Packerville Turns 14

Today, January 28th, marks 14 years since the original Packerville, U.S.A. blog staked a claim on the internet. 2,271 posts later, it remains stop for Packers fans to find things they may not see elsewhere. We’ve since expanded our social media presence, and hope to continue all of our efforts for many years to come!

The Packers Thank Us

NFC Championship — Bucs at Packers

Well, that was as painful as an NFC Championship game loss could be. Maybe more than the 2015 game at Seattle. Instead of ranting on for several paragraphs, I'll just boil it down to a few words: Disappointing. Inexcusable. Questionable Coaching. Wasted Opportunity. Choke. Embarrassment. Are we the Vikings or Bills of the NFC Championship Game in the last seven years? The Packers had a Patriots'-like opportunity to win five Super Bowls in Rodgers’ career so far (and ironically, several of those chances would’ve been against New England). The Packers set themselves up with everything they wanted for this game, and then... the same result. Again.

And what do we think of Aaron Rodgers' future in Green Bay after this? Much analysis of that is going on now with his demeanor and comments after the game. If he wants to leave and finish his career elsewhere, the questions are all financial involving salary cap hits, etc., but anything can happen. At this point, who knows. All we do know is that this team cannot reach the Super Bowl no matter what they do. And that will sit and fester with Packers fans for decades.

NFC Championship Game Weather

Buccaneers vs. Packers Game Program

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even with several thousand fans at the stadium for the past two weeks, the Packers have produced no printed game programs this season. But, they have provided digital versions for all to enjoy free of charge. Here is the cover for tomorrow's NFC Championship Game vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. You can view the entire program here.

Hopefully, there will be actual programs in the future for those of us who have collected one from every Packers game they have attended. For me, that’s 168 games... and programs.

Buccaneers vs. Packers Rankings

Buccaneers vs. Packers Series Capsule

Buccaneers vs Packers Capsule

Super Bowl berth at stake as top-seeded Packers host Bucs

By The Associated Press

January 22, 2021

TAMPA BAY (13-5) at GREEN BAY (14-3)

TIME/TV — Sunday, 3:05 p.m. ET, Fox

OPENING LINE — Packers by 3 ½

RECORD VS. SPREAD — Buccaneers 11-7; Packers 11-6

SERIES RECORD — Packers lead 33-22-1

LAST MEETING — Buccaneers beat Packers 38-10 in Tampa, Oct. 18, 2020

LAST WEEK — Buccaneers beat Saints 30-20; Packers beat Rams 32-18

BUCCANEERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (7), RUSH (28-T), PASS (2).

BUCCANEERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (6), RUSH (1), PASS (21).

PACKERS OFFENSE — OVERALL (5), RUSH (8), PASS (9).

PACKERS DEFENSE — OVERALL (9), RUSH (13-T), PASS (7).

