*While I was watching the World Series the other night, I noticed... wait a minute, I wasn't watching the World Series. What am I talking about?
Look, I tried to watch it, I really did, and when I watched it, I even went as far as to try to care, but I just can't do it. I have only two possible rooting interests in this Series. First is that I hate the Sox. Second is that when I used to play RBI Baseball (circa 2000) I would always choose the Astros because Biggio and Bagwell were money. Well, it turns out in real life, in 2005, Biggio is still pretty money, but Bagwell is washed up. I can't support reality t.v. that spits in the face of my Generation X-like memories.
*There I am. It's around 2:30 a.m. Treasure Island Casino. $5 Blackjack table. Sitting next to my future brother-in-law. I'm up $45 and I am feeling it. Suddenly my gal walks up and asks how I'm doing. Even worse... I TOLD HER!!! What was I thinking?
Well, you know how it ends. I should have just gotten up when she asked, but it's been so long since I've played blackjack that I forgot the unwritten karma rules. Later, on the drive home, when I tried to explain to her about how blackjack has karma and streaks and how little things, things that aren't even related to the game, can change everything, I felt like a complete idiot as I stumbled over my words trying desperately not to sound like a tool.
*The Gophers are ranked 20th in the BCS standings. They actually improved their standing by not even playing last week. Their stock is rising in the BSC not because of who they have beaten, but because of who they have lost to. Simply amazing! I do not understand the BSC at all. USC won and they still dropped to #2. How does this happen?
*What's happening with Minnesota football this year? First the Gophers beat Purdue in the kind of game they always lose, then they beat Michigan where they never, ever, win, and then the Vikings beat the Packers on a last second field goal in the kind of game that the Wikes almost always lose. Are they setting us up? Or are they finally learning how to win?
*I feel like Sid Hartman today. I can't put together enough material for a full post so I have to piece together items like this. I keep clearing my throat uncontrollably. I can't say enough good things about Minnesota teams. And I have said the "F" word at least 1,949 times already today.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Thursday, October 20, 2005
Jeremy: Some Interesting Points From Whitlock
If you don't already read Jason Whitlock on ESPN.com, I would recommend checking him out. While I agree with him roughly only 70% of the time, he generally brings a well thought out opinion and he's pretty entertaining.
In his column today, 10 More NFL Truths, he talks about two things worth mentioning.
First, a quote regarding the Vikings. I think for the most part Jeff and I have avoided tackling "Boatgate '05," but I think Whitlock sums it up nicely.
"If all it took to throw a team into chaos was a sex party involving a third of the roster, then I'd suggest that a third of the league's teams would be in chaos.
The Vikings stink because they're poorly coached, they have mediocre defensive personnel, and Daunte Culpepper can't read a defense. Lack of discipline and lack of morality have nothing to do with Minnesota's on-field failures."
Second, Whitlock talks about a classic quarterback vs. quarterback controversy. In this case Favre vs. Marino.
"Without arguably the greatest defensive player of all time, Favre does not own a Super Bowl ring and two Super Bowl appearances. Give Marino a defender as dominant as [Reggie] White, and he wins at least one Super Bowl.
I bring this up because it's my opinion that Marino, especially late in his career, routinely carried mediocre teams -- like the one Favre is leading now -- to the playoffs. I don't question Favre's greatness. I'm just saying there's no reason the Packers shouldn't win the NFC North and reach the playoffs. Marino would do it."
I've never heard this particular argument stated in quite this manner and it's very intriguing to me. How important is having a single dominant player and team leader on both sides of the ball? Is Whitlock right, would Marino have won a ring with a Reggie White-type player on defense? Was Marino a better QB than Favre is now?
I'm curious to see what you all think. (And Porta is not allowed to answer because we know he's blinded by green.)
In his column today, 10 More NFL Truths, he talks about two things worth mentioning.
First, a quote regarding the Vikings. I think for the most part Jeff and I have avoided tackling "Boatgate '05," but I think Whitlock sums it up nicely.
"If all it took to throw a team into chaos was a sex party involving a third of the roster, then I'd suggest that a third of the league's teams would be in chaos.
The Vikings stink because they're poorly coached, they have mediocre defensive personnel, and Daunte Culpepper can't read a defense. Lack of discipline and lack of morality have nothing to do with Minnesota's on-field failures."
Second, Whitlock talks about a classic quarterback vs. quarterback controversy. In this case Favre vs. Marino.
"Without arguably the greatest defensive player of all time, Favre does not own a Super Bowl ring and two Super Bowl appearances. Give Marino a defender as dominant as [Reggie] White, and he wins at least one Super Bowl.
I bring this up because it's my opinion that Marino, especially late in his career, routinely carried mediocre teams -- like the one Favre is leading now -- to the playoffs. I don't question Favre's greatness. I'm just saying there's no reason the Packers shouldn't win the NFC North and reach the playoffs. Marino would do it."
I've never heard this particular argument stated in quite this manner and it's very intriguing to me. How important is having a single dominant player and team leader on both sides of the ball? Is Whitlock right, would Marino have won a ring with a Reggie White-type player on defense? Was Marino a better QB than Favre is now?
I'm curious to see what you all think. (And Porta is not allowed to answer because we know he's blinded by green.)
Jeremy: Dress Code Marketing
Piggy-backing on Jeff's post about the new NBA player's dress code, this issue is certainly on the forefront of basketball fans everywhere. And Jeff is absolutely right, there's no reason to believe this isn't going to work and it's not going to be enforced.
We know that David Stern knows two things at least. First, he knows how to run a business, and the NBA is definitely a business. Some might be quick to argue that, no, the NBA is not a business, it's a game, and the players should not be forced to dress as if they were part of a business. The truth is basketball is a game, but the NBA is a business, and that is a very important distinction to make.
Second, Stern knows, as the leader of this business, he's got a monopoly on the professional basketball market. The reason that he can enforce his new dress code rule, and go to any lengths he needs to in order to uphold it, is because he knows that the players won't leave for another league. True, there are other professional basketball leagues around the world, but none of them come anywhere near the NBA as far as talent, competition, exposure, and, most importantly to the players, (and to why Stern is safe in upholding his new rule) money.
I wrote a very similar opinion when talking about age minimums, but this isn't about choice, it isn't about singling players out, and it isn't even necessarily about making the players look good. This is about David Stern protecting the product that he is putting before the buying public. He knows that his league's players have the worst reputation of the players in the other professional sports. This is his attempt to help present his product as more professional and more approachable by the common fan.
Whether I like it, you like it, or the players like it, or not, David Stern has every right to do this, and from a business standpoint, it's an incredibly shrewd, but smart move.
We know that David Stern knows two things at least. First, he knows how to run a business, and the NBA is definitely a business. Some might be quick to argue that, no, the NBA is not a business, it's a game, and the players should not be forced to dress as if they were part of a business. The truth is basketball is a game, but the NBA is a business, and that is a very important distinction to make.
Second, Stern knows, as the leader of this business, he's got a monopoly on the professional basketball market. The reason that he can enforce his new dress code rule, and go to any lengths he needs to in order to uphold it, is because he knows that the players won't leave for another league. True, there are other professional basketball leagues around the world, but none of them come anywhere near the NBA as far as talent, competition, exposure, and, most importantly to the players, (and to why Stern is safe in upholding his new rule) money.
I wrote a very similar opinion when talking about age minimums, but this isn't about choice, it isn't about singling players out, and it isn't even necessarily about making the players look good. This is about David Stern protecting the product that he is putting before the buying public. He knows that his league's players have the worst reputation of the players in the other professional sports. This is his attempt to help present his product as more professional and more approachable by the common fan.
Whether I like it, you like it, or the players like it, or not, David Stern has every right to do this, and from a business standpoint, it's an incredibly shrewd, but smart move.
Jeff: The Question For Gopher Fans
As a relatively new Gopher football fan, I feel like one of the new recruits in the movie Band of Brothers. I'm like one of the newbies that comes over after D-Day, and I want to say I'm part of the group, and that I know what the grizzled vets have been through, but I don't. I know it, and they know it. As a new Gopher football fan, losses like the one last week to Wisconsin hurt. For the vets, it's just another scar. I feel like I should have no right to comment on how the captain is running this ship, and yet I was taught that if you don't understand something, ask-no matter how dumb the question. So, Gopher fans, I need your help. I need some clarification on the head coach Glen Mason. The debate this season is whether he should be given a contract extension. My confusion doesn't center on whether he should be back next year: my confusion is HOW IS HE BEING CONSIDERED AT ALL?!?!
If I'm Gopher AD Joel Maturi, I'd tell Glen "You've done all you can here. Put the house up for sale, start cleaning out your desk, because when this seaon's finished- so are you." I'm starting to believe Mason has concocted some kind of maroon-and-gold kool-aid. And boy has it been getting around. He's given it to Maturi, as rumors in the paper are that Maturi, even after last week, continue to talk extension. He certainly passed it around to the folks at E!SPN who were covering the game last week. Commentators Mark Jones and former Ohio State great Chris Spielman, were gushing about Mason and his accomplishments at Minnesota in 9 seasons. How he has a winning record (56-47), how his 3 8 win seasons('99,'02,'03) were as many as the school had in the previous 3 decades, and how he has a winning bowl record (3-2). They also mentioned how Mason had- I'm not making this up, they actually said this- turned down "numerous job offers to stay at Minnesota." They just couldn't heap enough praise onto Mason's shoulders as the team looked certain to defeat Wisconsin. And then we know what happened next. And he's been passing it around to pleny of Gopher fans. The common argument is that Mason's done much more, and is much better, than Jim Wacker- the man he replaced.
All of these things (except the comment about Mason turning down offers to stay at Minnesota. He's applied for every job known to man but has been turned down for all of them. E!SPN must have gotten their facts mixed up. THe kool-aid will do that to you) are true. Not counting this season, he's averaged a 6-5 record over 8 years. Yes Gopher fans, that means your team has a good shot at being bowl eligible. That's certainly better than Wacker or many of predecessors have accomplished. But my question is, why would you settle for this? GOPHER FANS DESERVE BETTER!!
I looked up the numbers that people AREN'T telling you. And believe me, they're not easy to find. I had to go to three different websites (and none of them were the team's official website, www.gophersports.com) to piece together Mason's history at Minnesota. After the loss to the Badgers last week, Glen Mason at Minnesota...
- is 27-41 in the Big 10
- is 5-22 vs ranked teams (he has not played a ranked non-conference opponent)
- has a winning record against three Big 10 teams- Illinois (5-1), Northwestern (4-2), and Penn State (4-3)
- is 3-3 vs both Michigan State and Indiana
- is 3-17 vs. Michigan, Purdue, and Ohio State
- against the rivals, is 2-6 vs Iowa, and 3-6 vs Wisconsin
Taking out this year's 2-2 conference record, Mason averages 3 Big 10 wins a season. Gopher fans, Mason has had 9 seasons at the U. He's won zero conferece titles, and the Gophs have played in zero New Year's Day bowls.
