Well, I never really knew where this would take me, or how long I would do it, but the answers are in: Not very far, and not very long. I just don't have the time to commit to full blog posts daily or even monthly.
Thanks for following me, all three of you. I will still post on the Vikings over at dailynorseman.com and vikingsvalhalla.com, but I'm bringing this blog to a close.
Thanks, and take care.
The Purple Buckeye
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Monday, September 14, 2009
5 Takeaways from the Vikings Game
Five thoughts on the Vikings win over Cleveland:
1) This had all the makings of a Vikings 'play down to the competition' game, and it looked like that in the first half. This is where I think Favre's veteran presence made a difference. He stayed calm, didn't panic, made a couple of clutch third down throws and second and long throws, and the Vikes score two TD's and hold the ball for almost 13 minutes in the third quarter. Ballgame. Jackson seemed to...not rise up, if you will, in situations like that. Would Jackson have audibled into those throws or made those throws? Tough to say. Maybe he would've scrambled out of a couple of sacks that Favre took and made a big play. I know it's all speculative, but I also know you played the game, and having a vet and a leader at the QB position makes all the difference. It's something you can't measure, but you know it when you see it. I saw it in the Vikes yesterday.
The team has a different feel to it with Favre, one that exudes a quiet confidence, and one that doesn't panic. A 'I know they will do it' attitude as opposed to a 'I hope they can do it' attitude. That, my friend, is the difference between a Super Bowl team and a playoff team.
2) Adrian Peterson will exit the game as the best running back to ever play the game. Just think if we still had Moss. Excuse me while I go cry a little. Both AP and Favre made a 'pick your poison' comment in the post game pressers. Put 8 in the box and AP will still get three or four yards, and give you a manageable down and distance. Put 6 or 7 in the box, and AP will embarrass you, especially if you try and arm tackle him. Give Favre two weeks to get his timing down with his receivers and nail down hot reads, my God...
3) John Sullivan is an adequate replacement to Birk. I love Birk, but Sullivan acquitted himself well, I thought. He got owned on one play, but he did a good job. Ditto for Loadholt, but Cook was so damn mediocre last year a pulse and no false starts would have been an improvement.
4) Yeah, it was the Browns, but the defense was oppressive as the desert heat at noon. Jamal Lewis had a few decent runs, but I think the Vikings gameplan was to not worry about him, to be honest. Lewis is what, older than Favre? He's gonna get a couple of 10-20 yard runs, but he's not a home run hitter, and when the Vikings needed to stop a short run, they did. I think they went into the game wanting to give Brady Quinn about 310 different looks to confuse him, and it worked. The only significant yardage the Browns had was in garbage time once the Vikings second string was on the field. Awesome defensive display.
5) My Dad and I ripped Chilly for the onside kick, but after 24 hours to digest it, I like the move. If the Vikes get the ball, they get momentum, and if they go down and score, game is probably over by halftime. It also sends a message to the defense that if it fails, we still believe that you will give up no worse than a field goal. It's the opening game, against a team you should beat soundly, so there was really little risk. Hell, the Browns weren't driving 50 yards to score a touchdown; just wasn't gonna happen. And as much as we've criticized Chilly about being too conservative, so when he opens it up and rolls the dice we shouldn't crucify him. I mean, it's not like he ran a fake punt inside his own 30 clinging to a two point lead with the game hanging in the balance.
1) This had all the makings of a Vikings 'play down to the competition' game, and it looked like that in the first half. This is where I think Favre's veteran presence made a difference. He stayed calm, didn't panic, made a couple of clutch third down throws and second and long throws, and the Vikes score two TD's and hold the ball for almost 13 minutes in the third quarter. Ballgame. Jackson seemed to...not rise up, if you will, in situations like that. Would Jackson have audibled into those throws or made those throws? Tough to say. Maybe he would've scrambled out of a couple of sacks that Favre took and made a big play. I know it's all speculative, but I also know you played the game, and having a vet and a leader at the QB position makes all the difference. It's something you can't measure, but you know it when you see it. I saw it in the Vikes yesterday.
The team has a different feel to it with Favre, one that exudes a quiet confidence, and one that doesn't panic. A 'I know they will do it' attitude as opposed to a 'I hope they can do it' attitude. That, my friend, is the difference between a Super Bowl team and a playoff team.
2) Adrian Peterson will exit the game as the best running back to ever play the game. Just think if we still had Moss. Excuse me while I go cry a little. Both AP and Favre made a 'pick your poison' comment in the post game pressers. Put 8 in the box and AP will still get three or four yards, and give you a manageable down and distance. Put 6 or 7 in the box, and AP will embarrass you, especially if you try and arm tackle him. Give Favre two weeks to get his timing down with his receivers and nail down hot reads, my God...
3) John Sullivan is an adequate replacement to Birk. I love Birk, but Sullivan acquitted himself well, I thought. He got owned on one play, but he did a good job. Ditto for Loadholt, but Cook was so damn mediocre last year a pulse and no false starts would have been an improvement.
4) Yeah, it was the Browns, but the defense was oppressive as the desert heat at noon. Jamal Lewis had a few decent runs, but I think the Vikings gameplan was to not worry about him, to be honest. Lewis is what, older than Favre? He's gonna get a couple of 10-20 yard runs, but he's not a home run hitter, and when the Vikings needed to stop a short run, they did. I think they went into the game wanting to give Brady Quinn about 310 different looks to confuse him, and it worked. The only significant yardage the Browns had was in garbage time once the Vikings second string was on the field. Awesome defensive display.
5) My Dad and I ripped Chilly for the onside kick, but after 24 hours to digest it, I like the move. If the Vikes get the ball, they get momentum, and if they go down and score, game is probably over by halftime. It also sends a message to the defense that if it fails, we still believe that you will give up no worse than a field goal. It's the opening game, against a team you should beat soundly, so there was really little risk. Hell, the Browns weren't driving 50 yards to score a touchdown; just wasn't gonna happen. And as much as we've criticized Chilly about being too conservative, so when he opens it up and rolls the dice we shouldn't crucify him. I mean, it's not like he ran a fake punt inside his own 30 clinging to a two point lead with the game hanging in the balance.
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Chewing on the Mouthpiece
Well, some intemperate thoughts looking back on a great weekend of college and professional football.
Adrian Peterson 34, Browns 20: There are good players, great players, and once in a generation player. After watching Adrian Peterson rush for 155 second half yards and toss around defensive backs like he was pulling weeds, Peterson, barring injury, will end his career as the greatest running back in NFL history. What he is doing is truly remarkable, and just when I think I've seen an 'Oh my God!' moment, he does something even more incredible. He has the line of scrimmage vision of Barry Sanders, the speed and power of Walter Payton, and the attitude of Jim Brown. He is a wrecking machine, and whenever he gets the ball, you expect something great to happen...and it usually does. Be thankful, Viking fans, that we can cheer a talent of this magnitude. It doesn't come along very often, and leaves far before we're ready for it to.
As for the rest of the Vikings, I like the feel of this team. You know that the offense will go through Peterson, and I think the veteran leadership or calming presence of Brett Favre really hasn't been talked about today. This was a classic 'play down to the level of competition' game for Minnesota. Historically, they're terrible outside on grass, and this had all the earmarks of a nail biter with one screwy play or turnover costing Minnesota the game late. At halftime, it seemed like you could see the game unfolding that way. But the Vikes came out and took their first two drives and shoved the ball right down the throat of the Browns, effectively ending the game. When you have a vet like Favre, who stays calm under early adversity, it allows the rest of the offense to take a deep breath, collect themselves, and go to work. Put in an exciteable or inexperienced guy, doubt creeps in, people start pressing, mistakes are made and then the game is lost.
Favre made a couple of clutch throws on both those drives on either third and long (Shiancoe for a first down) or second and long (Harvin on 2nd and long to set up third and short inside the 10) to keep drives alive and set up a touchdown. Peterson scores a touchdown four plays after the Shiancoe catch, Vikes take a 17-13 lead. Harvin scores the next play after his clutch catch, and then Peterson cuts the heart out of the Browns with his amazing 4th quarter run.
Would Jackson or Rosenfels have made those plays? I'll let you decide.
Percy Harvin had an impressive debut. I liked his ability to catch a ball, sit down in a zone or find a seam. He has a nose for the end zone, and as the season progresses he will really begin to stretch the field.
NFC North Quarterbacks not named Brett Favre: Matthew Stafford was 16-37, 205 yards and three picks as the Lions got drilled by the Saints. Hey, the kid's a rookie making his first start, and the Lions didn't lay down. Interceptions are part of the growing process for a rookie. Let's hope the Vikings secondary helps him grow next week.
Jay Cutler managed to look like every other quarterback that the Bears have employed in the past 25 years. Wow, was he horrid. Occasional good throw, but he also had 4 picks, including two in the red zone and the back breaker to Al Harris to clinch it for the Pack. Brian Urlacher looked like he was ready to kill someone as he was walking off the field. Kyle Orton had a better game than Cutler did, which is saying something. Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, stood tall in the face of a tough defense all night, didn't make any game breaking mistakes, and drove Green Bay to the win with about a minute to go.
USC 18, OSU 15: Damn. Just.....damn it. Terrelle Pryor needs a signature win for OSU to get to the level of national championship contender. Right now, for all his talent, I don't see it. He can run, he's got a strong arm, but he gets rattled and seemingly can't read defenses. It's either that or he's unsure of what he sees and gets tentative. Great defensive effort was wasted, and OSU could, and should have, won that game. If Pryor can learn from this and get better, OSU wins the Big 10 and goes to a BCS game. But I expect at least one more loss, to either Penn State or Michigan.
The Big 10: I think the Big 10 had a good weekend, even with the outcome of the USC game. Michigan won a classic against Notre Dame, and it appears that the demise of Michigan football has been greatly exaggerated. Yeah, Michigan State spit the bit against Central Michigan, but everyone else in the conference won, and Minnesota opened up an outdoor stadium on campus. It looks absolutely gorgeous, and it's great for the Gopher program and the conference. And it makes me yearn for an outdoor Vikings stadium. And they beat a pretty good Air Force team in the process.
Overall, a great weekend of football. Let's hope the Vikes keep it rolling at Detroit and OSU can bounce back against Toledo.
Adrian Peterson 34, Browns 20: There are good players, great players, and once in a generation player. After watching Adrian Peterson rush for 155 second half yards and toss around defensive backs like he was pulling weeds, Peterson, barring injury, will end his career as the greatest running back in NFL history. What he is doing is truly remarkable, and just when I think I've seen an 'Oh my God!' moment, he does something even more incredible. He has the line of scrimmage vision of Barry Sanders, the speed and power of Walter Payton, and the attitude of Jim Brown. He is a wrecking machine, and whenever he gets the ball, you expect something great to happen...and it usually does. Be thankful, Viking fans, that we can cheer a talent of this magnitude. It doesn't come along very often, and leaves far before we're ready for it to.
As for the rest of the Vikings, I like the feel of this team. You know that the offense will go through Peterson, and I think the veteran leadership or calming presence of Brett Favre really hasn't been talked about today. This was a classic 'play down to the level of competition' game for Minnesota. Historically, they're terrible outside on grass, and this had all the earmarks of a nail biter with one screwy play or turnover costing Minnesota the game late. At halftime, it seemed like you could see the game unfolding that way. But the Vikes came out and took their first two drives and shoved the ball right down the throat of the Browns, effectively ending the game. When you have a vet like Favre, who stays calm under early adversity, it allows the rest of the offense to take a deep breath, collect themselves, and go to work. Put in an exciteable or inexperienced guy, doubt creeps in, people start pressing, mistakes are made and then the game is lost.
Favre made a couple of clutch throws on both those drives on either third and long (Shiancoe for a first down) or second and long (Harvin on 2nd and long to set up third and short inside the 10) to keep drives alive and set up a touchdown. Peterson scores a touchdown four plays after the Shiancoe catch, Vikes take a 17-13 lead. Harvin scores the next play after his clutch catch, and then Peterson cuts the heart out of the Browns with his amazing 4th quarter run.
Would Jackson or Rosenfels have made those plays? I'll let you decide.
Percy Harvin had an impressive debut. I liked his ability to catch a ball, sit down in a zone or find a seam. He has a nose for the end zone, and as the season progresses he will really begin to stretch the field.
NFC North Quarterbacks not named Brett Favre: Matthew Stafford was 16-37, 205 yards and three picks as the Lions got drilled by the Saints. Hey, the kid's a rookie making his first start, and the Lions didn't lay down. Interceptions are part of the growing process for a rookie. Let's hope the Vikings secondary helps him grow next week.
Jay Cutler managed to look like every other quarterback that the Bears have employed in the past 25 years. Wow, was he horrid. Occasional good throw, but he also had 4 picks, including two in the red zone and the back breaker to Al Harris to clinch it for the Pack. Brian Urlacher looked like he was ready to kill someone as he was walking off the field. Kyle Orton had a better game than Cutler did, which is saying something. Aaron Rodgers, on the other hand, stood tall in the face of a tough defense all night, didn't make any game breaking mistakes, and drove Green Bay to the win with about a minute to go.
USC 18, OSU 15: Damn. Just.....damn it. Terrelle Pryor needs a signature win for OSU to get to the level of national championship contender. Right now, for all his talent, I don't see it. He can run, he's got a strong arm, but he gets rattled and seemingly can't read defenses. It's either that or he's unsure of what he sees and gets tentative. Great defensive effort was wasted, and OSU could, and should have, won that game. If Pryor can learn from this and get better, OSU wins the Big 10 and goes to a BCS game. But I expect at least one more loss, to either Penn State or Michigan.
The Big 10: I think the Big 10 had a good weekend, even with the outcome of the USC game. Michigan won a classic against Notre Dame, and it appears that the demise of Michigan football has been greatly exaggerated. Yeah, Michigan State spit the bit against Central Michigan, but everyone else in the conference won, and Minnesota opened up an outdoor stadium on campus. It looks absolutely gorgeous, and it's great for the Gopher program and the conference. And it makes me yearn for an outdoor Vikings stadium. And they beat a pretty good Air Force team in the process.
Overall, a great weekend of football. Let's hope the Vikes keep it rolling at Detroit and OSU can bounce back against Toledo.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Vikes Wade-ed Too Late to Release Bobby
So Bobby Wade was let go, right before the beginning of the regular season, and right after he agreed to a 50% pay cut. Ouch. This is just another example of the…uneasiness…that Brad Childress gives me as a head coach.
To be fair, Childress has done some good things as coach of the Vikings. The talent he has brought to the defense is flat out impressive. Granted, he gets help from the college scouting department and ownership when he wants to get a guy like Jared Allen, but he still went out and had to convince them to be a Viking. His methodical plan to get the Vikings back to one of the elite teams in the NFL started with an overhaul of the offensive and defensive lines, and he has done that. The second thing he did was commit to a strong running game. With the free agent acquisition of Chester Taylor and the drafting of Adrian Peterson, that can be checked off as accomplished. The Vikings have improved each year under Childress, and are a legitimate Super Bowl contender entering 2009.
But where Childress seems to lack is in his handling, or mishandling, of personnel. In 2006, Marcus Robinson, who was arguably the best red zone option on a team that thought offensive touchdowns a luxury, found himself given a pink slip on Christmas Eve. He wasn’t injured, he was a starting wide receiver, but he popped off to the St Paul Pioneer press at the end of a frustrating season and was sent walking.
On the day before Christmas. Nice. Ho, ho, ho, Marcus. Now pack your shit.
And there are other guys as well that have been done wrong by Childress and the Vikings. Matt Birk was not offered a chance to retire as a Viking and is now in Baltimore. But before that, he went to Harvard. Daunte Culpepper and Brad Childress got into it about 11 seconds after Chilly's introductory press conference, and he was shipped off to Miami for the draft pick that eventually became Ryan Cook. He invested a lot of time and effort into Tarvaris Jackson as his quarterback, tried to further upgrade the depth by trading for a solid backup in Sage Rosenfels...and then pretty much both told them without telling them they sucked when he wooed Brett Favre. Yesterday, Bobby Wade took a 50% pay cut for catching 105 passes the last two years and being a pretty decent slot guy. Today, he's unemployed.
I'm no longer a kid, and I understand that football is a business, and you can make a legitimate argument that the Vikings needed to get younger on the offensive line, and that there might have been legitimate reasons for releasing Wade. But there's a way to go about letting people go, and then there's what Childress and the Vikings have done to some fairly high profile guys since 2006. Football is about building team chemistry and asking guys to suffer and bleed and buy what you're selling, so as a group you can achieve great things.
So when you ask a guy to take a pay cut and then turn around and cut him the week before the season begins, what message does that send? If the coach doesn't have their back, wiill they cover his? I doubt it.
To be fair, Childress has done some good things as coach of the Vikings. The talent he has brought to the defense is flat out impressive. Granted, he gets help from the college scouting department and ownership when he wants to get a guy like Jared Allen, but he still went out and had to convince them to be a Viking. His methodical plan to get the Vikings back to one of the elite teams in the NFL started with an overhaul of the offensive and defensive lines, and he has done that. The second thing he did was commit to a strong running game. With the free agent acquisition of Chester Taylor and the drafting of Adrian Peterson, that can be checked off as accomplished. The Vikings have improved each year under Childress, and are a legitimate Super Bowl contender entering 2009.
But where Childress seems to lack is in his handling, or mishandling, of personnel. In 2006, Marcus Robinson, who was arguably the best red zone option on a team that thought offensive touchdowns a luxury, found himself given a pink slip on Christmas Eve. He wasn’t injured, he was a starting wide receiver, but he popped off to the St Paul Pioneer press at the end of a frustrating season and was sent walking.
On the day before Christmas. Nice. Ho, ho, ho, Marcus. Now pack your shit.
And there are other guys as well that have been done wrong by Childress and the Vikings. Matt Birk was not offered a chance to retire as a Viking and is now in Baltimore. But before that, he went to Harvard. Daunte Culpepper and Brad Childress got into it about 11 seconds after Chilly's introductory press conference, and he was shipped off to Miami for the draft pick that eventually became Ryan Cook. He invested a lot of time and effort into Tarvaris Jackson as his quarterback, tried to further upgrade the depth by trading for a solid backup in Sage Rosenfels...and then pretty much both told them without telling them they sucked when he wooed Brett Favre. Yesterday, Bobby Wade took a 50% pay cut for catching 105 passes the last two years and being a pretty decent slot guy. Today, he's unemployed.
I'm no longer a kid, and I understand that football is a business, and you can make a legitimate argument that the Vikings needed to get younger on the offensive line, and that there might have been legitimate reasons for releasing Wade. But there's a way to go about letting people go, and then there's what Childress and the Vikings have done to some fairly high profile guys since 2006. Football is about building team chemistry and asking guys to suffer and bleed and buy what you're selling, so as a group you can achieve great things.
So when you ask a guy to take a pay cut and then turn around and cut him the week before the season begins, what message does that send? If the coach doesn't have their back, wiill they cover his? I doubt it.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Going off Tangent, One Time Only
I try not to get political in here. This is a sports blog, and as such, I try to avoid wading into waters that don't relate to either the Vikes or the Bucks. But this time, I must comment on something that I saw today.
This is about that picture that was taken by an Associated Press photographer of a mortally wounded United States Marine, and then published by multiple news outlets in the United States.
Frankly, this photograph and subsequent publishing is despicable on several levels. 99% of Americans don't know and frankly don't care what trials Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines endure. And we don't care that you don't care, if we're being brutally honest. We do our job, as we have volunteered to do, and ask nothing in return, except for the government to live up to their end of the contract that we signed--a modest pension (if we do 20 years and retire), mediocre health care (and trust me, the VA sucks), and a headstone in a cemetary when we die.
We ask for neither glory nor recognition, only food, water, and enough ammunition to press the fight to the enemy.
