THE most interesting game of this post season including XLVI.
I don’t think there’s any doubt that either the Giants or the Packers will beat the ‘9ers next week; after all, without 5 turn overs by the Saints last night, they wouldn’t have won. The Giants are capable of sucking like that, there’s a reason they had to play the Falcons last week. The Packers on the other hand had a near perfect season losing but once (to the Chiefs– wtf?).
All year long I root, to the extent I pay any attention at all to Throwball (a brain damaged collection of steroid addicts, and those are the owners), for two teams- the Giants out of geography and the Packers.
Now I am prejudiced by my lineage, I’m only half troll; but if any team can be said to be ‘America’s Team’, it’s the Packers.
The Packers are the last vestige of “small town teams” that were once common in the NFL during the 1920s and 1930s. Founded in 1919 by Earl “Curly” Lambeau (hence the name Lambeau Field on which the team plays) and George Whitney Calhoun, the Green Bay Packers can trace their lineage to other semi-professional teams in Green Bay dating back to 1896. In 1919 and 1920 the Packers competed as a semi-professional football team against clubs from around Wisconsin and the Midwest. They joined the American Professional Football Association (APFA) in 1921, the forerunner to what is known today as the National Football League (NFL). The Packers are the only non-profit, community-owned major league professional sports team in the United States.
Based on the original “Articles of Incorporation for the (then) Green Bay Football Corporation” put into place in 1923, if the Packers franchise was sold, after the payment of all expenses, any remaining monies would go to the Sullivan-Wallen Post of the American Legion in order to build “a proper soldier’s memorial.” This stipulation was enacted to ensure the club remained in Green Bay and that there could never be any financial enhancement for the shareholders. At the November 1997 annual meeting, shareholders voted to change the beneficiary from the Sullivan-Wallen Post to the Green Bay Packers Foundation.
In 1950, the Packers held a stock sale to again raise money to support the team. In 1956, area voters approved the construction of a new stadium, owned by the city. As with its predecessor, the new field was named City Stadium, but after the death of founder Lambeau in 1965, on September 11, 1965, the stadium was renamed Lambeau Field.
Another stock sale occurred late in 1997 and early in 1998. It added 105,989 new shareholders and raised over $24 million, money used for the Lambeau Field redevelopment project. Priced at $200 per share, fans bought 120,010 shares during the 17-week sale, which ended March 16, 1998. As of June 8, 2005, 111,921 people (representing 4,749,925 shares) can lay claim to a franchise ownership interest. Shares of stock include voting rights, but the redemption price is minimal, no dividends are ever paid, the stock cannot appreciate in value, and stock ownership brings no season ticket privileges.
No shareholder may own over 200,000 shares, a safeguard to ensure that no individual can assume control of the club. To run the corporation, a board of directors is elected by the stockholders. The board of directors in turn elect a seven-member Executive Committee (officers) of the corporation, consisting of a president, vice president, treasurer, secretary and three members-at-large. The president is the only officer to draw compensation; The balance of the committee is sitting “gratis.”
As American as that pie the Apple Knockers make when they come to God’s Country to shoot at stuff and leave their money behind.
I’m looking forward to a Green and Gold repeat.
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of long sleeves out there.
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A mite distracted.
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It’s hard to believe the Packers are going to lose this game. At home. Just wow.
by Jacobs.
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We’ll be here for the Championship games next weekend and then on the Super Bowl XLVI on February.
Look for diaries on SB Party Food for meat eaters & vegans!
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