NORTH-FREAKIN-WESTERN HAS PLAYED IN THE ROSE BOWL IN THE PAST 9 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No matter how hard you try, you can't turn a Cavalier into a Cadillac (I would know because I drive a Cav). You are what you are. What Mason is is a decent coach who will get you to a low-profile bowl game, and an average of 3 Big 10 wins a year. With Mason you're finishing somewhere between 6-8th in the conference. You're better than Northwestern, Illinois, and sometimes Indiana. And that's it. This is who the Gophers are, and always will be, under Glen Mason. If you're satisfied with that, then keep him around. But I think GOpher fans deserve better. We'll never be Michigan or Ohio State, or even Penn State, but there's no reason we can't be as good as Iowa, Wisconsin or Purdue. If believe that, then start writing Maturi's office that we need a new coach for 2006. And keep him away from the kool-aid.
If I'm Gopher AD Joel Maturi, I'd tell Glen "You've done all you can here. Put the house up for sale, start cleaning out your desk, because when this seaon's finished- so are you." I'm starting to believe Mason has concocted some kind of maroon-and-gold kool-aid. And boy has it been getting around. He's given it to Maturi, as rumors in the paper are that Maturi, even after last week, continue to talk extension. He certainly passed it around to the folks at E!SPN who were covering the game last week. Commentators Mark Jones and former Ohio State great Chris Spielman, were gushing about Mason and his accomplishments at Minnesota in 9 seasons. How he has a winning record (56-47), how his 3 8 win seasons('99,'02,'03) were as many as the school had in the previous 3 decades, and how he has a winning bowl record (3-2). They also mentioned how Mason had- I'm not making this up, they actually said this- turned down "numerous job offers to stay at Minnesota." They just couldn't heap enough praise onto Mason's shoulders as the team looked certain to defeat Wisconsin. And then we know what happened next. And he's been passing it around to pleny of Gopher fans. The common argument is that Mason's done much more, and is much better, than Jim Wacker- the man he replaced.
All of these things (except the comment about Mason turning down offers to stay at Minnesota. He's applied for every job known to man but has been turned down for all of them. E!SPN must have gotten their facts mixed up. THe kool-aid will do that to you) are true. Not counting this season, he's averaged a 6-5 record over 8 years. Yes Gopher fans, that means your team has a good shot at being bowl eligible. That's certainly better than Wacker or many of predecessors have accomplished. But my question is, why would you settle for this? GOPHER FANS DESERVE BETTER!!
I looked up the numbers that people AREN'T telling you. And believe me, they're not easy to find. I had to go to three different websites (and none of them were the team's official website, www.gophersports.com) to piece together Mason's history at Minnesota. After the loss to the Badgers last week, Glen Mason at Minnesota...
- is 27-41 in the Big 10
- is 5-22 vs ranked teams (he has not played a ranked non-conference opponent)
- has a winning record against three Big 10 teams- Illinois (5-1), Northwestern (4-2), and Penn State (4-3)
- is 3-3 vs both Michigan State and Indiana
- is 3-17 vs. Michigan, Purdue, and Ohio State
- against the rivals, is 2-6 vs Iowa, and 3-6 vs Wisconsin
Taking out this year's 2-2 conference record, Mason averages 3 Big 10 wins a season. Gopher fans, Mason has had 9 seasons at the U. He's won zero conferece titles, and the Gophs have played in zero New Year's Day bowls.
NORTH-FREAKIN-WESTERN HAS PLAYED IN THE ROSE BOWL IN THE PAST 9 YEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
No matter how hard you try, you can't turn a Cavalier into a Cadillac (I would know because I drive a Cav). You are what you are. What Mason is is a decent coach who will get you to a low-profile bowl game, and an average of 3 Big 10 wins a year. With Mason you're finishing somewhere between 6-8th in the conference. You're better than Northwestern, Illinois, and sometimes Indiana. And that's it. This is who the Gophers are, and always will be, under Glen Mason. If you're satisfied with that, then keep him around. But I think GOpher fans deserve better. We'll never be Michigan or Ohio State, or even Penn State, but there's no reason we can't be as good as Iowa, Wisconsin or Purdue. If believe that, then start writing Maturi's office that we need a new coach for 2006. And keep him away from the kool-aid.
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Jeff: E!SPN
I've finally reached my breaking point. I've had enough, and I'm not going to take it anymore!! Henceforth, ESPN will now be referred to on this site as E!SPN, only a slight variation of the E! entertainment network. The self-proclaimed "World Wide Leader in Sports" is becoming the "Gossip-for-Schoolgirls" network for men. Sportscenter is now 30-90 minutes of who said what about whom, what color somebody's shoes are this week, what hairstyles are in, who a guy's favorite rapper is, and how he feels about. Oh and if they get time, they might even throw in a highlight or two from an actual game. Anchors like Stu Scott and Linda Cohen haven't said one original thing in a decade. They're using the same shtick they were using when they started at the network, when their one-liners were actually amusing. Why not just hire Leeza Gibons and Joan Rivers as your anchors, and Brooke Burke and Tara Reid as your reporters and get it over with. "This week, Brooke talks to Shaq and Steve Nash about their hair, their groupies- and their spa of the month."
And you know what the saddest part of it all is? It's not that E!SPN has decided that us sportsfans are so dumb, all we want are chicks in bikinis, cool graphics, and snappy, overused one-liners. No the worst part is that E!SPN can get away with this because they know that real sportsfans like myself and the Jer have nowhere else to go. HOw in the name of BOOYAH! are there 19 cooking channels and shows about how to fix your sink, and yet there's so little choice for factual sports news?!? E!SPN knows there's no competition out there, so they can keep throwing this garbage on there and people like me will watch just hoping for 5 minutes of highlights and analysis. Fox Sports found a niche with regional networks, but anything other than actual games or the Best Damn Sports Show Period! (which is on about every 15 minutes), look like the cable access channel.
In this world of 24 hour cable networks and the internet, E!SPN is so worried about being able to hold a viewer for more than 15 seconds that they're throwing this and any other garbage on to get people watching. Believe it or not, people like myself and Jer, and others out there, are actually able to wade through all the media crap that we're inundated with on a daily basis, and find what we like. But they screw the die-hard knowledgeable sportsfan simply because they know they can!! If somebody out there has enough money to start your own network, or to buy an existing one, please: don't start another "how to make tofu taste like meat while giving your bathroom that post-modern look" channels. They're everywhere. Instead, start a real sports network that shows games, analyzes them, and previews them. You can leave who Tom Brady's dating or what color TO's underwear is for the folks in Bristol. They'll cover that and more next on E!SPN Sportsce!nte!r, hosted by Paris Hilton and one of the Queer Eye Guys.
And you know what the saddest part of it all is? It's not that E!SPN has decided that us sportsfans are so dumb, all we want are chicks in bikinis, cool graphics, and snappy, overused one-liners. No the worst part is that E!SPN can get away with this because they know that real sportsfans like myself and the Jer have nowhere else to go. HOw in the name of BOOYAH! are there 19 cooking channels and shows about how to fix your sink, and yet there's so little choice for factual sports news?!? E!SPN knows there's no competition out there, so they can keep throwing this garbage on there and people like me will watch just hoping for 5 minutes of highlights and analysis. Fox Sports found a niche with regional networks, but anything other than actual games or the Best Damn Sports Show Period! (which is on about every 15 minutes), look like the cable access channel.
In this world of 24 hour cable networks and the internet, E!SPN is so worried about being able to hold a viewer for more than 15 seconds that they're throwing this and any other garbage on to get people watching. Believe it or not, people like myself and Jer, and others out there, are actually able to wade through all the media crap that we're inundated with on a daily basis, and find what we like. But they screw the die-hard knowledgeable sportsfan simply because they know they can!! If somebody out there has enough money to start your own network, or to buy an existing one, please: don't start another "how to make tofu taste like meat while giving your bathroom that post-modern look" channels. They're everywhere. Instead, start a real sports network that shows games, analyzes them, and previews them. You can leave who Tom Brady's dating or what color TO's underwear is for the folks in Bristol. They'll cover that and more next on E!SPN Sportsce!nte!r, hosted by Paris Hilton and one of the Queer Eye Guys.
Tuesday, October 18, 2005
Jeff: The Godfather is back!
He's done it again. Just when I think "THe Don" David Stern has lost all his Godfather-like powers, he starts slapping people around and telling them to act like a man! First he avoids what could have been a very ugly strike/lockout with the players union. Sure he didn't get everything he wanted...or did he? I think he got more of what he wanted than the players did, and as usual that means The Don wins. Now he comes out with the dress code. Are you kidding me? Not just because athletes are more spoiled than ever, but also because of the imminent race card being thrown in? In spite of it all, Stern goes ahead with it, that knowing smile on his face that this will work. At a press conference today The Don laid out the new NBA dress code. Phrases like "business casual" and "sport coats" were used in the same sentences as "NBA players". Impossible? Laugh all you want, and granted the thought of Allen Iverson, or even Jason Williams (the one who didn't shoot his limo driver), in a suit is hilarious, but make no mistake-- this WILL happen. Stern didn't go into specifics about exactly how he will enforce this dress code, saying only this:
"If they are really going to have a problem, they will have to make a decision about how they want to spend their adult life in terms of playing in the NBA or not," Stern said.
A veiled threat? Hardly. Do you really think a man that has worked so hard to make this league so successful, and who cares so much about the image of both himself and the league, would dare try this if he didn't know it would work? You really think he would stick his neck out this far if there were ANY risk of it getting cut off? No sir. AS amazed as I am that somebody would try this in the lawsuit-happy world we now live in, BECAUSE it's the Don, I have no reason to believe he can't pull it off. Nobody else, repeat NOBODY ELSE, would even dream of this, let alone try it. The man should be on everyone's ballot for the 2008 presidential election. I don't know, or care how, but he would clean up Iraq, balance the budget, and feed Latrell Sprewell's family if he were elected. Of this I have no doubts.
"If they are really going to have a problem, they will have to make a decision about how they want to spend their adult life in terms of playing in the NBA or not," Stern said.
A veiled threat? Hardly. Do you really think a man that has worked so hard to make this league so successful, and who cares so much about the image of both himself and the league, would dare try this if he didn't know it would work? You really think he would stick his neck out this far if there were ANY risk of it getting cut off? No sir. AS amazed as I am that somebody would try this in the lawsuit-happy world we now live in, BECAUSE it's the Don, I have no reason to believe he can't pull it off. Nobody else, repeat NOBODY ELSE, would even dream of this, let alone try it. The man should be on everyone's ballot for the 2008 presidential election. I don't know, or care how, but he would clean up Iraq, balance the budget, and feed Latrell Sprewell's family if he were elected. Of this I have no doubts.