When we bleed and die, let us do it amongst our own, our brothers in arms, for only they really, truly know what we do and what we deal with on a daily basis. What I did in Afghanistan I will never share with my family, because (yes, this is trite and cliche, but accurate) unless you were there, you don't know. If you don't know, the feelings and raw emotions of war cannot be explained, except with those that have shared it. If you want to experience the raw emotion of a firefight or lose a good friend to an RPG, enlist or get a commission as an officer. Jump in all the way, or stay the hell out, and spare us what you think this picture might do to "influence the opinion of the war", because I really don't give two flying shits what your opinion of the war is.
War sucks, how's that for an opinion?
His family didn't need to see this, nor should they. Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard needs to be remembered for who he was and how he lived, not how he died. His family didn't want this photo published, and I know if it was me that was dying in a far away land, I wouldn't want it all over the Internet, either.
This wasn't published to honor him or the sacrifice he made, as the photographer suggests, but to advance an agenda.
The photographer who took this photo and the media outlets that published it to promote that political agenda deserve our scorn, not our praise.
That is reserved for LCpl Bernard.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
This is about that picture that was taken by an Associated Press photographer of a mortally wounded United States Marine, and then published by multiple news outlets in the United States.
Frankly, this photograph and subsequent publishing is despicable on several levels. 99% of Americans don't know and frankly don't care what trials Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, and Marines endure. And we don't care that you don't care, if we're being brutally honest. We do our job, as we have volunteered to do, and ask nothing in return, except for the government to live up to their end of the contract that we signed--a modest pension (if we do 20 years and retire), mediocre health care (and trust me, the VA sucks), and a headstone in a cemetary when we die.
We ask for neither glory nor recognition, only food, water, and enough ammunition to press the fight to the enemy.
When we bleed and die, let us do it amongst our own, our brothers in arms, for only they really, truly know what we do and what we deal with on a daily basis. What I did in Afghanistan I will never share with my family, because (yes, this is trite and cliche, but accurate) unless you were there, you don't know. If you don't know, the feelings and raw emotions of war cannot be explained, except with those that have shared it. If you want to experience the raw emotion of a firefight or lose a good friend to an RPG, enlist or get a commission as an officer. Jump in all the way, or stay the hell out, and spare us what you think this picture might do to "influence the opinion of the war", because I really don't give two flying shits what your opinion of the war is.
War sucks, how's that for an opinion?
His family didn't need to see this, nor should they. Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard needs to be remembered for who he was and how he lived, not how he died. His family didn't want this photo published, and I know if it was me that was dying in a far away land, I wouldn't want it all over the Internet, either.
This wasn't published to honor him or the sacrifice he made, as the photographer suggests, but to advance an agenda.
The photographer who took this photo and the media outlets that published it to promote that political agenda deserve our scorn, not our praise.
That is reserved for LCpl Bernard.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming.
Saturday, August 22, 2009
Scott Studwell's Stare to be Inducted Into the Ring of Honor
There's a good chance that you've never heard of one of the greatest Vikings to ever don the purple, at least as a player. Scott Studwell, arguably the best linebacker in Vikings history, will have his name enshrined in the Viking Ring of Honor during a haltime ceremony Nov. 26. As a guy that has been a Vikings fan since the early 1970's, I was surprised that he wasn't already in there, and then when I realized how overlooked he has been both as a player and a front office executive it didn't really surprise me at all.
His time as a player was a 'tweener' period for the organization--his rookie season was in 1977, the season after the Vikings last appeared in the Super Bowl, and his career ended in 1990, right before the string of success the Vikes had with The Sheriff, Denny Green. The 1980's, with the exception of a deep playoff run in 1987, was a pretty forgettable decade, both on and off the field. Bud Grant retired, Les Steckel was hired and fired, the franchise moved away from the frigid Bloomington prairie and into the Metropimple, and the Vikings traded for Herschel Walker. If the 1970's were a decade of excellence highlighted with 4 Super Bowl trips, the 1980's were marked by mediocre football, some pretty bad teams, a historically bad trade, and one magical run during a strike-shortened season that slipped through Darrin Nelson's hands. On the fucking goal line. As time expired. FUCK! Sorry, better now.
During Studwell's career, the Vikings made the playoffs 7 times, three in his first four seasons as the Purple People Eaters aged and retired. All Studwell did was was retire as the Vikings all-time leader in combined tackles, defensive tackles, single season tackles, single game tackles, and soul crushing stares that would make opponents wet their pants. Seriously, you old guys and gals remember--he had that Mike Singletary stare down long before Mike Singletary was in the NFL. I mean Jeebus, he looked at me through the TV with that stare of his and it could give a kid nightmares. It was the most intense look I've ever seen on a human being's face.
I've been scared, really scared, four times in my life--three of them were in Afghanistan when I thought I might not be making it home after all, and the fourth was when I got to meet Scott Studwell in 2006 when I covered the Vikings for a now defunct website. When I looked into his eyes and shook his hand (his grip broke four bones, by the way) I thought he was going to kill me as he was smiling and saying 'nice to meet you, Ted.' He doesn't look at you, he looks THROUGH you. But Studwell and Mike Tomlin were the nicest guys I met in Mankato, though.
Most of today's Vikings fans know Studwell as the front office guy in charge of college scouting. If you want to completely discount Studwell's numbers as inflated because he was a talented guy on a bad defense, then fine. I respectfully submit you're wrong and HIGHLY recommend you not let Mr. Studwell know how you feel lest he burn a hole into your soul when he looks at you. I would still argue he should be inducted just based on his body of work as a personnel guy. Think about this for a minute--when Studwell joined the front office, they were just starting to feel the fallout of the Walker trade and how many early first round draft picks they DIDN'T have, and he made lemonade out of lemons, helping to find guys like Jake Reed (3rd round 1991) Brad Johnson (9th round 1992), and Ed McDaniel (5th in '92). All of those players became significant contributors to the success of the 1990's teams, and Studwell's efforts have increased over time, resulting in what is arguably some of the strongest drafts in club history starting in 2006.
But like his playing days, he never really gets his due credit for his contributions. He logs thousands of miles on the road looking for potential NFL players, and his department helps to largely determine who could and who couldn't be a Minnesota Viking. The superstars are easy to find, but it's the late round guys who could become an All-Pro where a team is built, and that's where Studwell's department make their money. They've had a lot more hits than misses since he's moved to the front office, and those hits off the field mirror the savage ones he delivered on the field.
Congratulations to Scott Studwell. Thanks for giving a shit and playing to the final gun when it looked like some of your teammates in the early 1980's weren't, and thanks for helping keep the roster stocked with enough talent that we can today call the Vikings a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
All I have is one request. Please don't look directly into the camera during your induction ceremony. I'm older now and my bladder isn't what it used to be, and even though I know you'll have no malice in your heart, there's a good chance I'll still pee my pants from fright.
His time as a player was a 'tweener' period for the organization--his rookie season was in 1977, the season after the Vikings last appeared in the Super Bowl, and his career ended in 1990, right before the string of success the Vikes had with The Sheriff, Denny Green. The 1980's, with the exception of a deep playoff run in 1987, was a pretty forgettable decade, both on and off the field. Bud Grant retired, Les Steckel was hired and fired, the franchise moved away from the frigid Bloomington prairie and into the Metropimple, and the Vikings traded for Herschel Walker. If the 1970's were a decade of excellence highlighted with 4 Super Bowl trips, the 1980's were marked by mediocre football, some pretty bad teams, a historically bad trade, and one magical run during a strike-shortened season that slipped through Darrin Nelson's hands. On the fucking goal line. As time expired. FUCK! Sorry, better now.
During Studwell's career, the Vikings made the playoffs 7 times, three in his first four seasons as the Purple People Eaters aged and retired. All Studwell did was was retire as the Vikings all-time leader in combined tackles, defensive tackles, single season tackles, single game tackles, and soul crushing stares that would make opponents wet their pants. Seriously, you old guys and gals remember--he had that Mike Singletary stare down long before Mike Singletary was in the NFL. I mean Jeebus, he looked at me through the TV with that stare of his and it could give a kid nightmares. It was the most intense look I've ever seen on a human being's face.
I've been scared, really scared, four times in my life--three of them were in Afghanistan when I thought I might not be making it home after all, and the fourth was when I got to meet Scott Studwell in 2006 when I covered the Vikings for a now defunct website. When I looked into his eyes and shook his hand (his grip broke four bones, by the way) I thought he was going to kill me as he was smiling and saying 'nice to meet you, Ted.' He doesn't look at you, he looks THROUGH you. But Studwell and Mike Tomlin were the nicest guys I met in Mankato, though.
Most of today's Vikings fans know Studwell as the front office guy in charge of college scouting. If you want to completely discount Studwell's numbers as inflated because he was a talented guy on a bad defense, then fine. I respectfully submit you're wrong and HIGHLY recommend you not let Mr. Studwell know how you feel lest he burn a hole into your soul when he looks at you. I would still argue he should be inducted just based on his body of work as a personnel guy. Think about this for a minute--when Studwell joined the front office, they were just starting to feel the fallout of the Walker trade and how many early first round draft picks they DIDN'T have, and he made lemonade out of lemons, helping to find guys like Jake Reed (3rd round 1991) Brad Johnson (9th round 1992), and Ed McDaniel (5th in '92). All of those players became significant contributors to the success of the 1990's teams, and Studwell's efforts have increased over time, resulting in what is arguably some of the strongest drafts in club history starting in 2006.
But like his playing days, he never really gets his due credit for his contributions. He logs thousands of miles on the road looking for potential NFL players, and his department helps to largely determine who could and who couldn't be a Minnesota Viking. The superstars are easy to find, but it's the late round guys who could become an All-Pro where a team is built, and that's where Studwell's department make their money. They've had a lot more hits than misses since he's moved to the front office, and those hits off the field mirror the savage ones he delivered on the field.
Congratulations to Scott Studwell. Thanks for giving a shit and playing to the final gun when it looked like some of your teammates in the early 1980's weren't, and thanks for helping keep the roster stocked with enough talent that we can today call the Vikings a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
All I have is one request. Please don't look directly into the camera during your induction ceremony. I'm older now and my bladder isn't what it used to be, and even though I know you'll have no malice in your heart, there's a good chance I'll still pee my pants from fright.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Favregnugen Winners and Losers
Look, I apologize. I want to write more; really I do. I'm just busier than hell, so I try and get some comments up on Viva El Birdos, Daily Norseman, or Vikings Valhalla. I promise I'll try and do better.
I was a fan of Favre becoming a Viking two years ago, so yeah, I'm happy about it. Packer fans are apoplectic, the Vikings now have the look and feel of a legitimate championship contender, and the Vikings now have an inside track to get a new stadium deal done, which was arguably the main reason I want him in purple.
Oh, wait. Nevermind on that last part.
So who wins and who loses in this deal? Let's break it down.
Winners:
Zygi Wilf--In his time as owner, Zygi Wilf has become the anti-Red McCombs. He has been aggressive in getting talent, and when the coaching staff has asked for money to get a guy, he hasn't hesitated about writing the check. Wilf has given the coaching staff all they have asked for, and he is now reaping the financial windfall and fan loyalty that might, just might, start framing the stadium debate in his favor. Gov. Pawlenty's initial comments are far from encouraging, but a Super Bowl run can change a lot of minds.
Brett Favre--Yeah, he's a prima donna. Yeah, he loves the spotlight, but did you see the reaction when he landed? Proper, refined, and very Lutheran Minnesota flipped the fuck OUT. There was a helicopter following his drive from the airport to Winter Park, which turned into one part Beatles concert, one part Health Care Townhall, and no parts Lutefisk social. He is now loved in a place he was despised and he plays indoors, playing with a potentially explosive offense. He gets a chance to give the 'eat my ass' to Ted Thompson he wanted to give last year, he's got $25 more million in the bank, and he's on a team that is a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Vikings Defense--The Vikings defense never said it, but there were times when you could almost feel the frustration of pitching a near shutout and coming up short due to offensive ineptitude over the last few seasons. Favre gives the offense instant creditability in the defensive side of the locker room, and puts them on equal footing talent wise. The defense can now breathe a little bit, take more gambles now and then, and not worry about falling behind by 10 points anymore.
Receivers--If Brett Favre can make Bill Schroeder, Javon Walker, and Antonio Freeman 1,000 yard receivers, then Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice, and Bobby Wade are going to Canton, baby!! Seriously, they have the chance to have career years.
Adrian Peterson--Peterson's stated goal has been to rush for 2,000 yards, and he has his best chance to do it. Defenses will now have to play the Vikings honest, and that means more running room for Peterson. He has been devastating running against eight man fronts; my penis gets hard thinking about him running against normal looks.
Sage Rosenfels--Look, I panned the Vikings for working on the Rosenfels trade for two years, but Sage has been a stand-up guy through all of this. It had to be tough to play solidly in your debut, then watch the statewide orgy over Favre take place, and then stand in front of the cameras and say you'll do whatever's necessary to help the team win. When this does become your team, Mr. Rosenfels, the locker room and the fanbase will have your back.
My Dad--He's 80, and has suffered through all the agony since 1961. He now lives down the street and we get to enjoy the games every week. We have our last, best hope for a Vikings championship in his lifetime, and I think I can speak for all Fathers and Sons out there when I say I want to share a championship with my Dad before he leaves. I'm not asking for a dynasty, nor an undefeated season, just a Vince Lombardi trophy. He gave me this love for the Vikings, and it would be sweet to share the greatest of joys with him after suffering through some of the most agonizing, torturous defeats in NFL history. He's ecstatic, so I am ecstatic.
Losers:
Packer Fans--'Losers' and 'Packer Fans' is about as oxymoronic as it gets, but SUCK IT GREEN AND GOLD!!! BOO-FUCKIN-YAH!!!!! How's it feel for your Idol to give you the ultimate finger and play for your HATED rival?
Tarvaris Jackson and/or JD Booty--One of them is gone. The numbers don't support 4 QB's on the roster, so unless the Vikes can get Booty on the practice squad, they will have a depth issue come Mankato this time next year.
The NFC North--The Vikes put a stranglehold on the division before the first coin flip. Green Bay and Chicago are playing for a wild card spot, and Detroit is playing for a win. Just one.
Brad Childress--Chilly really handled this poorly, but Favre's on the team, so I don't care. He's probably alienated Rosenfels and TJ, but winning can put a damper on hurt feelings. He pushed his pile of chips all in, though, and if this blows up in his face and the Vikes don't at least win a playoff game, I have to think he's done as coach.
Vikings Fans--As much as seeing Favre in purple made me actually laugh with delight, we saw a glimpse of the 'look at me' downside of Favre--the on again, off again drama, the late press conference, the media circus. It won't be a problem in about three days, but it will be a problem in about 340, because the Vikes signed him to a two year contract. So come February, we will be held hostage with all the drama we used to lampoon the Packer fans over. Get used to it and be an adult about it; we dished it out, so we'll have to take it.
I was a fan of Favre becoming a Viking two years ago, so yeah, I'm happy about it. Packer fans are apoplectic, the Vikings now have the look and feel of a legitimate championship contender, and the Vikings now have an inside track to get a new stadium deal done, which was arguably the main reason I want him in purple.
Oh, wait. Nevermind on that last part.
So who wins and who loses in this deal? Let's break it down.
Winners:
Zygi Wilf--In his time as owner, Zygi Wilf has become the anti-Red McCombs. He has been aggressive in getting talent, and when the coaching staff has asked for money to get a guy, he hasn't hesitated about writing the check. Wilf has given the coaching staff all they have asked for, and he is now reaping the financial windfall and fan loyalty that might, just might, start framing the stadium debate in his favor. Gov. Pawlenty's initial comments are far from encouraging, but a Super Bowl run can change a lot of minds.
Brett Favre--Yeah, he's a prima donna. Yeah, he loves the spotlight, but did you see the reaction when he landed? Proper, refined, and very Lutheran Minnesota flipped the fuck OUT. There was a helicopter following his drive from the airport to Winter Park, which turned into one part Beatles concert, one part Health Care Townhall, and no parts Lutefisk social. He is now loved in a place he was despised and he plays indoors, playing with a potentially explosive offense. He gets a chance to give the 'eat my ass' to Ted Thompson he wanted to give last year, he's got $25 more million in the bank, and he's on a team that is a legitimate Super Bowl contender.
Vikings Defense--The Vikings defense never said it, but there were times when you could almost feel the frustration of pitching a near shutout and coming up short due to offensive ineptitude over the last few seasons. Favre gives the offense instant creditability in the defensive side of the locker room, and puts them on equal footing talent wise. The defense can now breathe a little bit, take more gambles now and then, and not worry about falling behind by 10 points anymore.
Receivers--If Brett Favre can make Bill Schroeder, Javon Walker, and Antonio Freeman 1,000 yard receivers, then Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice, and Bobby Wade are going to Canton, baby!! Seriously, they have the chance to have career years.
Adrian Peterson--Peterson's stated goal has been to rush for 2,000 yards, and he has his best chance to do it. Defenses will now have to play the Vikings honest, and that means more running room for Peterson. He has been devastating running against eight man fronts; my penis gets hard thinking about him running against normal looks.
Sage Rosenfels--Look, I panned the Vikings for working on the Rosenfels trade for two years, but Sage has been a stand-up guy through all of this. It had to be tough to play solidly in your debut, then watch the statewide orgy over Favre take place, and then stand in front of the cameras and say you'll do whatever's necessary to help the team win. When this does become your team, Mr. Rosenfels, the locker room and the fanbase will have your back.
My Dad--He's 80, and has suffered through all the agony since 1961. He now lives down the street and we get to enjoy the games every week. We have our last, best hope for a Vikings championship in his lifetime, and I think I can speak for all Fathers and Sons out there when I say I want to share a championship with my Dad before he leaves. I'm not asking for a dynasty, nor an undefeated season, just a Vince Lombardi trophy. He gave me this love for the Vikings, and it would be sweet to share the greatest of joys with him after suffering through some of the most agonizing, torturous defeats in NFL history. He's ecstatic, so I am ecstatic.
Losers:
Packer Fans--'Losers' and 'Packer Fans' is about as oxymoronic as it gets, but SUCK IT GREEN AND GOLD!!! BOO-FUCKIN-YAH!!!!! How's it feel for your Idol to give you the ultimate finger and play for your HATED rival?
Tarvaris Jackson and/or JD Booty--One of them is gone. The numbers don't support 4 QB's on the roster, so unless the Vikes can get Booty on the practice squad, they will have a depth issue come Mankato this time next year.
The NFC North--The Vikes put a stranglehold on the division before the first coin flip. Green Bay and Chicago are playing for a wild card spot, and Detroit is playing for a win. Just one.
Brad Childress--Chilly really handled this poorly, but Favre's on the team, so I don't care. He's probably alienated Rosenfels and TJ, but winning can put a damper on hurt feelings. He pushed his pile of chips all in, though, and if this blows up in his face and the Vikes don't at least win a playoff game, I have to think he's done as coach.
Vikings Fans--As much as seeing Favre in purple made me actually laugh with delight, we saw a glimpse of the 'look at me' downside of Favre--the on again, off again drama, the late press conference, the media circus. It won't be a problem in about three days, but it will be a problem in about 340, because the Vikes signed him to a two year contract. So come February, we will be held hostage with all the drama we used to lampoon the Packer fans over. Get used to it and be an adult about it; we dished it out, so we'll have to take it.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Schadenfreude
Howdy! It's been a month since I've written a blog. Look, it's summer, there's stuff to do, and I have a life. Sorry. One note: I'm not going to blog about the Cardinals anymore. It's not that I don't like the team or that I've quit cheering for them, but Ohio State and the Vikings take enough time, or will. So, on to a topic not discussed much over the summer: Brett Favre.
