We start this Championship edition of the Post Pattern by offering all of our readers an apology for the delay in the production of our final edition of our inaugural "reboot" season. In a related note, we'll be posting our first "help wanted" section below seeking some contributors for the upcoming '23 season.
While Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and the Chiefs were "poppin' bottles" down in Arizona, The Post Pattern was preparing to announce not one, but TWO champions this season. While we laid out a tie-breaker scenario, our competition committee has deemed it appropriate to award both Casey Buboltz and Jack Simmons co-ownership of the 2022 Al's Pals Trophy. Casey and Jack tied in overall score and due to a mix-up in the tie-breaker both will be awarded the title.
In the Hall of Fame division, Rick Buboltz started the season off behind several of his Hall of Fame competitors but when the dust settled his edged out Jay and Kim with a 1 pick victory in their division. In our Packer Nation division, Tracy Buboltz landed a 1 pick victory over Sadie Dubs and joined husband Casey and Jack Simmons as the only 3 competitors this year who had less than 100 incorrect picks. In the Junior division, Jack's overall title also landed him the Juniors Division champion, with a 5 pick lead over sister Gwen and cousin Madelyn. Casey's title in the New Impeccables division put him 5 picks ahead of 2nd place Nick.
Just like with the NFL owners meeting held last week, our team will get together during the off season to work on our own improved competition rules for the upcoming 2023 season. Congratulations to our of our pickers in our innagural season of the Al's Pals Pick'em League. We look forward to everyone joining us again next year!
Perhaps the delay in our final publication of the 2022 season can be attributed to sense of frustration all Packers fans felt at the end of the season. With a playoff berth squarely in their sights, and a final home game against the Detroit Lions, Packers fans had high expectations their team would bring home a W. Unfortunately, it wasn't to be as the Pack struggled all day against the resurgent Lions (who had been eliminated from playoff contention earlier in the day). Perhaps it was a suitable ending to a disappointing season. What started off with high expectations ended in a whimper and now the franchise finds itself in a position not seen since the departure of Brett Favre nearly 15 years ago.
While the Beattles may have coined that phrase back in 1967 (or as most Packer fans remember it, the year of the Green Bay's first Super Bowl win), it takes on a new meaning in 2023 with the expected departure of Aaron Rodgers. For a QB who set out to be just about as opposite to his predecessor as possible, Aaron Rodgers sure has taken a page out of Brett Favre's book. While his past several years have been just as dramatic as Favre's last few, how many Packers fans thought Rodgers would be traded to the Jets just like Favre? At the time of this publication that move has not yet happened, however all signs point to this eventuality happening in the days or weeks to come.
As the Packers brain trust negotiates with the Jets (any predictions on what compensation they get in return?), most Packers fans have embraced the reality of Jordan Love taking the helm in the upcoming season. With a young WR core and several spots to fill at TE, Love will begin his tenure as starting QB with several unproven pass catchers. We can expect a healthy dose of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon in the '23 campaign along with the continued development of Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs. Gutey will have plenty of work to do in the draft to plug some important holes as much of the team's depth will need to be replaced due to the departure of many free agents. It should be a good test for the young QB to see how he navigates these challenges.
Most Packers fans were skeptical when Rodgers took over from Favre, but now after 30 years of Hall of Fame QB play from Favre and Rodgers, can Green Bay catch lightning in a bottle a third consecutive time? The future of the franchise will largely fall on the right arm of Love to see if he can continue the tradition in Green Bay.
So apparently the editor of the original Post Pattern was a bit more aggressive with his work on publication. He was able to crank out an amazing 9 publications in the 1978 season. As we fell a few short of that in our first year, that means in our final edition of the 2022 NFL season we are treating our readers to THREE editions of The Vault.
In the first publication, we have an update on standings, a view from the bleachers at a Packers/Vikings game, and a series of "Favorite Packer" articles from the Impeccables.
Our second edition today debuted during Christmas week of 1978. It celebrated Gramps first Impeccable title, as well a write up on the topic of "Booing" at games, as well as the 1978 Packers "All Consensus Team" as voted on be readers.
The third and final edition of the 1978 season concludes with an AMAZING Super Bowl prediction from Doug that you won't want to miss!
In our final edition of the Buboltz Kids sports beat this week, we kick off the spring season of competition. We also share a special "March Madness" story from a slightly different "Clash of Cousins" perspective...this time at the state basketball tournament.
In news that is sure to be right up there with the Aaron Rodgers trade, Al's Pals would like to announce the 2nd Annual Buboltz Family reunion date has been confirmed! Preparations are well under way to host everyone's favorite event which will once again be held at Fond du Lac's Lakeside Park (555 N Park Avenue) on Saturday, July 22nd.
Be sure to mark your calendars as this year's festivities will once again include a full spread of food and treats, as well as the Bean Bag tournament. Will Steve and Justin repeat as champs or will a new team knock them from their throne? Stay tuned for more details as the date gets closer.
The Post Pattern is looking to beef up it's staff for the upcoming season. We are looking for guest contributors in the areas of general interest, Packers content, Buboltz history, and Buboltz kids sports contributions. Additionally, as our staff is a bit technically limited, we would welcome any help from our younger readers who can help "jazz up" our publication to make something Cousin Eddy would call "Real nice".
The pay stinks, the hours are inconvenient, and the subscription base is small. Other than that the job is amazing!