Monday, October 17, 2005
Jeremy: Sid Has All The Answers
You gotta love Sid Hartman. He's the kind of writer who you can't help reading, but everytime you do he says something that completely baffles you. I can't read his column without laughing and screaming in my head: "WHAT?!?!" It makes me wonder how a guy like this is still writing for a major metro newspaper.
On a side note wondering how Sid still has a job, apparently Sid also has a world-class foul mouth. I've heard it said that Sid cannot go 3 minutes without using the infamous "F" word. He's even sworn at my employees during catering events. His liberal use of swear words, particularily the aforementioned one starting with an "F", is legendary. I've never met him myself, but I'm told he is neither pleasant to be around, or welcoming in how he approaches people.
Moving on... Ever the last word on all things Minnesota sports related, today Sid had this gem.
"One comment on the Vikings. One of these days, the critics will discover that the Vikings don't have talent, and their record is not the coaches' fault. Last year, the Vikings scored 47 touchdowns; this year, they are on pace to score 16. Enough said. "
Enough said. Enough said? Nicely done Sid. Nothing like hatching up an opinion contradictory to what everyone else is saying. I commend Sid for standing on the other side of the street, however, he's completely wrong.
I'm not saying that how terrible the Vikings are has everything to do with coaching, because that is crazy. But to say that their horrible season has NOTHING to do with coaching is ridiculous. Furthermore, to say that the Vikings don't have talent is a cooked up way to let the coaches off the hook, when they clearly deserve to be firmly on the hook, along with their seaworthy players. Letting the coaches off the hook is just plain stupid, but it's the only viable plan if you want to keep your lips firmly planted to the rear ends of the coaching staff so that you can join them for dinner at Murray's on Thursday nights.
On a side note wondering how Sid still has a job, apparently Sid also has a world-class foul mouth. I've heard it said that Sid cannot go 3 minutes without using the infamous "F" word. He's even sworn at my employees during catering events. His liberal use of swear words, particularily the aforementioned one starting with an "F", is legendary. I've never met him myself, but I'm told he is neither pleasant to be around, or welcoming in how he approaches people.
Moving on... Ever the last word on all things Minnesota sports related, today Sid had this gem.
"One comment on the Vikings. One of these days, the critics will discover that the Vikings don't have talent, and their record is not the coaches' fault. Last year, the Vikings scored 47 touchdowns; this year, they are on pace to score 16. Enough said. "
Enough said. Enough said? Nicely done Sid. Nothing like hatching up an opinion contradictory to what everyone else is saying. I commend Sid for standing on the other side of the street, however, he's completely wrong.
I'm not saying that how terrible the Vikings are has everything to do with coaching, because that is crazy. But to say that their horrible season has NOTHING to do with coaching is ridiculous. Furthermore, to say that the Vikings don't have talent is a cooked up way to let the coaches off the hook, when they clearly deserve to be firmly on the hook, along with their seaworthy players. Letting the coaches off the hook is just plain stupid, but it's the only viable plan if you want to keep your lips firmly planted to the rear ends of the coaching staff so that you can join them for dinner at Murray's on Thursday nights.
Sunday, October 16, 2005
Jeff: So This Is How It Feels...
...to be a Bengals fan (at least before this season). Or the lone Arizona Cardinals fan. To be looking ahead to the NFL draft before October's even over. I've pondered before if it'd be worse to cheer for a perenial loser, or a team with expectations that constantly breaks your heart. This season I may get to find out. Is this really the team picked to go to the Super Bowl? A team who would tell anybody that would listen about their new image now that badboy Randy Moss was gone? I don't know about you, but I'd take Randy's halfmoon or any of his antics over what's happened so far. With Randy on the team I know we'd at least have scored more than 1 touchdown in the last 24 quarters.
But this is obviously so much larger than Randy. Or Matt Birk. This team had two weeks to prepare for a one-dimensional Bears team with a good defense, and instead of looking ready, it was as if they spent the two weeks on the Love Boat (Oh wait, that's basically what happened). The team stunk for the fourth time in five outings, showing absolutely no signs of improvement from the pounding they took at the hands of the Falcons two weeks ago. Is it too early to say the season is lost? Unfortuneatly, Purple fans, it may be time to start looking to see how close we are to the bottom of the standings instead of the top. It's us vs the Texans (who are getting crushed in Seattle as I type this)for the right to pick the best USC Trojan (I take Reggie Bush over Matt Leinart but that's a discussion for another day).
Now before you start pointing to the pathetic NFC North standings, and how the Vikings are STILL very much in the hunt for the divison let me say this: tHe other three teams in the Norris may not have terrific records, but they've been in every game. They've moved the ball consistently, and have even stopped people on occasion. The Purple have been in exactly one game, and that's only because the Saints were even more disinterested than the Vikes.
The "alleged" sex cruise scandal was bad enough, but the Vikes could have used it as a chance to come together (a REALLY easy joke right there but, like Denny Green, I'm taking the high road here) and make a stand for their season. Instead the game was over from the opening kickoff.
So the big question today for Vikings fans isn't how do we fix Daunte, or the running game, or the line, or the receivers, or the defense, or playcalling, or whether Mike Tice knows how to write up a resume? The biggest question is which Trojan would look better in Purple? (I'll let you insert your own Love Boat joke here)
But this is obviously so much larger than Randy. Or Matt Birk. This team had two weeks to prepare for a one-dimensional Bears team with a good defense, and instead of looking ready, it was as if they spent the two weeks on the Love Boat (Oh wait, that's basically what happened). The team stunk for the fourth time in five outings, showing absolutely no signs of improvement from the pounding they took at the hands of the Falcons two weeks ago. Is it too early to say the season is lost? Unfortuneatly, Purple fans, it may be time to start looking to see how close we are to the bottom of the standings instead of the top. It's us vs the Texans (who are getting crushed in Seattle as I type this)for the right to pick the best USC Trojan (I take Reggie Bush over Matt Leinart but that's a discussion for another day).
Now before you start pointing to the pathetic NFC North standings, and how the Vikings are STILL very much in the hunt for the divison let me say this: tHe other three teams in the Norris may not have terrific records, but they've been in every game. They've moved the ball consistently, and have even stopped people on occasion. The Purple have been in exactly one game, and that's only because the Saints were even more disinterested than the Vikes.
The "alleged" sex cruise scandal was bad enough, but the Vikes could have used it as a chance to come together (a REALLY easy joke right there but, like Denny Green, I'm taking the high road here) and make a stand for their season. Instead the game was over from the opening kickoff.
So the big question today for Vikings fans isn't how do we fix Daunte, or the running game, or the line, or the receivers, or the defense, or playcalling, or whether Mike Tice knows how to write up a resume? The biggest question is which Trojan would look better in Purple? (I'll let you insert your own Love Boat joke here)
Jeremy: Looking Back @ Wisconsin
Thanks Lukedawg & Twinsfan for the replies on the last post. Obviously a lot of emotion tied up in that Gopher game against Wisconsin, as there always is, but this one seems to sting a bit more.
I agree with both of you to varying degrees. Twinsfan, I see your point about not blaming this on coaching, and you can't blame the entire loss on coaching, but for sure somebody needs to remind an 18 year old kid what to do if the snap is botched on that punt. Did somebody do this? We don't know, but somebody dang-sure should have. And Luke brought up an even bigger coaching mistake with the on-side kick that I certainly was not aware of. It's the coaches job to see what is happening on the field and react accordingly with personnel, scheming and teaching... this simply did not happen in the final moments of Saturdays game.
And for once I'm not even saying it's necessarily Mason's fault. Of course, he is the head coach, and the blame falls somewhere on his shoulders. But there is a special teams coach on this team right? Somebody, a coach, has got to understand the situations that the team is in, and react. And when it counted most, when everything was on the line, a win over one of your biggest rivals, housing two traveling trophies, a Big 10 Championship, a January bowl game... nobody reacted accordingly.
With the success that the Gophs had the entire game against Wisconsin it is painfully obvious that the coaching staff had a good gameplan in place. And the way the team played it's also obvious that they believed in the gameplan and the coaches and they executed. They did what the coaches asked them to do. Are we to believe that suddenly at the end of the game these guys didn't do what the coaches asked them?
A good gameplan isn't the end-all and be-all of coaching. Good coaches know when the gameplan is irrelevant, when to get away from the gameplan and just play good, smart football. It doesn't seem, to me anyway, that this happened on Saturday.
I agree with both of you to varying degrees. Twinsfan, I see your point about not blaming this on coaching, and you can't blame the entire loss on coaching, but for sure somebody needs to remind an 18 year old kid what to do if the snap is botched on that punt. Did somebody do this? We don't know, but somebody dang-sure should have. And Luke brought up an even bigger coaching mistake with the on-side kick that I certainly was not aware of. It's the coaches job to see what is happening on the field and react accordingly with personnel, scheming and teaching... this simply did not happen in the final moments of Saturdays game.
And for once I'm not even saying it's necessarily Mason's fault. Of course, he is the head coach, and the blame falls somewhere on his shoulders. But there is a special teams coach on this team right? Somebody, a coach, has got to understand the situations that the team is in, and react. And when it counted most, when everything was on the line, a win over one of your biggest rivals, housing two traveling trophies, a Big 10 Championship, a January bowl game... nobody reacted accordingly.
With the success that the Gophs had the entire game against Wisconsin it is painfully obvious that the coaching staff had a good gameplan in place. And the way the team played it's also obvious that they believed in the gameplan and the coaches and they executed. They did what the coaches asked them to do. Are we to believe that suddenly at the end of the game these guys didn't do what the coaches asked them?
A good gameplan isn't the end-all and be-all of coaching. Good coaches know when the gameplan is irrelevant, when to get away from the gameplan and just play good, smart football. It doesn't seem, to me anyway, that this happened on Saturday.
Saturday, October 15, 2005
Jeremy: Another Coaching Failure?
The Gopher football team was well prepared to play on Saturday in the Border Battle against the Badgers. The team did everything right and put themselves in a position to win. The coaches must have a had a great gameplan in place.
So in the end, who do you blame for a botched punt snap?
After speaking on the phone just minutes ago with Jeffrey, I concur with him:
Whose job is it to remind the punter: "if the snap is bad just down it in the endzone, we'll still have the lead and we can let the defense win it."??????
Just a hunch, but it might be a coaches job.
So in the end, who do you blame for a botched punt snap?