Embrace it, Accept it, Love it
No, not my monkey, you perverts, but the fact that Brett Favre, statistically the greatest quarterback ever to play in the NFL, will be a Minnesota Viking for the 2009 season. As the late, great, Ed McMahon would say:
YES!
Look, I know there’s a lot of anger towards the Vikings in this, and I get that. Some people feel that it’s similar to the Allies hiring Erwin Rommel to close out WWII; it’s just not natural. We’ve grown up to not like Green Bay and their players; hell, about the only thing that ever came out of the entire state of Wisconsin that I care about is Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat Beer (Honey Weiss will do in a pinch). I’ve never liked the Packers, I’ve never liked Favre, but I always respected his talents and ability, and I secretly wished the Vikings had a QB as good as him for a good portion of his career. We had a brief glimmer of hope with Daunte Culpepper, but that disappeared as quickly as the business end of a dildo did on the Love Boat that he captained.
And I think this is what half of the Vikings fans feel as well, and that’s okay. The other half is just pissed off that Brett Effing Favre is going to be the quarterback of their beloved purple, and can’t get over the fact that the former Packers great is going to be a current Vikings great. Maybe I can help you at least deal with your anger, and channel it in a direction that will help you deal with Favre calling the signals this year.
I have one word for you: ‘schadenfreude’.
As a cap tip to the aforementioned Field Marshall, it’s German, and essentially it means enjoying someone else’s misery. Turn your anger into schadenfreude towards the average Green Bay Packer fan. Think about how betrayed, hurt, and angry they feel towards their idol, now that he’s playing for the hated Vikings. I turned on the TV this weekend and I saw people rioting in the streets, soccer players wearing green in solidarity of their people back home, and endless coverage of said events on TV. Naturally, I assumed I had stumbled across Milwaukee Public Access TV and I was watching the unraveling of Packer nation. Sadly, it was only a popular uprising in Iran. As an aside, for a brutal, oppressive dictatorship, I’m not impressed with the mullahs in Iran. Voting, press coverage, street protests, candy ass crackdown, keeping Internet access open—rookie mistakes that they cover in Dictatorship 101. You won’t see any of this shit in Kim Jong-Il’s North Korea, I’ll tell you that much. But I digress.
If, for some reason, you want to somehow cheer for AND against Brett Favre simultaneously, cheer like hell for him to lead the league in passing yards, passing TD’s, fewest interceptions thrown, completion percentage, and a Super Bowl victory. Because the more success Brett has with the Vikings the more his standing with the Packers and their fans drops, and if he has his best statistical season in his career while leading the Vikings to the Holy Grail, he will be burned in effigy in Green Bay and will NEVER be welcomed back there. He would be Green Bay’s baseball’s equivalent to a steroids user, banned as a pariah and when he was spoken of, it would only be in whispers, like that crazy ass uncle that’s in prison for being a kiddie diddler.
The more success Favre has as the Vikings quarterback, the worse he does for his legacy in Green Bay, and the less the loyal fans of the Packers want anything to do with him.
Schadenfreude bitches, schadenfreude.
Embrace it, Accept it, Love it
No, not my monkey, you perverts, but the fact that Brett Favre, statistically the greatest quarterback ever to play in the NFL, will be a Minnesota Viking for the 2009 season. As the late, great, Ed McMahon would say:
YES!
Look, I know there’s a lot of anger towards the Vikings in this, and I get that. Some people feel that it’s similar to the Allies hiring Erwin Rommel to close out WWII; it’s just not natural. We’ve grown up to not like Green Bay and their players; hell, about the only thing that ever came out of the entire state of Wisconsin that I care about is Leinenkugel’s Sunset Wheat Beer (Honey Weiss will do in a pinch). I’ve never liked the Packers, I’ve never liked Favre, but I always respected his talents and ability, and I secretly wished the Vikings had a QB as good as him for a good portion of his career. We had a brief glimmer of hope with Daunte Culpepper, but that disappeared as quickly as the business end of a dildo did on the Love Boat that he captained.
And I think this is what half of the Vikings fans feel as well, and that’s okay. The other half is just pissed off that Brett Effing Favre is going to be the quarterback of their beloved purple, and can’t get over the fact that the former Packers great is going to be a current Vikings great. Maybe I can help you at least deal with your anger, and channel it in a direction that will help you deal with Favre calling the signals this year.
I have one word for you: ‘schadenfreude’.
As a cap tip to the aforementioned Field Marshall, it’s German, and essentially it means enjoying someone else’s misery. Turn your anger into schadenfreude towards the average Green Bay Packer fan. Think about how betrayed, hurt, and angry they feel towards their idol, now that he’s playing for the hated Vikings. I turned on the TV this weekend and I saw people rioting in the streets, soccer players wearing green in solidarity of their people back home, and endless coverage of said events on TV. Naturally, I assumed I had stumbled across Milwaukee Public Access TV and I was watching the unraveling of Packer nation. Sadly, it was only a popular uprising in Iran. As an aside, for a brutal, oppressive dictatorship, I’m not impressed with the mullahs in Iran. Voting, press coverage, street protests, candy ass crackdown, keeping Internet access open—rookie mistakes that they cover in Dictatorship 101. You won’t see any of this shit in Kim Jong-Il’s North Korea, I’ll tell you that much. But I digress.
If, for some reason, you want to somehow cheer for AND against Brett Favre simultaneously, cheer like hell for him to lead the league in passing yards, passing TD’s, fewest interceptions thrown, completion percentage, and a Super Bowl victory. Because the more success Brett has with the Vikings the more his standing with the Packers and their fans drops, and if he has his best statistical season in his career while leading the Vikings to the Holy Grail, he will be burned in effigy in Green Bay and will NEVER be welcomed back there. He would be Green Bay’s baseball’s equivalent to a steroids user, banned as a pariah and when he was spoken of, it would only be in whispers, like that crazy ass uncle that’s in prison for being a kiddie diddler.
The more success Favre has as the Vikings quarterback, the worse he does for his legacy in Green Bay, and the less the loyal fans of the Packers want anything to do with him.
Schadenfreude bitches, schadenfreude.
Friday, May 15, 2009
Window of Opportunity, Part II
A few days ago, I looked at what kind of window of opportunity the Vikings had for a serious championship run. Today, I want to continue down that path with a look at the defense.
DL:
Pat Williams, 37
Kevin Williams, 28
Jared Allen, 27
Kenechi Udeze, 26
Fred Evans, 26
Jimmy Kennedy, 30
Brian Robison, 26
Ray Edwards, 24
The Vikings defensive line is almost as dominant as the halcyon days of the legendary Purple People Eaters. You don’t run on them, and quarterbacks drop back to pass at their own risk. They are at least as effective as the Keith Millard-Chris Doleman defensive lines of the early 1990’s, but the anchor of the line, Pat Williams, is going to be 37. This line didn’t become dominant until ‘Phat Pat’ was signed, and it became elite when the Vikes traded for Jared Allen. Pat Williams seems ageless, but he isn’t, and the Vikings need to look towards his eventual replacement. There isn’t another Pat Williams currently on the roster, so something will need to be done. When he is out of the lineup, the Vikings are not dominant as a run defense. The rest of the line is in their prime, and if Kenechi Udeze can get back his strength and quickness, he will be a force in 2009, and will take this defensive line to another level. Kevin Williams and Jared Allen have at least 5 more years playing together at an elite level; throw in a healthy Udeze, and these guys will be a lot of fun to watch.
Projection: 1-2 years, as the next Pat Williams needs to be identified. If the Williams transition is seamless, 5-7 years of high end productivity.
LB:
Chad Greenway, 26
EJ Henderson, 29
Ben Leber, 31
Heath Farwell, 28
David Herron, 25
The front line starters for the Vikings are one of the best LB units in the NFL. They complement each other well, and are a solid mix of youth and veteran leadership. But the replacements currently on the roster are not considered NFL-caliber starters, as the signings of ex-Vikings Napoleon Harris and Dontarrious Thomas showed. Ben Leber is north of 30, EJ Henderson is approaching 30 and has an injury history, and Chad Greenway has developed into a quality NFL LB after a season ending knee injury as a rookie. I thought that LB would be addressed early in the 2009 draft, but you can’t argue with Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt. LB’s can be had in free agency, and it should be a position of need next year in the draft.
Projection: 2 years, but they need depth right now. Not re-signing Harris or Thomas could turn out to be a big mistake if one of the top three goes down.
DB:
Antoine Winfield, 32
Cedric Griffin, 27
Marcus McCauley, 26
Tyrell Johnson, 24
Madieu Williams, 28
Karl Paymah, 27
Asher Allen, 21
I love Antoine Winfield. I mean, I started a blog called The Purple Buckeye, for God Sakes. Winfield has been a mainstay in the defensive backfield, and has been the best all-around CB in the NFL for about his entire time in Minnesota. I hope he retires a Viking, but with contract extension talks stalled, that seems up in the air. But he’s north of 30, and the Vikings used a third round pick on Asher Allen, so Minnesota is laying the groundwork for Winfield’s eventual replacement. The Vikings wisely inked Cedric Griffin to an extension, meaning that his productive years will be spent as a Viking. For the safeties, Tyrell Johnson has already taken over for Darren Sharper and will be a fixture for several years, and Madieu Williams has 3-4 years of above average production left. Overall, this unit looks pretty good, as long as Allen can get close to the level of THE Antoine Winfield, a tall order indeed.
Projection: Winfield will probably be replaced after 2009, 3-5 years after that.
There is no need to raise the alarm yet, but the defense, which has done most of the heavy lifting on this team during the Brad Childress era, is the side of the ball where the window opening is currently the smallest. The line, linebackers, and defensive backfield will need to be addressed, both for front-line starters and depth, especially in the linebacking corps. If the starters can stay relatively healthy in 2009 and 2010, this defense, with a ferocious defensive line that can neuter a running game and punish a quarterback that dare try to pass, can take this team a long way. But Ben Leber, Antoine Winfield, and Pat Williams, key veterans that made this defense what it is, will be replaced in the next few years, and who comes in behind them will largely determine how competitive the Vikings will be.
Along with the play of the quarterback.
DL:
Pat Williams, 37
Kevin Williams, 28
Jared Allen, 27
Kenechi Udeze, 26
Fred Evans, 26
Jimmy Kennedy, 30
Brian Robison, 26
Ray Edwards, 24
The Vikings defensive line is almost as dominant as the halcyon days of the legendary Purple People Eaters. You don’t run on them, and quarterbacks drop back to pass at their own risk. They are at least as effective as the Keith Millard-Chris Doleman defensive lines of the early 1990’s, but the anchor of the line, Pat Williams, is going to be 37. This line didn’t become dominant until ‘Phat Pat’ was signed, and it became elite when the Vikes traded for Jared Allen. Pat Williams seems ageless, but he isn’t, and the Vikings need to look towards his eventual replacement. There isn’t another Pat Williams currently on the roster, so something will need to be done. When he is out of the lineup, the Vikings are not dominant as a run defense. The rest of the line is in their prime, and if Kenechi Udeze can get back his strength and quickness, he will be a force in 2009, and will take this defensive line to another level. Kevin Williams and Jared Allen have at least 5 more years playing together at an elite level; throw in a healthy Udeze, and these guys will be a lot of fun to watch.
Projection: 1-2 years, as the next Pat Williams needs to be identified. If the Williams transition is seamless, 5-7 years of high end productivity.
LB:
Chad Greenway, 26
EJ Henderson, 29
Ben Leber, 31
Heath Farwell, 28
David Herron, 25
The front line starters for the Vikings are one of the best LB units in the NFL. They complement each other well, and are a solid mix of youth and veteran leadership. But the replacements currently on the roster are not considered NFL-caliber starters, as the signings of ex-Vikings Napoleon Harris and Dontarrious Thomas showed. Ben Leber is north of 30, EJ Henderson is approaching 30 and has an injury history, and Chad Greenway has developed into a quality NFL LB after a season ending knee injury as a rookie. I thought that LB would be addressed early in the 2009 draft, but you can’t argue with Percy Harvin and Phil Loadholt. LB’s can be had in free agency, and it should be a position of need next year in the draft.
Projection: 2 years, but they need depth right now. Not re-signing Harris or Thomas could turn out to be a big mistake if one of the top three goes down.
DB:
Antoine Winfield, 32
Cedric Griffin, 27
Marcus McCauley, 26
Tyrell Johnson, 24
Madieu Williams, 28
Karl Paymah, 27
Asher Allen, 21
I love Antoine Winfield. I mean, I started a blog called The Purple Buckeye, for God Sakes. Winfield has been a mainstay in the defensive backfield, and has been the best all-around CB in the NFL for about his entire time in Minnesota. I hope he retires a Viking, but with contract extension talks stalled, that seems up in the air. But he’s north of 30, and the Vikings used a third round pick on Asher Allen, so Minnesota is laying the groundwork for Winfield’s eventual replacement. The Vikings wisely inked Cedric Griffin to an extension, meaning that his productive years will be spent as a Viking. For the safeties, Tyrell Johnson has already taken over for Darren Sharper and will be a fixture for several years, and Madieu Williams has 3-4 years of above average production left. Overall, this unit looks pretty good, as long as Allen can get close to the level of THE Antoine Winfield, a tall order indeed.
Projection: Winfield will probably be replaced after 2009, 3-5 years after that.
There is no need to raise the alarm yet, but the defense, which has done most of the heavy lifting on this team during the Brad Childress era, is the side of the ball where the window opening is currently the smallest. The line, linebackers, and defensive backfield will need to be addressed, both for front-line starters and depth, especially in the linebacking corps. If the starters can stay relatively healthy in 2009 and 2010, this defense, with a ferocious defensive line that can neuter a running game and punish a quarterback that dare try to pass, can take this team a long way. But Ben Leber, Antoine Winfield, and Pat Williams, key veterans that made this defense what it is, will be replaced in the next few years, and who comes in behind them will largely determine how competitive the Vikings will be.
Along with the play of the quarterback.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Hey, Who Left the Window Open?
I feel the Vikings 'window of opportunity' to win a Super Bowl is open.
But for for how long?
Some teams, through good drafting, player retention, trading, and free agency keep their window perpetually open, like the Pittsburgh Steelers or the New England Patriots. Most teams go through cycles, kind of like the Vikings are right now, where they amass enough talent to seem like a legitimate championship caliber team, then fall into mediocrity for a period of time, and then rise again. Other than the Vikings, Tennessee, the New York Giants, and Seattle seem to best fit this mold—but there are a lot of teams that seem to go through these cycles. There are one year wonder teams, like the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears. Finally, there are teams that seem like their window of opportunity has been nailed shut and sealed with epoxy; Detroit fans, I’m looking your way.
So how long will the Vikings window of opportunity stay open with this current roster?
Let’s try and figure it out. I’m going to look at the current starters, and most of the primary back-ups. I’ll consider their age and then project when they might need to draft a player to look at as eventual replacement. I’m also going to throw in the first three draft picks from the 2009 class, as everyone after round three is what I consider a complementary player, whereas the top end guys are expected to start at some point. If you disagree with the methodology, I’m open to hearing another way to figure it out.
This post will look at the offensive side of the ball, and the next post will address defense.
QB:
Tarvaris Jackson, 26
Sage Rosenfels, 31
John David Booty (he said booty), 24
A good quarterback, along with effective roster replenishment, is the key component for maintaining an extended window of opportunity. Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, and Donovan McNabb have been the common ingredient in their respective teams’ sustained runs of excellence. If Jackson or Booty pan out and raise their game to an elite level, the Vikings will be in business for years to come, especially when you consider the relative youth at the rest of the skill positions. The window will be smaller if it’s Rosenfels, simply for the fact he is older. If not, then they may explore other options. Like, ahem, He Who Shall Not Be Named, trying to draft a franchise QB, trying to trade for one, or hoping one becomes available in free agency.
Projection: If Jackson works out, 7 years. If Rosenfels works out, 4 years. If neither works out, QB window is year to year, if not closed.
RB:
Adrian Peterson, 23
Chester Taylor, 30
Naufahu Tahi, 29
At his current rate Adrian Peterson will go down as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, and he’s only 23. Running backs take an enormous amount of punishment, though, and their shelf life is shorter than other position players. LaDainian Tomlinson is approaching the dreaded age of 30, and he has begun the long, slow, decline. His numbers are down, and his injuries are up. Let’s say Peterson has 3-4 tremendous seasons left in him, 6-7 productive seasons. As good as Peterson has been, it’s easy to overlook the contributions of Chester Taylor. Brought in to be ‘the Guy’ by Chilly in 2006, Taylor had one of the most productive seasons ever for a Vikings running back, including the longest run from scrimmage in the NFL, a 95 yard TD scamper in a romp over Seattle. More importantly, when the Vikings drafted Taylor, he could’ve been a dick about it and demanded a trade, but he’s been a team guy and excelled in the role of the third down/change of pace back. In his current role, Taylor has a couple of years left, but will probably want one last chance as a starter somewhere, so depth will be an issue in a year or two. And as exciting as the one yard swing pass to Naufau Tahi is, the NFL fullback is becoming about as irrelevant as the Republican Party these days. Yeah, they’ll need someone to eventually replace Tahi, but in this day and age it’s a fairly nameless, faceless position.
Projection: 5-7 years for frontline production, two years for depth.
WR/TE:
Bernard Berrian, 29
Sidney Rice, 23
Percy Harvin, 21
Bobby Wade, 28
Visanthe Shiancoe, 29
Jim Kleinsasser, 32
Garrett Mills, 25
I like the mix of youth and experience that the Vikings have at both receiver positions. With the WR corps, the Vikings have the potential for long term success. Percy Harvin can be a legitimate deep threat, and Sidney Rice has the physical tools to be a devastating possession/ red zone threat in the mold of Cris Carter. He had the typical sophomore slump last season, but he was also battling a knee injury for most of the season. He needs to step up and take control of the #2 WR position in training camp this season. Bernard Berrian is the current deep threat, and brought legitimacy to the Vikings WR corps not seen since the days of Moss and Carter. He has a few good years left, and is the type of veteran presence that should be beneficial to the skilled but raw Harvin. Bobby Wade has developed into a decent slot guy. He’s not ever going to be a game changer, or a consistent move-the-chains type guy, but he’s a good complimentary player that has several years of decent production left. Harvin is the wildcard. He can either be a Troy Williamson flame-out, or a Randy Moss jackpot. My guess is that he’ll be somewhere in between; a plus Reggie Bush. Worst case is Harvin is a bust and Rice never figures it out, I give it three years with Berrian and Wade as the top guys with a constant parade of the Derrick Alexander and Robert Ferguson-types trying to fill in as required. Tight end is a similar situation. I tip my cap to Brad Childress on the Shiancoe signing; he has emerged as a reliable, legitimate target after having what seemed like an incurable case of the dropsies when he first took the field. He still has three or four years of solid production left, and Garrett Mills is a guy that has that ’it’ about him. He has limited experience, but on the rare occasion he caught a pass, or I noticed him on the field, he stood out. I love Jim Kleinsasser, but he’s never been an offensive threat. His job is to block, and he does it quite well. He’s on the downside of his fine career, and I think it’s right and appropriate that he will probably retire as a Minnesota Viking.
WR Projection: If Harvin and Rice get untracked, the Vikings have 10 years of production at wide receiver. If Harvin is a bust and Rice never figures it out, I give it three years with Berrian and Wade as the top guys, and a constant parade of the Derrick Alexander and Robert Ferguson-types trying to fill in as required.
TE Projection: Shiancoe has anywhere from 3-5 years with Garrett Mills on the rise to make a seamless transition. Call it 8-10 years with a big, blocking TE type to take over for Kleinsasser in the next two years.
