Monday, August 24, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
It happened......
Well, what an early birthday present for me, huh? In his dual role as savior and Anti-Christ, Brett Favre is officially a member of the Minnesota Vikings.
In all these years, I never, ever thought that those words would cross my keyboard, but there they are. Everyone that I've talked to about this since the story developed yesterday afternoon assumed I would have my reaction all sorted out and everything by this point. But that would be a wrong assumption.
To be honest, I thought I was prepared for this to take place, despite the fact that everybody thought the whole situation was over. However, when it comes to Favre, nothing is over until I guess he decides it is.
I wish I had something deeply profound to say about this whole thing. . . but, to be honest, I really don't at the moment. I have a lot of questions that are swirling around my head about this whole ordeal. But let me address the one thing that I know for sure as of right now.
Brad Childress and Zygi Wilf have, in poker terminology, gone all-in with this move. The 2009 season won't end in a middle-of-the-road fashion for the Minnesota Vikings. It's either going to end incredibly well. . . or incredibly bad. The Vikes are either going to the promised land, or Brad Childress is going to be looking for a job come next January and the Vikings will be looking to start the process of rebuilding the franchise around Adrian Peterson.
The Vikings are playing their 49th season of NFL football in 2009. Yours truly has been a fan for 21 of those seasons. I can't think of any season that started with more intrigue than this one, and it's all because of this one move. And, honestly, that's all my mind can come up with at the moment. Rest assured there will be more in the days to come, but for some reason it's taking me an inordinate amount of time to get my head wrapped around this.
In all these years, I never, ever thought that those words would cross my keyboard, but there they are. Everyone that I've talked to about this since the story developed yesterday afternoon assumed I would have my reaction all sorted out and everything by this point. But that would be a wrong assumption.
To be honest, I thought I was prepared for this to take place, despite the fact that everybody thought the whole situation was over. However, when it comes to Favre, nothing is over until I guess he decides it is.
I wish I had something deeply profound to say about this whole thing. . . but, to be honest, I really don't at the moment. I have a lot of questions that are swirling around my head about this whole ordeal. But let me address the one thing that I know for sure as of right now.
Brad Childress and Zygi Wilf have, in poker terminology, gone all-in with this move. The 2009 season won't end in a middle-of-the-road fashion for the Minnesota Vikings. It's either going to end incredibly well. . . or incredibly bad. The Vikes are either going to the promised land, or Brad Childress is going to be looking for a job come next January and the Vikings will be looking to start the process of rebuilding the franchise around Adrian Peterson.
The Vikings are playing their 49th season of NFL football in 2009. Yours truly has been a fan for 21 of those seasons. I can't think of any season that started with more intrigue than this one, and it's all because of this one move. And, honestly, that's all my mind can come up with at the moment. Rest assured there will be more in the days to come, but for some reason it's taking me an inordinate amount of time to get my head wrapped around this.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Put this "Dog" to sleep
Note to NASCAR: It is time to scrap the Lucky Dog. The Free Pass. The I-just-happened-to-be-in-front-of-Tony Stewart-when-the-caution-flew award. Whatever. Just get rid of it.
I know NASCAR has threatened to put the rule on the chopping block before. After the 2004 season they said they would consider killing it off. But yet it lives and creates just as much confusion as it did when it was instituted.
It is not unheard of for a lap-down car to come back and win or have a great finish, and great drivers certainly don't need a glorified Mickey Mouse rule to make it happen. The rule was created to help discourage racing back to the yellow, but the rule has done nothing but create confusion between drivers, fans and even NASCAR's broadcasters, who refuse to use a standard name for the rule.
Sure, the rule has helped NASCAR's safety initiative, but NASCAR also has the ability to score drivers multiple times per lap. Why have a rule that is designed to prevent racing back to the caution, yet it only affects a solitary car?
Jimmie Johnson may not want to do away with the Lucky Dog. At Pocono yesterday, he was THREE laps down more than halfway through the race, yet since it was a 2.5 mile track and nobody else was a lap down, he was able to get the Lucky Dog each time a caution came out and eventually was able to finish 13th on the lead lap, ahead of 20 other drivers that actually ran all 200 laps, not 197 of them.
With NASCAR's various scoring loops, is the rule even needed?
Even if NASCAR refuses to do away with the rule, can you at least give it a better name than the Free Pass or the Lucky Dog?
To me those two names just mean a gift that was not earned, which is exactly what the rule has represented in the last several years. We get it. The rule stops drivers from racing back to the caution flag. But that very concern was more realistic years ago. Drivers' habits have changed since then. The rule can afford to die without it compromising safety.
I know NASCAR has threatened to put the rule on the chopping block before. After the 2004 season they said they would consider killing it off. But yet it lives and creates just as much confusion as it did when it was instituted.
It is not unheard of for a lap-down car to come back and win or have a great finish, and great drivers certainly don't need a glorified Mickey Mouse rule to make it happen. The rule was created to help discourage racing back to the yellow, but the rule has done nothing but create confusion between drivers, fans and even NASCAR's broadcasters, who refuse to use a standard name for the rule.
Sure, the rule has helped NASCAR's safety initiative, but NASCAR also has the ability to score drivers multiple times per lap. Why have a rule that is designed to prevent racing back to the caution, yet it only affects a solitary car?
Jimmie Johnson may not want to do away with the Lucky Dog. At Pocono yesterday, he was THREE laps down more than halfway through the race, yet since it was a 2.5 mile track and nobody else was a lap down, he was able to get the Lucky Dog each time a caution came out and eventually was able to finish 13th on the lead lap, ahead of 20 other drivers that actually ran all 200 laps, not 197 of them.
With NASCAR's various scoring loops, is the rule even needed?
Even if NASCAR refuses to do away with the rule, can you at least give it a better name than the Free Pass or the Lucky Dog?
To me those two names just mean a gift that was not earned, which is exactly what the rule has represented in the last several years. We get it. The rule stops drivers from racing back to the caution flag. But that very concern was more realistic years ago. Drivers' habits have changed since then. The rule can afford to die without it compromising safety.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
What it's like to be a Vikings fan...