After speaking on the phone just minutes ago with Jeffrey, I concur with him:
Whose job is it to remind the punter: "if the snap is bad just down it in the endzone, we'll still have the lead and we can let the defense win it."??????
Just a hunch, but it might be a coaches job.
Friday, October 14, 2005
Jeremy: My Emotional Gopher Experience
I was standing in Sportsman's Bar on Como Avenue in Minneapolis with my gal last Saturday as Jason Gianni kicked the Gopher field goal that beat Michigan. The first time a Gopher football team had taken the Little Brown Jug from the Wolverines in 19 years. Why I was at Sportsman's surrounded by a bunch of half-hearted (at best) Gopher football fans is not important (and it's pretty anti-climactic too), but what is important is how it felt.
You've already read all the stories about how big of a win it was, how the Gophers did it, how Michigan is having a down year. None of those stories matter now. It's over. The Gophers beat Michigan. It's just a W on the record and let's move on to Wisconsin.
At least as far as the team is concerned.
It's six days later and I can't stop smiling everytime I think about the fact that we finally lifted the monkey that is Michigan off of our backs, threw it to the ground, and walked away able to look ahead.
My uncle and my cousin were there. I talked to them after the game. I wasn't even there, but just talking to them on the phone was an emotional experience for me. My gal will attest to the fact that I was an emotional mess when we walked out of Sportsman's. I was happy with disbelief over the win. I was ecstatic for my uncle and cousin who were at the game. I was slightly sad that I wasn't able to be there with them.
It's the weirdest thing in the world sometimes, to me, to be a sports fan. The logical part of my brain keeps telling me that it's just a game, a dumb football team full of guys that I don't know. But the emotional part of my brain (heart?) is completely overcome.
Anyway, yes, I cried. Okay? I said it, I cried.
I'm walking out of a crap little bar with my fiance and I'm shedding tears over a football game as she consoles me and I'm babbling, "I can't believe we beat Michigan. It's just a dumb football game. I can't believe we beat Michigan. I'm sorry I'm crying, it's just a dumb game, but... it's Michigan. And my uncle and cousin are there."
I can't imagine what it would have been like to be there. I'm sure I would have just collapsed.
I cannot explain it, I simply cannot. I cannot explain my loyalty to sports teams. I cannot explain the anger I feel when they act like idiots off the field. I cannot explain the joy I get when they finally do well. And I cannot explain why it brings me to tears.
But what I can explain is how much fun I've had at Gopher games over the years both home and away, even when I feared for my life one November Saturday in Iowa City. I can explain the memories of tailgating with close friends, making new friends, and having perhaps one too many before heading into the Dome for an 11 a.m. kick off.
And I can explain how close I am to my uncle and my cousin and how I believe Gopher football has played a huge part in that. Gopher football is like a strange family legacy for us. It's an unrational loyalty to a rotating bunch of young men who we have no personal attachment to except for the state in which they play. It's not like being a fan of Florida State or USC or Notre Dame, whose teams have one or two bad seasons in 20. It's different. I believe it takes a bit more intestinal fortitude to be a Gopher fan. Then again, I'm a little bit biased.
I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again...
This is what it's like to be a Gopher fan.
You've already read all the stories about how big of a win it was, how the Gophers did it, how Michigan is having a down year. None of those stories matter now. It's over. The Gophers beat Michigan. It's just a W on the record and let's move on to Wisconsin.
At least as far as the team is concerned.
It's six days later and I can't stop smiling everytime I think about the fact that we finally lifted the monkey that is Michigan off of our backs, threw it to the ground, and walked away able to look ahead.
My uncle and my cousin were there. I talked to them after the game. I wasn't even there, but just talking to them on the phone was an emotional experience for me. My gal will attest to the fact that I was an emotional mess when we walked out of Sportsman's. I was happy with disbelief over the win. I was ecstatic for my uncle and cousin who were at the game. I was slightly sad that I wasn't able to be there with them.
It's the weirdest thing in the world sometimes, to me, to be a sports fan. The logical part of my brain keeps telling me that it's just a game, a dumb football team full of guys that I don't know. But the emotional part of my brain (heart?) is completely overcome.
Anyway, yes, I cried. Okay? I said it, I cried.
I'm walking out of a crap little bar with my fiance and I'm shedding tears over a football game as she consoles me and I'm babbling, "I can't believe we beat Michigan. It's just a dumb football game. I can't believe we beat Michigan. I'm sorry I'm crying, it's just a dumb game, but... it's Michigan. And my uncle and cousin are there."
I can't imagine what it would have been like to be there. I'm sure I would have just collapsed.
I cannot explain it, I simply cannot. I cannot explain my loyalty to sports teams. I cannot explain the anger I feel when they act like idiots off the field. I cannot explain the joy I get when they finally do well. And I cannot explain why it brings me to tears.
But what I can explain is how much fun I've had at Gopher games over the years both home and away, even when I feared for my life one November Saturday in Iowa City. I can explain the memories of tailgating with close friends, making new friends, and having perhaps one too many before heading into the Dome for an 11 a.m. kick off.
And I can explain how close I am to my uncle and my cousin and how I believe Gopher football has played a huge part in that. Gopher football is like a strange family legacy for us. It's an unrational loyalty to a rotating bunch of young men who we have no personal attachment to except for the state in which they play. It's not like being a fan of Florida State or USC or Notre Dame, whose teams have one or two bad seasons in 20. It's different. I believe it takes a bit more intestinal fortitude to be a Gopher fan. Then again, I'm a little bit biased.
I know I've said it before, but I'll say it again...
This is what it's like to be a Gopher fan.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
Jeff: Can Daunte Save the Season?
Ok so I'm not making deadlines for myself anymore. I haven't had internet at home until the past weekend, so I'm not sure when I thought I'd get all this time to write. Certainly not at work or school. But now that I have the net back (and cable) I'll be able to write some more- and of course do a lot less homework. Jer was having some computer troubles of his own, otherwise he would have posted about the Gophers win. Only he or Josho really should comment on this one, since they've been waiting like 16 years for this. IT's coming, trust me. I'll also get to the Whine List at some time.
Today, though, it's about Daunte. The Purple face the Chicago Bears this Sunday. They've had two weeks off, two weeks to prepare, two weeks to answer questions about what's wrong with the team and whether it can be fixed. I can't answer the second, but I can answer the first: Daunte is the problem. Minnesota needs the Daunte we've seen up until this season, not the bumbling, stumbling turnover machine we've seen through five weeks.
I probably can't repeat what you're saying right now. Probably something along the lines of "No $%^&!! EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT!!! Tell us something we DON"T KNOW!!" Thank you, I will. I was watching the Atlanta debacle at the Jer's place, and midway through the game, after Daunte made yet another terrible decision, Jer's housemate Ryno made the comment that Daunte "looked rattled and like the Falcons got in his head. He's completely lost his confidence!" Ladies and gentlemen, the light went on for me.
Culpepper has been one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and had it not been for Peyton Manning, he would have been league MVP last season. How in the name of Wade Wilson does Daunte go from MVP to moron in one summer? People point to two factors: Randy Moss and Matt Birk, and I agree that the absences of both are the reasons for Daunte's struggles- but for more than the reasons you hear. Yes, teams can defend the Vikes differently and much more aggresively than in seasons past. You HAD to commit at least two people to Moss, and sometimes even that wasn't enough. Now you have the option of blitzing any one of the 11 guys on defense. Nate Burelson, Travis Taylor and the rest of the Vikes receiving core have talent, but they're certainly not keeping D co-ordinators up at night. THey feel like they can blitz like crazy and not get burned. And so far they've been right.
Losing Birk hurts because he was absolutely your best lineman, and now you're reshuffling lesser players to fill the void. Very true. Birk was very athletic and a great blocker. BUt he was also excellent at recognizing blitzes at the line of scrimmage. It's the center's job to call out blocking schemes and blitzing players before the snap. Birk was exceptional at it, and seemed to always make the right call. The Vikes line and backs, for the most part, knew what was coming and who was coming, and it kept Daunte upright and able to throw the ball. And there in lies the key: keeping Daunte upright. Not just for his physical health (hey even 260 pound QB's can only take so many hits)- but more importantly for his mental health.
Ryno hit it right on the head: Daunte was rattled. He had lost his confidence. Our good friend Austin Danger Powers would say he'd lost his mojo. For his entire career, Culpepper's been a man among boys, and has had the time to use his incredible physical gifts. He played on a great team in high school, and played against lesser competition at UCF. Up until this season, he's played with a lot of talent in Minnesota, and it's allowed him time and space to do his thing. But this season opposing defenses are bringing the house on every play and Daunte is helpless to stop it. It's hard to believe that a quarterback that stands 6'4, 260 pounds with his incredible physical gifts could lose confidence in himself so easily but that's exactly what's happened.
Look at the Vikings losses this season to the Bucs, Bengals and Falcons: Minnesota was down early, and Daunte was down often. They blitzed the hell out of him early, got to him, and he was never able to recover mentally. In all three of those games, after getting killed early, even when Daunte had time to throw he was missing open receivers. No throw in the NFL is "easy" by any means, but he was missing passes that a starting NFL QB should make- let alone one of the best in the game. Now look at the New Orleans win. Daunte's first play from scrimmage he went right after the Saints and connected for a 27-yard TD to Taylor. Next series, he went after them again and it resulted in another TD. #11 got the mojo working early and the Vikings cruised to their only win of the season.
So how do we keep Culpepper, and his confidence, upright? I have as little faith as you do that Mike Ticey or Steve Loney can come up to a solution, but it needs to happen before the Vikings season slips away. Remember, Minnesota's looked as bad as any Vikings team in the last 2 decades, but they're still just a game back of Detroit for first place. The Vikes need to protect Daunte enough to let him be aggressive early, which means finding a way to block blitzes that will come from any direction. Keep Daunte upright and you keep the Vikes season and playoff chances afloat. But if you see #11 on his big keester a lot this Sunday against the Bears, the Purple's season will pretty much be sunk.
Today, though, it's about Daunte. The Purple face the Chicago Bears this Sunday. They've had two weeks off, two weeks to prepare, two weeks to answer questions about what's wrong with the team and whether it can be fixed. I can't answer the second, but I can answer the first: Daunte is the problem. Minnesota needs the Daunte we've seen up until this season, not the bumbling, stumbling turnover machine we've seen through five weeks.
I probably can't repeat what you're saying right now. Probably something along the lines of "No $%^&!! EVERYBODY KNOWS THAT!!! Tell us something we DON"T KNOW!!" Thank you, I will. I was watching the Atlanta debacle at the Jer's place, and midway through the game, after Daunte made yet another terrible decision, Jer's housemate Ryno made the comment that Daunte "looked rattled and like the Falcons got in his head. He's completely lost his confidence!" Ladies and gentlemen, the light went on for me.
