No time to be gloomy about football being over, Packer fans. The offseason can be fun -- the NFL makes sure of that. Besides providing top level entertainment, the National Football League is one of the most brilliant marketing organizations in all of corporate America. The league has thought of many, many ways to keep our attention on football almost year-round -- even if we enjoy other sports such as Major League Baseball.

The Start of Free Agency

My friends who are fans of teams that participate in free agency, like the Redskins or even the Eagles, tell me that this can be quite an exciting time. You get to speculate with your buddies about which free agents could help your team and why. For Packer fans of course, this is a period of quiet reflection about our perennial lack of salary cap room.

The Schedule Being Released

The drama surrounding this event seems to build more and more every year. Although we pretty well know who the Packers will be playing in the upcoming season, it's still thrilling to see the "when". You get to dream about which games at Lambeau you'd like to attend. Or for Packer fans outside of Wisconsin, we get to see if the Pack will be playing an away game near where we live. And in these economic times, knowing the schedule well in advance is beneficial because we can begin saving up in April to possibly be able to afford the tickets in October.

The NFL Draft

I find myself getting way too caught up in the excitement prior to and during the Draft. I buy all the magazines that discuss the college players eligible to be drafted, and I pick the ones I'd like the Packers to consider. Why I spend time on this is not clear because I know absolutely nothing about the art and science of assembling a football team. But then, history has shown there have been a number of General Managers of NFL teams who don't seem to either. The difference is, of course, that they get paid big bucks to make their consistent errors in judgment. I on the other hand have the out-of-pocket cost for all the magazines.

A Virtual Trip to the Packers Pro Shop

If you've never visited the Packers online store, you definitely should make it a high priority in the offseason. They have almost every item you could think of to make a Packer fan better dressed for the upcoming season, to show Packer pride with flags, banners, and bumper stickers -- even to improve the décor of your home by having it completely decorated in Green and Gold. After I invested in these home improvements, I noticed the number of Bears and Vikings fans who came over started to dwindle, which is nice.

If you know, or are pretty sure, that your favorite team does not have the talent level to compete for a championship, the end of the NFL season doesn't bring disappointment -- concluding a losing season can even be a relief of sorts.

But if your team is clearly a top contender, losing in the playoffs and not making it to the Super Bowl can be a great letdown, just as it is for the players. The 2011 Packers appeared to having everything in place to make it to Indianapolis, but in hindsight it's easy to see that the defense was not at all of championship caliber.

Maybe instead of viewing 2011 as somewhat of a failure for Green Bay, as some in the media have, it should serve to reinforce how wonderful the Championship Season of 2010 was. Particularly in light of the injuries the team had to contend with. Winning the three playoff games on the road to get to Dallas for the Super Bowl seems, as seen through the lens of a passing year, even more amazing.

I can recall another year when a season ending loss was more devastating for Packer fans, the 1997 season when the Pack made it to the Super Bowl but lost to the Broncos. That loss was completely unexpected for Packer fans, players, coaches -- even team executives. It prompted Ron Wolf to angrily compare the Packers' hopes of building a mini-dynasty to flatulence in a stiff breeze, or something to that effect.

We thought at the time that the key players on the team, particularly the most key player, Number 4, were still young enough to give the team many more opportunities to make it to the Big Game. But it turned out not to be. As we saw the following season some of the defensive players were starting to show signs of age, and the Packers lost to the 49ers in the playoffs. Maybe Ron Wolf knew the window was closing for that group of Packers. A brief period of rebuilding ensued for two years until the team returned to the playoffs.

This time, we definitely don't have to worry about the Packers' age. All that's required is a slight re-tooling of the defense. Maybe in the scheme and coaching as much as with the personnel. The Pack will definitely bounce back from losing to the Giants and be an exciting contender again when the 2012 season rolls around. 

I'd say that the disappointment of 1997 exceeded that of 2011 by quite a bit. We can head into the offseason this time with substantial optimism about what's to come.

Nothing against the Giants, the Patriots or their respective fans, but pro football to me means just one thing: the Green Bay Packers. And for this Packer fan/blogger the 2011 NFL season has the feeling of something that is very much part of the past.

