It's been two months since I've really been active on the site.  For some of you, that is a terrible tragedy.  For many, many more, it is a source of endless joy.  But today I decided to cater to the minority and make my presence known by throwing a mini-fiesta with my DVR, a bowl of Reese's Puffs, and a strong pot of coffee.

Before we get going with the retroactive live-blog, let me just share some of the knowledge I've gained over the course of working for 80 out of a possible 168 hours in a week:

• There are few things more traumatic than the transition from college-life to real-life.  I imagine it's somewhat like being born, except you're slightly more conscious and slightly less sticky. 
  
  Unlike most co-eds, I worked my way through and avoided drinking my way out of school, but nothing can truly prepare you for the real world.  There's chores?  You have to do them, otherwise you're living in filth.  There's bills?  You have to pay them, otherwise a large Italian gentleman will break your ribs.  There's family gatherings you'd rather not attend?  You have to go to them, because you don't have the homework excuse anymore.
  
  Real life blows, I'm going to grad school.
• Trying to keep in shape?  Don't work overnights.  You will have no energy whatsoever during the daytime hours.  I play basketball to keep myself in shape and satisfy my over-competitiveness, and I love it.  But I haven't played in two months, and I've gotten noticably soft.  Amazing, considering I've lost weight.
• Dry spells.  Guys, when women say that they're too tired, it's generally a toss-up between them actually being tired and not wanting to deal with you.  When a guy says it?  Definitely tired.
• Caffeine has an odd effect after consuming too much for it.  The most noticeable symptom is when you're lying down after finally getting home and you get the ringing in the ears.  It keeps me up for at least half an hour, and my mom (who worked 3rd shift for over a decade) says it doesn't go away.  Awesome.
• Watching sports is a major hassle.  Not only do I miss the majority of my Sunday NFL-watching, but working nights has ruined any chance I have of watching any NBA games during the week.  DVR has been my best friend, but it somehow isn't enough.

On to the live-blog!  I DVR'd this last night and watched it immediately as I got home.  I did not check the score at any time on Monday night, and I have no knowledge whatsoever of the outcome.  Enjoy!

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I know this is a Packer site, and non-football news is generally discouraged.  But since the volume of e-mails I've received regarding my absence is generally along the lines of "where the hell did you go?" I'll get you guys up to speed.

I work in the shipping industry.  I'm a manager at a massive hub facility for an international shipping company (I won't say which, mainly because I'm not a fan of the company).  Because the holidays are looming, we are in the midst of what is called "peak season".

Peak season, for salaried employees, is hell.  I am literally working 70+ hours a week, and those hours are all overnights.  Here's my typical schedule:

10:00 PM - Arrive at work
10PM-10AM - Work ass off
10-10:30 - Paperwork/nodding off in office chair
10:30 - Go home/nearly crash into oncoming traffic
11:00 - Collapse in heap on floor
11:07 - Get up, collapse in heap on bed
5:00 PM (if I'm lucky) - Wake up
5-9:30 - eat, run errands, read e-mails, work out, spend time with significant other
9:30-10 - Reflect on where I went wrong while driving 

Needless to say, that 4.5 hour block doesn't leave me a lot of time to put into writing.  Any articles I published then would be even bigger sacks of crap than my regular ones.  And I take pride in my crap-sacks; they deserve all the time they need to get as verbose and frivolous as possible.

The good news is that this is a short-term deal (mid-December), so I should hopefully make a triumphant return around that time.  Until then, bear with me, readers.  And keep the "good riddance!" e-mails to a minimum; my psyche can't handle that kind of rejection.

That's really the only word you can use to describe it.  I mean, you can try to use other words like horrendous, awful, disgusting, or mind-blowingly-bad (hyphens count), but I like the way "unacceptable" rolls off the tongue.

I don't even mind losing to Tampa Bay so much as the fashion in which they lost.  After all, "any given Sunday" is a mantra most NFL teams and coaches live by, so it's not inconvievable that a winless team gets its first victory against any opponent, be they great or terrible or horribly average. 

What gets me is that it's the same thing over and over and over and over.  I hate it when mistakes are repeated so many times.  It's almost redundant to talk about how bad this team is in pass protection, special teams coverage, and playcalling.

There's actually a line in a rap song that acts as a good parallel to how I'm feeling right now.  Track 17 on 'The Marshall Mathers LP' with D12 member Bizarre on the track:

I'm ripped, I'm on an acid trip/

My DJ's in a coma for lettin' the record skip/

Lettin' the record skip, lettin' the record skip/

(Damn!)