Offensive Line:
Bryant McKinnie, 30
Steve Hutchinson, 32
John Sullivan, 24
Anthony Herrera, 29
Ryan Cook, 26
Phil Loadholt, 23
Artis Hicks, 31
A solid offensive line is the unsung but critical ingredient to take a team to the next level. The Vikings have one of the five best offensive lines in the NFL, but if you look, it’s getting up there in age. Initially, I was against letting Matt Birk go, but if he had stayed, 80% of the starting line would have been either 29 or older. Time marches on in the NFL, and in looking at this through the age prism, letting Birk go and letting Sullivan transition in with experience to his immediate right and left is pretty smart…as long as Sullivan pans out. McKinnie and Hutch each have about 3-5 years left. For whatever reason, linemen take as much punishment as anyone, but (at least anecdotally to me) seem to have a more prolonged career. Sullivan has 10 years, Herrera 5 or 6, and Loadholt and Cook will be around 7-10 years as well. Hutch is a road grader, but I would look for the Vikings to find his replacement in the next draft or two.
OL Projection: Short term, the line will begin the left side transition in the next 2 years, with full turnover of all five positions (counting Birk and assuming Loadholt replaces Cook) in four. So until the next generation of snot blowin’ big uglies line up and hit someone, this is the shortest window. I’ll give it three years average, with the big hits coming in the McKinnie and Hutch replacements. But assuming the replacements adequately fill in for the current crop, this will be one of the most stable units in the NFL for years to come.
So looking at the offense, the Minnesota Vikings are averaging about a three or four year window, but it has one huge caveat: effective, championship-caliber quarterback play. If the Vikings cannot get that from Jackson, Rosenfels, or somebody else, this will be a talented team that will not advance far in the playoffs.
If they do get it, you have to consider the Vikings on the short list of teams with legitimate championship aspirations.
But for for how long?
Some teams, through good drafting, player retention, trading, and free agency keep their window perpetually open, like the Pittsburgh Steelers or the New England Patriots. Most teams go through cycles, kind of like the Vikings are right now, where they amass enough talent to seem like a legitimate championship caliber team, then fall into mediocrity for a period of time, and then rise again. Other than the Vikings, Tennessee, the New York Giants, and Seattle seem to best fit this mold—but there are a lot of teams that seem to go through these cycles. There are one year wonder teams, like the Arizona Cardinals and Chicago Bears. Finally, there are teams that seem like their window of opportunity has been nailed shut and sealed with epoxy; Detroit fans, I’m looking your way.
So how long will the Vikings window of opportunity stay open with this current roster?
Let’s try and figure it out. I’m going to look at the current starters, and most of the primary back-ups. I’ll consider their age and then project when they might need to draft a player to look at as eventual replacement. I’m also going to throw in the first three draft picks from the 2009 class, as everyone after round three is what I consider a complementary player, whereas the top end guys are expected to start at some point. If you disagree with the methodology, I’m open to hearing another way to figure it out.
This post will look at the offensive side of the ball, and the next post will address defense.
QB:
Tarvaris Jackson, 26
Sage Rosenfels, 31
John David Booty (he said booty), 24
A good quarterback, along with effective roster replenishment, is the key component for maintaining an extended window of opportunity. Tom Brady, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, and Donovan McNabb have been the common ingredient in their respective teams’ sustained runs of excellence. If Jackson or Booty pan out and raise their game to an elite level, the Vikings will be in business for years to come, especially when you consider the relative youth at the rest of the skill positions. The window will be smaller if it’s Rosenfels, simply for the fact he is older. If not, then they may explore other options. Like, ahem, He Who Shall Not Be Named, trying to draft a franchise QB, trying to trade for one, or hoping one becomes available in free agency.
Projection: If Jackson works out, 7 years. If Rosenfels works out, 4 years. If neither works out, QB window is year to year, if not closed.
RB:
Adrian Peterson, 23
Chester Taylor, 30
Naufahu Tahi, 29
At his current rate Adrian Peterson will go down as one of the greatest running backs in NFL history, and he’s only 23. Running backs take an enormous amount of punishment, though, and their shelf life is shorter than other position players. LaDainian Tomlinson is approaching the dreaded age of 30, and he has begun the long, slow, decline. His numbers are down, and his injuries are up. Let’s say Peterson has 3-4 tremendous seasons left in him, 6-7 productive seasons. As good as Peterson has been, it’s easy to overlook the contributions of Chester Taylor. Brought in to be ‘the Guy’ by Chilly in 2006, Taylor had one of the most productive seasons ever for a Vikings running back, including the longest run from scrimmage in the NFL, a 95 yard TD scamper in a romp over Seattle. More importantly, when the Vikings drafted Taylor, he could’ve been a dick about it and demanded a trade, but he’s been a team guy and excelled in the role of the third down/change of pace back. In his current role, Taylor has a couple of years left, but will probably want one last chance as a starter somewhere, so depth will be an issue in a year or two. And as exciting as the one yard swing pass to Naufau Tahi is, the NFL fullback is becoming about as irrelevant as the Republican Party these days. Yeah, they’ll need someone to eventually replace Tahi, but in this day and age it’s a fairly nameless, faceless position.
Projection: 5-7 years for frontline production, two years for depth.
WR/TE:
Bernard Berrian, 29
Sidney Rice, 23
Percy Harvin, 21
Bobby Wade, 28
Visanthe Shiancoe, 29
Jim Kleinsasser, 32
Garrett Mills, 25
I like the mix of youth and experience that the Vikings have at both receiver positions. With the WR corps, the Vikings have the potential for long term success. Percy Harvin can be a legitimate deep threat, and Sidney Rice has the physical tools to be a devastating possession/ red zone threat in the mold of Cris Carter. He had the typical sophomore slump last season, but he was also battling a knee injury for most of the season. He needs to step up and take control of the #2 WR position in training camp this season. Bernard Berrian is the current deep threat, and brought legitimacy to the Vikings WR corps not seen since the days of Moss and Carter. He has a few good years left, and is the type of veteran presence that should be beneficial to the skilled but raw Harvin. Bobby Wade has developed into a decent slot guy. He’s not ever going to be a game changer, or a consistent move-the-chains type guy, but he’s a good complimentary player that has several years of decent production left. Harvin is the wildcard. He can either be a Troy Williamson flame-out, or a Randy Moss jackpot. My guess is that he’ll be somewhere in between; a plus Reggie Bush. Worst case is Harvin is a bust and Rice never figures it out, I give it three years with Berrian and Wade as the top guys with a constant parade of the Derrick Alexander and Robert Ferguson-types trying to fill in as required. Tight end is a similar situation. I tip my cap to Brad Childress on the Shiancoe signing; he has emerged as a reliable, legitimate target after having what seemed like an incurable case of the dropsies when he first took the field. He still has three or four years of solid production left, and Garrett Mills is a guy that has that ’it’ about him. He has limited experience, but on the rare occasion he caught a pass, or I noticed him on the field, he stood out. I love Jim Kleinsasser, but he’s never been an offensive threat. His job is to block, and he does it quite well. He’s on the downside of his fine career, and I think it’s right and appropriate that he will probably retire as a Minnesota Viking.
WR Projection: If Harvin and Rice get untracked, the Vikings have 10 years of production at wide receiver. If Harvin is a bust and Rice never figures it out, I give it three years with Berrian and Wade as the top guys, and a constant parade of the Derrick Alexander and Robert Ferguson-types trying to fill in as required.
TE Projection: Shiancoe has anywhere from 3-5 years with Garrett Mills on the rise to make a seamless transition. Call it 8-10 years with a big, blocking TE type to take over for Kleinsasser in the next two years.
Offensive Line:
Bryant McKinnie, 30
Steve Hutchinson, 32
John Sullivan, 24
Anthony Herrera, 29
Ryan Cook, 26
Phil Loadholt, 23
Artis Hicks, 31
A solid offensive line is the unsung but critical ingredient to take a team to the next level. The Vikings have one of the five best offensive lines in the NFL, but if you look, it’s getting up there in age. Initially, I was against letting Matt Birk go, but if he had stayed, 80% of the starting line would have been either 29 or older. Time marches on in the NFL, and in looking at this through the age prism, letting Birk go and letting Sullivan transition in with experience to his immediate right and left is pretty smart…as long as Sullivan pans out. McKinnie and Hutch each have about 3-5 years left. For whatever reason, linemen take as much punishment as anyone, but (at least anecdotally to me) seem to have a more prolonged career. Sullivan has 10 years, Herrera 5 or 6, and Loadholt and Cook will be around 7-10 years as well. Hutch is a road grader, but I would look for the Vikings to find his replacement in the next draft or two.
OL Projection: Short term, the line will begin the left side transition in the next 2 years, with full turnover of all five positions (counting Birk and assuming Loadholt replaces Cook) in four. So until the next generation of snot blowin’ big uglies line up and hit someone, this is the shortest window. I’ll give it three years average, with the big hits coming in the McKinnie and Hutch replacements. But assuming the replacements adequately fill in for the current crop, this will be one of the most stable units in the NFL for years to come.
So looking at the offense, the Minnesota Vikings are averaging about a three or four year window, but it has one huge caveat: effective, championship-caliber quarterback play. If the Vikings cannot get that from Jackson, Rosenfels, or somebody else, this will be a talented team that will not advance far in the playoffs.
If they do get it, you have to consider the Vikings on the short list of teams with legitimate championship aspirations.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Yeah, I'm Twittering
Follow intemperate thoughts and new blog posts here:
http://twitter.com/purplebuckeye
No, I don't Facebook. No, I'm not on MySpace. This is as about as technical as I get.
Now, enjoy the rest of your Mother's Day.
Oh, Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!
http://twitter.com/purplebuckeye
No, I don't Facebook. No, I'm not on MySpace. This is as about as technical as I get.
Now, enjoy the rest of your Mother's Day.
Oh, Happy Mother's Day, Mom!!
Saturday, May 9, 2009
My Last Favre Post Until He Signs or Stays Retired
The Brett Favre saga is sucking the oxygen out of the Vikings room, so let me pipe in on why, once and for all, the Vikings should sign him. And I promise, this will be the last I mention it until he either signs or stays retired.
There is one segment of the fanbase that wants nothing to do with Brett Favre, largely because he played for the arch rival Packers. They feel that if Favre were to take the Vikings to and win the Super Bowl, it would somehow be tainted, and all credit would go to Favre. Others think that cheering for Favre would be akin to rooting for the Taliban or Al Qaeda. The other segment of the non-Favre camp doesn't want to buy in and cheer for him because they fear he will throw an interception to lose to the Packers, or lose in the NFC championship, or God Forbid, the Super Bowl. I get it. Rivalry is an important thing in sports, and having a public enemy #1 is good for the sporting soul. But I’m north of 40, and have seen too much professional football tragedy as a Vikings fan to think this is the worst possible thing that could befall the franchise. Hell, Favre playing for the Vikings wouldn't crack the top 50. Favre throwing a soul crushing interception to lose to the Packers doesn't even make the top 25. There is onlt one Darkest Day in Vikings History, and it is the infamous 'Hail Mary' Game. For those of you too young to remember, get down on your knees right now and give thanks to God. For those of you who do remember, the sullen nodding of the head and involuntary grimace and twitching tell me you concur.
We were at my aunt and uncle’s in White Bear Lake. My Aunt, a church going, Sunday school teacher, dropped an F-bomb after the blatant offensive pass interference that robbed the Vikings of their destiny. My dad threw a beer bottle against my uncle’s wall, shattering it and staining the wall. My uncle cared not. No ne moved for 10 minutes, just staring at the TV. My uncle cursed the medical attendants that assisted the goddamn idiot referee who took the whisky bottle to the head. I can’t explain the anguish I feel every time I see that goddamn play. 33 years have not healed that wound, and another 50 will not, either. Ever. On the way home to Richfield we heard on the radio Fran Tarkenton’s dad had died during the game. I cried all the way home.
So worst case, Favre throws a soul crushing interception in either the NFC Championship or the Super Bowl, and I shut off the TV, numb and lifeless. Hey, I’ve been down that road with this team more than I care to remember. It's amost a badge of Honor at this point. ('Hey, I've been more haertbroken over the Vikings than you have!')
It still wouldn’t hit the top 5 in all time Vikings agony. And I will be back next season, convinced the Vikes are going to win it all.
Favre is one of the gretest quarterbacks of all time. At 40, he's still better than Sage or Tarvaris. He doesn't guarantee a Super Bowl; no one player does. But I think he has a better chance of taking the Vikings farther in the playoffs than either jackson or Rosenfels. Jackson folded like a wet cardboard box under the pressure of the Eagles defense and the post-season.
He makes the offense as a whole better, and demands that defenses play the Vikings honest. Teams will be forced to respect the pass, and unable to stuff the box with 8 or 9 guys, Adrian Peterson will be even better than he is now. When teams try to key on Peterson and stop him, Favre will have the ability to make them pay consistently. Can you say that about Jackson or Sage? He is able to read a defense and audible out of a bad play. Currently, the Vikings do that infrequently at best. If there are 9 guys stacked at or close to the line of scrimmage, the Vikings run into the teeth of that defense much like the Australian army did against the Turks at Gallipoli. And if you want to look at the stats, I'll compare any stats you want of Favre's against Sage or Tarvaris.
My Dad is 80 now, he’s lost a step, and his memory isn’t what it was. It was my Dad that gave me this unconditional love of the Minnesota Vikings, and nothing would please me more than watching a Vikings Super Bowl victory with him. And if Brett Favre is the quarterback that would lead them to that, and allow me to share that with my Dad before he leaves me, I will be forever indebted to Zygi Wilf, Brad Childress, and Brett Favre for allowing that to happen.
So if he signs with the Vikes, I’m buying me and my Dad matching Favre jerseys, and we’ll be whooping it up like Viking fanatics once again this fall.
Oh, and one more thing. Fuck Drew Pearson. Fuck Drew Pearson to Hell.
There is one segment of the fanbase that wants nothing to do with Brett Favre, largely because he played for the arch rival Packers. They feel that if Favre were to take the Vikings to and win the Super Bowl, it would somehow be tainted, and all credit would go to Favre. Others think that cheering for Favre would be akin to rooting for the Taliban or Al Qaeda. The other segment of the non-Favre camp doesn't want to buy in and cheer for him because they fear he will throw an interception to lose to the Packers, or lose in the NFC championship, or God Forbid, the Super Bowl. I get it. Rivalry is an important thing in sports, and having a public enemy #1 is good for the sporting soul. But I’m north of 40, and have seen too much professional football tragedy as a Vikings fan to think this is the worst possible thing that could befall the franchise. Hell, Favre playing for the Vikings wouldn't crack the top 50. Favre throwing a soul crushing interception to lose to the Packers doesn't even make the top 25. There is onlt one Darkest Day in Vikings History, and it is the infamous 'Hail Mary' Game. For those of you too young to remember, get down on your knees right now and give thanks to God. For those of you who do remember, the sullen nodding of the head and involuntary grimace and twitching tell me you concur.
We were at my aunt and uncle’s in White Bear Lake. My Aunt, a church going, Sunday school teacher, dropped an F-bomb after the blatant offensive pass interference that robbed the Vikings of their destiny. My dad threw a beer bottle against my uncle’s wall, shattering it and staining the wall. My uncle cared not. No ne moved for 10 minutes, just staring at the TV. My uncle cursed the medical attendants that assisted the goddamn idiot referee who took the whisky bottle to the head. I can’t explain the anguish I feel every time I see that goddamn play. 33 years have not healed that wound, and another 50 will not, either. Ever. On the way home to Richfield we heard on the radio Fran Tarkenton’s dad had died during the game. I cried all the way home.
So worst case, Favre throws a soul crushing interception in either the NFC Championship or the Super Bowl, and I shut off the TV, numb and lifeless. Hey, I’ve been down that road with this team more than I care to remember. It's amost a badge of Honor at this point. ('Hey, I've been more haertbroken over the Vikings than you have!')
It still wouldn’t hit the top 5 in all time Vikings agony. And I will be back next season, convinced the Vikes are going to win it all.
Favre is one of the gretest quarterbacks of all time. At 40, he's still better than Sage or Tarvaris. He doesn't guarantee a Super Bowl; no one player does. But I think he has a better chance of taking the Vikings farther in the playoffs than either jackson or Rosenfels. Jackson folded like a wet cardboard box under the pressure of the Eagles defense and the post-season.
He makes the offense as a whole better, and demands that defenses play the Vikings honest. Teams will be forced to respect the pass, and unable to stuff the box with 8 or 9 guys, Adrian Peterson will be even better than he is now. When teams try to key on Peterson and stop him, Favre will have the ability to make them pay consistently. Can you say that about Jackson or Sage? He is able to read a defense and audible out of a bad play. Currently, the Vikings do that infrequently at best. If there are 9 guys stacked at or close to the line of scrimmage, the Vikings run into the teeth of that defense much like the Australian army did against the Turks at Gallipoli. And if you want to look at the stats, I'll compare any stats you want of Favre's against Sage or Tarvaris.
My Dad is 80 now, he’s lost a step, and his memory isn’t what it was. It was my Dad that gave me this unconditional love of the Minnesota Vikings, and nothing would please me more than watching a Vikings Super Bowl victory with him. And if Brett Favre is the quarterback that would lead them to that, and allow me to share that with my Dad before he leaves me, I will be forever indebted to Zygi Wilf, Brad Childress, and Brett Favre for allowing that to happen.
So if he signs with the Vikes, I’m buying me and my Dad matching Favre jerseys, and we’ll be whooping it up like Viking fanatics once again this fall.
Oh, and one more thing. Fuck Drew Pearson. Fuck Drew Pearson to Hell.
Monday, May 4, 2009
Mercenaries-R-Us
Let’s put our cards on the table here when it comes to Brett Favre and his desire to come to Minnesota. His reason for playing isn’t to play for the Vikings, it’s to play against the Packers. He hates Ted Thompson. He wants to stick it up Ted Thompson’s ass and break it off. Sideways. Twice. His is a completely selfish and mercenarial reason to come to Minnesota.
Brad Childress needs to win and make a deep playoff run to keep his job, at least I think so. He’s had incrementally better seasons in three years, and with solid drafting, smart trades, and good free agent acquisitions, the Vikings are poised to be able to do that. Except that they need a proven quarterback to take them on that run. Childress has said that he likes his quarterback situation, but Favre at age 40 is still better than Sagevaris Jacksonfels. So if he were to sign Favre, it would be for one reason and one reason only: To try and win the Super Bowl and prove he is as smart as he claims to be. His is a completely selfish and mercenarial reason to bring Favre to Minnesota.
Zygi Wilf needs a new stadium to keep the Vikings viable in the state of Minnesota. He has Adrian Peterson and little else. He needs that elusive ‘buzz’, and a guy like Favre with the NFC North backdrop is something that cannot be ignored. Would it be enough to finagle financing for a new stadium out of the State Legislature? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, his is a completely selfish and mercenarial reason to bring Favre to Minnesota.
As my good buddy Luft Krigare pointed out in his blog, I was all about Favre coming to Minnesota last season, but I have some reservations this year. But the bottom line is simple:
Do I want the Vikings to essentially hire a mercenary who excelled on a team I can’t stand come in and lead the team that I have loved since birth, and go all out to try and win a Super Bowl?
Yes. Once I separate the facts from the emotion, the fact for me is this: Brett Favre, as long as he is healthy, is better than Sagevaris Jacksonfels, and all the hand-wringing I have about team chemistry will be rendered moot on the first Favre to Harvin touchdown pass.
Brad Childress needs to win and make a deep playoff run to keep his job, at least I think so. He’s had incrementally better seasons in three years, and with solid drafting, smart trades, and good free agent acquisitions, the Vikings are poised to be able to do that. Except that they need a proven quarterback to take them on that run. Childress has said that he likes his quarterback situation, but Favre at age 40 is still better than Sagevaris Jacksonfels. So if he were to sign Favre, it would be for one reason and one reason only: To try and win the Super Bowl and prove he is as smart as he claims to be. His is a completely selfish and mercenarial reason to bring Favre to Minnesota.
