Greatest Moments in Green Bay Packers Football History (1998)

From Amazon.com: “It all began with Curly Lambeau's Acme Packers in 1919. Since then, the Green Bay Packers have become the most storied team in the history of professional football. After joining the National Football League in 1921, the Packers have gone on to win 12 NFL championships. Greatest Moments in Green Bay Packers Football History recounts the Packers' 40 biggest games and those legendary heroes who built Titletown. Written by Todd Korth, the editor of Packer Report, and illustrated with more than 100 of the most memorable photos of this special team and its immortal players, Greatest Moments in Green Bay Packers Football History is a journey into the past which all Packer fans will enjoy.” 

Here are a couple of sample spreads to show the focus of the book. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Greatest Moments in Green Bay Packers Football History

By Todd Korth (1998)

Taylor Trade Publishing

144 pages

The Packer Way (1998)

From Amazon.com: “Most of those who truly appreciate the intricacies of sports and business — and the increasing fusion of the two — are at least somewhat familiar with the way football's Green Bay Packers have built a model sports business during the 1990s. Far fewer, though, are aware of just how much the team's ongoing success has resulted from moves made by its current executive vice president and general manager, Ron Wolf. In The Packer Way: The Nine Stepping Stones to Building a Winning Organization, Wolf and sports journalist Paul Attner tell how this storied NFL franchise recovered from a prolonged downturn with the adaptation of core principles that can also be applied by entrepreneurs and CEOs in startups and major companies. Each of the principles is illustrated with examples drawn from Wolf's Packer experiences and further clarified in chapter-ending point-by-point recaps. Non-fans may not always see relevance in the football references, but those who follow the game will appreciate and enjoy stories such as those about the process of hiring quarterback Brett Favre and coach Mike Holmgren.” 

The front and rear flaps. 

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

The Packer Way: Nine Stepping Stones to Building a Winning Organization
By Ron Wolf  and Paul Attner (1998)
St. Martins Press; 1st edition
260 pages

Motivation Lombardi Style (1998)

Motivation Lombardi Style is another one of those business-motivational booklets that can be used to inspire your employees on to bigger and greater accomplishments. We found our copy in an airport while on a business trip back in the late 1990’s. It is full of Lombardi wisdom that is, of course, timeless in either business or football. It is a nice thumb-through read and maybe not essential to a Packers book collection, but a nice addition nonetheless. Here are a few sample spreads:

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Motivation Lombardi Style

Successories, Incorporated (1998)

48 pages

Price Guide to Packers Memorabilia (1998)

Getting back into the series on books about the Green Bay Packers, we come to this handy guide which, while now 15 years old, can give some baselines to start with when figuring out the value of some of your Packers memorabilia. The Price Guide to Packers Memorabilia was the first of its kind back then, and we're not sure than anyone has tried to outdo or update it since. The author started the first Packers memorabilia store that we came into contact with many years before this book came out, then sold it and after a break came back to Green Bay and started another one, and then sold that business as well. We think there might have been a third one as well, but we're not sure. The best place in Titletown now for Packers memorabilia is:

Packer City Antiques

The back cover.

Find your copy here.

Price Guide to Packers Memorabilia

By John Carpentier (1998)

Krause Publications Inc.

302 pages

1978 Team Highlights Film

Here’s another nostalgic little film to enjoy — the Green Bay Packers’ 1978 highlights film (produced by NFL Films). It was Bart Starr’s fourth year as head coach, and 8-7-1 was the team’s final record. It was post-Lombardi year No. 11, and there were still 14 years to wait until the franchise started winning consistently again with the arrival of Mike Holmgren and Ron Wolf.

1971 Season Opener

We were directed by a Facebook™ post to this little film on YouTube™ which presents the highlights of the 1971 season opener between the Packers and the New York Giants. This was the first and last time that a Packers coach (Dan Devine) was hauled off the field on a stretcher. You can enjoy the film here.

Looking Back at Rockwood Lodge

ESPN The Magazine has two great reads on the history of the Packers’ old Rockwood Lodge training facility, and the fire that destroyed it. No matter the circumstances of the blaze, the insurance payout was beneficial to the team at a time that cash was needed. Here are the two links:

Rockwood Lodge — Blaze of Glory

Rockwood Lodge — Leftovers

How awesome would it be to have that truck on the left? 

Spectators watch a Packers practice. 

Curly Lambeau and guest in the lodge’s interior. 

1940’s calisthenics. 

Aerial view of Rockwood Lodge. 

The day of the fire.

This appears in the newsstand issue as well. We know that we’re picking up a copy.

Photo credits: Green Bay Packers/Stiller-Lefebvre; the Henry Lefebvre Collection of the Neville Public Museum of Brown County; Green Bay Press-Gazette Archives

Week 3 TV Map

Here is the TV map for FOX’s coverage (or non-coverage of the Packers-Bengals game) at Noon (GBT) this Sunday. Hopefully, you’re “in the red.” As always, it’s brought to us courtesy of the folks at 506 Sports.