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — This is the second playoff meeting between Tampa Bay and Green Bay. The Packers beat the Bucs 21-7 in a divisional playoff game at Green Bay on Jan. 4, 1998… This marks the first postseason matchup between Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and Bucs QB Tom Brady. They have met three times in the regular season, with Brady’s teams owning a 2-1 edge… Brady is making a league-record 14th conference championship game appearance, his first in the NFC. He went 9-4 in AFC title games with the New England Patriots… Brady holds postseason record for starts (43), victories (32), completions (1,065), passing yards (11,968), passing touchdowns (77) and Super Bowl titles (6)… A win would enable Brady to join Peyton Manning, Kurt Warner and Craig Morton as the only quarterback to lead two separate franchises into the Super Bowl… The Bucs have won a franchise-record seven consecutive road games, including playoff wins over Washington and New Orleans. With a win at Green Bay, they’ll become the first team to advance to a Super Bowl that will be played in its home stadium. ...With LB Devin White leading the way, Tampa Bay’s defense forced four turnovers in last week’s divisional-round win over the Saints. The Bucs have scored a league-high 27 points off five takeaways this postseason… It’s Tampa Bay’s fourth NFC title game appearance, first since their Super Bowl championship run 18 years ago… Tampa Bay led the NFL in run defense during the regular season and limited Aaron Jones to 15 yards on 10 carries in its Oct. 18 victory over the Packers… Rodgers went 16 of 35 for 160 yards with two interceptions and no touchdowns in the regular-season loss to Tampa Bay. In the Packers’ other 16 games, he has completed 71.9% of his passes for 4,435 yards with 50 touchdowns and three interceptions…Rodgers is one of four All-Pro selections from Green Bay. The others are WR Davante Adams, Packers OT David Bakhtiari (injured) and C Corey Linsley… Adams led the NFL with 18 regular-season touchdown catches despite missing two games with a hamstring injury. He also caught a touchdown pass in the Packers’ 32-18 playoff victory over the Los Angeles Rams last week… Green Bay committed a league-low 11 turnovers during the regular season. The Packers have committed just two turnovers during their seven-game winning streak… The Packers are in the NFC championship game for the fourth time in their last seven seasons, though they haven’t reached the Super Bowl since their 2010 championship season. Green Bay’s 2014 team lost an NFC championship game at Seattle. The 2016 team lost a conference championship game at Atlanta. Last season, the Packers fell 37-20 at San Francisco in the NFC title match… The Packers scored an NFL-leading 31.8 points per game during the regular season… Packers OLB Za’Darius Smith had 12 ½ sacks during the regular season and contributed one more against the Rams… Packers DT Kenny Clark and OLB Rashan Gary each made 1 ½ sacks against the Rams… Fantasy tip: The Bucs showed they could run the ball on Green Bay back in October, when Ronald Jones rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns. The trick is guessing how the Bucs will distribute carries after Jones and Leonard Fournette shared the load last week at New Orleans. The guess here is that Fournette gets more fantasy points than Jones on Sunday.

Former GM Ted Thompson Passes Away

Ted Thompson, 68, GM when Packers won last Super Bowl, dies

Associated Press

January 21, 2021

Ted Thompson, whose 13-year run as Green Bay Packers general manager included their 2010 Super Bowl championship season, has died. He was 68.

The Packers announced Thursday that Thompson died the previous night at his home in Atlanta, Texas. The team said it was contacted by a direct family member.

Thompson announced in May 2019 he had been diagnosed with an autonomic nerve disorder.

He was the general manager from 2005-17 and drafted many notable players on the current roster, including two-time MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He acquired 49 of the 53 players on the Packers' 2010 championship team.

He, in my opinion, is the best talent evaluator, especially when it comes to the draft, that I've ever seen or been around," said Brian Gutekunst, who worked alongside Thompson at Green Bay before eventually succeeding him as general manager. He had a very unique way of seeing what a player was going to become and the greatest he could become."

Thompson spent more than two decades in the Packers front office and was the teams director of pro personnel when the Packers won the Super Bowl for the 1996 season and captured the NFC title the following year.

I think the one thing that really stands out to me is just his humility, Packers President/CEO Mark Murphy said. It was never about Ted. It was always whats best for the organization.

Thompson had a 10-season playing career as a linebacker with the Houston Oilers from 1975-1984. Tennessee Titans controlling owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement that Thompson was a smart and savvy player, who made his mark on special teams and clearly had a great feel for the game."

But he made his biggest impact as an executive. He worked in Green Bays front office from 1992-99 and was the Seattle Seahawks vice president of football operations from 2000-04.

He returned to Green Bay in 2005. Mike Sherman had been working as Packers coach and general manager up to that point. The Packers decided to have Thompson take over the general manager duties while having Sherman remain as coach.

This is not going to be where Im going to walk around with a big sledgehammer like Im ruling the roost, Thompson said at the time. Again, this is not a democracy. But its also a place where were going to work together.

During Thompsons first year as general manager, the Packers made the franchise-altering decision to select Rodgers with the 24th overall draft pick when they already had Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre on their roster.

The move enabled the Packers to have a three-decade run of exceptional quarterback play.

I always appreciated his steady hand and the conversations that we would have, Rodgers said in a statement. He always made things pretty clear about what he expected from the team and what he expected from me. He always preached to put the team first, to not be a distraction, to be a good teammate, to be a good professional, and I always appreciated those comments.