Culpepper has been one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and had it not been for Peyton Manning, he would have been league MVP last season. How in the name of Wade Wilson does Daunte go from MVP to moron in one summer? People point to two factors: Randy Moss and Matt Birk, and I agree that the absences of both are the reasons for Daunte's struggles- but for more than the reasons you hear. Yes, teams can defend the Vikes differently and much more aggresively than in seasons past. You HAD to commit at least two people to Moss, and sometimes even that wasn't enough. Now you have the option of blitzing any one of the 11 guys on defense. Nate Burelson, Travis Taylor and the rest of the Vikes receiving core have talent, but they're certainly not keeping D co-ordinators up at night. THey feel like they can blitz like crazy and not get burned. And so far they've been right.
Losing Birk hurts because he was absolutely your best lineman, and now you're reshuffling lesser players to fill the void. Very true. Birk was very athletic and a great blocker. BUt he was also excellent at recognizing blitzes at the line of scrimmage. It's the center's job to call out blocking schemes and blitzing players before the snap. Birk was exceptional at it, and seemed to always make the right call. The Vikes line and backs, for the most part, knew what was coming and who was coming, and it kept Daunte upright and able to throw the ball. And there in lies the key: keeping Daunte upright. Not just for his physical health (hey even 260 pound QB's can only take so many hits)- but more importantly for his mental health.
Ryno hit it right on the head: Daunte was rattled. He had lost his confidence. Our good friend Austin Danger Powers would say he'd lost his mojo. For his entire career, Culpepper's been a man among boys, and has had the time to use his incredible physical gifts. He played on a great team in high school, and played against lesser competition at UCF. Up until this season, he's played with a lot of talent in Minnesota, and it's allowed him time and space to do his thing. But this season opposing defenses are bringing the house on every play and Daunte is helpless to stop it. It's hard to believe that a quarterback that stands 6'4, 260 pounds with his incredible physical gifts could lose confidence in himself so easily but that's exactly what's happened.
Look at the Vikings losses this season to the Bucs, Bengals and Falcons: Minnesota was down early, and Daunte was down often. They blitzed the hell out of him early, got to him, and he was never able to recover mentally. In all three of those games, after getting killed early, even when Daunte had time to throw he was missing open receivers. No throw in the NFL is "easy" by any means, but he was missing passes that a starting NFL QB should make- let alone one of the best in the game. Now look at the New Orleans win. Daunte's first play from scrimmage he went right after the Saints and connected for a 27-yard TD to Taylor. Next series, he went after them again and it resulted in another TD. #11 got the mojo working early and the Vikings cruised to their only win of the season.
So how do we keep Culpepper, and his confidence, upright? I have as little faith as you do that Mike Ticey or Steve Loney can come up to a solution, but it needs to happen before the Vikings season slips away. Remember, Minnesota's looked as bad as any Vikings team in the last 2 decades, but they're still just a game back of Detroit for first place. The Vikes need to protect Daunte enough to let him be aggressive early, which means finding a way to block blitzes that will come from any direction. Keep Daunte upright and you keep the Vikes season and playoff chances afloat. But if you see #11 on his big keester a lot this Sunday against the Bears, the Purple's season will pretty much be sunk.
Wednesday, October 05, 2005
Jeff:
Because the Vikes don't play this week, and because I don't have time, I'm going to put off the Daunte opinions until early next week. Nice to see Zygy not do the right thing and give Tice the vote of confidence today. Although, usually when that happens, that means the coach is walking the plank. We'll see.
Friday I'm going to start a new feature. No, not regular writings on this site! We might actually get regular readers if we did crazy stuff like that. No, instead I'm going to type the inaugural edition of "The Whine List". To explain, let me take you back to 1999. People were scared to death of the Y2K bug that was going to wipe out our banking system and cause mass chaos. Or something like that. Well obviously that didn't happen, but I found something it DID do: it has caused the world to be a completely fair, balanced, and just world. Yup, everyone is entitled to their rights, and by rights, I mean getting anything they want whenever they want it. Oh, and they don't have to earn it. They just deserve it because they want it. As a matter of fact, it's even more unfair if you do have to work for what you want.
If, for some strange reason, you don't get exactly what you want when you want, you have the right to bitch, complain, rant, rave and scream about it. Or hire lawyers, which do the same thing. Every kid that plays a sport now has to make the team and be a winner. Anytime something bad happens to somebody it's definitely not their fault- even if it clearly IS their fault. Yup, the world is fair, and people are unhappy when it's unfair. And therefore there's been a LOT of whining since the turn of the century.
There's been a few, mostly (ok, actually entirely) sports related whinings this week. I'll share those Friday.
PS-- the NHL starts tonight. Celebrate in the best way you see fit. I'm going to do homework. Yippee!!
Friday I'm going to start a new feature. No, not regular writings on this site! We might actually get regular readers if we did crazy stuff like that. No, instead I'm going to type the inaugural edition of "The Whine List". To explain, let me take you back to 1999. People were scared to death of the Y2K bug that was going to wipe out our banking system and cause mass chaos. Or something like that. Well obviously that didn't happen, but I found something it DID do: it has caused the world to be a completely fair, balanced, and just world. Yup, everyone is entitled to their rights, and by rights, I mean getting anything they want whenever they want it. Oh, and they don't have to earn it. They just deserve it because they want it. As a matter of fact, it's even more unfair if you do have to work for what you want.
If, for some strange reason, you don't get exactly what you want when you want, you have the right to bitch, complain, rant, rave and scream about it. Or hire lawyers, which do the same thing. Every kid that plays a sport now has to make the team and be a winner. Anytime something bad happens to somebody it's definitely not their fault- even if it clearly IS their fault. Yup, the world is fair, and people are unhappy when it's unfair. And therefore there's been a LOT of whining since the turn of the century.
There's been a few, mostly (ok, actually entirely) sports related whinings this week. I'll share those Friday.
PS-- the NHL starts tonight. Celebrate in the best way you see fit. I'm going to do homework. Yippee!!
Tuesday, October 04, 2005
Jeff: Going Down with the Ship
Mike Tice is a good guy, but he's not cut out to be a head coach. That much is clear. Mike Morris had some interesting comments this morning on the Powertrip Morning Show on KFAN, pointing out that Tice never got the experience as an offensive coordinator that pretty much every NFL head coach gets. You can't blame Tice for jumping at the chance to be a head coach. I think any of us would take a job with significantly more pay, even if we didn't have the experience or training for it. However, in his time as coach I think he's made it pretty clear he's not up to the challenge. Could he have been with some time as O-coordinator? We'll never know.
What I do know is Tice needs to go, and I think it should happen this week. The two arguments I've heard against firing Tice this season are "firing your head coach during the season tells your fan you've given up" and "there's no one else on the staff who could run the team any better." The second point is absolutely true. All these guys are barely able to keep their heads above water with their current assignments, and none of them are head-coach material. This is what you get when ol' Red puts together the cheapest possible staff. In this business, like any other, you get what you pay for. As to the first point, yes, firing your coach midseason rarely results in a Super Bowl appearance. Ok, it's NEVER resulted in a Super Bowl appearance. But, like I mentioned, this is a business. The players today aren't stupid. They know this. They read the papers and surf the internet and watch TV just like you and I, and they know Tice is a lame-duck coach. In today's Pioneer Press, Sean Jensen has an article quoting players that say:
"Tice delivered a 'rambling (postgame) resignation speech'"
"He quit on us... I lost all respect for him."
"You could tell he gave up on us"
According to Jensen, this isn't coming from benchwarmers-this was from STARTERS!!! Ladies and gentlemen, these guys have already abandoned the Good Ship Viking. THey've gone overboard and aren't swimming back until somebody-ANYBODY- has replaced Tice as the captain. Don't be worried about fans thinking you've given up-worry about the players!! THere's no sense in keeping Tice on for the rest of the year when every fan, player, coach, and Tice himself knows he's not coming back. Could somebody else on the sidelines do a better job? Probably not, but to avoid mutiny, Tice needs to go and he needs to go now. Give the new guy two weeks to throw a game-plan together and try and salvage the season. Because oh by the way, as terrible as we've played, we're still only a half game out of first place in the division. Is anybody worried about Detroit or Chicago running away with it? Me neither. The time to act is now. Make Tice walk the plank and see if somebody else can steer the Vikings towards the playoffs. Next year, we'll worry about a new coaching staff. This year, let's just worry about winning the divison while there's still time.
Tomorrow: Fixing Daunte
What I do know is Tice needs to go, and I think it should happen this week. The two arguments I've heard against firing Tice this season are "firing your head coach during the season tells your fan you've given up" and "there's no one else on the staff who could run the team any better." The second point is absolutely true. All these guys are barely able to keep their heads above water with their current assignments, and none of them are head-coach material. This is what you get when ol' Red puts together the cheapest possible staff. In this business, like any other, you get what you pay for. As to the first point, yes, firing your coach midseason rarely results in a Super Bowl appearance. Ok, it's NEVER resulted in a Super Bowl appearance. But, like I mentioned, this is a business. The players today aren't stupid. They know this. They read the papers and surf the internet and watch TV just like you and I, and they know Tice is a lame-duck coach. In today's Pioneer Press, Sean Jensen has an article quoting players that say:
"Tice delivered a 'rambling (postgame) resignation speech'"
"He quit on us... I lost all respect for him."
"You could tell he gave up on us"
According to Jensen, this isn't coming from benchwarmers-this was from STARTERS!!! Ladies and gentlemen, these guys have already abandoned the Good Ship Viking. THey've gone overboard and aren't swimming back until somebody-ANYBODY- has replaced Tice as the captain. Don't be worried about fans thinking you've given up-worry about the players!! THere's no sense in keeping Tice on for the rest of the year when every fan, player, coach, and Tice himself knows he's not coming back. Could somebody else on the sidelines do a better job? Probably not, but to avoid mutiny, Tice needs to go and he needs to go now. Give the new guy two weeks to throw a game-plan together and try and salvage the season. Because oh by the way, as terrible as we've played, we're still only a half game out of first place in the division. Is anybody worried about Detroit or Chicago running away with it? Me neither. The time to act is now. Make Tice walk the plank and see if somebody else can steer the Vikings towards the playoffs. Next year, we'll worry about a new coaching staff. This year, let's just worry about winning the divison while there's still time.
Tomorrow: Fixing Daunte
Saturday, October 01, 2005
Jeremy: Outdueled in Happy Valley
As I was working throughout the Gopher Football game on Saturday I received periodic text message comments on my cell phone about the game from my cousin who was watching on t.v.