Fun With Game Programs

The Cincinnati Bengals released the cover artwork for this Sunday’s game program cover — when Green Bay travels to The Queen City. We think the Packers should consider having some fun with their covers as well. The glossy photos of current players are nice, but customized, fun subject matter for the game at hand would be even better.

Redskins at Packers

Well, we had planned to provide a plethora of photos from the Packers-Redskins game on Sunday, but with the rain, our expensive camera gear was not put into use. We are offering these several images from our Packerville, U.S.A. iPhone instead. It rained the whole way to Green Bay, then rained all morning, and just as predicted, it stopped just as the game was getting underway. Here, the crowd (much of which waited under the stands until kickoff time), mills about in various types of rain gear. This is taken in the North end zone tunnel looking out towards the field.

The rain didn’t dampen the mood of the crowd, however, and a fine time was had by all. The Green Bay Press Gazette reported only one arrest and a small handful of ejections, proving that almost everyone was there to watch some FOOTBALL.

The Redskins are seen here backed up into their own end zone. They had a rough first half, falling behind 24-0 after 30 minutes of play. 

QB Aaron Rodgers brings the Packers down for one of the several touchdowns scored in “our” (North) end zone. 

The Washington defense tries to stop the Packers… unsuccessfully. 

Looking up at the North end zone scoreboard at the end of the game, showing the final score. 

A view of the Lambeau Field surface and the new South end zone stands as the teams head off the field following the 38-20 Green Bay victory. Our next game is the October 6th contest with the Detroit Lions. Hopefully, it will be on a rain-less day and we can take a bunch of photos to post here on the blog.

Lastly, here is the program cover from the Packers-Redskins game.

The Man Behind The Camera Exhibit

On our trip to Titletown for the Seahawks-Packers preseason game, we stayed the night and made a visit to the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame at Lambeau Field the next morning. We’ve been wanting to share this for a while, and finally found the time and ambition to do so. The reason for our visit was two-fold: to make a last(?) swing through the Hall of Fame before the renovations begin, and to see the special exhibit, “The Man Behind The Camera: The Life And Work Of Vernon Biever.” Biever, in case you aren’t a longtime reader of this blog, was the official photographer for the team for decades.

A look at the exhibit as you enter. 

Taking a look around at the entrance. 

Some informational  graphics as you begin making your way through the exhibit.

The main graphic. 

Vernon using some of the latest camera technology available. 

That’s Vernon at right, with QB Bart Starr. 

Some of the cameras used in his work. 

A great wall of sideline photo passes, etc. 

His field pass from the infamous “Ice Bowl” — the 1967 NFL Championship game at Lambeau Field. It’s probably still cold if you were able to touch it.

A pass from Super Bowl I (left), and the ’67 Playoff game against the Los Angeles Rams at Milwaukee County Stadium (right). 

Another “Ice Bowl” pass (left), and one from Super Bowl III (right). 

A pass from the Jan. 4, 1997 Divisional Playoff game at Lambeau Field against the San Francisco 49ers (left), and a pass from Super Bowl XXXI (right).

Some of Vernon’s sideline photo gear. 

A custom Packers stocking hat! 

A cool aspect of the exhibit is the set-up of Vernon’s actual basement darkroom. 

As we said above... 

Darkroom view… 

… another darkroom view. 

Also set up was this part of the basement darkroom where he would sit and view the color slides that were processed in a Milwaukee lab. 

Awesome 1960’s technology. 

Some of Vernon’s awards. 

A slide projector, a martini, and a cigarette… the tools of a successful NFL photographer. 

Some articles about Vernon through the years. 

Looking back towards the front of the exhibit. 

Of course, there were exhibit walls on which hung some of Vernon’s best-known work. Basically, think of any classic, iconic photo of the Packers from the last fifty years, and chances are Vernon took it. 

Imagine… perfect attendance at the first thirty-five Super Bowls. Wow. 

Another view of the exhibit. 

Here are a few other things from our Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame visit. Above is a display in the lobby about the creation of the Packers’ “G” logo.

“Please have a seat… Coach Lombardi will be with you shortly.” 

Yep… thirteen. Count ’em… thirteen. Some people have gone their whole lives with their team never winning a championship.

The inner sanctum of the Hall of Fame — the actual “Hall of Fame.” Here the Super Bowl trophies are displayed, and here are all of the plaques of the enshrines in this place of honor. 

A couple of views of the Super Bowl trophies. 

The plaques of all the enshrinees. 

Lastly, also in the lobby is this gigantic photo of the famed Rockwood Lodge, the training facility of the Green Bay Packers from 1946 through 1949. It is believed to have been the first self-contained team training facility in pro football history.