.... Pine not so much... Heartwood from northern white cedar is very good also. But the sapwood is some of the worst.

 

[Poppa San]

Cherry wood is very resistant to weathering.... Pine not so much... Heartwood from northern white cedar is very good also. But the sapwood is some of the worst.

But the reference goes back to frontier days with the pine box.

 

[Half Empty]

If we turn this run into a SB win, which I really believe we will, there shall be no more talk about "Wasting Rodgers's Prime." As disappointing as it is not to have more than 2 SB wins since 1992, that phrase is still ridiculous and tiring.

Did you forget to add the IMO?