Packers GM Second-Guessed in Interview

Bob McGinn has been writing for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel as long as I can remember. He's covered the Packers, and he's largely done so fairly and with great passion. He brings with him great insight and a keen sense of how to frame a story so it's interesting to the reader.

McGinn recently conducted a lengthy interview with Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson. Naturally, Thompson has been a hot topic of discussion among Packer fans for his recent decision to trade future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre to the New York Jets for only a conditional draft pick. Since McGinn isn't an idiot, he had to ask a question or two about the move and how tough it was to pull the trigger.

I've been involved in journalism since 1996, and spent much of the last decade getting paid to cover sports. I spent seven years hosting a sports talk show, and I have conducted literally hundreds of interviews, chatting with athletes, coaches, front-office people, reporters, analysts, and even agents.

One of my general rules of conducting interviews is that I don't feel it's right to let opinion dictate the questioning. Just because I think a certain way doesn't mean everyone else has to, and interjecting my opinion in hopes of generating agreement is not how to conduct an interview. I feel that's a tactic that makes the interviewer seem more important than the interviewee.

And in this case, I feel McGinn - no matter how much respect I have for the man - crossed the line.

The questions about the Favre trade were fair and necessary. Thompson gave the answers that he needed to give, and even addressed - to a certain extent - the very real and emotional reaction from many Packers fans. McGinn also asked some very good questions about new starter Aaron Rodgers, and addressed the Packers' lack of a veteran presence at the position (Thompson, by the way, said he understands the risk of going with the young guys, but doesn't seem likely to add a veteran).

However, McGinn would go on to act like a fan with a chip on his shoulder when discussing January's NFC Championship loss to the New York Giants.

Q.Plaxico Burress ate up Al Harris when Harris basically lined up across from Burress using inside technique and played man-to-man with no help. Shouldn't adjustments have been made? Did the answers you received from the coaching staff satisfy you?

... Q.The Giants' defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, was able to hold the Patriots to 14 points in the Super Bowl thanks to tremendous play by his defensive line but also by outguessing Tom Brady with a varied blitz package. Does Bob Sanders have the creativity in his scheme plus the nerve that it takes for a team to go all the way?

... Q.In the days and weeks after that game, did you either ask McCarthy to make a change or consider making a change at defensive coordinator?

Whoa, there. Easy, tiger.

Are you insinuating that a coordinator who just led his unit to its second straight very good season should lose his job because Al Harris struggled in coverage for one night?

I also apparently have a fundamental disagreement with McGinn over how the Giants beat New England, because I felt like the domination of the front four was the key to their win, not anything they did with blitz packages.

Beyond that, I can't get past the fact that this violates one of my cardinal rules of interviewing. The point of sitting down with Thompson isn't to let him know what you think about his football operation. It's to find out what his expectations are for the upcoming season and reflect on the events of the last six months.

Yes, it's absolutely fair to ask questions about Brett Favre and the Giants game. Totally. What is absolutely wrong is to frame those questions as being nothing but your opinion disguised as a question.

McGinn went on to take some veiled shots at head coach Mike McCarthy and his zone-blocking run scheme.

Q.With a Super Bowl there for the taking, the Packers couldn't knock anybody off the ball while at the same time the precision and timing needed to execute their zone type of runs went haywire. Meanwhile, the Giants controlled the game with their power and gap-type plays. Did you discuss with McCarthy the possibility of giving up the zone scheme in the off-season for the gap scheme that had been used here successfully and probably would be more effective late in the season?

... Q.Green Bay finished last in the NFL a year ago in third- and fourth-down and 1, perhaps another indictment of the zone scheme. Now you've got to reach- block Minnesota's Pat Williams on opening night with an undersized center whereas in a gap scheme there might be other options. Do you think the zone scheme is the best fit for playing football in Green Bay, Wis.

... Q.McCarthy has talked a lot about wanting to run the ball for two years but hasn't committed to it as a play-caller. Is this a flaw in his ability to call a game?

Thompson took the high road, preferring to say things like "That's a coaching decision. We feel very comfortable with our approach", which is a nice, polite way of telling the overbearing reporter to "Get lost".

Again, McGinn doesn't go wrong in the line of questioning. He goes wrong in the method. It's obvious that he doesn't like the zone scheme much, but he conveniently omits the fact that Green Bay improved remarkably running the football from 2006 to 2007. No, the results in short-yardage weren't great, but it's way too early to throw that on the scheme. The players have gradually become more comfortable in the offense since McCarthy took over, and there's no doubt the third year in the offense holds the potential for some great results.

(A good example of this improvement is the way McCarthy tossed the chains on the proverbial tires and plowed through the Seahawks during the snowstorm the week before. I don't care how bad the Seattle run defense played that day. It was an impressive job by all parties involved that McGinn evidently forgot about.)

Of all the questions that were asked, it's clear to me that the one about a coordinator change was the most out-of-line. I mean, outside of one game where the Packers were thoroughly outplayed on both sides of the ball, what is the basis for that question?

I'm not here to tell you to avoid McGinn's work. It's largely worth reading, and there is some good stuff in this interview. However, his status as an experienced, respected voice among Wisconsin media doesn't mean he's immune from criticism when he lets his personal opinions get in the way of the job at hand.