When I was in college I attended a Super Bowl in which two teams not called the Packers played. The most interesting part of the week was the cool parties and the opportunity for celebrity sightings. I remember feeling kind of tired and disinterested by the time kickoff rolled around. So at my house, we'll probably avoid watching the Super Bowl on TV this Sunday. There are a number of alternative activities to occupy that time and have fun.

Go to the Movies. An intriguing Gothic-style thriller/horror film opens this Friday,  "The Woman In Black," about a vengeful ghost making life miserable for residents of a small village. If you don't typically attend scary movies, remember you survived watching the Packers' secondary trying to tackle receivers all season long. Now that's truly frightening. A movie, not so much.

Practice Tailgating Recipes for Next Season. Now's the time to bring some additional flair to your already outstanding tailgating menu. Try new blends of seasonings, maybe make a little hotter pot of chili or a new marinade for those popular chicken wings you make. This activity is sure to make you hungry -- literally -- for the 2012 season to start.

Create Your Own Draft Board. The NFL Draft will be here before you know it. Start now by going down to your work room and building a draft board to hang on the wall and post the names of college players you think Ted Thompson should draft. Don't bother building a "free agent" board, of course. It's Ted we're talking about. Working with tools is a great stress reliever. If you're still carrying around anger over the Packers' playoff exit, nothing like hammering the heck out of a piece of lumber to make you feel at least marginally better.  

Have a Packer Party. Most of us recorded some games on our DVRs during the year. Relive the magic of the 15-1 season. Have your buddies over and let them vote for a favorite game to watch. It's one last chance to dress up in your full Packer game day wardrobe of expensive logo merchandise before you fold all the clothes up and put them away until summer. (You might consider washing them, if you haven't prior to this time).

Work On Your Household Budget. This may sound like a mundane activity, but we all need to learn how to save more money each month. Creating a household budget is the first step. There's retirement to think about, the kids' college to prepare for. But more importantly, there's saving up for a trip to watch a game at Lambeau next fall.

One of the unpleasant aspects of the NFL playoffs is how abruptly the season ends if your team loses. The morning of a playoff game you're all excited and can't wait for kickoff. Then 3 1/2 hours later, your team has lost and it's like attending a party where the host tells everyone it's time to go home much too early. What's going on here? The party was just getting started.

This was especially apparent when the Packers lost to the Giants. With every Green Bay victory in 2011 -- fifteen in all -- it was as though expectations for the postseaon were ratcheted up more and more, which made the letdown even worse. For a lot of people, fans and media, it was almost a given the Packers would be playing in the Super Bowl.

The other distressing thing about losing a playoff game is that the last image you have of your team for the season is failure. And this wasn't a case of the team playing valiantly but coming up short. The playoff game was pretty much a disaster.

I've never been that interested in the Pro Bowl game, but I did watch it Sunday night which had the effect of putting closure on the Packers' 2011 campaign. There was Aaron Rodgers tossing two touchdown passes, Clay Matthews making a great interception, Greg Jennings scoring a touchdown, and Charles Woodson making solid plays in the secondary.

Although it's not a "real game" with normal NFL rules, seeing those flashes of great play by key members of the 2011 Packers team reminded us of the brilliant brand of football we were treated to week in and week out. And the number of Packers who made the Pro Bowl squad was an indicator of how highly regarded the Packer players are by the millions of fans who voted.

The roster in 2012 will be different of course from the group that played in 2011. Some popular players like Donald Driver might not be back. But the team has such a great young core group of talent that Packer fans have lots to look forward to come this September.

And so we can put closure on the memorable 2011 season. It's part of the long and storied history of the Packers now.

Let's make sure we remember what tremendous fun it was.

After overcoming the shock of the Packers exiting the playoffs so quickly, fans of the green and gold are left to ponder the mystery of what happened to the glorious 15-1 season and how the team could have played so poorly in all phases of the game against the Giants. And the playoff demise was quick: you could argue the game was over seconds before halftime when the Giants scored a touchdown to go up 20-10.

As someone who loves to read mystery novels, I can't help but try to look at this through the eyes of a detective called in to Lambeau Field to investigate.

Suspect 1: Who Stole the Defense?

Coach McCarthy said "the tackling just was not there all year." Where did it go? This is a mystery within a mystery. Apparently someone hijacked the defense prior to the season. Whoever it was, please return the actual hard hitting Green Bay defense to 1265 Lombardi Avenue by next July. Their presence on the field is urgently needed -- and sorely missed.  