"Garbage."
"D no show."
"Death to Cupito."
"Death to the D."
"Death to the Gophers."
"They would have done better with a no show."
Even though it wasn't much prettier trying to listen to it on the radio while at work, in a sad way I was glad I wasn't able to watch the game. Since he was able to watch the entire game and since he obviously had a strong opinion on how things went I offered him a guest blogging opportunity on Midwest Sports Rubes. I present to you now, the best man in my wedding next June, my brother, my friend, my cousin... Josho. (edited for content and strong language)
There are two ways a team can lose a football game: either they can be beaten or they can beat themselves. There are also two ways a football team can win a game: they can play better then the other team or they can get lucky.
Today the Minnesota Golden Gophers lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State played flawlessly. This is the major contributing factor to the Gopher’s loss. As much as critics of Glen Mason hate to hear it when he says it, Penn State is a good football team; the [Gophers] were simply outplayed by better student athletes.
Penn State made plays; the Gophers did not. The Gophers made mistakes; Penn State did not. As a fan of Minnesota football I expected today to see a good match where two good teams met on a battlefield of turf to see who was stronger.
In the end, it was very clear that Penn State was stronger. Minnesota ran into a buzz-saw today. Sure, both teams were undefeated going into this game. Both teams were getting national respect for their level of play recently, but in the end only one team could win. It is just too bad that it wasn’t even close.
As Gopher fans, we are accustomed to speculation and wishful thinking. “If only the Gophers could do (fill in the blank) then we would have acompetitive team.” If only the Gophers would have (fill in the blank) then we would have won the game.” Sometimes we are lucky enough to be able to pinpoint with relative accuracy just exactly what went wrong and what may be a good reason for why the game ended up the way it did.
Even when the Gophers pull through and win important games we hear speak of this nature coming from the celebratory lips of even the most faithful of maroon and gold supporters. Gopher fans can always speculate: “What if Cupito was better? What if the defensive line was stronger?” But today none of those things mattered. This game today was just so cut and dry there is very little room for editorial commentary.
Look at the numbers put up for both teams in this game. Minnesota's defense could not stop Penn State. The Penn State defense had Maroney perfectly dialed in. Cupito and the Minnesota offense could not make anything work against Penn State. The end result: Penn State outplayed Minnesota and was victorious.
That is the end of it. I wish there was more.
"Garbage."
"D no show."
"Death to Cupito."
"Death to the D."
"Death to the Gophers."
"They would have done better with a no show."
Even though it wasn't much prettier trying to listen to it on the radio while at work, in a sad way I was glad I wasn't able to watch the game. Since he was able to watch the entire game and since he obviously had a strong opinion on how things went I offered him a guest blogging opportunity on Midwest Sports Rubes. I present to you now, the best man in my wedding next June, my brother, my friend, my cousin... Josho. (edited for content and strong language)
There are two ways a team can lose a football game: either they can be beaten or they can beat themselves. There are also two ways a football team can win a game: they can play better then the other team or they can get lucky.
Today the Minnesota Golden Gophers lost to the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State played flawlessly. This is the major contributing factor to the Gopher’s loss. As much as critics of Glen Mason hate to hear it when he says it, Penn State is a good football team; the [Gophers] were simply outplayed by better student athletes.
Penn State made plays; the Gophers did not. The Gophers made mistakes; Penn State did not. As a fan of Minnesota football I expected today to see a good match where two good teams met on a battlefield of turf to see who was stronger.
In the end, it was very clear that Penn State was stronger. Minnesota ran into a buzz-saw today. Sure, both teams were undefeated going into this game. Both teams were getting national respect for their level of play recently, but in the end only one team could win. It is just too bad that it wasn’t even close.
As Gopher fans, we are accustomed to speculation and wishful thinking. “If only the Gophers could do (fill in the blank) then we would have acompetitive team.” If only the Gophers would have (fill in the blank) then we would have won the game.” Sometimes we are lucky enough to be able to pinpoint with relative accuracy just exactly what went wrong and what may be a good reason for why the game ended up the way it did.
Even when the Gophers pull through and win important games we hear speak of this nature coming from the celebratory lips of even the most faithful of maroon and gold supporters. Gopher fans can always speculate: “What if Cupito was better? What if the defensive line was stronger?” But today none of those things mattered. This game today was just so cut and dry there is very little room for editorial commentary.
Look at the numbers put up for both teams in this game. Minnesota's defense could not stop Penn State. The Penn State defense had Maroney perfectly dialed in. Cupito and the Minnesota offense could not make anything work against Penn State. The end result: Penn State outplayed Minnesota and was victorious.
That is the end of it. I wish there was more.
Monday, September 26, 2005
Jeff: That Positive Winning Feeling
When it comes to my favorite sports teams, I've been called everything from pessimistic and bitter, to flat out being in need of intervention. And I deny none of this. BUt let me tell you, I've got nothing on the guys over at the Startribune. Correct me if I'm wrong here, but the Vikings did win yesterday, right? The offense looked like it has the past five years instead of the past two weeks, and the defense started to look like the one everyone was telling us it was suppose to look like. Yes, the Vikes let New Orleans back into it, and there's always things to improve upon, but wouldn't you think this would be a time to celebrate as a Vikings fan that the season's not lost and our playoff hopes are still alive? Maybe it's just me.
But open the Startrib sports section up today, and other than Sid's usual corporate ass-kissing, you'd think the Vikings would have suffered their third straight humiliating defeat in a row! Reusse, in a column titled "2nd Half sag takes joy out of victory", claimed the Vikes allowing New Orleans back into the game was MORE embarrassing than getting blown out by the Bengals! Jim Souhan, who's wit and sarcasm I normally enjoyed, was only concerned about who was calling the plays yesterday. Um fellas? WE WON! WE WON THE FREAKIN GAME AND LOOKED GOOD DOING IT!!!!! I understand that in writing columns you need an angle, and generally the more negative or sarcastic you are, the more interest it generates but give me a break! It's probably the fan in me breathing a sigh of relief at what I saw yesterday, and I'm not at all assuming that all is well and we'll go undefeated now on our way to Detroit in February. Both columnists have vaild arguments. The Vikes need to close games better, because a better team could have come back to get them (there were comeback wins across the league yesterday as examples). And play-calling certainly is an issue and could affect things down the road.
But I'll give you one word to describe why it doesn't worry me all that much: Zygy. Ladies and Gentlemen, VIkings fans everywhere, need I remind you that we FINALLY have an owner who cares as much about winning as he does about the bottom line. Mike Tice and his staff have this season to prove they're qualified to guide this team to the Super Bowl. If they can't, and we end up out of the playoffs or falling short yet again, guess what? THEY"RE GONE! And they won't be replaced by the cheapest staff available. Quite the contrary, we'll have a shot at the best people out there. I'm not saying Zygy Wilf is a saint and a martyr. He bought this team because he knows if (and hopefully when) the Vikings get a new stadium, it will mean a boatload of money for him. But this also means that for Zygy to rally support for a new stadium, he needs the Vikes to win, and that means doing whatever it takes to get the best team on the field. This is good for us.
So I know the win yesterday wasn't perfect, and it could be one of few this year. But after suffering through the first two weeks with this team, am I asking too much when I just want one week to rejoice and feel good about the team? Maybe it's me.
But open the Startrib sports section up today, and other than Sid's usual corporate ass-kissing, you'd think the Vikings would have suffered their third straight humiliating defeat in a row! Reusse, in a column titled "2nd Half sag takes joy out of victory", claimed the Vikes allowing New Orleans back into the game was MORE embarrassing than getting blown out by the Bengals! Jim Souhan, who's wit and sarcasm I normally enjoyed, was only concerned about who was calling the plays yesterday. Um fellas? WE WON! WE WON THE FREAKIN GAME AND LOOKED GOOD DOING IT!!!!! I understand that in writing columns you need an angle, and generally the more negative or sarcastic you are, the more interest it generates but give me a break! It's probably the fan in me breathing a sigh of relief at what I saw yesterday, and I'm not at all assuming that all is well and we'll go undefeated now on our way to Detroit in February. Both columnists have vaild arguments. The Vikes need to close games better, because a better team could have come back to get them (there were comeback wins across the league yesterday as examples). And play-calling certainly is an issue and could affect things down the road.
But I'll give you one word to describe why it doesn't worry me all that much: Zygy. Ladies and Gentlemen, VIkings fans everywhere, need I remind you that we FINALLY have an owner who cares as much about winning as he does about the bottom line. Mike Tice and his staff have this season to prove they're qualified to guide this team to the Super Bowl. If they can't, and we end up out of the playoffs or falling short yet again, guess what? THEY"RE GONE! And they won't be replaced by the cheapest staff available. Quite the contrary, we'll have a shot at the best people out there. I'm not saying Zygy Wilf is a saint and a martyr. He bought this team because he knows if (and hopefully when) the Vikings get a new stadium, it will mean a boatload of money for him. But this also means that for Zygy to rally support for a new stadium, he needs the Vikes to win, and that means doing whatever it takes to get the best team on the field. This is good for us.
So I know the win yesterday wasn't perfect, and it could be one of few this year. But after suffering through the first two weeks with this team, am I asking too much when I just want one week to rejoice and feel good about the team? Maybe it's me.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
Jeremy: Gopher Bliss
It felt good on Saturday. It felt really good.
With 7:47 left in the game I turned to Jeffrey and said words that I could not get out of my head until I was back in the parking lot after the Gopher/Purdue game: "this feels way too much like playing against Michigan." Jeff shook his head yes. He understood that we had been through this several times.
I pointed to the field and said "I want those guys to prove me wrong."
I wasn't saying that I didn't have confidence in Mason and the Gophers ability to pull out the win... okay, yeah I was. I was skeptical and I was getting myself set up for disappointment. It feels really good to be wrong.
Too many times I've had to look at my uncle in the parking lot after a game like that and watch him shake his head in disbelief. Too many times I've listened to my cousin or my friends cuss and stomp in anger after a game like that. Too many times I've spent the hour after a game like that talking about the list of what went wrong. Too many times.
It was nice to sit in the parking lot after the game and see happy faces walking past. It was nice to enjoy a cold one as a celebration, not because you needed to drown away what had happened.
As for the game itself, one thing was proven that everybody knew, and one thing happened that nobody expected.
Everybody knew that Laurence Maroney was one of the best backs in the country, but the way he sliced through the #1 rated rushing defense in the nation on Saturday was a thing of beauty. Acting as the workhorse, something Maroney has never had to do, he racked up 333 yards on the ground, on receptions and on kick-off returns. That is just a huge number. Even though he didn't score any touchdowns you can't tell me this guy isn't a legit contender for the Heisman.