The soap opera that was the Brett Favre saga over the last few months has brought up an interesting discussion I had with another diehard Viking fan. The embarrassing roller coaster that the Vikings were a part of raised a question that some of we wondered aloud: Is this the most disappointing thing to happen to the Beloved Purple? My short answer is absolutely NOT.
As Viking fans, we've been through way more and way worse than this. Somehow though we've managed to persevere for this long. To be honest, I'm not even sure if the whole Brett Favre situation would crack a list of the Top 20 most disappointing things to ever happen to the Minnesota Vikings.
Wait a second.... the twenty most disappointing things to ever happen to the Vikings, eh? Consider that gauntlet picked up, even if I'm the one who threw it down. First off, there needs to be ground rules, to which the I reserve the right to make up off the top of my head.
Randy Moss' mock-mooning at Lambeau Field during the 2004 playoffs does not count. It came in a game where the Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Scratch running back Robert Smith retiring from football in 2001 when he still had a few good seasons left, since that was his personal decision. Mocking former running back Onterrio Smith for getting busted at the airport with something called an Original Whizzinator is also out since that incident was symbolic with his problems with addiction. The rest is in play, and even though I may not have been alive for a few of these I understand and respect the entire history of the franchise to know exactly where each incident stands.
20. Starting quarterback, Spergon Wynn
Spergon Wynn was hardly cut out to be a CFL quarterback, let alone a NFL quarterback. Wynn made two starts for the Vikings late in 2001. He threw one touchdown and six interceptions and never started another game. He is the answer to a great trivia question for you diehards from Barry Dyngle's: Who started at QB in the Vikings' last game under Dennis Green and the first under Mike Tice?
19. Drafting Troy Williamson
He's open deep and ... oh, he can't hang on! There is another NFC North team which is synonymous with spending first-round draft choices on wide receivers whose 40-yard dash times turn out to be fool's gold, but Williamson ranks with any of the approximately 72 receivers Matt Millen drafted when he was doing to the Lions what a bunch of dopes in suits did to the U.S. auto industry. Williamson, the No. 7 pick in 2006, was expected to give the Vikings the deep threat they had lacked since Moss left. Three years later, his name is mostly a punchline to me. Some of his drops were so bad that the director of a cheesy football comedy wouldn't have even included them, for lack of believability.
18. Paul Ferraro's special teams unit (2008)
SEVEN return touchdowns allowed in one season, a NFL record. The crazy part is Ferraro moved up the coaching ladder after that showing, since he was hired by the St. Louis Rams to coach their linebackers. Granted, that means worrying about three players, not all 11 on the field at one time.
17. Tony Dorsett runs 99½ yards
Perhaps it was not disappointing in the classic sense. It's just that the NFL Network seems bound by policy to have to air the clip of Dorsett's dash at least once every 24 hours. No one remembers that the Vikings actually won that 1982 Monday nighter, no mean feat when you allow a running back to go 99 yards on a play when his team lined up with only 10 guys. True story.
16. Vikadontis Rex (1995-2000)
There is only room for one lame dinosaur mascot in the four major sports. The Toronto Raptors totally called this one. Vikadontis was introduced in the wake of the Jurassic Park phenomenon in the early '90s, probably as a way to appeal to the kids. Of course, the Vikings already had a mascot, Ragnar, played by a guy who holds the world record for shaving with an ax, so it just ended up destroying the brand.
15. Antonio Freeman's catch
I'd like to shy away from using the word fluke. However, what happened on the night of Nov. 6, 2000 was nothing but a damn fluke. The Vikings and Packers never should have been in overtime in the first place, but in a driving rainstorm, the Vikings botched the hold on a last-second field goal try. In OT, Freeman slipped on the wet field while running a deep route and Dishman appeared to bat it to the turf. However, it hit Freeman, who managed to complete the catch, get to his feet without being tackled and cut inside a defender to score and give Green Bay a 26-20 win. It also cost the Vikings home-field advantage throughout the playoffs which in turn would set up something that will most definitely come up later in this blog.
14. Dennis Green tries to sue the team
To be fair, you might call a lawyer too if you had coached a perennial playoff team and found out the highers-up tried to replace you with a rah-rah college coach like Lou Holtz who was a failure in his one shot in the NFL. To me the Vikings are still trying to find a suitable replacement.
13. Randy Moss' long goodbye (about 2002 to '04)
There are reasons Randy Moss is great and wonderful beyond him being in the picture when people talk about the greatest pass receivers in NFL history (after Jerry Rice and somewhere in there with Marvin Harrison and Lance Alworth). Moss showed an outcast could make it in an American team sport. That point was generally lost amid the "I play when I want to play," the meter-maid bumping and leaving the field before the game was over.
12. Daunte Culpepper's knee injury
When pro football historians (how do you get that job?) talk about the great passing combos whose first names need not be mentioned, they'll talk about Montana-to-Rice, Manning-to-Harrison, Unitas-to-Berry, and Brady-to-Moss. It will ignore Culpepper, who threw to Moss during his prime years, from the time he was 23 until he was 27. It went so well for so long, then one day it did not anymore. Since '05, Culpepper has played for the Dolphins, Raiders and the Detroit Lions, so you could say the injury was career-ending.
11. Pass not intended for Darrin Nelson
Plenty of teams have seen their Super Bowl dreams dashed in the final minute of the conference championship game, just yards from a tying or winning touchdown. My dad (of course being a Redskins fan) refers to this game as the "Game with a hundred punts." The killer is that the final play of the 1987 NFC championship vs. Washington, the underdog Vikings ended up with Anthony Carter and running back Darrin Nelson in the same area of the field. That made it easier for Hall of Famer Darrell Green, who was covering Carter, to break up the pass. It was intended for Nelson, but considering that Carter had set a playoff receiving record the week before, it's hard to ignore the thought that Wade Wilson was throwing for him. That was also the season when the NFL used scrub players for three games during a players' strike. The fake Vikings went 0-3, but they still made the playoffs and were six yards from victory.
