Lambeau Field: "Coolest Venue in Sports"
Coming up on his third NFL season, offensive tackle Mark Tauscher will do almost anything for the Packers, just don't ask him to dance. At least, not in public.
That much was made clear during a question and answer session with fans attending the Green Bay premiere of the 2001 Packers highlights video, 'A Special Team, a Storied Town.'
Asked about the weekly yoga classes that he and other Packers are taking as part of their offseason workout regimen, Tauscher first identified the image he was relieved to see hadn't made the highlights reel.
"I was watching that video and seeing guys dancing around, and I was saying, 'Please don't put me on there,'" Tauscher admitted. "That might tell you something about my yoga."
Crediting yoga instructor Keena Hillsberg, Tauscher praised the program for increasing his flexibility, an area of physical fitness that has never been among his strong points. He also acknowledged that the classes have been more difficult than anticipated.
"I was expecting to go down and lay on the mat and take a 45-minute nap," he said. "(Hillsberg) never went for that."
Later, Tauscher again referred to his lack of rhythm while attempting to describe the almost out-of-body experience of entering Lambeau Field on game days.
"I can't even put it into words," he said. "You don't really know what you're doing. Until the whistle blows, it's kind of hazy . . .
"I try to stay as calm as I can, but it's tough to stay calm. You see some of these guys, especially the defensive guys, and when they're introduced and stuff they're doing all this shimmying and shaking and all this other stuff.
"That would throw me off a bit too much. You won't see me doing that any time soon."
But patient Packers fans might be able to wait him out. Although still a young pup in the professional ranks, Tauscher said at this point he has no designs on playing for any other team.
"You never know what happens, it's a business as much as people hate to say that it is," Tauscher told his fans. "I envision being here for a long time and I want to be here for a long time. That's really all I can go by . . . I'm hoping I can stay here as long as my career lasts."
Coolest Venue In Sports
Brian Murphy, a columnist for ESPN.com's 'Page 2,' named Lambeau Field the 'Coolest Venue in Sports,' in his 'Some like it Cool' column posted Monday.
Murphy wrote, "What's so amazing about Lambeau is that there is no human reason an NFL stadium should be the Coolest Venue in sports. NFL stadiums tend toward the corporately bland; instead, baseball yards are the buildings with personality . . .
"Lambeau wins because you'll meet no nicer lunatics than Packers fans grilling brats in a sleetstorm . . . Lambeau wins because it is that rare football stadium that feels like a ballyard."
After the stadium renovation project is completed in 2003, Murphy may have to upgrade Lambeau another notch to "Ultra-Coolest Venue in Sports."
Sherman Inducted Into CCSU Hall Of Fame
Packers GM/head coach Mike Sherman was the only inductee into the 2002 class of Central Connecticut State University's Athletics Hall of Fame, but was the second straight NFL head coach to be inducted, as Dallas Cowboys head coach Dave Campo was among the trio of inductees last year.
Attending the induction ceremony earlier this month with several members of his family, including his parents and two sons, Sherman called the event an honor that he would always remember.
Making the event extremely special was a videotape of greetings from some of Sherman's former colleagues, including Ron Wolf, Mike Holmgren, Andy Reid, Gary Kubiak, R.C. Slocum and Tim Cassidy.
"That those men would take time out of their busy schedules to be a part of the ceremony meant a lot to me," Sherman said. "I value their friendship . . . It was a first-class event which I was proud to be a part of."
Although he also played some at linebacker, Sherman was predominantly at offensive guard/tackle during his three playing seasons of 1974, 1976-77. He redshirted in 1975.
