Quotulatiousness

August 23, 2010

San Francisco 15, Vikings 10

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:43

Last night’s preseason game had a brief cameo appearance by Brett Favre, who only completed one pass to Adrian Peterson, and then took a big sack. Favre got up smiling after the sack, so he wasn’t hurt by it, but it was Peterson’s man who got through to Favre. Peterson needs to be better at picking up blitzes in order to stay on the field in third down situations (Chester Taylor used to do third down blocking, but he’s with Chicago this year).

Tarvaris Jackson took over at quarterback after the first series, and played the remainder of the first half. The Vikings’ offensive line didn’t show great form, allowing another sack of Jackson (that was Chris Clark’s man getting the sack) and allowing several hits on him as he released the ball. The defensive line wasn’t its usual dominant self either, as the 49ers were able to score the first points of the game against the Vikings’ starters. E.J. Henderson got his first start after coming back from a late-season injury that many thought might be a career-ender. The defensive backfield had a different look to it, with cornerback Antoine Winfield only playing one series, then giving way to second-round pick Chris Cook. The other corner was manned by Lito Sheppard and Asher Allen playing alternating series. Jamarca Sanford started at strong safety, then alternated with last season’s starter Tyrell Johnson.

Joe Webb, who the Vikings originally planned to convert to wide receiver, made a strong case for sticking on the regular season roster:

Webb, a sixth-round pick out of Alabama-Birmingham, completed seven of 14 passes for 47 yards in the fourth quarter and, more important, ran for 53 yards on three carries, including a 48-yard touchdown with 1 minute, 54 seconds left. He then showed his inexperience by getting sacked on the final play of the game for a safety.

The Vikings likely won’t get much of a look at Webb on Saturday night in their third game of the preseason against Seattle. It will be the Vikings’ exhibition home opener and, as is usually the case, the starters are expected to play into the third quarter. That will include Favre, who must get settled back into this offense after missing the first two weeks of training camp.

The problem for the Vikings is that they plan to carry only three quarterbacks on the roster, and Favre, Jackson, and Sage Rosenfels all returned from last season. Webb could be a good quarterback — given a year or two of seasoning — but he’s looked too good in his brief opportunities to risk trying to sneak him on to the practice squad, which may mean the Vikings need to hold a regular roster spot open for him.

August 22, 2010

Patrick Reusse defends Brad Childress

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 16:25

Star-Tribune columnist Patrick Reusse thinks that Vikings coach Brad Childress is being blamed for success:

Legions of Vikings loyalists gave all credit for this tremendous season to Favre, and ignored the four seasons of roster adjustment that had taken place with Childress.

Last week, Jason Cole of Yahoo! Sports carried the water for an unnamed, disgruntled Viking, including a pair of quotes that were alleged to shine light on the Favre-Childress relationship:

“Brett thinks Childress has no clue about offense,” and “Brett just doesn’t trust him.”

The second quote was part of the anonymous Viking convincing Cole to offer this observation: “Childress’ presence, not Favre’s ankle injury, was one of the biggest reasons Favre was hesitating . . . after Childress visited Favre on July 19, Favre’s desire to return declined.”

Surely, this was sweet music to those vocal Childress critics among the Purple Faithful . . . a group that would insist even after a Vikings Super Bowl victory that it came in spite of the coach.

Childress isn’t the sort of coach who inspires delirious displays of loyalty by either players or fans: he’s not a mediagenic personality, but you (generally) don’t hire a coach because he looks good on TV. Coaches are hired to get the best possible results from their players. Some of the best coaches in NFL history have been less-than-cuddly to both players and reporters . . . others appeared to spend as much time on camera as they did on the practice field with their teams.

On the only chart that matters: the team’s record, Chilly has done pretty well (6-10, 8-8, 10-6, 12-4). Getting to the NFC Championship game is very good . . . losing in overtime to the eventual Super Bowl champions shows that the team had what it took, except luck.

August 4, 2010

QotD: Keyshawn keeps his priorities straight

Filed under: Football, Humour, Media, Quotations — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 17:30

For as much as the network has made fun of Favre over the last couple of years for his decision to keep playing, when he speaks — or texts — people listen, and ESPN became “All Favre All the Time” Tuesday. From 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., almost every minute of coverage was devoted to Favre and, considering that ESPN employs just about as many NFL people as the league itself, it had a variety of people to draw from.