10. Super Bowl IV
The first of the Vikings' four Super Bowl losses might not be well-remembered. The fact remains is they were 12-point favorites going in against the Kansas City Chiefs and lost by 16. No team ever favored by such a large spread ever lost again until 1998, when a certain bunch of Cheeseheads, thanks to a couple key turnovers by a quarterback wearing No. 4, lost to Denver after being favored by 13.
9. Love boat scandal
Easy enough to laugh this off now, but the general mood was less tolerant in 2005. Between Moss leaving and Culpepper suffering a devastating knee injury, it was a rough few months.
8. Jim Marshall's wrong-way run
Marshall's record of playing in 282 consecutive games across 20 seasons basically makes him the NFL's answer to Cal Ripken Jr., except Ripken did not have to get cut-blocked or leg-whipped on a semi-regular basis. However, there's a belief the member of the Purple People Eaters is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame all because of one boner he pulled in 1964 when he picked up a fumble and ran the wrong way all the way to the end zone for a safety against the 49ers. Much like the embarrassment that was the 99 yard TD, the Vikings also won this game so it didn't really matter.
7. Nooooo! Nooooooo!
Six years later, the question how remains unanswered. An 11-point fourth-quarter lead against the worst team in the NFL should have been safe. Somehow, the Arizona Cardinals, led by depth-chart fillers such as Josh McCown and Nathan Poole, scored two touchdowns and recovered an onside kick all after the two-minute warning, helping Favre and the Green Bay Packers get into the playoffs, keeping the Vikings out after they had started the season 6-0. Of course, since the best a Vikings fan can usually hope for is justice delayed, several years later the NFL changed the so-called force-out rule, so Nathan Poole's end-zone catch would not count if they were playing the game today.
6. Metrodome opens
Let's get this straight: You gave up the best home-field advantage in the NFL? How did that work out? Baseball's Twins, the NBA's Timberwolves and the University of Minnesota football team have each scored sweeter digs, but only the Vikings remain unable to score a modern stadium.
5. Korey Stringer's death
As a fan, there is a lot you don't wanna know when it comes to the sacrifices pro athletes have to make. Springer's death due to complications from heat stroke uncovered the dark side of the sport. Pushing someone that far was so needless, so unnecessary that it hardly seemed like a game.
4. 41-doughnut
Have you ever sat there as a sports fan after your team lost by a slim margin and wondered if it would have been easier to take if they had never been in the game? Losing 41-0 in the NFC championship game to the New York Giants, getting shut out by a defence which had Jason Sehorn on it, well, there's your answer. Again, if the Freeman catch doesn't happen, the Vikings may well have hosted this game at home, but would it have made a difference? True story, I watched the 1st quarter of this game at my brother's house (Giants fan..yes this makes me 0-2 against my family in conference championship games) and I left with my girlfriend after the Vikes fell behind 14-0 because "I could tell where this game was headed." I told her "Look, the Vikes will come back, make it a game, only to break my heart at the end and I don't want to put myself through that misery. It's not like they're gonna lose 42-0 or anything." As it turns out...I was one point off...
3. Drew Pearson pushes off
Pass interference is like disorderly conduct. There is no clear definition of it, but everyone knows it when they see it. Pearson's look of restrained jubilation and guilty body language as he looks around for a penalty flag after catching the Hail Mary pass from Roger Staubach to beat the Vikings in the '75 playoffs is all the proof one needs to know he pushed off on Hall of Fame defensive back Paul Krause, even if the replays are actually inconclusive.
2. Herschel Walker trade
This trade was so bad the temptation is to believe it was a conspiracy to restore the Dallas Cowboys to NFL prominence as "America's Team" and help the league's TV ratings recover in the wake of the 1987 strike. It's easier to accept that trust me. The truth of the matter is two of the draft picks the Cowboys received for this ridiculous trade were used to draft Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. Enough said.
1. Almost perfect
All together now: Damn! It's a burn, not a serious one mind you since this is just football (yeah right), to never know how Randall Cunningham and Cris Carter might have done in a Super Bowl. This team was just way too good to not even have the opportunity to play in a Super Bowl. They lost two games that season, to the Bucs 27-24 in Week 8 and 30-27 to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game. I still don't blame Gary Anderson for missing his first kick in TWO years. Instead I share the blame with the touchdown that Moss dropped in the 2nd quarter (Vikes settled for a FG), the prevent defense they played after the Anderson miss while still leading 27-20, the TWO dropped interceptions by Robert Griffith on the Falcons ensuing TD drive, and the "kneel down" on 3rd down with 30 seconds on the clock and the Vikes with the ball on their own 35 yard line with the most explosive offense in the entire league. I still watch this game every year before the new season starts. It helps me to get over a loss much quicker because nothing will ever compare to the 1998 NFC Championship game.
As Viking fans, we've been through way more and way worse than this. Somehow though we've managed to persevere for this long. To be honest, I'm not even sure if the whole Brett Favre situation would crack a list of the Top 20 most disappointing things to ever happen to the Minnesota Vikings.
Wait a second.... the twenty most disappointing things to ever happen to the Vikings, eh? Consider that gauntlet picked up, even if I'm the one who threw it down. First off, there needs to be ground rules, to which the I reserve the right to make up off the top of my head.
Randy Moss' mock-mooning at Lambeau Field during the 2004 playoffs does not count. It came in a game where the Vikings beat the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field. Scratch running back Robert Smith retiring from football in 2001 when he still had a few good seasons left, since that was his personal decision. Mocking former running back Onterrio Smith for getting busted at the airport with something called an Original Whizzinator is also out since that incident was symbolic with his problems with addiction. The rest is in play, and even though I may not have been alive for a few of these I understand and respect the entire history of the franchise to know exactly where each incident stands.
20. Starting quarterback, Spergon Wynn
Spergon Wynn was hardly cut out to be a CFL quarterback, let alone a NFL quarterback. Wynn made two starts for the Vikings late in 2001. He threw one touchdown and six interceptions and never started another game. He is the answer to a great trivia question for you diehards from Barry Dyngle's: Who started at QB in the Vikings' last game under Dennis Green and the first under Mike Tice?