Zygi Wilf needs a new stadium to keep the Vikings viable in the state of Minnesota. He has Adrian Peterson and little else. He needs that elusive ‘buzz’, and a guy like Favre with the NFC North backdrop is something that cannot be ignored. Would it be enough to finagle financing for a new stadium out of the State Legislature? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, his is a completely selfish and mercenarial reason to bring Favre to Minnesota.
As my good buddy Luft Krigare pointed out in his blog, I was all about Favre coming to Minnesota last season, but I have some reservations this year. But the bottom line is simple:
Do I want the Vikings to essentially hire a mercenary who excelled on a team I can’t stand come in and lead the team that I have loved since birth, and go all out to try and win a Super Bowl?
Yes. Once I separate the facts from the emotion, the fact for me is this: Brett Favre, as long as he is healthy, is better than Sagevaris Jacksonfels, and all the hand-wringing I have about team chemistry will be rendered moot on the first Favre to Harvin touchdown pass.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Draft Day 1 Recap
Busy Saturday here in my little corner of the Internets. It started at five this morning when me and a couple of buddies went fishing out at Carlyle Lake. Got home just in time to take a nap as the draft kicked off, but woke up in time to see the Raiders set their franchise back another 25 years. They made it to the Super Bowl in this decade? Really?
Anyways, looking at day 1 of the draft, I like what the Vikings did, and although I'm sad to see that they haven't drafted any Buckeyes, neither did the Packers. To recap:
Oh Mercy, Percy!! I give Brad Childress and the Vikings a lot of credit for this pick. I liked and advocated for Percy Harvin on multiple Vikings message boards (yeah, multiple...I'm a total loser) because I thought he was the best athlete in the draft, and could fill multiple roles for the Vikes. When it came out that he was dancing with Mary Jane, I thought the Vikings had taken him off of their board, and no one would have ripped them for bypassing him and looking to offensive line or defensive back, consensus areas of need entering the draft.
But they didn't. They took him, and with it, they have taken on quite possibly the biggest boom or bust, feast or famine pick in recent Vikings memory. Harvin not only has off the field issues, but he has on the field injury concerns as well. Adrian Peterson had injury issues that caused a few people to question the pick, but that seems to have worked out all right.
What Harvin brings to the table is speed. Fast, blinding, holy-fuck-did-you-just-see-that speed.
Kind of like this (start at about 1:57).
If Brad Childress can harness that speed, put Harvin in favorable match ups, opposing defenses will either have to pick to stop Adrian Peterson or Percy Harvin. If he can't, the Vikings will have a hard time rising to the level of an elite team, and Childress, with a lot of expectations on him and his team, will be out of a job.
They also addressed the right tackle position, which a lot of fans think was the weak link on the offensive line, and a lot of draft experts thought it would be a position addressed in round 1. Phil Loadholt, who is nearly 340 pounds of moving pissed off, will challenge Ryan Cook immiedately as the starting right tackle, and is great value for that deep in the second round.
For the Buckeyes, I was disapointed to see James Laurinaitis slip to the second round, but hey, he's now a St Louis Ram, so I will get to follow him closely in his post-Buckeye career. Malcolm Jenkins was about the only guy save Matthew Stafford to go where he was predicted to go, to New Orleans, Beanie Wells heads to the Arizona desert, and Brian Robiskie stays in Ohio.
Biggest surprises for me was seeing Ray Maualuga drop out of the first round, and the Jets moving up so far to draft Mark Sanchez. I think the Vikings had a about as good as a first day as the Raiders had bad. I can't imagine what it must feel like to be a Raider fan this evening. Michael Crabtree, who was on the board when your team selected Darius Hayward-Bey, is now just across the bay in San Francisco, while your team drafts the 2009 version of Troy WIlliamson. Then your team grabs a safety that wasn't even on the board of a lot of teams, by most accounts. Ouch.
Anyways, looking at day 1 of the draft, I like what the Vikings did, and although I'm sad to see that they haven't drafted any Buckeyes, neither did the Packers. To recap:
Oh Mercy, Percy!! I give Brad Childress and the Vikings a lot of credit for this pick. I liked and advocated for Percy Harvin on multiple Vikings message boards (yeah, multiple...I'm a total loser) because I thought he was the best athlete in the draft, and could fill multiple roles for the Vikes. When it came out that he was dancing with Mary Jane, I thought the Vikings had taken him off of their board, and no one would have ripped them for bypassing him and looking to offensive line or defensive back, consensus areas of need entering the draft.
But they didn't. They took him, and with it, they have taken on quite possibly the biggest boom or bust, feast or famine pick in recent Vikings memory. Harvin not only has off the field issues, but he has on the field injury concerns as well. Adrian Peterson had injury issues that caused a few people to question the pick, but that seems to have worked out all right.
What Harvin brings to the table is speed. Fast, blinding, holy-fuck-did-you-just-see-that speed.
Kind of like this (start at about 1:57).
If Brad Childress can harness that speed, put Harvin in favorable match ups, opposing defenses will either have to pick to stop Adrian Peterson or Percy Harvin. If he can't, the Vikings will have a hard time rising to the level of an elite team, and Childress, with a lot of expectations on him and his team, will be out of a job.
They also addressed the right tackle position, which a lot of fans think was the weak link on the offensive line, and a lot of draft experts thought it would be a position addressed in round 1. Phil Loadholt, who is nearly 340 pounds of moving pissed off, will challenge Ryan Cook immiedately as the starting right tackle, and is great value for that deep in the second round.
For the Buckeyes, I was disapointed to see James Laurinaitis slip to the second round, but hey, he's now a St Louis Ram, so I will get to follow him closely in his post-Buckeye career. Malcolm Jenkins was about the only guy save Matthew Stafford to go where he was predicted to go, to New Orleans, Beanie Wells heads to the Arizona desert, and Brian Robiskie stays in Ohio.
Biggest surprises for me was seeing Ray Maualuga drop out of the first round, and the Jets moving up so far to draft Mark Sanchez. I think the Vikings had a about as good as a first day as the Raiders had bad. I can't imagine what it must feel like to be a Raider fan this evening. Michael Crabtree, who was on the board when your team selected Darius Hayward-Bey, is now just across the bay in San Francisco, while your team drafts the 2009 version of Troy WIlliamson. Then your team grabs a safety that wasn't even on the board of a lot of teams, by most accounts. Ouch.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Why I think the VIkes will go LB in Round 1
Okay, so after looking at all the draft stuff I can stand, I think the Vikes are going to go with a LB, I really do. Let me walk this logic backwards:
Percy Harvin is probably off the board, and Childress said before the draft last season, I think it was, that WR’s in general are really a crap shoot in the first round, and I agree, so I don’t see them going in that direction. RB is not a need, and I think the TOA doesn’t believe QB is. I must grudgingly give it up for Shiancoe, as he really emerged last season, so TE is off the board, eliminating all skill positions.
That leaves the o-line. Sullivan looks to be the next Matt Birk, and Herrera and Hutch are a pretty good guard tandem. McKinnie is locked in at LT, and I think with Ryan Cook you have what I call Tarvaris Jackson syndrome. Cook was a high round Childress pick, like Jackson, and Childress has a lot in terms of reputation on the line to see the kid succeed, much like Jackson, albeit not as much as he has invested with TJ. Many detractors think he was taken too high, like Jackson, and as a player, Cook has yet to achieve what the coaches envisioned him doing when drafted, much like Jackson. He’s also shown flashes of good play with maddening periods of mediocrity and inconsistency, also like Jackson. And I think Cook showed enough last year to warrant giving him ample opportunity to remain the RT, but he has got to cut down on his penalties.
On the d-line, DE appears to be set, especially with Kenechi Udeze coming back, which will be a huge emotional lift. DT looks good as well. After re-signing Jimmy Kennedy and Fred Evans, there’s really no room for a new guy. You can make an argument for DB, especially with Antoine Winfield getting up there, but they re-signed Benny Sapp, signed Carl Paymah as a FA, and already had decent depth for both CB and S. I can see adding a guy in the later rounds, but I don’t see DB as a first round pick, especially when you factor in who’s probably available.
That leaves LB. EJ’s coming off of an injury, Ben Leber is good, but is north of 30, and after Chad Greenway, there really isn’t anyone that can jump in and start. Erin Henderson? No. Heath Farwell? Good special teams guy, but not really. I mean, they had to bring Napoleon Harris back after EJ got hurt. Nap did a great job as a stopgap, but they let him go again. So LB is very thin after you get past the starters. Almost every mock draft I see has either James Laurinaitis, Ray Maualuga, or both available at that spot. Both are high character guys, both have great college pedigrees, and yeah, you think I want them to pick Laurinaitis because he’s a Buckeye, but he can also play on the outside, and he’s a local Minnesota kid. Childress hit the jackpot with the ‘local kid, Big 10 LB, high character guy’ trifecta with Greenway in 2006, and that has to be factored in as well.
So with everyone screaming for the Vikes to take a tackle, I think the Vikes mildly surprise some folks and go with either Maualuga or Laurinaitis. If they’re both on the board, it’s Laurinaitis.
Percy Harvin is probably off the board, and Childress said before the draft last season, I think it was, that WR’s in general are really a crap shoot in the first round, and I agree, so I don’t see them going in that direction. RB is not a need, and I think the TOA doesn’t believe QB is. I must grudgingly give it up for Shiancoe, as he really emerged last season, so TE is off the board, eliminating all skill positions.
That leaves the o-line. Sullivan looks to be the next Matt Birk, and Herrera and Hutch are a pretty good guard tandem. McKinnie is locked in at LT, and I think with Ryan Cook you have what I call Tarvaris Jackson syndrome. Cook was a high round Childress pick, like Jackson, and Childress has a lot in terms of reputation on the line to see the kid succeed, much like Jackson, albeit not as much as he has invested with TJ. Many detractors think he was taken too high, like Jackson, and as a player, Cook has yet to achieve what the coaches envisioned him doing when drafted, much like Jackson. He’s also shown flashes of good play with maddening periods of mediocrity and inconsistency, also like Jackson. And I think Cook showed enough last year to warrant giving him ample opportunity to remain the RT, but he has got to cut down on his penalties.
On the d-line, DE appears to be set, especially with Kenechi Udeze coming back, which will be a huge emotional lift. DT looks good as well. After re-signing Jimmy Kennedy and Fred Evans, there’s really no room for a new guy. You can make an argument for DB, especially with Antoine Winfield getting up there, but they re-signed Benny Sapp, signed Carl Paymah as a FA, and already had decent depth for both CB and S. I can see adding a guy in the later rounds, but I don’t see DB as a first round pick, especially when you factor in who’s probably available.
That leaves LB. EJ’s coming off of an injury, Ben Leber is good, but is north of 30, and after Chad Greenway, there really isn’t anyone that can jump in and start. Erin Henderson? No. Heath Farwell? Good special teams guy, but not really. I mean, they had to bring Napoleon Harris back after EJ got hurt. Nap did a great job as a stopgap, but they let him go again. So LB is very thin after you get past the starters. Almost every mock draft I see has either James Laurinaitis, Ray Maualuga, or both available at that spot. Both are high character guys, both have great college pedigrees, and yeah, you think I want them to pick Laurinaitis because he’s a Buckeye, but he can also play on the outside, and he’s a local Minnesota kid. Childress hit the jackpot with the ‘local kid, Big 10 LB, high character guy’ trifecta with Greenway in 2006, and that has to be factored in as well.
So with everyone screaming for the Vikes to take a tackle, I think the Vikes mildly surprise some folks and go with either Maualuga or Laurinaitis. If they’re both on the board, it’s Laurinaitis.
Monday, April 20, 2009
Wrapping Up The Schedule
Continuing on with a game by game breakdown for the Vikes 2009 schedule:
Week 7: at Pittsburgh I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this game, because the Vikings will lose it. Remember my stunning outdoor grass on the road stat I impressed you with way back in week 1? Same thing applies here, except Pittsburgh ain’t Cleveland. Minnesota will turn the ball over a couple of times, Pittsburgh will get a double digit lead, and everyone in Minnesota will be pissed off that Mike Tomlin is coaching the Steelers and not the Vikings. What should piss them off is that Ben Roethlisberger is the quarterback of the Steelers, not the Vikings.
Week 8: at Green Bay I have to be honest with you, I’m not too impressed with any of the other teams in the NFC North this year. Aaron Rogers is one pulled ovary from the IR, their defense, outside of Charles Woodson and AJ Hawk really doesn’t impress me, and although their personnel are 4-3 type players, they’re switching to the 3-4. The Vikes still lose this game, because there’s no way Brad Childress could sweep the season series from Green Bay. Mike Tice could, but Brad Childress can’t. Vikes are 4-4, but when you consider 5 of 8 games were on the road it’s not a terrible record.
Week 9: Bye
Week 10: Detroit By week 10, Detroit realizes that they’re, well, Detroit. Dan Orlovsky runs out of the end zone again, but the Vikes don’t allow this game to be decided on a safety. I have my issues with Brad Childress, but he is 3-0 after the bye week, beating Houston, Chicago on the road (something Mike Tice couldn’t do, BTW), and Seattle on the road. Vikes right the ship and start on a roll.
Week 11: Seattle Speaking of everyone’s favorite whiny fan base, the Semenhawks come to town for an obligatory ass beating. Seattle really is pissed off at Minnesota, and I can’t figure out why. Could it be because the Vikes front office made the Seahawks front office look like a bunch of bitches when they got Steve Hutchinson? And yes, Seattle fan will retort, that they did the same thing for Nate Burleson. Hmm, Hutch has been to three Pro Bowls and Burleson has about 950 yards receiving in three seasons. Which is about 50 less than he had in 2004 with the Vikes. Yep, you got us there. Maybe it’s because of the legal hit that EJ Henderson put on Matt Hasselback and knocked him out for awhile in 2006? Or maybe it’s the 95 yard TD run Chester Taylor had in that same game that pretty much sealed that game up for the Vikes. Maybe they’re just pissy because the sun never shines in that city. Who knows? Who cares? Vikes still win, because I think it will be the Seneca Wallace show by that point, and he’s just slightly better than Tarvaris Jackson.
Week 12: Chicago The Bears will be better because of Jay Cutler, but no one, outside of our friends at the Daily Norseman, have brought up the point that the Chicago Bear defense aged right in front of us last season, and they have done nothing to address that so far this off-season. And while the Bears have Cutler, they still don’t have anyone to get him the ball, so it will be a great test of the ‘Great QB’s Make Great Receivers’ theory, or it will validate the ‘Great Receivers Make Great QB’s’ theory. Devin Hester? Great return guy, mediocre receiver. This is the first meeting with the Cutler-lead Bears, yet we have finished up our seasonal tilts with both the Packers and Lions. Vikes win this home game and Adrian Peterson continues to make the Chicago Bears his personal play toy.
Week 13: at Arizona Last season the Vikes rolled into Arizona and took it to the future NFC champions. I mean, they really kicked their ass. But that was about 4 weeks before Larry Fitzgerald made a deal with Satan to elevate his game to Randy Moss in his prime levels. I take nothing away from the Cardinals because their run was a lot of fun to watch, but keep in mind they were still a 9-7 team in football’s worst division, but they got hot at the right time. This is an offense that matches up very well against the Viking defense. Arizona will have to pass, because they have no running game, and the Vikes stop the run better than anyone. With a front four of Allen, Udeze, Williams, and Williams, the great but immobile Kurt Warner will be in trouble early and often. Vikes win and are 8-4.
Week 14: Cincinnati Cincinnati sucks. Vikes are 9-4.
Week 15: at Carolina Hmm, tough game to call. It was the Carolina victory at home that helped the Vikes salvage their season and avoid an 0-3 collar to begin the year. Carolina’s a good team, but I can’t help but think that the 12-4 record they posted last season was a bit of an anomaly. Jake Delhomme had a good season, but his schizophrenic ‘Bad Jake’ returned just in time for the playoffs, and it seems he show up just when the Panthers can least afford for him to. I still think this is a tall order for a Vikes victory, though. Until they show they can consistently win tough road games I can’t be convinced they’ll win games like this.
Week 16: at Chicago Just reiterating from what I said above, it’s December and you’re probably playing in some nasty Chicago weather. Because as you know, Chicago is a ‘tough guy’ town. That means the Vikes need to run the ball. Hmm. The Bears defense isn’t what it was, the Vikes have the best running game in the NFL, and Adrian Peterson absolutely owns the Chicago Bears. Give me the Bears defense from three years ago, VIkes lose. Give me the 2009 Bears defense and a healthy Peterson, VIkes win.
Week 17: New York Giants I just don’t think the Giants will be a 12-4 team in 2009. They’re good, but I just get a 10-6 vibe about them. It’s a winnable game for the Vikes, and I think a bye, if not a #1 seed, will be on the line. Expect the Metrodome to be loud, and expect a Vikings win.
So there you have it. A snapshot look tells me this is an 11-5 team, but if Jackson or Rosenfels doesn’t pan out, it has an 8-8 or worse. I think the Vikes will do well this year, and if the quarterback play is just minimally better than what Gus Frerotte gave the team, 11-5 is very realistic.
Week 7: at Pittsburgh I’m not going to spend a lot of time on this game, because the Vikings will lose it. Remember my stunning outdoor grass on the road stat I impressed you with way back in week 1? Same thing applies here, except Pittsburgh ain’t Cleveland. Minnesota will turn the ball over a couple of times, Pittsburgh will get a double digit lead, and everyone in Minnesota will be pissed off that Mike Tomlin is coaching the Steelers and not the Vikings. What should piss them off is that Ben Roethlisberger is the quarterback of the Steelers, not the Vikings.
Week 8: at Green Bay I have to be honest with you, I’m not too impressed with any of the other teams in the NFC North this year. Aaron Rogers is one pulled ovary from the IR, their defense, outside of Charles Woodson and AJ Hawk really doesn’t impress me, and although their personnel are 4-3 type players, they’re switching to the 3-4. The Vikes still lose this game, because there’s no way Brad Childress could sweep the season series from Green Bay. Mike Tice could, but Brad Childress can’t. Vikes are 4-4, but when you consider 5 of 8 games were on the road it’s not a terrible record.
Week 9: Bye
Week 10: Detroit By week 10, Detroit realizes that they’re, well, Detroit. Dan Orlovsky runs out of the end zone again, but the Vikes don’t allow this game to be decided on a safety. I have my issues with Brad Childress, but he is 3-0 after the bye week, beating Houston, Chicago on the road (something Mike Tice couldn’t do, BTW), and Seattle on the road. Vikes right the ship and start on a roll.
Week 11: Seattle Speaking of everyone’s favorite whiny fan base, the Semenhawks come to town for an obligatory ass beating. Seattle really is pissed off at Minnesota, and I can’t figure out why. Could it be because the Vikes front office made the Seahawks front office look like a bunch of bitches when they got Steve Hutchinson? And yes, Seattle fan will retort, that they did the same thing for Nate Burleson. Hmm, Hutch has been to three Pro Bowls and Burleson has about 950 yards receiving in three seasons. Which is about 50 less than he had in 2004 with the Vikes. Yep, you got us there. Maybe it’s because of the legal hit that EJ Henderson put on Matt Hasselback and knocked him out for awhile in 2006? Or maybe it’s the 95 yard TD run Chester Taylor had in that same game that pretty much sealed that game up for the Vikes. Maybe they’re just pissy because the sun never shines in that city. Who knows? Who cares? Vikes still win, because I think it will be the Seneca Wallace show by that point, and he’s just slightly better than Tarvaris Jackson.
