Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

Last month, I noted that I had started a blog on Packers' history called Packers Past Perfect (https://packerspastperfect.wordpress.com/) that featured text entries augmented by custom football cards I've created. I also noted that my new book on the Packers would be out soon. I think that thread was lost in the latest forum update, so here I go again.

My book is now out, released through Amazon both in paper ($10.99) and electronic format (only $3.99), and is called Green Bay Gold: Assembling the Packers' All-Time Two-Platoon 53-Man Roster. The subtitle is pretty self explanatory, and I whittle down from 216 notable Packers of the past 65 years to the final 53. The book is another way to look at the best Packer players in history, as part of a team, a unit that fits together, and I think the player selections and rationales reflect that approach. I don't go back as far as Ralph in watching the team live, but I've made a special effort to dig out film of the 1950s in particular to get a sense of the better players of that dismal decade. It was a lot of fun to research and write, but some of those cuts were hard to make; I still wish I could have kept Mad Dog Douglass, but his skills just didn't fit on this roster....and what would be your depth chart at QB with Starr, Favre and Rodgers? Not an easy answer.

Here is the Amazon link:
http://www.amazon.com/Green-Bay-Gold-As ... 32CKW9JZGW

Nice job, John!! I added it to the books section of the PFRA website.

I ordered it and I'm really looking forward to its arrival. (Ironically, I won't be home when it arrives because I'll be in Green Bay for a week, attending my high school reunion.)

I took advantage of Amazon's invitation to start reading it online now and I really like the novel approach: Inviting 216 players to camp and gradually whittling down to the 53-man roster.

Ordered and look forward to reading.

Great title, btw.

Mine showed up in the mail yesterday.

"Really?" my wife asked, as I opened the package, "is there anything else you need to know about the Packers?"

("Yes ... yes there is," I mumbled quietly to myself).

Can't wait to crack it open, John. When you posted this, I put together my starters and want to see how they compare to your list. Of course, the joy will be in how you got there.

Ronfitch wrote:Mine showed up in the mail yesterday.

"Really?" my wife asked, as I opened the package, "is there anything else you need to know about the Packers?"

("Yes ... yes there is," I mumbled quietly to myself).

Can't wait to crack it open, John. When you posted this, I put together my starters and want to see how they compare to your list. Of course, the joy will be in how you got there.

Ron, did you get the "aren't there things around the house you should be fixing?" Question, as well?
I'd love to hear feedback from you after you read it.

John Maxymuk wrote:

Ronfitch wrote:Mine showed up in the mail yesterday.

"Really?" my wife asked, as I opened the package, "is there anything else you need to know about the Packers?"

("Yes ... yes there is," I mumbled quietly to myself).

Can't wait to crack it open, John. When you posted this, I put together my starters and want to see how they compare to your list. Of course, the joy will be in how you got there.

Ron, did you get the "aren't there things around the house you should be fixing?" Question, as well?
I'd love to hear feedback from you after you read it.

Man, you going to take heat for chapter 6.3.1. I complety agree with your assessment.

Nice timing for publication, btw.

I bought it too, looking forward to reading it. Congrats John.

For the most part, I believe coaches and organizations win games. Players, their statistics, awards, and honors are by-products. If Player A didn’t exist, if Player A hadn’t caught the game winning touchdown or made the key sack, Player B would have. And then we'd be citing Player B's stats and voting Player B into the Hall of Fame.

For that reason, I wasn’t sure Green Bay Gold was for me. In essence a mental worksheet put to paper, John Maxymuk whittles down most of the Firs in the Packers’ Wisconsin forest in order to arrive at a precisely carved 53-man roster. It’s an exercise I’m largely indifferent to.

Still, I bought the book for two reasons:

- Maxymuk writes reference books, my sweet spot. And while Green Bay Gold strays from matters of fact to matters of opinion, I knew I could count on a sound, rationale approach.
- Maxymuk can write. No amount of knowledge, first hand experience or subject matter expertise can make a book successful if it isn’t well written.

So, between John’s encyclopedic knowledge of matters factual and his ability to put it across, I figured the book would be interesting—and it is. It’s also very good.

Granted, Maxymuk’s inclusion criteria had me cringing two pages after the introduction: Hall of Fame membership, retired jerseys, pro bowl invites, All-Decade Teams, national awards, tenure as a starter, and statistics all form the basis for Maxymuk’s Minicamp invites. In my mind, these are chicken vs. egg arguments.

But then, what else to base them on? Leave off a team leader in a major statistical category in lieu of a running back who drank a cup of coffee in training camp but whose running style happened to rub you the right way? Probably not.

And it isn’t who Maxymuk invited to camp that matters, anyway. It might not even be the final 53-man roster (although John might beg to differ). What mattered to this reader was the whittling itself.

While statistics play a role in Maxymuk’s rationalizations, not overly so. Instead, intelligence, team chemistry, scouting-style assessments, and other subjective measures form the basis of his well-argued camp cuts and roster placements. He also gives every player his due, not simply breezing through the obvious cuts.

Ultimately I didn’t care who Maxymuk selected. Yet, it was almost impossible to argue with his logic. Best of all, it was eminently readable and entertaining. I can only imagine how much fun it would be to read this as a Packers fan. I wish someone would write a book like this about my favorite team.

Nice work John.

Btw, I bought the print version. My understanding is that these books are printed on-demand, or per order. There's a few things regarding the type and spacing where one might be able to tell this was self-published, but I was very happy with the state of the book I received.