19. Drafting Troy Williamson
He's open deep and ... oh, he can't hang on! There is another NFC North team which is synonymous with spending first-round draft choices on wide receivers whose 40-yard dash times turn out to be fool's gold, but Williamson ranks with any of the approximately 72 receivers Matt Millen drafted when he was doing to the Lions what a bunch of dopes in suits did to the U.S. auto industry. Williamson, the No. 7 pick in 2006, was expected to give the Vikings the deep threat they had lacked since Moss left. Three years later, his name is mostly a punchline to me. Some of his drops were so bad that the director of a cheesy football comedy wouldn't have even included them, for lack of believability.
18. Paul Ferraro's special teams unit (2008)
SEVEN return touchdowns allowed in one season, a NFL record. The crazy part is Ferraro moved up the coaching ladder after that showing, since he was hired by the St. Louis Rams to coach their linebackers. Granted, that means worrying about three players, not all 11 on the field at one time.
17. Tony Dorsett runs 99½ yards
Perhaps it was not disappointing in the classic sense. It's just that the NFL Network seems bound by policy to have to air the clip of Dorsett's dash at least once every 24 hours. No one remembers that the Vikings actually won that 1982 Monday nighter, no mean feat when you allow a running back to go 99 yards on a play when his team lined up with only 10 guys. True story.
16. Vikadontis Rex (1995-2000)
There is only room for one lame dinosaur mascot in the four major sports. The Toronto Raptors totally called this one. Vikadontis was introduced in the wake of the Jurassic Park phenomenon in the early '90s, probably as a way to appeal to the kids. Of course, the Vikings already had a mascot, Ragnar, played by a guy who holds the world record for shaving with an ax, so it just ended up destroying the brand.
15. Antonio Freeman's catch
I'd like to shy away from using the word fluke. However, what happened on the night of Nov. 6, 2000 was nothing but a damn fluke. The Vikings and Packers never should have been in overtime in the first place, but in a driving rainstorm, the Vikings botched the hold on a last-second field goal try. In OT, Freeman slipped on the wet field while running a deep route and Dishman appeared to bat it to the turf. However, it hit Freeman, who managed to complete the catch, get to his feet without being tackled and cut inside a defender to score and give Green Bay a 26-20 win. It also cost the Vikings home-field advantage throughout the playoffs which in turn would set up something that will most definitely come up later in this blog.
14. Dennis Green tries to sue the team
To be fair, you might call a lawyer too if you had coached a perennial playoff team and found out the highers-up tried to replace you with a rah-rah college coach like Lou Holtz who was a failure in his one shot in the NFL. To me the Vikings are still trying to find a suitable replacement.
13. Randy Moss' long goodbye (about 2002 to '04)
There are reasons Randy Moss is great and wonderful beyond him being in the picture when people talk about the greatest pass receivers in NFL history (after Jerry Rice and somewhere in there with Marvin Harrison and Lance Alworth). Moss showed an outcast could make it in an American team sport. That point was generally lost amid the "I play when I want to play," the meter-maid bumping and leaving the field before the game was over.
12. Daunte Culpepper's knee injury
When pro football historians (how do you get that job?) talk about the great passing combos whose first names need not be mentioned, they'll talk about Montana-to-Rice, Manning-to-Harrison, Unitas-to-Berry, and Brady-to-Moss. It will ignore Culpepper, who threw to Moss during his prime years, from the time he was 23 until he was 27. It went so well for so long, then one day it did not anymore. Since '05, Culpepper has played for the Dolphins, Raiders and the Detroit Lions, so you could say the injury was career-ending.
11. Pass not intended for Darrin Nelson
Plenty of teams have seen their Super Bowl dreams dashed in the final minute of the conference championship game, just yards from a tying or winning touchdown. My dad (of course being a Redskins fan) refers to this game as the "Game with a hundred punts." The killer is that the final play of the 1987 NFC championship vs. Washington, the underdog Vikings ended up with Anthony Carter and running back Darrin Nelson in the same area of the field. That made it easier for Hall of Famer Darrell Green, who was covering Carter, to break up the pass. It was intended for Nelson, but considering that Carter had set a playoff receiving record the week before, it's hard to ignore the thought that Wade Wilson was throwing for him. That was also the season when the NFL used scrub players for three games during a players' strike. The fake Vikings went 0-3, but they still made the playoffs and were six yards from victory.
10. Super Bowl IV
The first of the Vikings' four Super Bowl losses might not be well-remembered. The fact remains is they were 12-point favorites going in against the Kansas City Chiefs and lost by 16. No team ever favored by such a large spread ever lost again until 1998, when a certain bunch of Cheeseheads, thanks to a couple key turnovers by a quarterback wearing No. 4, lost to Denver after being favored by 13.
9. Love boat scandal
Easy enough to laugh this off now, but the general mood was less tolerant in 2005. Between Moss leaving and Culpepper suffering a devastating knee injury, it was a rough few months.
8. Jim Marshall's wrong-way run
Marshall's record of playing in 282 consecutive games across 20 seasons basically makes him the NFL's answer to Cal Ripken Jr., except Ripken did not have to get cut-blocked or leg-whipped on a semi-regular basis. However, there's a belief the member of the Purple People Eaters is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame all because of one boner he pulled in 1964 when he picked up a fumble and ran the wrong way all the way to the end zone for a safety against the 49ers. Much like the embarrassment that was the 99 yard TD, the Vikings also won this game so it didn't really matter.
7. Nooooo! Nooooooo!
Six years later, the question how remains unanswered. An 11-point fourth-quarter lead against the worst team in the NFL should have been safe. Somehow, the Arizona Cardinals, led by depth-chart fillers such as Josh McCown and Nathan Poole, scored two touchdowns and recovered an onside kick all after the two-minute warning, helping Favre and the Green Bay Packers get into the playoffs, keeping the Vikings out after they had started the season 6-0. Of course, since the best a Vikings fan can usually hope for is justice delayed, several years later the NFL changed the so-called force-out rule, so Nathan Poole's end-zone catch would not count if they were playing the game today.