Week 12: Chicago The Bears will be better because of Jay Cutler, but no one, outside of our friends at the Daily Norseman, have brought up the point that the Chicago Bear defense aged right in front of us last season, and they have done nothing to address that so far this off-season. And while the Bears have Cutler, they still don’t have anyone to get him the ball, so it will be a great test of the ‘Great QB’s Make Great Receivers’ theory, or it will validate the ‘Great Receivers Make Great QB’s’ theory. Devin Hester? Great return guy, mediocre receiver. This is the first meeting with the Cutler-lead Bears, yet we have finished up our seasonal tilts with both the Packers and Lions. Vikes win this home game and Adrian Peterson continues to make the Chicago Bears his personal play toy.
Week 13: at Arizona Last season the Vikes rolled into Arizona and took it to the future NFC champions. I mean, they really kicked their ass. But that was about 4 weeks before Larry Fitzgerald made a deal with Satan to elevate his game to Randy Moss in his prime levels. I take nothing away from the Cardinals because their run was a lot of fun to watch, but keep in mind they were still a 9-7 team in football’s worst division, but they got hot at the right time. This is an offense that matches up very well against the Viking defense. Arizona will have to pass, because they have no running game, and the Vikes stop the run better than anyone. With a front four of Allen, Udeze, Williams, and Williams, the great but immobile Kurt Warner will be in trouble early and often. Vikes win and are 8-4.
Week 14: Cincinnati Cincinnati sucks. Vikes are 9-4.
Week 15: at Carolina Hmm, tough game to call. It was the Carolina victory at home that helped the Vikes salvage their season and avoid an 0-3 collar to begin the year. Carolina’s a good team, but I can’t help but think that the 12-4 record they posted last season was a bit of an anomaly. Jake Delhomme had a good season, but his schizophrenic ‘Bad Jake’ returned just in time for the playoffs, and it seems he show up just when the Panthers can least afford for him to. I still think this is a tall order for a Vikes victory, though. Until they show they can consistently win tough road games I can’t be convinced they’ll win games like this.
Week 16: at Chicago Just reiterating from what I said above, it’s December and you’re probably playing in some nasty Chicago weather. Because as you know, Chicago is a ‘tough guy’ town. That means the Vikes need to run the ball. Hmm. The Bears defense isn’t what it was, the Vikes have the best running game in the NFL, and Adrian Peterson absolutely owns the Chicago Bears. Give me the Bears defense from three years ago, VIkes lose. Give me the 2009 Bears defense and a healthy Peterson, VIkes win.
Week 17: New York Giants I just don’t think the Giants will be a 12-4 team in 2009. They’re good, but I just get a 10-6 vibe about them. It’s a winnable game for the Vikes, and I think a bye, if not a #1 seed, will be on the line. Expect the Metrodome to be loud, and expect a Vikings win.
So there you have it. A snapshot look tells me this is an 11-5 team, but if Jackson or Rosenfels doesn’t pan out, it has an 8-8 or worse. I think the Vikes will do well this year, and if the quarterback play is just minimally better than what Gus Frerotte gave the team, 11-5 is very realistic.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Breaking Down the Vikings Schedule Week by Week
Scheduling Gods smile on the Vikes
In looking at the 2009 schedule for the Vikings, a couple of things caught my attention. One, that it’s a pretty decent schedule for a defending division winner, and two, the NFL age old conspiracy memo against the Vikes must not have been distributed to the scheduling office (I personally don’t believe there’s an actual memo, but I must play to my audience). The bye comes smack dab in the middle of the schedule, they finish off 5 of their last 8 games at home, and their slate of road games aren’t an NFL equivalent of the Bataan Death March. So let’s look at the formality of the 2009 regular season that we must unfortunately go through before the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
Week 1: at Cleveland— The bad news for Vikings fans is that recent history shows the Vikings have an anemic record with the road, outdoors, grass trifecta, going an embarrassing 8-18 (including playoffs) since 2004. Two of those ‘outdoor’ wins are at Houston and Arizona, retractable roof stadiums where yeah, it was outdoors on grass, but that’s kind of stretching it. Kind of like saying John McCain is a Republican stretching it. The good news is that although it’s a road, outdoor, grass game, it’s against the Cleveland Browns, who are really, really, terrible, which goes a long way to alleviating the disadvantage the Vikes have under those conditions. See 2008, Jaguars, Jacksonville. What the Browns lack in an offensive attack they make up for with a glaring inability to defend the run, something the Vikings excel at. Sagevaris Jacksonfels goes without an interception, but that’s because Adrian Peterson runs 55 times for 300 yards and 4 TD’s, as Brad Childress is reluctant to break out the passing component of the KAO. The Jacksonfels line for week 1: 0-0, 0 yards, 0 TD’s, 0 picks, solid game management. Vikes win and are 1-0. Brad Childress bronze statue plans are unveiled in the Minnesota Legislature.
Week 2: at Detroit—I’m not kidding when I say this is the game that worries me the most. Quit laughing, it really does. The Vikings have a maddening way of playing up or down to their competition, and this is a team that the Vikings usually beat, but it’s a lot tougher than it should be. Had it not been for Dan Orlovsky being an idiot, and a VERY generous pass interference call in the 4th quarter, the Vikings would have been the only win last year for the Lions. Kind of like the Vikings were for the Carolina Panthers a few years back. When you add the ‘new coach and attitude’ intangible into the equation…I hate to say it, but I think the Vikes lose this game. The Childress family is forced into hiding, entering the Federal Witness Protection Program.
Week 3: San Francisco—Vikings home opener against San Francisco. Our longtime antagonist Mike Singletary returns to the Metrodome, but this time, he’s coaching a pretty bad 49ers team, and he isn’t the middle linebacker for one of the greatest defenses of all time. His sideline stare still causes Sagevaris Jacksonfels to piddle himself midway through the second quarter, but The Greatest Running Back Ever not only stares down Singletary, but he causes him to…wait for it…BLINK! Singletary then drops his pants and tells Peterson to kiss it, but Peterson hears ‘kick it’, and he does. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D- San Francisco) files a motion to vacate the Vikings win and give it to the 49ers, saying that although the Vikings worked for the win, it should be taxed at 100% and given to those ‘less fortunate’. Norm Coleman sues somebody, saying he should be a Senator somewhere, and it’s Nancy Pelosi’s fault he isn’t. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell brokers a deal where the Vikings keep the victory and Pelosi is promised an NFL team in the Bay Area ‘real soon’. Coleman’s suit makes it to the Minnesota Supreme Court, where once again he’s told to pack sand…in Fargo, because it’s still dangerous up dere, donchaknow.
Week 4: Green Bay (Monday Night)—Monday Night, at home, against Green Bay. The Curious Case of Brad Childress finally unleashes the secret weapon that is Sagevaris Jacksonfels, who goes a torrid 3-11 for 11 yards and no touchdowns. But his play was ‘solid, no mistakes, kind of the flatline you look for in a good game manager’ TCCOBC says afterwards. About halfway through the first quarter, Kenechi Udeze and Jared Allen come up with a plan to ‘meet at the quarterback’, and Aaron Rogers pays the price. Brett Favre comes out of retirement, and the Monday Night crew phones John Madden, so he can call the game. Favre throws 11 interceptions, and John Madden declares that no one in the history of the game threw a prettier interception than Brett Favre, because Brett Favre just loves playing the game, and if he had 53 Brett Favre’s he’d have…605 interceptions a game…BOOM! Vikes win, the Childress’ come out of hiding, and the statue plans are back on, baby! Peterson is such a battering ram against the Packers, they just lay down in the fetal position and suck their thumbs early in the fourth quarter. Vikes are 3-1 and life looks pretty good in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Week 5: at St Louis—I will tell you now that I will be at this game, and my revered father will be with me. I mention this because at every single gut wrenching, soul crushing, life-sucking-out-of-you, open-a-vein-in-your-arm-and-wait-for-the-blissful-dark moment that has tortured Vikings fans since 1961, my Dad has been there right next to me. I was too young to remember Super Bowl IV, but I was there. Dad almost mistakenly threw me against the wall instead of the Grain Belt can when Otis Taylor beat Karl Kassulke to put the game out of reach. We were at my Uncle Russ’ in White Bear Lake during the Hail Mary game. We watched in horror from the comfort of our Richfield living room as the Vikes lost Super Bowl VIII, IX, and XI. He tried to get his mind off of the SB XI loss by helping me build a soapbox derby race car for Cub Scouts after the game. Let’s just say if you picked power tools, Grain Belt beer, and a Super Bowl loss in your disaster trifecta at Canterbury Downs, you’re a winner! Car didn’t get built, but a lot of frustration was let out on that poor piece of balsa wood. Dad only has three fingers on one hand now, but god damnit, it was worth it. (Just kidding on the three fingers part). In the 1987 NFC Championship, we watched from his home in Columbus, Ohio, with me taking leave to be there. For Wide Left, we commiserated on the phone the whole game, he in retirement in Florida, me stationed in Alabama. When my phone bill came, I was billed an extra $850 surcharge for the excessive use of the word ‘fuck’. In the Nate Poole game, Dad was visiting me over Christmas, and we took in the game at a local sports bar. For a little guy, he can sure talk some shit to Packer fans half his age and twice his size, and my face almost cashed that check. Nothing like dragging a pissed off 70-something guy out of a bar while trying to avoid an ass beating. I’ve never cornered an angry badger, but I imagine it’s similar. Dad assures me it would have been a character builder. For me, not him. For him, it would have been funny. The only reason that I mention this tortured history is because we will both be at the game, live and in person. That can only mean bad shit will happen. Adrian Peterson will blow out a knee, Jared Allen’s arm will fall off, and Brad Childress will be given a lifetime contract and 50% ownership in the team. At the conclusion of the game, there will be a press conference to announce that the team will move to Pierre, SD, at the end of the season, because, well, there’s a better chance of getting a stadium there than there than in Minneapolis. Vikes are a crushing 3-2, and I'm pretty sure my Dad finishes the character building exercise he started for me at the end of the Nate Poole game. We are in the most dangerous city in America, after all. And my character needs some buildin'.
Week 6: Baltimore—Matt Birk’s homecoming will be an emotional one. Birk was one of my favorite players, but he now wears the purple of the Baltimore Ravens, so fuck him. So much for emotion. Kevin and Pat Williams make him their Scandanavian bitch, and the Vikes roll. At 4-2, Vikes get their mojo back, and am discharged from the hospital the Saturday before, character better than ever.
I'll add a few more games as the days go by, but right now I'm too pissed off at Alfonso Soriano, Chris Perez, and the Cardinals front office for not getting a decent closer in the off season.
In looking at the 2009 schedule for the Vikings, a couple of things caught my attention. One, that it’s a pretty decent schedule for a defending division winner, and two, the NFL age old conspiracy memo against the Vikes must not have been distributed to the scheduling office (I personally don’t believe there’s an actual memo, but I must play to my audience). The bye comes smack dab in the middle of the schedule, they finish off 5 of their last 8 games at home, and their slate of road games aren’t an NFL equivalent of the Bataan Death March. So let’s look at the formality of the 2009 regular season that we must unfortunately go through before the Vikings win the Super Bowl.
Week 1: at Cleveland— The bad news for Vikings fans is that recent history shows the Vikings have an anemic record with the road, outdoors, grass trifecta, going an embarrassing 8-18 (including playoffs) since 2004. Two of those ‘outdoor’ wins are at Houston and Arizona, retractable roof stadiums where yeah, it was outdoors on grass, but that’s kind of stretching it. Kind of like saying John McCain is a Republican stretching it. The good news is that although it’s a road, outdoor, grass game, it’s against the Cleveland Browns, who are really, really, terrible, which goes a long way to alleviating the disadvantage the Vikes have under those conditions. See 2008, Jaguars, Jacksonville. What the Browns lack in an offensive attack they make up for with a glaring inability to defend the run, something the Vikings excel at. Sagevaris Jacksonfels goes without an interception, but that’s because Adrian Peterson runs 55 times for 300 yards and 4 TD’s, as Brad Childress is reluctant to break out the passing component of the KAO. The Jacksonfels line for week 1: 0-0, 0 yards, 0 TD’s, 0 picks, solid game management. Vikes win and are 1-0. Brad Childress bronze statue plans are unveiled in the Minnesota Legislature.
Week 2: at Detroit—I’m not kidding when I say this is the game that worries me the most. Quit laughing, it really does. The Vikings have a maddening way of playing up or down to their competition, and this is a team that the Vikings usually beat, but it’s a lot tougher than it should be. Had it not been for Dan Orlovsky being an idiot, and a VERY generous pass interference call in the 4th quarter, the Vikings would have been the only win last year for the Lions. Kind of like the Vikings were for the Carolina Panthers a few years back. When you add the ‘new coach and attitude’ intangible into the equation…I hate to say it, but I think the Vikes lose this game. The Childress family is forced into hiding, entering the Federal Witness Protection Program.
Week 3: San Francisco—Vikings home opener against San Francisco. Our longtime antagonist Mike Singletary returns to the Metrodome, but this time, he’s coaching a pretty bad 49ers team, and he isn’t the middle linebacker for one of the greatest defenses of all time. His sideline stare still causes Sagevaris Jacksonfels to piddle himself midway through the second quarter, but The Greatest Running Back Ever not only stares down Singletary, but he causes him to…wait for it…BLINK! Singletary then drops his pants and tells Peterson to kiss it, but Peterson hears ‘kick it’, and he does. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D- San Francisco) files a motion to vacate the Vikings win and give it to the 49ers, saying that although the Vikings worked for the win, it should be taxed at 100% and given to those ‘less fortunate’. Norm Coleman sues somebody, saying he should be a Senator somewhere, and it’s Nancy Pelosi’s fault he isn’t. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell brokers a deal where the Vikings keep the victory and Pelosi is promised an NFL team in the Bay Area ‘real soon’. Coleman’s suit makes it to the Minnesota Supreme Court, where once again he’s told to pack sand…in Fargo, because it’s still dangerous up dere, donchaknow.
Week 4: Green Bay (Monday Night)—Monday Night, at home, against Green Bay. The Curious Case of Brad Childress finally unleashes the secret weapon that is Sagevaris Jacksonfels, who goes a torrid 3-11 for 11 yards and no touchdowns. But his play was ‘solid, no mistakes, kind of the flatline you look for in a good game manager’ TCCOBC says afterwards. About halfway through the first quarter, Kenechi Udeze and Jared Allen come up with a plan to ‘meet at the quarterback’, and Aaron Rogers pays the price. Brett Favre comes out of retirement, and the Monday Night crew phones John Madden, so he can call the game. Favre throws 11 interceptions, and John Madden declares that no one in the history of the game threw a prettier interception than Brett Favre, because Brett Favre just loves playing the game, and if he had 53 Brett Favre’s he’d have…605 interceptions a game…BOOM! Vikes win, the Childress’ come out of hiding, and the statue plans are back on, baby! Peterson is such a battering ram against the Packers, they just lay down in the fetal position and suck their thumbs early in the fourth quarter. Vikes are 3-1 and life looks pretty good in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.
Week 5: at St Louis—I will tell you now that I will be at this game, and my revered father will be with me. I mention this because at every single gut wrenching, soul crushing, life-sucking-out-of-you, open-a-vein-in-your-arm-and-wait-for-the-blissful-dark moment that has tortured Vikings fans since 1961, my Dad has been there right next to me. I was too young to remember Super Bowl IV, but I was there. Dad almost mistakenly threw me against the wall instead of the Grain Belt can when Otis Taylor beat Karl Kassulke to put the game out of reach. We were at my Uncle Russ’ in White Bear Lake during the Hail Mary game. We watched in horror from the comfort of our Richfield living room as the Vikes lost Super Bowl VIII, IX, and XI. He tried to get his mind off of the SB XI loss by helping me build a soapbox derby race car for Cub Scouts after the game. Let’s just say if you picked power tools, Grain Belt beer, and a Super Bowl loss in your disaster trifecta at Canterbury Downs, you’re a winner! Car didn’t get built, but a lot of frustration was let out on that poor piece of balsa wood. Dad only has three fingers on one hand now, but god damnit, it was worth it. (Just kidding on the three fingers part). In the 1987 NFC Championship, we watched from his home in Columbus, Ohio, with me taking leave to be there. For Wide Left, we commiserated on the phone the whole game, he in retirement in Florida, me stationed in Alabama. When my phone bill came, I was billed an extra $850 surcharge for the excessive use of the word ‘fuck’. In the Nate Poole game, Dad was visiting me over Christmas, and we took in the game at a local sports bar. For a little guy, he can sure talk some shit to Packer fans half his age and twice his size, and my face almost cashed that check. Nothing like dragging a pissed off 70-something guy out of a bar while trying to avoid an ass beating. I’ve never cornered an angry badger, but I imagine it’s similar. Dad assures me it would have been a character builder. For me, not him. For him, it would have been funny. The only reason that I mention this tortured history is because we will both be at the game, live and in person. That can only mean bad shit will happen. Adrian Peterson will blow out a knee, Jared Allen’s arm will fall off, and Brad Childress will be given a lifetime contract and 50% ownership in the team. At the conclusion of the game, there will be a press conference to announce that the team will move to Pierre, SD, at the end of the season, because, well, there’s a better chance of getting a stadium there than there than in Minneapolis. Vikes are a crushing 3-2, and I'm pretty sure my Dad finishes the character building exercise he started for me at the end of the Nate Poole game. We are in the most dangerous city in America, after all. And my character needs some buildin'.
Week 6: Baltimore—Matt Birk’s homecoming will be an emotional one. Birk was one of my favorite players, but he now wears the purple of the Baltimore Ravens, so fuck him. So much for emotion. Kevin and Pat Williams make him their Scandanavian bitch, and the Vikes roll. At 4-2, Vikes get their mojo back, and am discharged from the hospital the Saturday before, character better than ever.
I'll add a few more games as the days go by, but right now I'm too pissed off at Alfonso Soriano, Chris Perez, and the Cardinals front office for not getting a decent closer in the off season.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Around the Circuit
Vikings: Looks like the Vikings, as with most NFL teams, are hunkering down and are focusing in on the draft, now less than two weeks away. Although many fans might disagree, the Vikings feel that their quarterback situation was adequately addressed during free agency, and Sagevaris Jacksonfels is their guy. So, what direction do the Vikings go? I was pretty high on Percy Harvin until revelations hit the presses about a positive drug test (high, get it?) at the NFL combine. Oh, MERCY Percy! (If you’ve never heard U of F radio announcer Mick Hurbert call a game, it’s a treat. Oh, my!) Anyways, if recent track record is any indication, there’s a good chance Harvin has been crossed off the Vikings draft board, along with 77 other turds, malcontents, or injury risks. They’ve been red-dotted, much in the same way the Navy Seals red-dotted the Somali pirates, the AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
As much grief as Brad Childress received for his drafting of Tarvaris Jackson, the quality of Vikings drafts has been as good as anyone in the NFL since they bottomed out with Mike Tice’s last draft in 2005, with not one, but two first round busts in Troy Williamson and Erasmus James. 2006 brought Chad Greenway, Cedric Griffin, Ryan Cook, and Ray Edwards. Greenway and Griffin have become key components for a top notch defense, and Cook has become a false start machine at RT. Seriously, in fairness to Cook, the kid never played tackle before the NFL, and he managed to beat out two veteran NFL tackles to win the job. He’s no All-Pro, but he’s not terrible, either. Give him a little slack. 2007 brought us Purple Jesus, Marcus McCauley, Brian Robison, and Sidney Rice. Rice had a promising rookie season and emerged as a serious red zone threat. He was slowed by a knee injury last season and never looked comfortable, but I think he has the ability to be a solid NFL receiver. Robison and Edwards rotated in at both defensive end positions, and have provided quality depth in Kenechi Udeze’s absence, combining for 9.5 and 7.5 sacks in two seasons. 2008 was a draft that was highlighted by the Jared Allen trade. It was costly, yes, but it netted…Jared…Allen. With their remaining picks, the Vikings drafted Tyrell Johnson in the second round, who looks to take over in the secondary for the now departed Darren Sharper. They also snagged backup QB JD Booty and the heir apparent at center in John Sullivan, a 6th rounder who will try to fill some might big shoes of another 6th round center that anchored the Vikings line for 10 years or so.