With Thompson as general manager, the Packers made eight consecutive playoff appearances from 2009-16, including the Super Bowl championship season in 2010.

When I think about Ted, who he was as a man will always carry more weight than what he did professionally, said Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy, who coached the Packers from 2006-18. "There has never been a finer human being to walk the playing fields or have a presence in the scouting rooms.

"Ted gave me an opportunity of a lifetime. As a young first-time head coach who thought he had all the answers, I couldnt have been matched with a more perfect leader. He taught me patience. I will forever remember all of the times he would simply smile at me and say, Slow down young man. "

The 2010 Packers team that won the Super Bowl featured defensive back Charles Woodson, Thompson's most notable veteran free agent signing. Woodson, the 2009 NFL Defensive Player of the Year, tweeted that once upon a time circa 2006 I was a free agent and one team took a shot on me orchestrated by Ted Thompson.

He was willing to dabble in free agency, Murphy said. But he knew the best way to build a team was through the draft.

Thompson draft picks who remain on the roster include four All-Pro selections from this season: Rodgers, wide receiver Davante Adams, left tackle David Bakhtiari and center Corey Linsley. Rodgers was the only first-round pick in that group. Adams was drafted in the second round, Bakhtiari in the fourth and Linsley in the fifth.

Other notable current Packers drafted by Thompson: defensive tackle Kenny Clark, kicker Mason Crosby, and running backs Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.

Certainly hes a guy whos held in the highest regard in this building and, I think, just around the league, Packers coach Matt LaFleur said. Hes had a tremendous impact not only on people in this building, obviously Gutey (Gutekunst) but people in other departments as well. His impact is still felt to this day when you look at our roster, but I think hes had a tremendous impact amongst many people across the league, when you look all the other GMs that have learned under him."

Packers officials praised Thompsons calmness, patience and quiet confidence. Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who worked with Thompson on three separate occasions, called him an amazing person and mentor to so many people.

Other Thompson draft picks who had productive careers with Green Bay before departing include linebacker Clay Matthews, offensive tackle Bryan Bulaga, wide receivers Jordy Nelson, Randall Cobb and Greg Jennings.

Thompson said that his health led him to step down as general manager after the 2017 season.

Thompson moved into a senior adviser role. Gutekunst, who had been working with Thompson as player personnel director, was promoted to general manager and remains in that position.

One of the things that was helpful for me being around him as much was seeing things through his eyes as a former player, always understanding that what matters is the team and those guys out there, Gutekunst said.

Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid was an assistant coach with the Packers during Thompsons first stint at Green Bay and referred to him Thursday as a good friend.

He was good at what he did but an even better person, Reid said.

NFC Championship — Bucs at Packers Capsule

NFC Championship Game Notes

Buccaneers at Packers NFC Championship Preview

NFC Divisional Playoff — Rams at Packers Headlines

Here are a few pages of the press coverage of Saturday’s NFC Divisional playoff between the Los Angeles Rams and the Green Bay Packers. Of course, the Packers were victorious, 32-18, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers come to town next Sunday for the NFC Championship Game, hosted at Lambeau Field for the first time since January 2008.

NFC Divisional Playoff — Rams at Packers

Rams vs. Packers Game Program Cover

Rams vs. Packers Team Rankings

Rams vs. Packers GameDay Weather

NFC Divisional — Rams at Packers Capsule

NFL Wildcard Weekend

 

SUPER WILD CARD WEEKEND

Saturday, Jan. 9

Indianapolis Colts at Buffalo Bills, 1:05 p.m. ET (CBS)

Los Angeles Rams at Seattle Seahawks, 4:40 p.m. ET (FOX)

Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Washington Football Team, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC)

Sunday, Jan. 10

Baltimore Ravens at Tennessee Titans, 1:05 p.m. ET (ESPN/ABC)

Chicago Bears at New Orleans Saints, 4:40 p.m. ET (CBS, Nickelodeon, Amazon Prime)   

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:15 p.m. ET (NBC, Telemundo, Peacock)

First-round playoff byes: Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs

DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS

Saturday, Jan. 16

Sunday, Jan. 17

CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Sunday, Jan. 24

SUPER BOWL LV

Sunday, Feb. 7

At Raymond James Stadium, Tampa, Fla.