6. Metrodome opens
Let's get this straight: You gave up the best home-field advantage in the NFL? How did that work out? Baseball's Twins, the NBA's Timberwolves and the University of Minnesota football team have each scored sweeter digs, but only the Vikings remain unable to score a modern stadium.
5. Korey Stringer's death
As a fan, there is a lot you don't wanna know when it comes to the sacrifices pro athletes have to make. Springer's death due to complications from heat stroke uncovered the dark side of the sport. Pushing someone that far was so needless, so unnecessary that it hardly seemed like a game.
4. 41-doughnut
Have you ever sat there as a sports fan after your team lost by a slim margin and wondered if it would have been easier to take if they had never been in the game? Losing 41-0 in the NFC championship game to the New York Giants, getting shut out by a defence which had Jason Sehorn on it, well, there's your answer. Again, if the Freeman catch doesn't happen, the Vikings may well have hosted this game at home, but would it have made a difference? True story, I watched the 1st quarter of this game at my brother's house (Giants fan..yes this makes me 0-2 against my family in conference championship games) and I left with my girlfriend after the Vikes fell behind 14-0 because "I could tell where this game was headed." I told her "Look, the Vikes will come back, make it a game, only to break my heart at the end and I don't want to put myself through that misery. It's not like they're gonna lose 42-0 or anything." As it turns out...I was one point off...
3. Drew Pearson pushes off
Pass interference is like disorderly conduct. There is no clear definition of it, but everyone knows it when they see it. Pearson's look of restrained jubilation and guilty body language as he looks around for a penalty flag after catching the Hail Mary pass from Roger Staubach to beat the Vikings in the '75 playoffs is all the proof one needs to know he pushed off on Hall of Fame defensive back Paul Krause, even if the replays are actually inconclusive.
2. Herschel Walker trade
This trade was so bad the temptation is to believe it was a conspiracy to restore the Dallas Cowboys to NFL prominence as "America's Team" and help the league's TV ratings recover in the wake of the 1987 strike. It's easier to accept that trust me. The truth of the matter is two of the draft picks the Cowboys received for this ridiculous trade were used to draft Troy Aikman and Emmitt Smith. Enough said.
1. Almost perfect
All together now: Damn! It's a burn, not a serious one mind you since this is just football (yeah right), to never know how Randall Cunningham and Cris Carter might have done in a Super Bowl. This team was just way too good to not even have the opportunity to play in a Super Bowl. They lost two games that season, to the Bucs 27-24 in Week 8 and 30-27 to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game. I still don't blame Gary Anderson for missing his first kick in TWO years. Instead I share the blame with the touchdown that Moss dropped in the 2nd quarter (Vikes settled for a FG), the prevent defense they played after the Anderson miss while still leading 27-20, the TWO dropped interceptions by Robert Griffith on the Falcons ensuing TD drive, and the "kneel down" on 3rd down with 30 seconds on the clock and the Vikes with the ball on their own 35 yard line with the most explosive offense in the entire league. I still watch this game every year before the new season starts. It helps me to get over a loss much quicker because nothing will ever compare to the 1998 NFC Championship game.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Feel free to come mow my lawn now...
Well, it's finally "official", Brett Favre has decided to stay retired and not come and play for the Minnesota Vikings in 2009. Yes, this should be considered pretty big news. After all, this has been THE story of the Minnesota Vikings' off-season, and it has finally come to a conclusion that absolutely nobody expected.
Am I surprised? Certainly.
Am I angry or disappointed? Nope. Not even a little bit.
Why am I not angry or disappointed? Because the wonderful thing about this resolution to the Favre situation is this:
The Minnesota Vikings are still, with or without Brett Favre, the best and most talented team in the NFC North.
Lots of people won't agree with my assessment on that front, and quite frankly that doesn't matter to me. The facts are the facts. Last year, the Vikings won the NFC North with the combination of bad Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte, and good Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback. And there's no reason to think that the combination of Sage Rosenfels and good/bad Tarvaris Jackson won't do the same thing.
After all the Vikings still have the best running game in the NFC North, possibly the best in the NFC, and maybe the best in the NFL. They also still have a defense that's one of the best in the NFL and light years ahead of any other defense in the NFC North.
Yeah, they have a perceived "hole" at the quarterback position. Ask last year's Packers how far an allegedly wonderful young quarterback and a vastly overrated defense will get you in the NFL. About 6-10, that's what it will get you. If the Bears and Packers want to try their luck with that formula again in 2009, more power to them. . . they'll finish in the same place they finished 2008. . . looking up at the best team in the North.
Reportedly the Vikings have officially closed the door on Favre. Thank you, Brad Childress.
So, our long, unnecessarily drawn out nightmare is over. Bring on the regular season.
Am I surprised? Certainly.
Am I angry or disappointed? Nope. Not even a little bit.
Why am I not angry or disappointed? Because the wonderful thing about this resolution to the Favre situation is this:
The Minnesota Vikings are still, with or without Brett Favre, the best and most talented team in the NFC North.
Lots of people won't agree with my assessment on that front, and quite frankly that doesn't matter to me. The facts are the facts. Last year, the Vikings won the NFC North with the combination of bad Tarvaris Jackson, Gus Frerotte, and good Tarvaris Jackson at quarterback. And there's no reason to think that the combination of Sage Rosenfels and good/bad Tarvaris Jackson won't do the same thing.
After all the Vikings still have the best running game in the NFC North, possibly the best in the NFC, and maybe the best in the NFL. They also still have a defense that's one of the best in the NFL and light years ahead of any other defense in the NFC North.
Yeah, they have a perceived "hole" at the quarterback position. Ask last year's Packers how far an allegedly wonderful young quarterback and a vastly overrated defense will get you in the NFL. About 6-10, that's what it will get you. If the Bears and Packers want to try their luck with that formula again in 2009, more power to them. . . they'll finish in the same place they finished 2008. . . looking up at the best team in the North.
Reportedly the Vikings have officially closed the door on Favre. Thank you, Brad Childress.
So, our long, unnecessarily drawn out nightmare is over. Bring on the regular season.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Fourth Quarter: Elevation?
