*Two years after he co-founded the Packers with Curly Lambeau, George Calhoun began writing a piece called The Dope Sheet, which served as the official press release and game program from 1921-24.
Honoring Calhoun, the first publicity director, the Packers are running this weekly feature as their release, which is being made available to fans exclusively on Packers.com.
A complete edition of the Dope Sheet will be available each week during the season in PDF format, located in the Packers.com Game Centers.*
Visit **www.PackersTrainingCamp.com** for more training camp information!
Here are some highlights from the Packers Training Camp Dope Sheet:
CIRCLED IN RED ON THE FAMILY CALENDAR: Earlier this summer, Milwaukee's Summerfest, the nation's largest music festival, brought to Wisconsin Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Mary J. Blige, Pearl Jam, Nine Inch Nails and Alan Jackson. And this month's Experimental Aviation Association (EAA) "AirVenture," the most spectacular airshow on earth, will bring the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels to nearby Oshkosh.
-But in this state, the most anticipated event on most family calendars is Friday - when the Green Bay Packers open training camp. Many homes look forward to it as an annual vacation.
-Packers training camp, now in its 61st year, brings an estimated 111,000 visitors to Lambeau Field and the Packers' nearby practice fields, according to the Packer Country Visitor and Convention Bureau. Many of those visitors travel more than 150 miles to Green Bay. RVs with license plates from all over the country line the Lambeau parking lot each week during camp.
-What's more, Packers camp delivers a $66 million impact on the local economy, based on figures supplied by the Packer Country VCB.
-And none of those figures factor in the team's annual intra-squad scrimmage, 'Family Night, Presented by FOX 11,' the NFL's most popular practice which annually sells every available seat in Lambeau Field.
-Last year, the Packer Country VCB conducted visitor intercept surveys, partnering with the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay's Professional Programs in Business Administration to reveal the above numbers.
-The study also showed that the average travel party size was 3.9 people. Most are traveling with family, friends or both.
-A total of 100 percent stated that their visit either met or exceeded their expectations, with 82 percent saying that they were very likely or definitely visiting the Green Bay area again in the next year.
CAMP McCARTHY: Training camp under Mike McCarthy will attempt to simulate a game-like atmosphere as much as possible.
-One aspect of those game-like conditions will be prime-time practices. Green Bay will practice under the lights on Clarke Hinkle Field eight times this summer.
-The first of those night practices, a "Friday Night Lights" this week, kicks off the four-week camp and the Packers' preparations for McCarthy's first season in Green Bay.
-And the team won't just hit the ground running, they'll be hitting, too. Having installed their new playbooks during two May mini-camps and June organized team activities, the Packers will don full pads for that first practice, a 6:30 p.m. affair Friday.
-Plus, like those offseason workouts, McCarthy will start rookies and veterans from the same point. Early warmup practices for rookies are a thing of the past. The first session is a full-squad practice.
-Traditional "two-a-days" are a thing of the past as well. Those night sessions are part of McCarthy's new "2-1-2-1" training camp schedule, used by a handful of teams around the NFL. In an effort to practice more efficiently, Green Bay in general will practice twice one day and once the next. On days when the team practices twice, the first session will take place at 9 a.m. and the second at 6:30 p.m., finishing under the lights. In between, the club will break down film of the morning practice. Then, on the following day, the Packers will report in the morning to evaluate the previous night's practice, hit the field at 2 p.m., and return to the film room that night.
Important dates on the preseason calendar:
- Saturday, Aug. 5 - Family Night intra-squad scrimmage, 6:30 p.m., Lambeau Field
- Saturday, Aug. 26 - Last practice open to public, 10 a.m., Hinkle Field
- Tuesday, Aug. 29 - NFL-mandated roster reduction, to 75 players, by 3 p.m. CDT
- Saturday, Sept. 2 - NFL-mandated roster reduction, to 53 players, by 3 p.m. CDT
NEW SCHEDULE FRIENDLY TO FANS: The new camp schedule creates several opportunities for fans. On days with two practices (morning and night), fans now will have more mid-day flexibility to explore several shopping and dining options offered by the area. As they have in years past, fans also will have the opportunity to visit the Packers Hall of Fame, take a stadium tour and enjoy Curly's Pub and other Atrium eateries, all at Lambeau Field. With the element of night practices, other offerings will be developed for fans in the Atrium to help plan their schedules.
-Also, the night sessions offer those who live in the immediate area more opportunities to see the team practice after the workday concludes.
THE TRADITION CONTINUES: The Packers open their 61st organized training camp Friday. In 1946, Curly Lambeau began preseason practices at Rockwood Lodge in northeast Green Bay.
-Affable Scooter McLean spent one year as the Packers' head coach, 1958, and Green Bay went 1-10-1, the NFL's worst record (ironically, six future Hall of Famers were already in place, one year before Vince Lombardi arrived in 1959).
-McLean's legacy, however, lives with the team every summer, because he started that ill-fated '58 season with the team's first training camp at St. Norbert College. The private school, in nearby De Pere, Wis., doesn't host any on-field activities, but it does serve as the team base for living arrangements (the Packers use their regular practice, meeting and locker-room facilities on the Lambeau Field campus). The Packers haven't dramatically changed their preseason logistics in nearly 50 years.
LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN: With several intriguing roster battles, this year figures to go down as one of the more competitive training camps in recent Packers memory.
-Training camp is no longer a time to get in shape for the regular season. That took place during the Packers' offseason workout program, which drew record attendance this past winter/spring.
-No question, competition will be intense. And that's no coincidence. General Manager Ted Thompson has loaded the roster with 91 players, 21 of which were drafted in the past two years alone.
-The school of thought, as it was when Bum Phillips used to bring in players to push Thompson for his job as a linebacker with the Houston Oilers, is that competition makes a team better.