Susan Lombardi Dies

Susan Lombardi (front), the only daughter of Vince and Marie Lombardi, has passed away at age 73 in Florida. She is survived by her older brother, Vince Lombardi, Jr. (right), who is 78. The following is a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel article from 2012, written by Gary D’Amato. At the time, she had recently moved back to the Green Bay area:

A Lombardi revels in Green Bay life again

Susan Lombardi remembers growing up as Packers coach's daughter

By Gary D’Amato of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

December 8, 2012

GREEN BAY — She lived in Florida for more than 30 years and, sure, there was an upside. The weather. The beach. The sun warming her aching joints.

Home? No, it was never really that. Home was far away, and as the years passed she pined for it more and more. There are few things as powerful as the pangs of nostalgia for the best, most carefree days of your life.

And so, last December, at 64, an age when many retire to warmer climes, she went the other direction: north, to Green Bay, Wisconsin. Back, in a sense, to the 1960s.

Her life had come full circle.

Susan Lombardi was home.

"A lot of my youth haunts are gone," she said. "But there's just something about this town and my youth that I couldn't let it go. I really believe that I couldn't have had the childhood I had anywhere else."

Green Bay in the '60s was a magical place. Vince Lombardi was building a dynasty the likes of which the National Football League had never seen and in many ways will never see again.

For his only daughter, however, it was the place where she rode her horse at Oneida Golf & Riding Club, where Hall of Fame football players treated her like a kid sister, where she shared late-night snacks with her father — sliced apples and cheese were a favorite — and ran into his arms when he returned from West Coast games.

It was the place where she once got a speeding ticket and her father went straight to the sheriff and growled, "Don't you ever give my daughter a ticket. You bring her home and I'll take care of it."

It was the place where she sneaked into bars, underage, for her first beers and players saw her and ran the Packers sweep for the exit, worried that she was spying for the old man.

"I wasn't going to rat on them," Lombardi said with a laugh. "I said, 'Stop running away from me. You tell, I get in trouble. I tell, you get in trouble. And the punishment is about the same.' "

Could a teenager have any more fun than Susan Lombardi had in Green Bay in the 1960s?

Paul Hornung, every schoolgirl's crush, hung out in her basement; she has a photo of the Golden Boy with his arm draped around her, an oh-my-gosh look on her face. She had her own car, a Ford Mustang convertible, red with a white ragtop, and an "entourage" - her girlfriends from St. Joseph Academy, many of whom have remained close through the years.

'A Very Hard Man'

That's not to say being the daughter of the most famous football coach in America was always easy. Vince Lombardi was as demanding on his children, Vince Jr. and Susan, as he was on his players.

"He was a very hard man," Susan said.

She rebelled. Her father wanted her to learn how to play golf; she hated the game. She'd tee off on the first hole at Oneida and then, when out of eyesight of the members, go do her own thing. When she complained about having to carry her clubs, he bought her a golf cart. She crashed it in a creek.

There were the parties. The drinking. The cigarette smoking, of which, as a former smoker who had kicked the habit cold turkey, he strongly disapproved.

Once, she was cruising in her Mustang, puffing away, when her father's familiar voice crackled over the radio: "Hi, this is Vince Lombardi. I quit smoking and so should you… " He was talking to her. She quickly snuffed out the cigarette in the ashtray.

"I did a lot behind his back, but he found out," Susan said. "I asked my mom (Marie) after he died, 'Did Daddy know anything I did when I was growing up?' She said, 'He knew everything.'

"I asked her why he never really came down on me and she said, 'Because he knew what it was like to live in a town of 60,000 where your father was god.'

"He gave me a lot of leeway."

Susan Lombardi never wanted to leave Green Bay. In 1968, her father helped find a job for her first husband and announced, "You're moving to Chicago."

"I cried," she said. "I didn't know why he was making us move. His exact words were, 'You'll figure out why.' It took me a long time to figure it out. It was time for Susan to grow up and be away from mommy and daddy."