Yes, only two months or so after blogging about the upcoming Viking's schedule, I'm finally getting around to finishing it. Pretty awesome, huh? I apologize for not having a lot to write about on here, but with the whole Favre thing going on I just haven't been in the mood to discuss my Beloved Purple.
However, it's time to stop procrastinating and look at the fourth quarter of the Vikings' 2009 schedule. The Vikings should have some solid momentum going their way at this point, and based on their first 12 games, I think there's a very good chance they could be looking at an 8-4/9-3 kind of mark before we head into the home stretch. If you need to review the previous three articles to remind yourself where we're at then go ahead...I'll wait for ya.....
Caught up? Good.....
The thirteenth game of the 2009 season will have the Vikes playing host to the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, contrary to what a couple of folks I know think, I don't have the feeling that the Bengals will be that great this year. Even with the return of Carson Palmer, their offense is a mess, and Chad Ocho Cinco is liable to go off at any time. It's going to be a little bit rougher for him, as he'll no longer have T.J. Houshmandzadeh lined up on the other side of the formation. Chris Henry may or may not end up in jail again, too. . . really, you never know. I guess what I'm saying is that the Bengals should have trouble scoring against the Minnesota defense, to put it mildly.
The Vikings, on the other hand, should have no such problem. While the Bengals were #12 in the league in total yards allowed in 2008, they were 21st against the run. They were also a blistering 1-7 on the road. There are no easy wins in the National Football League. . . but I would be pretty surprised if Minnesota didn't handle this one with some level of ease. The final three games of the 2009 season, however, should be pretty tough. They're winnable football games, but they definitely won't be easy wins.
It starts out with what (as of now) is projected to be the first of two consecutive prime-time games for the Beloved Purple, as they travel to Bank of America (insert new name here) Stadium to take on the Carolina Panthers. I say projected to be consecutive prime-time games, because this game is on NBC's Sunday Night schedule, which means it could get "flexed" if there's another, more compelling matchup out there. However, if these two teams play the way they're capable of, I wouldn't expect this game to get moved.
Now, we all remember the 2008 game between these two teams, with Antoine Winfield crushing Jake Delhomme and the defense completely dominating the second half as the Vikings won 20-10. The Panthers have one of the best one-two rushing tandems in the NFL in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. However, as we all know, this plays right into Minnesota's strength and in last year's matchup the Viking defense limited Williams and Stewart to 42 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor fared slightly better against Carolina's defense, combining for 121 yards on 28 carries. Yes, I looked this all up...ha ha.
The outcome of this game could depend on whether we see "good" Jake Delhomme, or whether we see the Jake Delhomme that showed up in the NFC Divisional Playoffs in January that used Arizona Cardinal defenders for target practice. If Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, and company can get after Delhomme the way they did in Minneapolis last year (where they registered five sacks), "bad" Delhomme could be out in full force (along with the boobirds) in Charlotte. This is one of the more interesting games on the schedule, though, and it could really go either way.
The final road game of the year will definitely occur in prime time, as the Vikings will travel to what should be a cold and blustery Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears. Last year's game at Soldier Field was a nightmare, with Gus Frerotte throwing four interceptions, Chris Kluwe being awful, and the special teams just being generally terrible. Despite all of that, the Vikings managed to stay within a touchdown of the Bears and put up their highest scoring output of the year in a 48-41 loss. Since I can't imagine the Vikings' special teams being that awful again, and I can't envision that many turnovers, this game could easily go the other way.
This will be the one game the Vikings play all season where weather should have any significant effect. . . and if it's anything like it usually is in Chicago in December, it's going to be a display of power football on both sides, and both defenses should be amped up and ready to go for this one. If that's the case, the easy choice is Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor over Matt Forte and Kevin Jones, I think.
"But what about Jay Cutler," you might say. The thing is. . . the next time Jay Cutler carries his team in a big situation will be the first time. He was terrible down the stretch in 2008, and has never won a single NFL game that actually meant anything when there was any sort of pressure on him. Since this game could very easily be for the division title, it wouldn't surprise me one single bit to see the diva fall apart again, this time on national TV. I know it's a division game and you can throw the records out and all those other cliches. . . but if you could rest your team's chances of winning on the shoulders of either Adrian Peterson (who has put a team on his back before and carried them when they needed it) or Jay Cutler (who has really done no such thing). . . who are you taking? I know who I'm taking.
The season finale will be the same as the 2008 season finale, as the Vikings will play host to the New York Giants at the Metrodome. Yes, we heard all the crap last year. . . "the Vikings only beat the Giants' backups. The Giants starters would have destroyed the Vikings." Blah blah blah.
The Vikings did enough in their first 15 games to put themselves in a situation where they could have a game against a team that had nothing to play for with a playoff spot on the line. The Bears had a game against a team that had nothing to play for with a playoff spot on the line, too. . . and they would have gotten in, had they beaten the Houston Texans. But, they didn't, so they got to sit at home and watch us in the post-season.
(Oh, and when the Giants pulled their starters, the Vikings were winning the football game. Minor thing, but I thought it should be mentioned.)
There's a good chance that one or both teams will be resting players for this one if there's nothing on the line. I can hope that the Vikings are in a situation to rest players, unless there's a first-round bye to be had or something like that. So, I'm not going to project this one too much, since we don't really know who's going to be on the field for either team at this point.
And that's the final look at the 2009 schedule, ladies and gentlemen! Despite what many of the "experts" are thinking at this point, I don't see any reason that this team can't be in the 10-6/11-5 range and celebrating their second consecutive NFC North division crown on or before January 3rd, 2010.
However, it's time to stop procrastinating and look at the fourth quarter of the Vikings' 2009 schedule. The Vikings should have some solid momentum going their way at this point, and based on their first 12 games, I think there's a very good chance they could be looking at an 8-4/9-3 kind of mark before we head into the home stretch. If you need to review the previous three articles to remind yourself where we're at then go ahead...I'll wait for ya.....
Caught up? Good.....
