Saturday’s Green Bay Packer Fun Night was truly geared toward kids, especially those 12 and under.
For the adults who waited through the SpongeBob SquarePants theme song being blasted over the stadium sound system, there reward came when the Packers took the field at 7:45 p.m. for the intrasquad scrimmage.
The Packer starters looked sharp, particularly quarterback Aaron Rodgers. With starting cornerbacks Charles Woodson and Al Harris sitting out due to injuries, Rodgers picked apart the secondary with a number of passes he zinged into tight spots.
You had to wonder if the Packers were sending a message with the play calling in the scrimmage. It seemed like 75 percent of the plays or more were pass plays. If they were showcasing the passing game to get opponents’ attention, it should have worked. The receivers, particularly tight end Jermichael Finley, had a big night.
The defense and special teams had its moments in the scrimmage too. A.J. Hawk looked like he finally might contribute to the level everyone thought he would when he was taken as a first round draft choice. Hawk showed quickness and decisiveness in shooting gaps to shut down several running plays. He also broke through for a quarterback sack.
Undrafted rookie Sam Shields may have done more for his chances to make the Packer roster than any player in the scrimmage. Shields returned a kickoff for a touchdown. Then, late in the scrimmage, he intercepted a pass at the goal line and returned it for a touchdown. The Packers are saying Shields may be the fastest player in camp. They might have found a keeper here.
The scrimmage was excellent entertainment, but the rest of the Family Fun Night events were largely a waste of time for adults. The event is clearly done to draw families to Lambeau Field. Drawing 47,000 people for a scrimmage has to be viewed as a success. But if the Packers don’t offer more for adults to enjoy before the football starts, those attendance numbers could drop in the future.

Karyn Bye Dietz may not be a world class hockey player any more, but she can still make her impact known as a public speaker.
Bye is the River Falls native who played on the 1998 United States Olympic gold medal women’s hockey team and the 2002 U.S. silver medal team. She was the keynote speaker at the athletic code meeting on Monday at St. Croix Central High School in Hammond.
Bye is now married and a mother who lives in Hudson. Keeping up with her kids has been kept her in shape, because she looks like she can still lace up the skates and play at an elite level.
Her speech on Monday didn’t overwhelm or shock the Central athletes and their parents. Bye has a comfortable, warm speaking style, like she is chatting with friends.
The eyes of the athletes and parents grew wide when Bye told a story about having breakfast with Wayne Gretzky at the Olympics.
What endeared Bye to the crowd was her genuineness in telling her stories. She spoke of how nervous she was in approaching Gretzky. She told about the nervousness she had before playing in the Olympic gold medal game and how she learned to deal with the anxiety she felt at critical moments in her career.
The young athletes were able to relate to Bye after she told them about falling in love with hockey as a young child and skating whenever she could on a pond her dad would make in the yard.
She spoke of hardships and challenges too. For those who don’t remember, Bye played varsity hockey on the River Falls High School boys team. It wasn’t until her senior year that most of the opponents knew they were playing against a girl.
Through her school years, her name appeared as “K.L. Bye” in game programs, to help camoflauge the fact she was a girl.
Bye certainly played like one of the boys. She delivered checks just as strongly as the boys. And you can bet there were boys who went out of their way to hit her, letting her know they didn’t want a girl on their ice. That didn’t stop her. It was just another challenge that motivated her on to greater accomplishments.
Bye concluded her speech with one bit of wisdom for the athletes. She told the athletes that they shouldn’t waste their time and energy on things they can’t control. She then pointed to her head and to her heart, telling the athletes those were the two things they need to control to accomplish all they can.
Central is starting a tradition of bringing in prominent athletes to talk to the athletes as they gear up for the fall athletic season. One of their past speakers was National Football League Hall of Famer Jim Langer.