So all in all, I have no worries in the Vikings ability to manage the draft. I expect a starter or two, and quality throughout. It has become the trademark for Childress, Spielman, and Studwell, and I tip my cap to them.
Cardinals: It’s only one week, 7 games, making it a small sampling size. But I like this team. With all of the injuries last season, the Cardinals won 86 games. They were in the thick of the pennant race until September, with a patchwork rotation, bad middle relief, and no closer. The bullpen is better, and if Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright can stay healthy, this team will win the division. If Adrian Peterson is the Purple Jesus, Albert Pujols is the Red Jesus, and that was apparent again on Saturday. He’s just Da Mang. With all the angst about Skip Schumaker transitioning from the outfield to second base, he seems to be doing pretty good. I think it’s early to proclaim him a gold glove winner, but he’s made some sparkling defensive plays, and has handled the double play pivot with no serious issues to this point. His hitting hasn’t suffered yet, either, as some thought would happen with such a fielding paradigm shift. The angst over the closer’s role is a valid one. I can’t remember the dreaded closer by committee ever working over the course of a season, but if anyone can put his players in a favorable match up, it’s LaRussa. If Jason Motte can’t handle the role, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chris Perez come back up to the big club to see what he can do. He showed promise last year, and has started off strong down in Memphis.
It’s gonna be a fun year in the ‘Lou.
Vikings: Looks like the Vikings, as with most NFL teams, are hunkering down and are focusing in on the draft, now less than two weeks away. Although many fans might disagree, the Vikings feel that their quarterback situation was adequately addressed during free agency, and Sagevaris Jacksonfels is their guy. So, what direction do the Vikings go? I was pretty high on Percy Harvin until revelations hit the presses about a positive drug test (high, get it?) at the NFL combine. Oh, MERCY Percy! (If you’ve never heard U of F radio announcer Mick Hurbert call a game, it’s a treat. Oh, my!) Anyways, if recent track record is any indication, there’s a good chance Harvin has been crossed off the Vikings draft board, along with 77 other turds, malcontents, or injury risks. They’ve been red-dotted, much in the same way the Navy Seals red-dotted the Somali pirates, the AAA affiliate of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
As much grief as Brad Childress received for his drafting of Tarvaris Jackson, the quality of Vikings drafts has been as good as anyone in the NFL since they bottomed out with Mike Tice’s last draft in 2005, with not one, but two first round busts in Troy Williamson and Erasmus James. 2006 brought Chad Greenway, Cedric Griffin, Ryan Cook, and Ray Edwards. Greenway and Griffin have become key components for a top notch defense, and Cook has become a false start machine at RT. Seriously, in fairness to Cook, the kid never played tackle before the NFL, and he managed to beat out two veteran NFL tackles to win the job. He’s no All-Pro, but he’s not terrible, either. Give him a little slack. 2007 brought us Purple Jesus, Marcus McCauley, Brian Robison, and Sidney Rice. Rice had a promising rookie season and emerged as a serious red zone threat. He was slowed by a knee injury last season and never looked comfortable, but I think he has the ability to be a solid NFL receiver. Robison and Edwards rotated in at both defensive end positions, and have provided quality depth in Kenechi Udeze’s absence, combining for 9.5 and 7.5 sacks in two seasons. 2008 was a draft that was highlighted by the Jared Allen trade. It was costly, yes, but it netted…Jared…Allen. With their remaining picks, the Vikings drafted Tyrell Johnson in the second round, who looks to take over in the secondary for the now departed Darren Sharper. They also snagged backup QB JD Booty and the heir apparent at center in John Sullivan, a 6th rounder who will try to fill some might big shoes of another 6th round center that anchored the Vikings line for 10 years or so.
So all in all, I have no worries in the Vikings ability to manage the draft. I expect a starter or two, and quality throughout. It has become the trademark for Childress, Spielman, and Studwell, and I tip my cap to them.
Cardinals: It’s only one week, 7 games, making it a small sampling size. But I like this team. With all of the injuries last season, the Cardinals won 86 games. They were in the thick of the pennant race until September, with a patchwork rotation, bad middle relief, and no closer. The bullpen is better, and if Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright can stay healthy, this team will win the division. If Adrian Peterson is the Purple Jesus, Albert Pujols is the Red Jesus, and that was apparent again on Saturday. He’s just Da Mang. With all the angst about Skip Schumaker transitioning from the outfield to second base, he seems to be doing pretty good. I think it’s early to proclaim him a gold glove winner, but he’s made some sparkling defensive plays, and has handled the double play pivot with no serious issues to this point. His hitting hasn’t suffered yet, either, as some thought would happen with such a fielding paradigm shift. The angst over the closer’s role is a valid one. I can’t remember the dreaded closer by committee ever working over the course of a season, but if anyone can put his players in a favorable match up, it’s LaRussa. If Jason Motte can’t handle the role, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Chris Perez come back up to the big club to see what he can do. He showed promise last year, and has started off strong down in Memphis.
It’s gonna be a fun year in the ‘Lou.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Well, That Was a Kick in the Junk
For everyone that is laughing at the Bears for giving up a lot of draft picks for Jay Cutler, and getting an alleged turd in return, I ask you this—would you like Cutler over Sagevaris Jacksonfels? I know I would. I understand that it was a steep price to pay, and the Vikings, after paying a steep price for Jared Allen last season, couldn’t do another trade like that two years in a row, but did it have to be the Bears?
There are few certainties in my life as I age; sometimes those truisms are all you can hold on to in tumultuous times. For example, the annual St Louis Cardinals devastating shoulder injury has occurred, this time taking out Troy Glaus until the All Star game. Whew, glad that’s out of the way. Ohio State always has great running backs. France gets their ass kicked in battle. Illinois politics is corrupt. The Chicago Bears have quarterbacks that are terrible.
You see, the one thing that’s held back the Bears over the years is that they couldn’t find a quarterback that was NFL caliber, which would be okay if they weren’t an NFL franchise. They even made it to the Super Bowl with a great defense and a quarterback named Rex the Wonder Dog. Had they had Jay Cutler on that team, they quite possibly would have won that game.
The Bears have a lot of similarities to the Vikings offensively—good running game, an emerging tight end, and a HUGE question at quarterback. Their wide receivers are bad, but I can expect them to get better simply for the fact they have a better QB throwing to them. The Bears were 9-7 with an average defense and bad quarterback play. Is Cutler worth 2 wins? Yeah, I think he is when you look at his stats and realize that he went 8-8 on a team with a defense that’s slightly worse than some good high school programs. Get a proven WR, like Torry Holt, give him a good running game that will allow Devin Hester to make some plays, and all of a sudden the Bears are a thoroughly dangerous team.
But that dominating defense that is the Bears calling card slipped a little bit last year, and they’re a year older. The Bears have a much better quarterback than the Vikings, but the Vikes still have the better defense, running game, and receivers, making them the more complete team.
If Sage "We Worked on That Trade For Two Years" Rosenfels improves the quarterback play minimally, by just a win, they win the division, but the Bears will be hot on their heels all season long.
There are few certainties in my life as I age; sometimes those truisms are all you can hold on to in tumultuous times. For example, the annual St Louis Cardinals devastating shoulder injury has occurred, this time taking out Troy Glaus until the All Star game. Whew, glad that’s out of the way. Ohio State always has great running backs. France gets their ass kicked in battle. Illinois politics is corrupt. The Chicago Bears have quarterbacks that are terrible.
You see, the one thing that’s held back the Bears over the years is that they couldn’t find a quarterback that was NFL caliber, which would be okay if they weren’t an NFL franchise. They even made it to the Super Bowl with a great defense and a quarterback named Rex the Wonder Dog. Had they had Jay Cutler on that team, they quite possibly would have won that game.
The Bears have a lot of similarities to the Vikings offensively—good running game, an emerging tight end, and a HUGE question at quarterback. Their wide receivers are bad, but I can expect them to get better simply for the fact they have a better QB throwing to them. The Bears were 9-7 with an average defense and bad quarterback play. Is Cutler worth 2 wins? Yeah, I think he is when you look at his stats and realize that he went 8-8 on a team with a defense that’s slightly worse than some good high school programs. Get a proven WR, like Torry Holt, give him a good running game that will allow Devin Hester to make some plays, and all of a sudden the Bears are a thoroughly dangerous team.
But that dominating defense that is the Bears calling card slipped a little bit last year, and they’re a year older. The Bears have a much better quarterback than the Vikings, but the Vikes still have the better defense, running game, and receivers, making them the more complete team.
If Sage "We Worked on That Trade For Two Years" Rosenfels improves the quarterback play minimally, by just a win, they win the division, but the Bears will be hot on their heels all season long.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Why College Basketball Sucks, and College Football Doesn't
College basketball sucks, we all know that. Not as bad as the pro game; which is like trying to watch flies fornicate on drying paint while my wife regales me with tales about her latest foray into the cooking of pork chops, but it still sucks.
In college basketball, the entire regular season is rendered completely, totally, and irrevocably meaningless because of conference tournaments. If your team does reasonably well, but doesn’t win the conference or conference tournament championship game, there’s a decent chance you won’t go to the NCAA tournament. Conversely, if your team sucks worse than the movie ‘Mirrors’, starring Kiefer Sutherland, but you magically get on a hot streak and win your conference tournament, you’re automatically in…knocking out said good team annotated above.
In college football, NOTHING matters more than what you do in the regular season…nothing. In college basketball, you can have an off night if you’re North Carolina or Duke, and recover to get a #1 tournament seed. If you have an off night in college football, it reverberates throughout the season. Just ask USC how bad that loss to Oregon State was.
In college basketball, rivalries are extremely watered down, and matter little outside of the teams and fan bases that are playing. Duke beats North Carolina in December? Oh, that sucks, but we’ll get ‘em again in a month or so, thinks the Tar Heel fans.
In college football, it’s often more important to beat your rival than it is to win your bowl game. Ask a Michigan fan how much better their off-season would be had they beaten Ohio State to close out their pathetic, miserable, embarrassment of a season. You lose to your rival in college football, it eats at your soul for a fucking year. Or if you’re Michigan, a decade…BWAHAHAHAHA…Michigan sucks. Ohio State rocks.
For office pools, college basketball REALLY sucks. Worse than Michigan sucks. Worse than trying to be ‘that guy’ and watching the entire ‘Pride and Prejudice’ mini-series over a weekend sucks. If one of your favorites to make the final four loses in the first or second round, you can pretty much kiss that pile of money goodbye. Your favorite to win the magicjack.com bowl loses by a FG in overtime, you can live to fight another day. Unless, of course, you were a complete homer and picked six out of seven Big 10 teams to win their bowl game. Jesus, Wisconsin over Florida State, Minnesota over Kansas…what the HELL was I thinking?
College basketball fans like to point out that a legitimate champion is crowned, and their champion isn’t decided via a popularity contest. Really? The selection process isn’t a political popularity contest? You don’t think Kentucky would have a better chance than North Dakota State? Really?
To those of you that will spend the next couple of days agonizing over ‘bracketology’ and all that it entails, I have one thing to say: Pass the pork chops, honey, and set my alarm for spring practice.
In college basketball, the entire regular season is rendered completely, totally, and irrevocably meaningless because of conference tournaments. If your team does reasonably well, but doesn’t win the conference or conference tournament championship game, there’s a decent chance you won’t go to the NCAA tournament. Conversely, if your team sucks worse than the movie ‘Mirrors’, starring Kiefer Sutherland, but you magically get on a hot streak and win your conference tournament, you’re automatically in…knocking out said good team annotated above.
In college football, NOTHING matters more than what you do in the regular season…nothing. In college basketball, you can have an off night if you’re North Carolina or Duke, and recover to get a #1 tournament seed. If you have an off night in college football, it reverberates throughout the season. Just ask USC how bad that loss to Oregon State was.
In college basketball, rivalries are extremely watered down, and matter little outside of the teams and fan bases that are playing. Duke beats North Carolina in December? Oh, that sucks, but we’ll get ‘em again in a month or so, thinks the Tar Heel fans.
In college football, it’s often more important to beat your rival than it is to win your bowl game. Ask a Michigan fan how much better their off-season would be had they beaten Ohio State to close out their pathetic, miserable, embarrassment of a season. You lose to your rival in college football, it eats at your soul for a fucking year. Or if you’re Michigan, a decade…BWAHAHAHAHA…Michigan sucks. Ohio State rocks.
For office pools, college basketball REALLY sucks. Worse than Michigan sucks. Worse than trying to be ‘that guy’ and watching the entire ‘Pride and Prejudice’ mini-series over a weekend sucks. If one of your favorites to make the final four loses in the first or second round, you can pretty much kiss that pile of money goodbye. Your favorite to win the magicjack.com bowl loses by a FG in overtime, you can live to fight another day. Unless, of course, you were a complete homer and picked six out of seven Big 10 teams to win their bowl game. Jesus, Wisconsin over Florida State, Minnesota over Kansas…what the HELL was I thinking?
College basketball fans like to point out that a legitimate champion is crowned, and their champion isn’t decided via a popularity contest. Really? The selection process isn’t a political popularity contest? You don’t think Kentucky would have a better chance than North Dakota State? Really?
To those of you that will spend the next couple of days agonizing over ‘bracketology’ and all that it entails, I have one thing to say: Pass the pork chops, honey, and set my alarm for spring practice.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
All Sapped Out
So, Benny Sapp got re-signed. You remember Benny Sapp, because he was the catalyst in what turned out to be the most exciting six play sequence in recent Vikings history. Remember the Bears game at the ‘Dome from last November?
Vikes are down 7-3, early second quarter. The Bears had a first and goal at the Vikings one yard line after a 26 yard run by Matt Forte, and the Vikings held, dramatically stopping the Bears from inside the one yard line on third and fourth down. The crowd went nuts, Jared Allen came sprinting off the field, arms raised in jubilation. The next play, Gus Frerotte hit Bernard Berrian in stride for a 99 yard touchdown pass. The Metrodome was as loud as I can remember it being in several years, momentum permanently shifted to the Vikings, and they won going away, 34-14, taking over first place in the NFC North en route to a division championship.
And it was all thanks to Benny Sapp.
But how, Purple Buckeye? His name isn’t mentioned. Was it the great Benny Sapp that tackled Matt Forte on the one, saving a touchdown?
No.
Was it the great Benny Sapp that plugged an emerging hole at the goal line, stuffing Matt Forte short of a score?
No.
It was the great Benny Sapp that was flagged for a personal foul, blow to the head penalty after in incomplete pass on third down that would have forced a Bears punt. You can’t make it up.
Benny Sapp? Benny Sapp? I mean, let’s put this in terms we can understand. If you’re lucky enough to have a job in this era of hope and change, (because after the last few weeks, I hope I got some change in my pocket at the end of the day), let’s say you were responsible for roofing a building, and the building was scheduled for its grand opening on Friday morning at 7:00. Let’s say on Thursday, ten minutes before happy hour, you take a claw hammer and put 50 holes the size of a quarter in the roof, slap an apprentice roofer on the head, and then sit around while the other ten guys on your crew bust their ass to cover for your mistake and they fix the roof. At the opening the building is hailed as a marvel of modern construction, in spite of your blatant stupidity.
Why the hell should you be retained? Even though the end result was good, you had nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, your actions almost ruined it! Yet you keep your job, when there are several roofing apprentices that look promising and could probably do a better job by just not putting a claw hammer through the roof.
I’ve gone on record many times supporting the free agency moves and drafts of Spielman and Childress, but this is one move I can’t get on board with. What Benny lacks in self discipline, he makes up for with a keen inability to tackle or cover a receiver. If you can’t cover, you should be able to tackle. If you can’t tackle, you better be able to cover. Benny can do neither, and he does neither quite spectacularly.
This is quickly becoming the off-season of my discontent, which is in stark contrast to the last two or three seasons. If Sage Rosenfels is the answer at quarterback the Vikes are on the very short list of legitimate Super Bowl teams, but the supporting cast is just as important. Sapp has a penchant for excruciatingly stupid plays at the most inopportune times, and what happened against the Bears is most assuredly the exception to the rule. 9 times out of 10 a team that’s given that kind of gift will score the touchdown, and if the Bears had scored there, it’s 14-3 Chicago and the outcome of the game could be very different. Normally, stupid penalties that lead to a score for the bad guys completely deflates a team, but hats off to the Vikings defense for the stunning reversal and a heart-stopping moment that was reminiscent of the Purple People Eaters…all thanks to Benny Sapp??
The defense will carry this team, and they can’t afford to have role players like Sapp take a walk down Bonehead Lane, because it will eventually cost the Vikings dearly.
Vikes are down 7-3, early second quarter. The Bears had a first and goal at the Vikings one yard line after a 26 yard run by Matt Forte, and the Vikings held, dramatically stopping the Bears from inside the one yard line on third and fourth down. The crowd went nuts, Jared Allen came sprinting off the field, arms raised in jubilation. The next play, Gus Frerotte hit Bernard Berrian in stride for a 99 yard touchdown pass. The Metrodome was as loud as I can remember it being in several years, momentum permanently shifted to the Vikings, and they won going away, 34-14, taking over first place in the NFC North en route to a division championship.
And it was all thanks to Benny Sapp.
But how, Purple Buckeye? His name isn’t mentioned. Was it the great Benny Sapp that tackled Matt Forte on the one, saving a touchdown?
No.
Was it the great Benny Sapp that plugged an emerging hole at the goal line, stuffing Matt Forte short of a score?
No.
It was the great Benny Sapp that was flagged for a personal foul, blow to the head penalty after in incomplete pass on third down that would have forced a Bears punt. You can’t make it up.
Benny Sapp? Benny Sapp? I mean, let’s put this in terms we can understand. If you’re lucky enough to have a job in this era of hope and change, (because after the last few weeks, I hope I got some change in my pocket at the end of the day), let’s say you were responsible for roofing a building, and the building was scheduled for its grand opening on Friday morning at 7:00. Let’s say on Thursday, ten minutes before happy hour, you take a claw hammer and put 50 holes the size of a quarter in the roof, slap an apprentice roofer on the head, and then sit around while the other ten guys on your crew bust their ass to cover for your mistake and they fix the roof. At the opening the building is hailed as a marvel of modern construction, in spite of your blatant stupidity.
Why the hell should you be retained? Even though the end result was good, you had nothing to do with it. As a matter of fact, your actions almost ruined it! Yet you keep your job, when there are several roofing apprentices that look promising and could probably do a better job by just not putting a claw hammer through the roof.
I’ve gone on record many times supporting the free agency moves and drafts of Spielman and Childress, but this is one move I can’t get on board with. What Benny lacks in self discipline, he makes up for with a keen inability to tackle or cover a receiver. If you can’t cover, you should be able to tackle. If you can’t tackle, you better be able to cover. Benny can do neither, and he does neither quite spectacularly.
This is quickly becoming the off-season of my discontent, which is in stark contrast to the last two or three seasons. If Sage Rosenfels is the answer at quarterback the Vikes are on the very short list of legitimate Super Bowl teams, but the supporting cast is just as important. Sapp has a penchant for excruciatingly stupid plays at the most inopportune times, and what happened against the Bears is most assuredly the exception to the rule. 9 times out of 10 a team that’s given that kind of gift will score the touchdown, and if the Bears had scored there, it’s 14-3 Chicago and the outcome of the game could be very different. Normally, stupid penalties that lead to a score for the bad guys completely deflates a team, but hats off to the Vikings defense for the stunning reversal and a heart-stopping moment that was reminiscent of the Purple People Eaters…all thanks to Benny Sapp??