The thirteenth game of the 2009 season will have the Vikes playing host to the Cincinnati Bengals. Now, contrary to what a couple of folks I know think, I don't have the feeling that the Bengals will be that great this year. Even with the return of Carson Palmer, their offense is a mess, and Chad Ocho Cinco is liable to go off at any time. It's going to be a little bit rougher for him, as he'll no longer have T.J. Houshmandzadeh lined up on the other side of the formation. Chris Henry may or may not end up in jail again, too. . . really, you never know. I guess what I'm saying is that the Bengals should have trouble scoring against the Minnesota defense, to put it mildly.
The Vikings, on the other hand, should have no such problem. While the Bengals were #12 in the league in total yards allowed in 2008, they were 21st against the run. They were also a blistering 1-7 on the road. There are no easy wins in the National Football League. . . but I would be pretty surprised if Minnesota didn't handle this one with some level of ease. The final three games of the 2009 season, however, should be pretty tough. They're winnable football games, but they definitely won't be easy wins.
It starts out with what (as of now) is projected to be the first of two consecutive prime-time games for the Beloved Purple, as they travel to Bank of America (insert new name here) Stadium to take on the Carolina Panthers. I say projected to be consecutive prime-time games, because this game is on NBC's Sunday Night schedule, which means it could get "flexed" if there's another, more compelling matchup out there. However, if these two teams play the way they're capable of, I wouldn't expect this game to get moved.
Now, we all remember the 2008 game between these two teams, with Antoine Winfield crushing Jake Delhomme and the defense completely dominating the second half as the Vikings won 20-10. The Panthers have one of the best one-two rushing tandems in the NFL in DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart. However, as we all know, this plays right into Minnesota's strength and in last year's matchup the Viking defense limited Williams and Stewart to 42 yards and a touchdown on 17 carries. Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor fared slightly better against Carolina's defense, combining for 121 yards on 28 carries. Yes, I looked this all up...ha ha.
The outcome of this game could depend on whether we see "good" Jake Delhomme, or whether we see the Jake Delhomme that showed up in the NFC Divisional Playoffs in January that used Arizona Cardinal defenders for target practice. If Jared Allen, Kevin Williams, and company can get after Delhomme the way they did in Minneapolis last year (where they registered five sacks), "bad" Delhomme could be out in full force (along with the boobirds) in Charlotte. This is one of the more interesting games on the schedule, though, and it could really go either way.
The final road game of the year will definitely occur in prime time, as the Vikings will travel to what should be a cold and blustery Soldier Field to take on the Chicago Bears. Last year's game at Soldier Field was a nightmare, with Gus Frerotte throwing four interceptions, Chris Kluwe being awful, and the special teams just being generally terrible. Despite all of that, the Vikings managed to stay within a touchdown of the Bears and put up their highest scoring output of the year in a 48-41 loss. Since I can't imagine the Vikings' special teams being that awful again, and I can't envision that many turnovers, this game could easily go the other way.
This will be the one game the Vikings play all season where weather should have any significant effect. . . and if it's anything like it usually is in Chicago in December, it's going to be a display of power football on both sides, and both defenses should be amped up and ready to go for this one. If that's the case, the easy choice is Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor over Matt Forte and Kevin Jones, I think.
"But what about Jay Cutler," you might say. The thing is. . . the next time Jay Cutler carries his team in a big situation will be the first time. He was terrible down the stretch in 2008, and has never won a single NFL game that actually meant anything when there was any sort of pressure on him. Since this game could very easily be for the division title, it wouldn't surprise me one single bit to see the diva fall apart again, this time on national TV. I know it's a division game and you can throw the records out and all those other cliches. . . but if you could rest your team's chances of winning on the shoulders of either Adrian Peterson (who has put a team on his back before and carried them when they needed it) or Jay Cutler (who has really done no such thing). . . who are you taking? I know who I'm taking.
The season finale will be the same as the 2008 season finale, as the Vikings will play host to the New York Giants at the Metrodome. Yes, we heard all the crap last year. . . "the Vikings only beat the Giants' backups. The Giants starters would have destroyed the Vikings." Blah blah blah.
The Vikings did enough in their first 15 games to put themselves in a situation where they could have a game against a team that had nothing to play for with a playoff spot on the line. The Bears had a game against a team that had nothing to play for with a playoff spot on the line, too. . . and they would have gotten in, had they beaten the Houston Texans. But, they didn't, so they got to sit at home and watch us in the post-season.
(Oh, and when the Giants pulled their starters, the Vikings were winning the football game. Minor thing, but I thought it should be mentioned.)
There's a good chance that one or both teams will be resting players for this one if there's nothing on the line. I can hope that the Vikings are in a situation to rest players, unless there's a first-round bye to be had or something like that. So, I'm not going to project this one too much, since we don't really know who's going to be on the field for either team at this point.
And that's the final look at the 2009 schedule, ladies and gentlemen! Despite what many of the "experts" are thinking at this point, I don't see any reason that this team can't be in the 10-6/11-5 range and celebrating their second consecutive NFC North division crown on or before January 3rd, 2010.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
My Pick to win Game Seven...
Okay, so who’s the genius who slipped a note to the Red Wings saying that Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals didn’t start until 10:20, instead of 8:20? Nicely done, whoever you are. In what should have been potentially the biggest night of their season, the Red Wings came out flat as a pancake for Game Six of the Stanley Cup Finals in Pittsburgh Tuesday night.
How does a team as experienced, skilled, and focused as the Red Wings usually are come out and lay a big, fat egg onto the Mellon Arena ice surface for the first 40 minutes is beyond me. Then again, this entire series has been beyond me.
First, we had the "back-to-back" to kick things off: Games One and Two played on Saturday and Sunday in Detroit. This was supposed to be damaging to the older Red Wings, who were only a couple days removed from taking my beloved Chicago Blackhawks from the conference finals.
The Red Wings won both games.
Then we had Games Three and Four in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins were supposed to be deflated and discouraged by their oh-fer in Detroit, despite playing some pretty damn good hockey at times.
The Penguins won both games.
So, naturally, the old, tired Red Wings were in trouble heading into Game Five. They looked staggered; the champs were on the ropes. Maybe one or two more punches could finish them off.
