Training Camp: the Story So Far
I hope you're enjoying training camp so far, because I'm having a great time. In fact, I'm having such a good time that I've compiled a list of no more than FOUR things I'm thinking about as far as training camp goes. 1. Vine is awesome.
Seeing six second clips of practice is great, because it brings a little bit of Nitschke Field to wherever you are. Whether you're at home or at work or out at the mall with your smartphone, you now have the ability to see what's actually happening at the Packers' practice, like Terrell Manning lighting up Eddie Lacy on this inside hand-off:
https://twitter.com/WesHod/status/361496207777996800
If a hit is forceful enough that you can almost feel it through a video clip shot with a phone, it must be a good one.
2. EVERYTHING should be taken with a grain of salt.
You should know this already if you're a seasoned sports fan, but every sports reporter brings a bit of their own editorial flavor to their writing, subconsciously or otherwise. Take, for example, this five-part Twitter description of a single play during Sunday's practice. All these tweets were sent almost simultaneously describing one play:
https://twitter.com/TyDunne/status/361497518783213569
https://twitter.com/MikeVandermause/status/361497553331683329
https://twitter.com/WesHod/status/361497561653182468
https://twitter.com/TomSilverstein/status/361497600945438721
https://twitter.com/RobDemovsky/status/361497627763818497
Each of these writers saw the exact same thing, but they all brought different interpretations. Four of them put the drop on Cobb, but Tom Silverstein called it an underthrown ball. Tyler Dunne, though, said the ball was right in Cobb's breadbasket. Wes Hodkiewicz and Rob Demovsky both pointed out that Cobb has struggled with drops in the past. All seem to imply that Cobb was wide open, but none of them mentioned who Cobb beat.
The point is, none of them are wrong, but all of them are interpreting what they're seeing. Keep that in mind as you read the reports coming out of training camp, including whatever gets written here.
3. Is Eddie Lacy fat?
Through the magic of Twitter, we learned Monday that Eddie Lacy was morbidly obese and likely to die of diabetes at any moment. The picture proves it:
https://twitter.com/davidpwoods/statuses/361935429127241729
Clearly he has an eating disorder and all those rumors we heard before the draft about his questionable work ethic are true!
Oh...wait...
https://twitter.com/packers/status/361498066022436864
Same player, same practice, and about 40 pounds lighter. He also looks unremarkable (and significantly smaller than number 48, Jonathan Amosa) in this video from Tyler Dunne:
https://twitter.com/TyDunne/status/361483904743505920
And if you look at this shot from move-in day, you'd think he was at risk of wasting away at any moment:
https://twitter.com/PGevansiegle/status/360176319432097792
So is he fat? Well, he's not skinny, but let's not borrow trouble panicking about someone's alleged weight in July. Besides, the Packers aren't exactly known for having the skinniest players in the world. They once employed Nick Luchey:
I know stories can be sparse just four days into training camp, but "Rookie Running Back is Fat" is pushing it.
4. Clay Matthews has the best fans.
This needs to explanation.
https://twitter.com/packers/status/361480136157196288