The defense will carry this team, and they can’t afford to have role players like Sapp take a walk down Bonehead Lane, because it will eventually cost the Vikings dearly.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Underwhelming, To Say the Least
Well, if you weren't aware, the economy sucks. No, really, it does. But it's not quite as bad as the off-season the Minnesota Vikings have constructed to this point.
They're not in danger of dropping off the cliff into Green Bay Packer suckitude, but let's recap to this point:
1) Two year quest for a quarterback ends with...Sage Rosenfels. You can't make it up.
2) Jim Kleinsasser re-signed. Yeah!!!!! We love Jimmy here at THE Purple Buckeye, and that moves gets a big thumbs up. Glad to see JK will more than likely retire a Viking.
3) TJ Howsyouspellit spurns the Vikings for Seattle. Fuck 'em, we still got Hutch, and Seattle is still full of a bunch of bitchy, whiny, Birkenstock wearing ass monkey tree huggers.
4) Matty Birk sleeps with the fishes, but now in Baltimore. He went to Harvard.
5) There is still no stadium deal.
Of all those happenings, the Birk one was the most puzzling, in many ways. It seemed like Matt Birk, being the man that he is, was able to put his differences with Brad Childress aside and wanted to finish his career in Minnesota. The money he was asking for wasn't ridiculous, and he was very affordable for the Vikings. Yes, Birk's play dropped off some last year, but he was still the best offensive lineman on the team who's name wasn't Steve Hutchinson. Letting Birk leave does a couple of things, and I don't see an upside in any of them:
1) A legiitimate locker room leader leaves, and now someone else has to fill the void. In the darkest days of the Vikings off the field issues with Tice scalping Super Bowl tickets and the Love Boat, he was the "good guy" life preserver that we could look to as fans and find something positive about.
2) The Vikings are now worse on the offensive line, and that's not speculation. One of three things happens now. John Sullivan, a very raw second year guy, could move into the starting slot. If he can do it, I think this is the direction the Vikes need to go. Remember, we were pretty worried when Jeff Christy left for Tampa and the Vikings turned to an unknown in Matt Birk. But Tice was the o-line coach at the time, and head coaching foibles aside, Mike Tice can develop offensive linemen. If he said Birk was ready, then Birk was ready. After the cut and dried Sullivan option, things get muddied up. The next option would seem to be moving college center turned false start machine...I mean right tackle...Ryan Cook back inside. Cook was a very good center in college, and it's a tough adjustment going from college to the NFL and learning a new position at the same time. Cook actually acquitted himself well, for the most part, and he has the size to be absolutely dominant as a center. But if you move Cook, you need a new RT to take the place of Cook. So now, you've got essentially two new starters on the offensive line, and you either move up Marcus Johnson or Artis Hicks, get someone else in free agency (and no one really jumps out), or you draft someone. Either scenario represents a downgrade at this point. The other option that the Strib mentioned was moving Anthony Herrera to center, which seems to be about as far fetched as Skip Schumaker moving from right field to second base...oh wait, nevermind. I think Herrera is one of the more under rated linemen in the NFL, and has been a solid player that plugged a big hole in that line.
Cook was the weakest link on a pretty good line, and moving him back inside can turn him into a potential strength, buit now you need to plug the RT hole. If the RT replacement sucks, you can at least line up a TE to help out, go from a shotgun formation, and run to the left side to help alleviate a perimeter issue like that. If you move Herrera inside and he falters, and the replacement RG sucks, you now have two new guys on the inside that can't do the job, pressure comes a lot quicker, is extremely disruptive, and your offense will have a lot more issues than we've seen since the advent of the KAO.
Maybe Sullivan works out, maybe Andre Smith drops thanks to his WTF combine, maybe Sage Rosenfels blossoms after getting his chance, maybe Tarvaris Jackson realizes his potential with some earnest competition.
But for a team at a critical juncture in their history, and seemingly ascending, now is not the time for maybes.
They're not in danger of dropping off the cliff into Green Bay Packer suckitude, but let's recap to this point:
1) Two year quest for a quarterback ends with...Sage Rosenfels. You can't make it up.
2) Jim Kleinsasser re-signed. Yeah!!!!! We love Jimmy here at THE Purple Buckeye, and that moves gets a big thumbs up. Glad to see JK will more than likely retire a Viking.
3) TJ Howsyouspellit spurns the Vikings for Seattle. Fuck 'em, we still got Hutch, and Seattle is still full of a bunch of bitchy, whiny, Birkenstock wearing ass monkey tree huggers.
4) Matty Birk sleeps with the fishes, but now in Baltimore. He went to Harvard.
5) There is still no stadium deal.
Of all those happenings, the Birk one was the most puzzling, in many ways. It seemed like Matt Birk, being the man that he is, was able to put his differences with Brad Childress aside and wanted to finish his career in Minnesota. The money he was asking for wasn't ridiculous, and he was very affordable for the Vikings. Yes, Birk's play dropped off some last year, but he was still the best offensive lineman on the team who's name wasn't Steve Hutchinson. Letting Birk leave does a couple of things, and I don't see an upside in any of them:
1) A legiitimate locker room leader leaves, and now someone else has to fill the void. In the darkest days of the Vikings off the field issues with Tice scalping Super Bowl tickets and the Love Boat, he was the "good guy" life preserver that we could look to as fans and find something positive about.
2) The Vikings are now worse on the offensive line, and that's not speculation. One of three things happens now. John Sullivan, a very raw second year guy, could move into the starting slot. If he can do it, I think this is the direction the Vikes need to go. Remember, we were pretty worried when Jeff Christy left for Tampa and the Vikings turned to an unknown in Matt Birk. But Tice was the o-line coach at the time, and head coaching foibles aside, Mike Tice can develop offensive linemen. If he said Birk was ready, then Birk was ready. After the cut and dried Sullivan option, things get muddied up. The next option would seem to be moving college center turned false start machine...I mean right tackle...Ryan Cook back inside. Cook was a very good center in college, and it's a tough adjustment going from college to the NFL and learning a new position at the same time. Cook actually acquitted himself well, for the most part, and he has the size to be absolutely dominant as a center. But if you move Cook, you need a new RT to take the place of Cook. So now, you've got essentially two new starters on the offensive line, and you either move up Marcus Johnson or Artis Hicks, get someone else in free agency (and no one really jumps out), or you draft someone. Either scenario represents a downgrade at this point. The other option that the Strib mentioned was moving Anthony Herrera to center, which seems to be about as far fetched as Skip Schumaker moving from right field to second base...oh wait, nevermind. I think Herrera is one of the more under rated linemen in the NFL, and has been a solid player that plugged a big hole in that line.
Cook was the weakest link on a pretty good line, and moving him back inside can turn him into a potential strength, buit now you need to plug the RT hole. If the RT replacement sucks, you can at least line up a TE to help out, go from a shotgun formation, and run to the left side to help alleviate a perimeter issue like that. If you move Herrera inside and he falters, and the replacement RG sucks, you now have two new guys on the inside that can't do the job, pressure comes a lot quicker, is extremely disruptive, and your offense will have a lot more issues than we've seen since the advent of the KAO.
Maybe Sullivan works out, maybe Andre Smith drops thanks to his WTF combine, maybe Sage Rosenfels blossoms after getting his chance, maybe Tarvaris Jackson realizes his potential with some earnest competition.
But for a team at a critical juncture in their history, and seemingly ascending, now is not the time for maybes.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
A Sage Move to Spice up the Offense?
In the last few seasons, the Minnesota Vikings have done an extremely good job in free agency (Steve Hutchinson, Bernard Berrian), the draft (Adrian Peterson), and trade (Jared Allen) to address areas where the Vikings needed to improve to get them to the cusp of a Superbowl championship.
But for all the effort in trying to upgrade the roster, the quarterback position has been the one area that has been the weak link throughout the Brad Childress era. Entering free agency, the Vikes need to make a splash and add some sizzle and buzz to the offseason. Hopefully that will build some 'Minnesota Momentum' towards a new stadium and the long elusive Lombardi trophy, and to get free agency jump started, the Vikings capped two years of effort minutes into by trading for...wait for it...wait for it a little more...Sage Rosenfels.
Let me say that again so it can appropriately sink in. The Minnesota Vikings, a quarterback away from seriously contending for the Superbowl, spent two years in trading for Sage Rosenfels.
Sizzle? Snap...crackle...pop.
Look, I know that every quarterback option out there has negatives. Kurt Warner is a one or two year option. Ditto Brett Favre, and he's probalby really retired this time. Matt Cassel is probably the best combination of talent and youth, but it would more than likely require a Jared Allen-type trade to acquire him, and the Vikings did that last year for...Jared...Allen. According to Adam Caplan of scout.com, Matt Hasselbeck is damaged goods. Donovan McNabb might be a three or four year guy, but has McNabb, in a similar situation in Philadelhia (good/great defense, solid offense, mostly pedestrian receivers) ever win the Supebowl? And it looks like he's mended fences in Philly, anyways.
But Sage Rosenfels? Sage Rosenfels? Really? He's the answer? If he is the answer, what, pray tell, might the question be?
The positives: He's from Maquoketa, Iowa, about 15-20 miles where almost my entire family is from and still currently live, so he comes from good stock. He has shown ability, but like another quarterback currently on the Vikings roster, he has been maddeningly inconsistent when given an opportunity.
The negatives: He was on the wrong end of one of the most-played highlights from last year, and stop me if you've heard this before: He's a career journeyman, north of 30, a very cerebral, flat line guy that's just expected to manage the game and play mistake free.
With 24 career TD passes, and 23 career fumbles.
Rosenfels is the biggest gamble of Wilf's tenure, both on the field and off, because the Vikings are at a critical juncture in team history. They are tantalizingly close to a serious championship run, and if successful, they will go a long way to securing a new facility in Minneapolis for them to play in for the next generation of Viking fans. Failure to go deep in the playoffs will not help that effort, and a series ofmediocre 8-8 seasons in the near future could be the death blow for the team's future existence in Minnesota.
But for all the effort in trying to upgrade the roster, the quarterback position has been the one area that has been the weak link throughout the Brad Childress era. Entering free agency, the Vikes need to make a splash and add some sizzle and buzz to the offseason. Hopefully that will build some 'Minnesota Momentum' towards a new stadium and the long elusive Lombardi trophy, and to get free agency jump started, the Vikings capped two years of effort minutes into by trading for...wait for it...wait for it a little more...Sage Rosenfels.
Let me say that again so it can appropriately sink in. The Minnesota Vikings, a quarterback away from seriously contending for the Superbowl, spent two years in trading for Sage Rosenfels.
Sizzle? Snap...crackle...pop.
Look, I know that every quarterback option out there has negatives. Kurt Warner is a one or two year option. Ditto Brett Favre, and he's probalby really retired this time. Matt Cassel is probably the best combination of talent and youth, but it would more than likely require a Jared Allen-type trade to acquire him, and the Vikings did that last year for...Jared...Allen. According to Adam Caplan of scout.com, Matt Hasselbeck is damaged goods. Donovan McNabb might be a three or four year guy, but has McNabb, in a similar situation in Philadelhia (good/great defense, solid offense, mostly pedestrian receivers) ever win the Supebowl? And it looks like he's mended fences in Philly, anyways.
But Sage Rosenfels? Sage Rosenfels? Really? He's the answer? If he is the answer, what, pray tell, might the question be?
The positives: He's from Maquoketa, Iowa, about 15-20 miles where almost my entire family is from and still currently live, so he comes from good stock. He has shown ability, but like another quarterback currently on the Vikings roster, he has been maddeningly inconsistent when given an opportunity.
The negatives: He was on the wrong end of one of the most-played highlights from last year, and stop me if you've heard this before: He's a career journeyman, north of 30, a very cerebral, flat line guy that's just expected to manage the game and play mistake free.
With 24 career TD passes, and 23 career fumbles.
Rosenfels is the biggest gamble of Wilf's tenure, both on the field and off, because the Vikings are at a critical juncture in team history. They are tantalizingly close to a serious championship run, and if successful, they will go a long way to securing a new facility in Minneapolis for them to play in for the next generation of Viking fans. Failure to go deep in the playoffs will not help that effort, and a series ofmediocre 8-8 seasons in the near future could be the death blow for the team's future existence in Minnesota.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Matty Birk Sleeps WIth the Fishes
I generally try not to get too emotionally attached to guys who play for the Vikings anymore. This is not the relative static roster, give or take a few role players, of the Purple People Eaters of my youth, so attaching emotional investment for a guy that will be gone in about five or six years can kind of suck. Free agency has changed the dynamic of pro football, and overall that’s a pretty good thing. As you grow up you realize that pro sports is a bottom line business, and that teams undergo significant upheaval on a regular basis. But from time to time, there’s a player or two that I get attached to, an underdog or a blue-collar type guy that you just love to root for, because you can identify with that person in some sort of way.
Matt Birk has been that guy for me. I don’t identify with him because we went to Harvard. Hell, the only way I’d find myself in Harvard would be by getting lost looking for a strip joint in Beantown proper. I don’t identify with Birk athletically. I was probably the worst starting quarterback in the history of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. I mean, there’s bad, there’s craptastic, and then there was me, hovering somewhere below the high school version of Spergon Wynn. I don’t even relate to Birk physiologically. Where Birk is probably 310 pounds of twisted steel, I’m 210 pounds of chewed bubble gum, and growing at a rate that makes the stimulus bill look miniscule.
But I do relate to Birk in this regard: He got to live his dream, and he worked hard to get where he is. When I was a kid, I wanted to play for the Vikings, my hometown team, but I realized pretty early on that I better adjust my expectations. I did, and made the most out of a 20 plus career in the military. Birk was fortunate enough to get drafted by the Vikings in 1998, but didn’t play. He was primarily a practice squad guy, but hard work paid off, and in 2000 he took over as the team’s starting center, and has been one of the few positive faces for this team in the early part of the 21st century, as they navigated the through Randy “I Made Al Harris My Bitch” Moss, Daunte “I’m a one knee, $10 million QB” Culpepper, Mike “I got Super Bowl tickets” Tice, and the rough waters of the Love Boat.
But now, it looks like Matty B will sleep with the fishes, at least as a Minnesota Viking. Don Vito Childress seems like he wants to move in another direction and get rid of Birk. Hey, it happens all the time in the NFL, but this one hurts a little more. For one, I like Birk, for reasons stated above. Secondly, there really doesn’t seem to be an experienced backup that is ready made to move into Birk’s spot…but we said that about Birk when he took over for Pro Bowler Jeff Christy, so maybe there is. But the part that annoys me is that Chilly is whacking him not for a drop in performance, but because Birk and the coach “disagree philosophically” or something similar. I can just imagine how that conversation went down.
Matt Birk: Coach, our offense sucks, and we need to do something about it. Adrian’s a once in a generation type back, and our defense rocks, but if we can’t throw the ball and keep using AP as a battering ram, we won’t get anywhere, our defense will get old, and our golden opportunity to bring a Super Bowl championship to the good people of Minnesota will evaporate.
Brad Childress: Our offense doesn’t suck. Our offense kicks ass. Didn’t you see my final press conference in 2006?
MB: Really? You run left on first down, run left on second down, throw a screen pass on third down, and then we punt. How is that kick ass? You’re more predictable than a porn movie plot. Guys who were terrible high school quarterbacks know what you’re going to call 80% of the time. Don’t you think if some idiot that writes a little-known blog knows what coming an NFL defensive coordinator might have a clue?
BC: We have Adrian Peterson. And I know quarterbacks. We kick ass.
MB: You’re playing checkers, and everyone else is playing chess.
BC: We had a 99 yard touchdown pass.
MB: Even a blind squirrel can find a nut, coach.
BC: Our offense kicks ass.
MB: No it doesn’t, unless you masturbate to Big 10 football game film from the 1970’s.
BC: I guess we disagree philosophically. Pack your shit.
So Birk crossed the Godfather, and the Godfather took his revenge. Godspeed to you, Matty B. Wherever you land, may it be on your feet, over a football, on an offensive line that wins the Super Bowl.
Just don’t piss off your next boss, okay? (Watch this last link if you're at work...it's the Christian Bale rant...NSFW)
Matt Birk has been that guy for me. I don’t identify with him because we went to Harvard. Hell, the only way I’d find myself in Harvard would be by getting lost looking for a strip joint in Beantown proper. I don’t identify with Birk athletically. I was probably the worst starting quarterback in the history of the Ohio High School Athletic Association. I mean, there’s bad, there’s craptastic, and then there was me, hovering somewhere below the high school version of Spergon Wynn. I don’t even relate to Birk physiologically. Where Birk is probably 310 pounds of twisted steel, I’m 210 pounds of chewed bubble gum, and growing at a rate that makes the stimulus bill look miniscule.
But I do relate to Birk in this regard: He got to live his dream, and he worked hard to get where he is. When I was a kid, I wanted to play for the Vikings, my hometown team, but I realized pretty early on that I better adjust my expectations. I did, and made the most out of a 20 plus career in the military. Birk was fortunate enough to get drafted by the Vikings in 1998, but didn’t play. He was primarily a practice squad guy, but hard work paid off, and in 2000 he took over as the team’s starting center, and has been one of the few positive faces for this team in the early part of the 21st century, as they navigated the through Randy “I Made Al Harris My Bitch” Moss, Daunte “I’m a one knee, $10 million QB” Culpepper, Mike “I got Super Bowl tickets” Tice, and the rough waters of the Love Boat.
But now, it looks like Matty B will sleep with the fishes, at least as a Minnesota Viking. Don Vito Childress seems like he wants to move in another direction and get rid of Birk. Hey, it happens all the time in the NFL, but this one hurts a little more. For one, I like Birk, for reasons stated above. Secondly, there really doesn’t seem to be an experienced backup that is ready made to move into Birk’s spot…but we said that about Birk when he took over for Pro Bowler Jeff Christy, so maybe there is. But the part that annoys me is that Chilly is whacking him not for a drop in performance, but because Birk and the coach “disagree philosophically” or something similar. I can just imagine how that conversation went down.
Matt Birk: Coach, our offense sucks, and we need to do something about it. Adrian’s a once in a generation type back, and our defense rocks, but if we can’t throw the ball and keep using AP as a battering ram, we won’t get anywhere, our defense will get old, and our golden opportunity to bring a Super Bowl championship to the good people of Minnesota will evaporate.
Brad Childress: Our offense doesn’t suck. Our offense kicks ass. Didn’t you see my final press conference in 2006?
MB: Really? You run left on first down, run left on second down, throw a screen pass on third down, and then we punt. How is that kick ass? You’re more predictable than a porn movie plot. Guys who were terrible high school quarterbacks know what you’re going to call 80% of the time. Don’t you think if some idiot that writes a little-known blog knows what coming an NFL defensive coordinator might have a clue?
BC: We have Adrian Peterson. And I know quarterbacks. We kick ass.
MB: You’re playing checkers, and everyone else is playing chess.
BC: We had a 99 yard touchdown pass.
MB: Even a blind squirrel can find a nut, coach.
BC: Our offense kicks ass.
MB: No it doesn’t, unless you masturbate to Big 10 football game film from the 1970’s.
BC: I guess we disagree philosophically. Pack your shit.
So Birk crossed the Godfather, and the Godfather took his revenge. Godspeed to you, Matty B. Wherever you land, may it be on your feet, over a football, on an offensive line that wins the Super Bowl.
Just don’t piss off your next boss, okay? (Watch this last link if you're at work...it's the Christian Bale rant...NSFW)
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