When Vince Lombardi accepted the job as head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1969, Susan wanted to move her family - by then, she and her husband had a daughter, Margaret - to Washington. Vince told her to stay put. Then he went in for a hernia operation, and doctors discovered the colon cancer.

"He lived 68 days after that," Susan said.

A Move To Sunny Florida

She moved from the south side of Chicago to Schaumburg, Ill., and then to St. Louis after her husband's job got transferred. After 10 years, he lost his job and in the late '70s they moved to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to be close to her mother, who was living in Palm Beach.

Every year for the next 30 years, Susan Lombardi returned to Green Bay for one week to reunite with old friends. She had so much fun that when she went home she'd tell her three children, "Someday, I'm moving back to Green Bay." They didn't get it. What could Green Bay possibly have that Florida didn't?

Her marriage dissolved and she moved her children to Jacksonville. She taught neighbor kids how to swim at the pool in their gated community, and one of the mothers played matchmaker and introduced her to "J.T."

"After a couple dates I asked him what his name was and he said, 'James Taylor,' " Lombardi said. "I almost fell over. I said, 'You know, we had a pretty good ballplayer named Jimmy Taylor.'"

J.T. knew all about the '60s Packers. Jim Taylor was one of his boyhood heroes. But he had grown up in Modesto, Calif., spent 22 years in the Navy and semiretired to Florida, where he managed an apartment complex and drove a taxi. The last place he thought he'd wind up was Green Bay.

The move turned out to be his idea.

"We were here in Green Bay and I was happy," Susan said. "I smiled all week. We were in the hotel room one night and J.T. said, 'I've been giving it some thought and I guess I have to bring you home.'

"The kids had heard it enough times that when I announced I was really moving, none of them were in shock."

All Roads To Lombardi Ave.

Married now for four years, J.T. and Susan live in De Pere, a 15-minute drive from Lambeau Field. Their house is decorated with Packers memorabilia; iconic photos of Vince Lombardi grace the living room walls.

The weather is tough on her. She'll be 66 in February and has had both knees and both hips replaced. She needs the right knee and hip redone. She's got a bad shoulder. An orthopedic surgeon once jokingly asked her what position she played.

J.T. isn't crazy about winter, either.

"I've bounced around," he said with a shrug. "I can live anywhere and adapt."

Once in a while, Lombardi will get turned around in a newer subdivision, but it isn't long before she comes to a street she recognizes and finds her way. In Green Bay, all roads lead to Lombardi Ave.

The main thing is, she is back in the city she grew up in, grew to love… and never outgrew.

"Even though it has changed, I still feel that I live in that little, small town," she said. "The people are just different here. Friendlier."

She has a good relationship with the Packers organization but pays for her tickets to games.

"I think they've done a wonderful job of honoring my father and his players," Lombardi said. "I think a lot of that was (former general manager) Ron Wolf. He really appreciated the history and tradition here."

Often, she'll be in the grocery store or at the gas station and strangers will approach her.

"They'll say, 'You know, you look like Vince Lombardi,' " she said. "I say, 'Yes, I do look like him, because I'm related to him.' "

She smiled.

Yes, there it was. That familiar Lombardi smile. Home, again, in Green Bay.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Susan Lombardi On Favre, Others

Susan Lombardi touched on a number of subjects during a two-hour interview at her home in De Pere. Here are some highlights:

On what her father, Vince Lombardi, would have thought of Brett Favre: "Brett would have been my father's favorite quarterback. Not that he didn't think (Bart) Starr was wonderful. He built his team around him."

But what about Favre's sometimes reckless style of play and all those interceptions? "It wouldn't have happened. My father would have nipped that in the bud. If my father would have been coach during that Giants game (loss in the NFC Championship Game following the 2007 season), I'd have gone and hid in the basement, When he came home after a loss like that - which we didn't have that many - he was horrible."

On Reggie White: "Reggie was a great ballplayer. My father would have loved him. But he loved the ones he had."

On what her father would think of the current Packers: "He'd appreciate the Packers of today. Very, very much so."

On Christmas in 1960: "We went to play the Eagles (in the NFL Championship Game). My mother put up a tree, but we got on a plane and went to Philadelphia. My father had a pre-Christmas party and I walked in the room and I started crying because there wasn't a Christmas tree. My mother sent me to the ladies room to blow my nose. I came back and there was a fully decorated Christmas tree. Now, tell me where my father got that one?"