I'm not sure anybody expected to see anything worthwhile out of Cupito during this game. Of course, the guy did throw three picks, but the amazing thing that happened was that he began to show guts and a surprisingly bad memory. Everytime he threw a pick it seemed like he forgot that he had just thrown one of the worst passes of his life, and he came back and kept working at it. He showed moments of sheer confusion and cluelessness, but for once those moments were followed by moments of brilliance and accuracy. After throwing his third and final pick of the game, Cupito led the Gophs through the 4th quarter, into overtime, and on to victory, going 7-11 for 60 yards and 2 touchdowns. Although he still has moments when he looks like he has decided who he is going to throw to in the huddle instead of checking down all of his receivers, he is beginning to look like he can handle the adversity of being a Big 10 quarterback.
Next up Penn State in Happy Valley.
For the record, my predictions about the season so far are right on, but after feeling so good about being wrong during the Purdue game, I hope the Gophers prove me wrong against the other Big 10 powerhouses.
With 7:47 left in the game I turned to Jeffrey and said words that I could not get out of my head until I was back in the parking lot after the Gopher/Purdue game: "this feels way too much like playing against Michigan." Jeff shook his head yes. He understood that we had been through this several times.
I pointed to the field and said "I want those guys to prove me wrong."
I wasn't saying that I didn't have confidence in Mason and the Gophers ability to pull out the win... okay, yeah I was. I was skeptical and I was getting myself set up for disappointment. It feels really good to be wrong.
Too many times I've had to look at my uncle in the parking lot after a game like that and watch him shake his head in disbelief. Too many times I've listened to my cousin or my friends cuss and stomp in anger after a game like that. Too many times I've spent the hour after a game like that talking about the list of what went wrong. Too many times.
It was nice to sit in the parking lot after the game and see happy faces walking past. It was nice to enjoy a cold one as a celebration, not because you needed to drown away what had happened.
As for the game itself, one thing was proven that everybody knew, and one thing happened that nobody expected.
Everybody knew that Laurence Maroney was one of the best backs in the country, but the way he sliced through the #1 rated rushing defense in the nation on Saturday was a thing of beauty. Acting as the workhorse, something Maroney has never had to do, he racked up 333 yards on the ground, on receptions and on kick-off returns. That is just a huge number. Even though he didn't score any touchdowns you can't tell me this guy isn't a legit contender for the Heisman.
I'm not sure anybody expected to see anything worthwhile out of Cupito during this game. Of course, the guy did throw three picks, but the amazing thing that happened was that he began to show guts and a surprisingly bad memory. Everytime he threw a pick it seemed like he forgot that he had just thrown one of the worst passes of his life, and he came back and kept working at it. He showed moments of sheer confusion and cluelessness, but for once those moments were followed by moments of brilliance and accuracy. After throwing his third and final pick of the game, Cupito led the Gophs through the 4th quarter, into overtime, and on to victory, going 7-11 for 60 yards and 2 touchdowns. Although he still has moments when he looks like he has decided who he is going to throw to in the huddle instead of checking down all of his receivers, he is beginning to look like he can handle the adversity of being a Big 10 quarterback.
Next up Penn State in Happy Valley.
For the record, my predictions about the season so far are right on, but after feeling so good about being wrong during the Purdue game, I hope the Gophers prove me wrong against the other Big 10 powerhouses.
Monday, September 19, 2005
Rainy Days & Mondays Always Get Jeff & Jeremy Down...
Monday emails...
Jeff,
Do you still think the NFC West is the worst division in football? The only NFC North team to even look competant last week got trounced by the Bears, the Vikings might be the worst team in football and the Packers aren't far behind. Will 2005 go down in history as the worst year ever to be a Minnesota sports fan? Think about it.
Jeremy
Jer,
Yes, it's unquestionably the worst division in football now. I tell ya, the fact the Bears are leading with Kyle FREAKIN Orton at QB, that's all you need to know. How do the Vikes get fixed? I mean, at least the Pack have been competitive in their 2 games. The Vikes have looked awful in pretty much every aspect. Culpepper needs to figure things out in a hurry, and as scary as it is to say, I think Tice calling plays now will be an improvement over Loney. By the way, we can STILL blame that one on Red, as he again didn't want to spend decent $$ for a coordinator.
Jeff
Jeff,
I agree, blaming Red for Loney is the right call. But what about everything else? We picked up talent all over the defensive side of the ball and they are just flat out embarrassing right now. The offense... there's no excuse for that either. Something has gotten inside Daunte's head and he is in trouble in a big way, the running game is non-existant. Anybody who still thinks that Michael Bennett has a shot to be a good back in this league is kidding themselves. I was shocked when I heard a guy this morning on KFAN say that they need to just give him the ball for an entire game and let him figure it out. Really? Seriously? Two fumbles in the first half isn't enoughto yank him? And then for him to complain about getting pulled, give me an F'ing break!!! Our only hope at this point is Zygi Wilf... he's going to pull the trigger here pretty soon and I think we are going to see a shake up like nobodys business.
Jer
Jer,
Agreed about Ziggy. He already made a shrewd move by only reworking Daunte's contract for this season. And of course not re-upping with Tice. My question is how long do you stick with Daunte? By leaving Daunte in there the entire game, AND by taking over control of the play-calling, it seems to me TIce is going down with his QB. Granted the offense looked better on that last drive, but the intensity from Cincinnati is going to be a little different when they're up 37-0 than if the game were close. Still, I'll give the passing attack one more game to see if play-calling is really all it is. But with how lost Daunte looks, I don't think that's all it is.
As for running the ball, Mewelde should be the starter. Yeah, it's tough to give Bennett more carries when they got in the hole so fast against the Bengals, but he's had 2 games and done nothing but fumble or barely cross the line of scrimmage.
Defense? What to do indeed. 9 guys, Jer- NINE of them are either 1st round picks or have been to the Pro Bowl. There's talent there but something's wrong. As good as our line is supposed to be they're still not getting a pass rush or stopping the run, and the secondary can be better. We need to start over at linebacker. Watching the Chefs game last night, I'm now thinking Derrick Johnson should have been the choice instead of Mike Williams instead of Troy Williamson with that 7th pick. If Daunte continues to struggle, when SHOULD we see Brad Johnson?
Jeff
Jeff,
Are you like me? Are you totally NOT looking forward to the BradJohnson era? I'm not convinced it will come to that. I still believeDaunte is going to figure something out, but if he doesn't do it byhalftime of the Saints game, he's a marked man. Like I said before,it seems like something just got in his head. He says he's going tobe as confident as ever, but he doesn't look like it now. Regardingyour voicemail about him seeing new defensive sets this year and notbeing able to figure it out, that would make a lot of sense. Hedoesn't seem to know who to throw to, he's missing the guys that he isthrowing to, if he sees them at all, and it literally almost lookslike he's throwing to the other team sometimes.You are right about the defense, I can't argue at all. Is it possiblethat Ted Cotrell just isn't that good of a coordinator? He had verylittle talent last year and he did nothing. This year he's beenhanded the world on a silver platter and still nothing is going right.I'm struggling with where the line between bad coaching and notexecuting comes in. Obviously turnovers aren't a coaching problem andneither are penalties, but then again, does that point to the team notbeing prepared? I just don't know. If a coach is to blame then ALLof the coaches are to blame. Did you see how wide open Johnson was onthat first touchdown? Nobody was even close. Is that poor execution,or was the wrong defensive set called?All I know is somethings got to give and something needs to give soon. It's a good thing we are in the NFC North or we'd already be out ofit. What's our time frame for hitting the panic button? I saw a staton SportsCenter today: since 1990 only 14% of teams starting theseason 0-2 made the playoffs. Ouch! So... what was your favoritememory of the Mike Tice era?
Jeremy
Jer,
Not sure if you've checked out ESPN.com lately. The poll question right now is should Tice be fired? Over 80,000 have voted and 54% say yes.
Also, the Texans, whose offense has sucked as much as the Vikes, fired their O-Coordinator today. Hmmmm...
Jeff,
Do you still think the NFC West is the worst division in football? The only NFC North team to even look competant last week got trounced by the Bears, the Vikings might be the worst team in football and the Packers aren't far behind. Will 2005 go down in history as the worst year ever to be a Minnesota sports fan? Think about it.
Jeremy
Jer,
Yes, it's unquestionably the worst division in football now. I tell ya, the fact the Bears are leading with Kyle FREAKIN Orton at QB, that's all you need to know. How do the Vikes get fixed? I mean, at least the Pack have been competitive in their 2 games. The Vikes have looked awful in pretty much every aspect. Culpepper needs to figure things out in a hurry, and as scary as it is to say, I think Tice calling plays now will be an improvement over Loney. By the way, we can STILL blame that one on Red, as he again didn't want to spend decent $$ for a coordinator.
Jeff
Jeff,
I agree, blaming Red for Loney is the right call. But what about everything else? We picked up talent all over the defensive side of the ball and they are just flat out embarrassing right now. The offense... there's no excuse for that either. Something has gotten inside Daunte's head and he is in trouble in a big way, the running game is non-existant. Anybody who still thinks that Michael Bennett has a shot to be a good back in this league is kidding themselves. I was shocked when I heard a guy this morning on KFAN say that they need to just give him the ball for an entire game and let him figure it out. Really? Seriously? Two fumbles in the first half isn't enoughto yank him? And then for him to complain about getting pulled, give me an F'ing break!!! Our only hope at this point is Zygi Wilf... he's going to pull the trigger here pretty soon and I think we are going to see a shake up like nobodys business.
Jer
Jer,
Agreed about Ziggy. He already made a shrewd move by only reworking Daunte's contract for this season. And of course not re-upping with Tice. My question is how long do you stick with Daunte? By leaving Daunte in there the entire game, AND by taking over control of the play-calling, it seems to me TIce is going down with his QB. Granted the offense looked better on that last drive, but the intensity from Cincinnati is going to be a little different when they're up 37-0 than if the game were close. Still, I'll give the passing attack one more game to see if play-calling is really all it is. But with how lost Daunte looks, I don't think that's all it is.
As for running the ball, Mewelde should be the starter. Yeah, it's tough to give Bennett more carries when they got in the hole so fast against the Bengals, but he's had 2 games and done nothing but fumble or barely cross the line of scrimmage.
Defense? What to do indeed. 9 guys, Jer- NINE of them are either 1st round picks or have been to the Pro Bowl. There's talent there but something's wrong. As good as our line is supposed to be they're still not getting a pass rush or stopping the run, and the secondary can be better. We need to start over at linebacker. Watching the Chefs game last night, I'm now thinking Derrick Johnson should have been the choice instead of Mike Williams instead of Troy Williamson with that 7th pick. If Daunte continues to struggle, when SHOULD we see Brad Johnson?