Bizarre clearly doesn't appreciate it when his disc jockey allows the song to get stuck in a certain repetitive groove.  It ruins his evening, and it does not please him.  In fact, he is so displeased that he wishes harm upon his disc jockey. 

Well, if you substitute "song" for "2009 season" and "disc jockey" for "Coach McCarthy" and take out the whole drug thing, it sums up my (and some of your) feelings rather well.

Mike McCarthy, you are officially on the hot seat.  Please find a way to get off of it next week against Dallas.

We knew Jason Spitz was out for Sunday with an unspecified lower back injury sustained in practice.  His injury has taken a turn for the worse; Spitz was put on injured reserve yesterday.

One man who gains from this development is Scott Wells, the formerly-unseated starting center who now finds himself back with the first string.  Most people believed that, while Wells is a superior technician and has more experience, his weak base and undersized stature made him an ill-fit at the center of the offensive line.  Enter Jason Spitz, who is much bigger and stronger than Wells.

The move to I.R. is a shocker to me, as it leaves depth on the offensive line even thinner than before.  However, if you're going to lose a starter, it may as well be at a position where you have a backup of Wells' caliber.  Wells played relatively well against Minnesota (read: he was only tossed out of the way once), and Tampa Bay doesn't figure to challenge him much.

In any case, it's a shame that Spitz has to spend the rest of the year in street clothes.  With all that free time, what will he do with himself?  Aside from make conversation with Justin Harrell (who's been down this road before), let's hope he helps the line any way he can.

Ryan Grant is an enigma of sorts.  He is a starting running back in the NFL, yet he is widely regarded as a player with above-average skills at best.  He is good at many things, but great at nothing.  Even his Scouts Inc. profile from ESPN.com shows how he is simultaneously impressive and limited. 

He doesn't have outstanding speed but runs well and has quickness and burst to hit the hole...He has good power to move the pile, but wouldn't be considered an explosive ball carrier...He has adequate hands as a target in the passing game but isn't dangerous in the open field after the catch.

To sum up Ryan Grant's career to this point: "meh."  He doesn't have the size of Brandon Jacobs, or the elusiveness of Adrian Peterson, or the power of Michael Turner, or the agility of LaDanian Tomlinson, or the vision of Ronnie Brown, or the afterburner speed of Chris Johnson.  He has those things in smaller amounts, but not enough to be considered special. 

Despite his rather pedestrian profile, Grant has respectible numbers over his 3-year career: 2654 yards, 15 touchdowns, and a ypc average of 4.3.  He has a reputation of being able to produce despite his physical limitations, and that reputation has dubbed him the main rusher on one of the few teams that does not employ a running-back-by-committee.

My question is this: Should Ryan Grant be the lone ball-carrier on the Packers?

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They were so close.  So very close.  I had already written them off, and then they started coming back, and started getting some calls, and when Jennings caught that touchdown, I really started believing.

It didn't take long to crash back to reality.

I'm feeling pretty numb right now.  I might do a recap tomorrow.  I might not.

A bit melodramatic?  Absolutely.  But I'm going to wallow in my sports-self-pity for a little while.

Going into this week, I was tired of not having the ability to watch Green Bay play in non-nationally televised games.  Except for the opening game against Chicago, the Minnesota game, and the Baltimore game later this year, the most Packer football I get to see most Sundays is during halftime shows and highlight packages on NFL.com.  Considering a fair amount of my free time goes into writing for this site, not being able to see what the readers are seeing is a severe handicap.

It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't live in the New York TV market, leaving me to choose between Giants and Jets games.  Don't get me wrong, both teams are fun to watch, but it feels almost...wrong.

Going into this week, I decided on a whim to check the New York teams' schedules.  Originally, the Jets were scheduled for 1:00 PM and the Giants were slated to play at 4:15 PM.  I had forgotten about the announcement earlier this season that the Giants game (at Philadelphia) would be moving up to 1:00 PM...and the Green Bay-Minnesota tilt was pushed to 4:15.

But it couldn't be that easy, could it?  It has to be too good to be true, doesn't it?  That was my attitude when I woke up this morning (at 2 AM...working third shift during the week is a bitch).  I decided to check the TV schedule for the day, just to further my misery.

At 4:00 PM, CBS is showing bull riding.  Awesome.  On FOX, immediately following the Giants game, they're showing Minnesota at Green Bay.

...Wait, what?

Awesome.

Consider this your pre-game live thread until Brandon publishes the real game thread.  Enjoy your morning, gents.  I know I will...because at 4:00 PM (3:00 central)...it's on.