Slick,
I beg to differ. Now I am not saying that you or your father were wrong, but just expand your thoughts on how a preseason game has meaning and the results of such game can have direct results on a teams future.
I would say the Bears pre-season game yesterday will have meaning to the Bears season. It was an injury, but a devistating injury that came as the result of the game and perhaps even a missed assignment.
I would say that Brett's performance in a pre-season game with Atlanta meant something. What if he would have impressed the Falcons. The performance in that perseason game changed the way the history of the NFL will be writen.
In the same way that a poor performance or bad break in a NFL pre-season game can have meaning, so can a good or great performance. A game like the game against the chargers will have meaning in a game in October when the Packers are 4th and 4 at the 36 yrd line. Shermans decision go for it, punt, or kick the field goal will be effected by a clutch kick in a pre-season game in August.
Even if the Packers had lost to the Chargers there may have been one defining moment or event in that loss that may have been the catalyst that started the momentum of jelling the offensive line from individuals into a unit.
It is of my opinon that the Pre-season has meaning. Some times we may not see it, and some times we will be able to look back and say something like; "Ever since he made that hit in the pre-season game he has confidence and is a different player."
Think of it this way....
When Rembrandt painted "Militia Company" in 1652.... Was it his brush stroke that made it a great painting? Or was it the way he mixed his colors before he began painting?
RP