Of course, the Red Wings destroyed the Penguins, 5-0.
The stage was set for Game Six. Morons such as yours truly said that these stages were made for the Red Wings. With the Stanley Cup in the building, I said there’s all the urgency in the world, right there. You didn’t even have to manufacture it. Plus, there would be the extra benefit for the Red Wings of an additional day off after Game Five.
Of course the Penguins went out and made the Red Wings look like that old, tired bunch from Games Three and Four.
Do I dare make a guess about Game Seven? This series, so far, has been like six different plays of NHL '09 on your PlayStation 2. None of the games have anything to do with the other. It’s a Finals series that only a Las Vegas bookie can love. There really are only two sure things I know of after watching this series: death and taxes.
Take Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, for example. The kid looks like a bad seed after some weird goals in Games One and Two. Then he bounces back in Games Three and Four. Then he’s so awful in Game Five that he gets the hook. So Fleury is the game’s No. 1 star in Game Six, even stopping Dan Cleary on a heart-thumping breakaway with about 90 seconds to play.
Want another series myth to bust? How about the one that says the Penguins can’t win if Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby aren’t playing in stellar form? The Pens got goals from Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy in Game Six, and Malkin and Crosby were borderline milk carton material for long stretches. There was a Malkin sighting in the third period.... when he was whistled for a penalty.
The Red Wings, meanwhile, played the first two periods as if they expected the Stanley Cup to be awarded to them after the game no matter what. The Red Wings should have had the sense of urgency of a toddler crossing his legs while his mother dragged him through J.C. Penney’s in search of the nearest bathroom. Instead, the Red Wings played, maybe, their worst game of the entire playoffs. And I’m talking anything you got, from Columbus to Anaheim to Chicago. I’ll even throw in Games Three and Four of the Finals, and I’ll still beat it with the Red Wings’ performance through the first 40 minutes of Game Six. They were awful.
If it wasn’t for Osgood, the Penguins would have matched the Red Wings’ five-goal win of Game Five, and maybe even have beaten it. Detroit had three shots on goal in the first period. Three. About one every seven minutes. Unless you plan on Fleury having a save percentage of about .566 for the game, that’s not going to cut it.
I’m done with trying to figure these Finals out. I predicted Pittsburgh in six before this goofball of a series began. After all I’ve been wrong about since they dropped the puck to start Game One and I’m not the Lone Ranger in that regard.
So it’s winner-take-all. There’s no tomorrow. All the chips are on the table. One-and-done. Women and children first. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a rough ride.
Okay okay... my pick for Game Seven? Well, considering every game in this series has been won by the home team the answer to that question is extremely simple:
Penguins: 3 Red Wings: 2
How does a team as experienced, skilled, and focused as the Red Wings usually are come out and lay a big, fat egg onto the Mellon Arena ice surface for the first 40 minutes is beyond me. Then again, this entire series has been beyond me.
First, we had the "back-to-back" to kick things off: Games One and Two played on Saturday and Sunday in Detroit. This was supposed to be damaging to the older Red Wings, who were only a couple days removed from taking my beloved Chicago Blackhawks from the conference finals.
The Red Wings won both games.
Then we had Games Three and Four in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins were supposed to be deflated and discouraged by their oh-fer in Detroit, despite playing some pretty damn good hockey at times.
The Penguins won both games.
So, naturally, the old, tired Red Wings were in trouble heading into Game Five. They looked staggered; the champs were on the ropes. Maybe one or two more punches could finish them off.
Of course, the Red Wings destroyed the Penguins, 5-0.
The stage was set for Game Six. Morons such as yours truly said that these stages were made for the Red Wings. With the Stanley Cup in the building, I said there’s all the urgency in the world, right there. You didn’t even have to manufacture it. Plus, there would be the extra benefit for the Red Wings of an additional day off after Game Five.
Of course the Penguins went out and made the Red Wings look like that old, tired bunch from Games Three and Four.
Do I dare make a guess about Game Seven? This series, so far, has been like six different plays of NHL '09 on your PlayStation 2. None of the games have anything to do with the other. It’s a Finals series that only a Las Vegas bookie can love. There really are only two sure things I know of after watching this series: death and taxes.
Take Pens goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, for example. The kid looks like a bad seed after some weird goals in Games One and Two. Then he bounces back in Games Three and Four. Then he’s so awful in Game Five that he gets the hook. So Fleury is the game’s No. 1 star in Game Six, even stopping Dan Cleary on a heart-thumping breakaway with about 90 seconds to play.
Want another series myth to bust? How about the one that says the Penguins can’t win if Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby aren’t playing in stellar form? The Pens got goals from Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy in Game Six, and Malkin and Crosby were borderline milk carton material for long stretches. There was a Malkin sighting in the third period.... when he was whistled for a penalty.
The Red Wings, meanwhile, played the first two periods as if they expected the Stanley Cup to be awarded to them after the game no matter what. The Red Wings should have had the sense of urgency of a toddler crossing his legs while his mother dragged him through J.C. Penney’s in search of the nearest bathroom. Instead, the Red Wings played, maybe, their worst game of the entire playoffs. And I’m talking anything you got, from Columbus to Anaheim to Chicago. I’ll even throw in Games Three and Four of the Finals, and I’ll still beat it with the Red Wings’ performance through the first 40 minutes of Game Six. They were awful.
If it wasn’t for Osgood, the Penguins would have matched the Red Wings’ five-goal win of Game Five, and maybe even have beaten it. Detroit had three shots on goal in the first period. Three. About one every seven minutes. Unless you plan on Fleury having a save percentage of about .566 for the game, that’s not going to cut it.
I’m done with trying to figure these Finals out. I predicted Pittsburgh in six before this goofball of a series began. After all I’ve been wrong about since they dropped the puck to start Game One and I’m not the Lone Ranger in that regard.
So it’s winner-take-all. There’s no tomorrow. All the chips are on the table. One-and-done. Women and children first. Buckle up, it’s gonna be a rough ride.
Okay okay... my pick for Game Seven? Well, considering every game in this series has been won by the home team the answer to that question is extremely simple:
Penguins: 3 Red Wings: 2
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