On politics in the Lombardi household: "I lived in a split house. My father was a dyed-in-the-wool Democrat. My mother was a Republican. When Kennedy and Nixon ran, my mother put Nixon signs in our yard. She did it as a joke. My father came home and ripped them out. They were mangled. He yelled, 'We don't put these signs in our yard.' Oh, they fought about politics."

On her last name: "I'm very, very proud of my name. I wouldn't do anything to shame it. He (pointing to husband James Taylor) is Taylor. I'm Lombardi. I won't give up my name."

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Our condolences to the Lombardi family and Susan’s friends.

2020 Packers Team Photo

We haven’t seen this 2020 Green Bay Packers team photo on Packers.com, but it appeared on the back of the Packers Ticket Office Christmas card sent out to season ticket holders.

Week 17 Packers at Bears

Packers at Bears Preview

Packers seek top seed in NFC, Bears try to make playoffs

Associated Press

January 01, 2020

GREEN BAY (12-3) at CHICAGO (8-7)

GAME TIME — Sunday, 4:25 p.m. EST, Fox

OPENING LINE — Packers by 51/2

RECORD VS. SPREAD — Packers 9-6; Bears 8-7

SERIES RECORD — Packers lead 100-95-6

LAST MEETING — Packers beat Bears 41-25 on Nov. 29 at Green Bay

LAST WEEK — Packers beat Titans 40-14; Bears beat Jaguars 41-17

AP PRO32 RANKING — Packers No. 2; Bears No. 14

PACKERS OFFENSE – OVERALL (3), RUSH (8), PASS (9).

PACKERS DEFENSE – OVERALL (7), RUSH (14), PASS (6).

BEARS OFFENSE – OVERALL (25), RUSH (24), PASS (22).

BEARS DEFENSE – OVERALL (11), RUSH (15), PASS (13).

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES — The Packers have won five straight games and clinched the NFC North. They can lock up the No. 1 seed and a bye with a win or tie against Chicago, or a loss or tie by Seattle against San Francisco. ... Green Bay has won 18 of 21 against Chicago, including the playoffs. ... Green Bay has scored an NFL-leading 31.6 points per game. … QB Aaron Rodgers has thrown 44 touchdown passes with only five interceptions. He is one off his career high of 45 touchdown passes, set in his first MVP season of 2011. … WR Davante Adams is one of only three NFL players to have at least 100 catches and 17 touchdown receptions in the same season. The others are Cris Carter in 1999 and Randy Moss in 2003. Adams’ 17 touchdown catches are one away from Sterling Sharpe’s team record in 1994. His 109 overall receptions are three behind Sharpe’s franchise mark in 1993. … The Bears, trying to reach the playoffs for the second time in coach Matt Nagy's three season, would get in with a win. They can also make it with a loss if the Arizona Cardinals drop their road game against the Los Angeles Rams. And if both games end in ties, Chicago would be in the playoffs. ... The Bears could join the 1970 Cincinnati Bengals and 2014 Carolina Panthers as the only teams since the 1970 merger to make the playoffs despite a six-game losing streak. ... The Bears have won three in a row, beating Houston, Minnesota and Jacksonville. Those teams are a combined 11-34. ... Chicago has scored 30 or more points in four straight games for the first time since 1965. The Bears haven’t done it in five or more since 1956, when they did it in seven consecutive games. ... QB Mitchell Trubisky has a 99.3 rating in the five games since he returned to the lineup, completing 68% of his passes for 1,243 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions. ... WR Allen Robinson has a career-high 100 receptions for 1,213 yards. Only Brandon Marshall (118 in 2012) and Matt Forte (102 in 2014) have caught more passes in a season for Chicago. ... K Cairo Santos has made 24 consecutive field goals, tying Robbie Gould's single-season franchise record in 2006. ... Fantasy tip: Rodgers is 20-5 against Chicago, counting the playoffs. And with plenty riding on this game, expect the two-time MVP to give the Monsters of the Midway plenty of trouble.