Jeff
Jeff,
Are you like me? Are you totally NOT looking forward to the BradJohnson era? I'm not convinced it will come to that. I still believeDaunte is going to figure something out, but if he doesn't do it byhalftime of the Saints game, he's a marked man. Like I said before,it seems like something just got in his head. He says he's going tobe as confident as ever, but he doesn't look like it now. Regardingyour voicemail about him seeing new defensive sets this year and notbeing able to figure it out, that would make a lot of sense. Hedoesn't seem to know who to throw to, he's missing the guys that he isthrowing to, if he sees them at all, and it literally almost lookslike he's throwing to the other team sometimes.You are right about the defense, I can't argue at all. Is it possiblethat Ted Cotrell just isn't that good of a coordinator? He had verylittle talent last year and he did nothing. This year he's beenhanded the world on a silver platter and still nothing is going right.I'm struggling with where the line between bad coaching and notexecuting comes in. Obviously turnovers aren't a coaching problem andneither are penalties, but then again, does that point to the team notbeing prepared? I just don't know. If a coach is to blame then ALLof the coaches are to blame. Did you see how wide open Johnson was onthat first touchdown? Nobody was even close. Is that poor execution,or was the wrong defensive set called?All I know is somethings got to give and something needs to give soon. It's a good thing we are in the NFC North or we'd already be out ofit. What's our time frame for hitting the panic button? I saw a staton SportsCenter today: since 1990 only 14% of teams starting theseason 0-2 made the playoffs. Ouch! So... what was your favoritememory of the Mike Tice era?
Jeremy
Jer,
Not sure if you've checked out ESPN.com lately. The poll question right now is should Tice be fired? Over 80,000 have voted and 54% say yes.
Also, the Texans, whose offense has sucked as much as the Vikes, fired their O-Coordinator today. Hmmmm...
Sunday, September 11, 2005
Jeremy: A Tougher Gopher Non-Conference Schedule?
I had to make a difficult life decision late this summer. The summer started out just like the past few summers with conversations of Gopher Football season tickets. Would we try to bamboozle student tickets again? Would we finally grow up and pay full price for real tickets? Who's in? Who's out?
The talk of tickets began to fizzle out a bit, and as it did, I was forced to make a decision...
in any case, I didn't get Gopher Football season tickets this year. If there are any more unanswered questions let me answer them now. No, I will not be able to go to Michigan (sorry to my uncle and cousin). No, I will not be able to go to Iowa (sorry Nick, Niall & Danny Carvel). It could have been an unprecedented season. I could have seen 5 Gopher home football games and two huge road games. It was not to be. For the record, I couldn't be happier or more confident in my decision to not get Gopher Football season tickets. More on that later.
I wasn't at the game against Colorado State yesterday because I was working. I also didn't get to see it on t.v. But of course, I still have something to say.
Here are some things that stand out after pouring over the numbers and the articles on yesterday's game.
*Mason seems to be especially hell-bent on being negative this year. I like this change. I'm not a Mason guy (in case you hadn't noticed) and my biggest criticism has always been that he is a little bit too much "puppy-dogs and ice cream" when it comes to breaking down his team. He seems to be expecting perfection so far this year. His team has now won two games by a combined score of 97-34, and all we've heard him talk about is what they need to do better. I like it!
*Colorado State played a very close game against their in-state rival Colorado last week, leading many people to believe that CSU was a pretty good squad. Colorado should have a solid Big 12 football team this year, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. CSU is a better non-conference opponent than most of the teams the Gophers generally bring in this time of year. But let's get serious. Colorado State is nowhere near the caliber of an Ohio State or a Michigan. They played Colorado close in a game that is generally close because of the in-state implications. Is this Gopher team good? Of course. Are they very good? It's possible. Have they proven anything yet? No way.
*Defensively the Gophers gave up 425 yards. Not too bad in college football. But here's the stat that concerns me: 363 passing yards. It still looks like, even with new Defensive Coordinator David Lockwood's new aggressive style, the Gophers still aren't able to stop the pass. True, the Big 10 Conference is a rough-neck running conference... but it turns out there's one or two good quarterbacks on the schedule this season. Lockwood at least seems to be sending more rushers and more blitzes on passing, but it's what happens after the quarterback throws the ball that concerns me now. Don't get me wrong, I think we're getting there on the defensive side of the ball... but we still have to play in the Big 10.
*Maroney is unreal. I'm convinced that if Mason kept him in the game yesterday he would have rushed for over 200 yards and 4 touchdowns. Again, we are talking about inferior defensive competition, but Maroney has a good shot at going into the Big 10 Conference schedule with over 500 yards rushing.
*Bryan Cupito still isn't putting up the kind of dominant non-conference numbers that you'd like to see him put up before heading into the conference schedule, but at least he's contributing. It's unclear the Cupito and the passing game will get much of a chance to get comfortable before the Purdue game. So far the Gophers are rushing the ball more than twice as much as they are passing. A lot of this has to do with ball control when they already have the game in hand. But could it have to do with Mason's lack of confidence in Cupito and the passing game?
I still stand by my previous predictions for this Gopher season. A great team with one of the best running games in the country and talent on both sides of the ball. But I don't see Mason coaching them to any better than a 7-4 season.
The talk of tickets began to fizzle out a bit, and as it did, I was forced to make a decision...
in any case, I didn't get Gopher Football season tickets this year. If there are any more unanswered questions let me answer them now. No, I will not be able to go to Michigan (sorry to my uncle and cousin). No, I will not be able to go to Iowa (sorry Nick, Niall & Danny Carvel). It could have been an unprecedented season. I could have seen 5 Gopher home football games and two huge road games. It was not to be. For the record, I couldn't be happier or more confident in my decision to not get Gopher Football season tickets. More on that later.
I wasn't at the game against Colorado State yesterday because I was working. I also didn't get to see it on t.v. But of course, I still have something to say.
Here are some things that stand out after pouring over the numbers and the articles on yesterday's game.
*Mason seems to be especially hell-bent on being negative this year. I like this change. I'm not a Mason guy (in case you hadn't noticed) and my biggest criticism has always been that he is a little bit too much "puppy-dogs and ice cream" when it comes to breaking down his team. He seems to be expecting perfection so far this year. His team has now won two games by a combined score of 97-34, and all we've heard him talk about is what they need to do better. I like it!
*Colorado State played a very close game against their in-state rival Colorado last week, leading many people to believe that CSU was a pretty good squad. Colorado should have a solid Big 12 football team this year, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. CSU is a better non-conference opponent than most of the teams the Gophers generally bring in this time of year. But let's get serious. Colorado State is nowhere near the caliber of an Ohio State or a Michigan. They played Colorado close in a game that is generally close because of the in-state implications. Is this Gopher team good? Of course. Are they very good? It's possible. Have they proven anything yet? No way.
*Defensively the Gophers gave up 425 yards. Not too bad in college football. But here's the stat that concerns me: 363 passing yards. It still looks like, even with new Defensive Coordinator David Lockwood's new aggressive style, the Gophers still aren't able to stop the pass. True, the Big 10 Conference is a rough-neck running conference... but it turns out there's one or two good quarterbacks on the schedule this season. Lockwood at least seems to be sending more rushers and more blitzes on passing, but it's what happens after the quarterback throws the ball that concerns me now. Don't get me wrong, I think we're getting there on the defensive side of the ball... but we still have to play in the Big 10.
*Maroney is unreal. I'm convinced that if Mason kept him in the game yesterday he would have rushed for over 200 yards and 4 touchdowns. Again, we are talking about inferior defensive competition, but Maroney has a good shot at going into the Big 10 Conference schedule with over 500 yards rushing.
*Bryan Cupito still isn't putting up the kind of dominant non-conference numbers that you'd like to see him put up before heading into the conference schedule, but at least he's contributing. It's unclear the Cupito and the passing game will get much of a chance to get comfortable before the Purdue game. So far the Gophers are rushing the ball more than twice as much as they are passing. A lot of this has to do with ball control when they already have the game in hand. But could it have to do with Mason's lack of confidence in Cupito and the passing game?
I still stand by my previous predictions for this Gopher season. A great team with one of the best running games in the country and talent on both sides of the ball. But I don't see Mason coaching them to any better than a 7-4 season.
Sunday, August 28, 2005
Jeremy: Pulling a Clarett
I wonder if one day we'll use the name Clarett not as a name, but instead as a verb. Isn't it possible that one day I might say something to Jeffrey like: "I think he's going to pull a Clarett." Pulling a Clarett would be when an athlete shows glimpses of greatness, but the amount of hype surrounding him/her, most it of self-produced, or the fact that the athlete thinks they are above the law or the system, could be too big for said athletes proverbial britches.
Maurice Clarett has managed to make a bed that nobody wants to lie in. Here's a guy who had one good college season and suddenly he believed he was the second coming of Walter Payton. Suddenly he thought he was bigger than the system (he wasn't) and he was going to be the next great pro running back in the NFL (he's not).
But all of the illegal money, all of the under-the-table agreements, all of the high weight weigh-ins, all of the too-slow 40 yard dashes, and all of the doubts that Maurice Clarett seemed to talk his way out of... none of those things matter today because today Maurice Clarett was cut from the Denver Broncos. The team that was willing to take a chance on the guy who nobody else wanted to take a chance on, was today proven that they made a bad choice.
Do you think now people will finally stop judging Clarett on one good college season? Do you think that they will finally see him for who he is: an underachieving waste of talent who has no right to have his name on the back of an NFL jersey because he didn't even have the strait forward decency to appreciate and honor the terrific God-given football talent that he had and just play the game and let the results speak themselves? Or will some other team be dumb enough to give him a chance to screw it up again?
Maurice Clarett has managed to make a bed that nobody wants to lie in. Here's a guy who had one good college season and suddenly he believed he was the second coming of Walter Payton. Suddenly he thought he was bigger than the system (he wasn't) and he was going to be the next great pro running back in the NFL (he's not).
But all of the illegal money, all of the under-the-table agreements, all of the high weight weigh-ins, all of the too-slow 40 yard dashes, and all of the doubts that Maurice Clarett seemed to talk his way out of... none of those things matter today because today Maurice Clarett was cut from the Denver Broncos. The team that was willing to take a chance on the guy who nobody else wanted to take a chance on, was today proven that they made a bad choice.
Do you think now people will finally stop judging Clarett on one good college season? Do you think that they will finally see him for who he is: an underachieving waste of talent who has no right to have his name on the back of an NFL jersey because he didn't even have the strait forward decency to appreciate and honor the terrific God-given football talent that he had and just play the game and let the results speak themselves? Or will some other team be dumb enough to give him a chance to screw it up again?
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