Suspect 2: Ted Thompson's Penny Pinching

Some fans are saying that Ted's philosophy of "building the team through the draft" and ignoring free agency is to blame. They point to the fact that in addition to not bringing in marquee free agents the last several seasons, he let a key member of the defensive line, Cullen Jenkins, go to another team. Two clues absolve Ted of blame: 1) What free agents would you have really coveted the last several years and paid a premium for? 2) If you assemble a team that wins 21 out of 23 games, you probably know how to pick players.  

Suspect 3: The Ghosts of Titletown Past

I am the co-author of a novel titled "Over Time" about modern day Packer fans and players getting to re-live one of the greatest games of all time, The Ice Bowl, which inspires the main characters in the novel to face challenges in their own lives and prevail against heavy odds. But what if the opposite were true: what if the greats of the past, from the championship teams of the 1920s, 30s and 60s, watching from Football Heaven, really don't want the current team to outshine what they accomplished and used ghostly powers to affect the playoff game. Remember the spooky number of dropped passes that afternoon…

We have to eliminate this possibility because the living Packer legends, to a man, all take tremendous pride in what the 2010-2011 Packers achieved. So we'll cross any ghostly suspects off our list.

Suspect 4: Super Bowl Hangover Arrives Late

If you get exposed to a cold virus, you don't necessarily start sneezing and coughing right away. It takes a while for the virus to take hold. As opposed to many seasons when the Super Bowl winner stumbles the following year, Green Bay looked even better than in 2010 as this season unfolded. But the string of victories actually may have hurt the team toward the end of the year. Perhaps some of the players came to believe they were unbeatable and their performance slipped just as they needed to step their game up for the postseason.

Suspect 5: The New York Giants

Maybe the Giants are just that good -- an overall better team than the Packers.

Guess that wraps up the case. The G-Men did it.

In the NFL, one of the most reliable axioms that applies every season is: nothing stays the same from the previous year. Great teams can quickly fade into mediocrity and just as quickly struggling teams acquire new players, new coaches and new confidence to become playoff contenders. Just look at Detroit and San Francisco this season.

I know there's supposedly one more NFL game left in the 2011 season, but the Packers aren't playing in it so it's of no particular interest to a lot of Green Bay fans -- myself included. I'll probably spend that day on more productive activities like cleaning out the garage. So let's turn our attention to what might happen starting in September 2012.

Areas of Concern for Green Bay Fans

Will the Lions continue to get better? They got the offense thing down this year but their sorry defense held them back from being a truly outstanding team. If they successfully address that side of the ball, they could certainly be a championship team considering all the young, outstanding players they have. And given how close the games were against the Packers, they have the confidence they can take their game to the next level and defeat Green Bay next season.

What about those Bears? They seemed playoff bound before Jay Cutler got hurt but before the season started there was a school of thought that some of their defensive stalwarts were getting a tad old. And another year will have passed. They lost to the Packers four times in calendar year 2011, so you can be sure their coaches will make it a VERY HIGH PRIORITY to defeat the Packers in 2012.

The Vikings are a clearly more talented team than their record for 2011 showed, but they need to find more stability at the quarterback position to improve dramatically in 2012. They had some bad luck in losing several home games they should have won. Luck has a way of turning itself around.

Nothin' to Worry About

Will the Packers losing a number of coaches to other teams in the offseason hurt them in 2012? No. In fact it might be good to have new coaches in several positions who offer a fresh perspective, and new energy. The current leaders of the Pack, Ted and Mike, have demonstrated they know how to build an excellent staff.

Will Aaron Rodgers feel under pressure to top his amazing regular season performance in 2011? Nope. But he will be highly motivated to make us forget his dismal performance in the very first home playoff game of his career as a starter in Green Bay. He seems to play better when there are people doubting him…at least a bit.

Have teams "figured out" the Packers' offense. Nope. But it's unreasonable to pin your hopes for victory on the offense being able to score 35 points a week. The Packers have their own "figuring out" to do in the offseason -- how to play defense with some semblance of effectiveness.

Early Prediction: Next season the top three teams in the NFC North will be bunched up, with no one running away with it as the Packers did this season.