Were they "Boos" or "Whos?"

[PackFanInSC]

I have heard differing reports of the fan reaction to the pick of Justin Harrell last weekend. Some say that Thompson was booed when he came out for his press conference while others say that the fans were yelling "Who?"

I can understand a fan being disappointed when the player that they wanted was not picked but I cannot understand booing. Chances are anyone who was there did not have the time to run to their computer and look up any information as to if this was a good pick or not. This was the biggest day in this young man's athletic career. He goes from suffering a potentially career-ending injury in his senior season to getting drafted by the Packers. He probably has heard that the Packers have the best fans in the world yet his first impression would be hearing that these supposedly "best fans" are booing him for no other reason than they do not like the position he plays or he was not one of the "sexier" picks (all of whom were a reach at 16).

I know there are those who think that we could have gotten a safety, a TE, a WR, or a RB with that pick. Ted has said time and time again that he is going for the best player available. Every article going into the draft has him saying that you work the board and only get into trouble when you skip down the board and reach for a player based on his position. And he has been ridiculed here by those that say he only takes the BPA at the position of need. Yet we are shocked when he does what he says he would do. I think he prides himself in finding that diamond in the rough that the other teams let slide by and wheeling and dealing to get extra picks. The experts have their opinions and may or may not like our picks. When it comes down to it, though, if they were as good at making the picks as they are talking about those who do, they would be GMs instead of sitting in the studio.

Some will say that the "fans" (and I will use the term loosely) were booing the pick and not the player but the two cannot be separated. To boo the pick is to boo the player that was chosen. Like it or not, these players are Packers and have not even set foot on the field yet to do anything that warrants their being booed. If we are going to support the Packers, we need to live up to the claim of being the "Best Fans in the World'.

Otherwise, there is always Soldier Field.

 

[Pack93z]

Best post of the week yet.. Hats off..

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[Mortfini]

What a post


i think it was 1st of all the pack booing TT
then 2end booing at the pick


at 1st i was like WTF but as people told me about this guy i cooled down

atm its all peoples ideas and thorys we will have to see what training camp brings i feel we may have a chance of winning the SB this year

because think about it 2 seasons ago the steelers did not have the best team no 1 was talking about their chances but they had passion to try to achive somthing for the bus final season

 

[hoos]

Maybe they were yelling Booze! Everyone likes to drink during the draft, especially in Wisconsin.

 

[cheesey]

Maybe they were yelling Booze! Everyone likes to drink during the draft, especially in Wisconsin.

LOL! No.......in Wisconsin they would have been yelling "BEEEEEER!!!" :thumbsup: :rotflmao:

 

[Greg C.]

PackFanInSC: Welcome to the modern world, where anybody who surfs the Web and watches Sportscenter thinks they know more than the GM's do about the draft. We have yet to see how Ted Thompson's draft strategies play out, but I would never boo a draft pick, and I hate to hear that sort of thing. Good post.

 

[Lare]

You raise a good point PFISC, but I think the blame rests more with the Packers public relations department than anyone else.

I really don't think the fans were booing Harrell as much as they were the idea that TT wasn't doing the best thing to improve the team. And it doesn't have anything to do with whether that was correct or not, the point of effective public relations is to deal with what the fans and supporters "think" is reality, more than what "is" reality.

The bottom line is that TT sucks as a communicator, period. And unless the Packers want to be seen on national TV next year with the team being booed out of Lambeau Field the first time they struggle against an opponent, they need to deal with the issue. Somebody needs to address the concerns of the fan base as to where this team is headed, and if TT can't do it they need to find someone who can. This is becoming so common it's getting embarrassing, and embarrassing is costing the organization revenues.

 

[Greg C.]

You raise a good point PFISC, but I think the blame rests more with the Packers public relations department than anyone else.

I really don't think the fans were booing Harrell as much as they were the idea that TT wasn't doing the best thing to improve the team. And it doesn't have anything to do with whether that was correct or not, the point of effective public relations is to deal with what the fans and supporters "think" is reality, more than what "is" reality.

The bottom line is that TT sucks as a communicator, period. And unless the Packers want to be seen on national TV next year with the team being booed out of Lambeau Field the first time they struggle against an opponent, they need to deal with the issue. Somebody needs to address the concerns of the fan base as to where this team is headed, and if TT can't do it they need to find someone who can. This is becoming so common it's getting embarrassing, and embarrassing is costing the organization revenues.

I agree that Thompson is weak when it comes to communicating with the public, but this specific issue, about the draft pick getting booed, is not about communication. I don't want a GM who is going to draft players based on whether the fans will cheer or boo them when they are announced as Packers.

Booing draft picks used to be the sort of thing that might happen in Philadelphia (hello, Donavan McNabb) or New York, but not in Green Bay. It's a shame that Packer fans have sunk to the same level.

 

[mi_keys]

You raise a good point PFISC, but I think the blame rests more with the Packers public relations department than anyone else.

I really don't think the fans were booing Harrell as much as they were the idea that TT wasn't doing the best thing to improve the team. And it doesn't have anything to do with whether that was correct or not, the point of effective public relations is to deal with what the fans and supporters "think" is reality, more than what "is" reality.

The bottom line is that TT sucks as a communicator, period. And unless the Packers want to be seen on national TV next year with the team being booed out of Lambeau Field the first time they struggle against an opponent, they need to deal with the issue. Somebody needs to address the concerns of the fan base as to where this team is headed, and if TT can't do it they need to find someone who can. This is becoming so common it's getting embarrassing, and embarrassing is costing the organization revenues.

So basically you want TT to fetch us tampons and some midol every time we're PMSing...

"I really don't think the fans were booing Harrell as much as they were the idea that TT wasn't doing the best thing to improve the team."
...that would imply that the fans think they know more than Thompson and that they think Harrell isn't worth the pick. So how is that not an offense to Harrell? Besides, whether it's a bad pick or not booing is still a **** move and that's the issue here, not TT. Any fan who boos picks should be ashamed and are ENTIRELY responsible for their own **** moves.



BTW, we ranked 7th in revenue last year, one of our highest if not highest rank in franchise history.
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2006/06/17/1/