Steve Young thought he would play three or four more years. Mike Golic said the Vikings are a borderline playoff team without Favre and not a Super Bowl contender. Trent Dilfer was “shocked.” Andy Reid said, “I’ve been asked that question once or twice.” Antonio Freeman said he won’t believe it until Sept. 9 when the Vikings play and Favre isn’t there. Mike Ditka said, “He’s a 40-year old 17-year old.” Jon Gruden said he is “one of the toughest human beings to ever walk the planet.” Keyshawn Johnson talked about himself.

John Holler, “With Favre, everyone has an opinion”, Viking Update, 2010-08-04

Favre retirement story switches again

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 13:15

Yesterday, the sports news was full of the “Brett Favre is retiring” meme. Today, we’re back to “Of course he’s going to play”. Favre denies having sent any text messages announcing his decision:

Brett Favre told ESPN’s Ed Werder in Hattiesburg, Miss., on Wednesday that he has not made any decision about returning to play for the Minnesota Vikings this season and says he will play if healthy.

Favre’s agent, Bus Cook, said in a statement to the NFL Network on Wednesday that the quarterback has an appointment with Dr. James Andrews next week and will know more at that time. Andrews performed surgery on Favre’s ankle in May.

Favre denied sending text messages to Vikings teammates and club officials that might have indicated he had decided to retire.

Favre told ESPN that he has decided to play for Minnesota in 2010 if his surgically repaired ankle heals but said the fact he has not been able to decide his future reflects his level of concern about regaining his health.

Tarvaris Jackson isn’t the happiest man in Minnesota today (but then again, he probably didn’t take the story seriously yesterday either).

August 3, 2010

Brett Favre announces his retirement

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 11:13

Either he’s really worried about that ankle, or he’s upset that his intentions are being taken for granted . . . and this will certainly shake things up in the NFC North. Bleacher Report has a quick summary:

Brett Favre began to inform Vikings officials Monday night he will not return for his 20th season, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune and Jay Glazer of FOX.

Favre reportedly told teammates and coaches that his ankle has not responded and he doesn’t plan to play this year. Favre is expected to issue a press release later Tuesday and the team hopes he changes his mind.

If the retired-then-unretired-then-re-retired Favre doesn’t change his mind again, the happiest man in Minnesota today is Tarvaris Jackson.

Update: ESPN report:

Update, the second: Of course, for some people this news means that the sad-sack Vikings will be lucky to beat anyone this season. Apparently the only thing that matters for success in the NFL is your quarterback: running backs, wide receivers, offensive line, defence, they’re all immaterial compared to the quality of your quarterback.

July 31, 2010

Vikings training camp opens

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 10:41

The Minnesota Vikings opened training camp yesterday at Mankato. Not attending, as expected, is quarterback Brett Favre. Two players started camp on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list: cornerback Cedric Griffin (recovering from a torn ACL) and wide receiver Sidney Rice (hip injury from the NFC title game).

Pat Williams reportedly lost 18 pounds over the off-season, prompting coach Brad Childress to say “Pat’s big enough to eat hay and (poop) in the street. I’m not sure how he lost those 18 pounds, but I’m happy he did.”

July 27, 2010

It must not be Favre-centric enough yet . . .

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 12:41

. . . now instead of playing the “will I/won’t I” game, he’s tossing out the notion of playing for another decade:

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Favre figured he was “done” playing football at 40 years old immediately after the NFC Championship Game, but now isn’t ready to say whether he will return for 2010, retire — or maybe hang around for another decade.

In an interview published today in USA Today, Favre compared the latest left ankle surgery he underwent 10 weeks ago to “doin’ patchwork on a your truck or lawn mower.

“If you do enough patchwork, eventually you’ve got to a get a new one,” he joked. “Hell, you gotta quit sometime. Then again, maybe I will be doing this when I’m 50 years old, who knows?”

While I expect Favre to decide to play just after training camp breaks (as he’s on record as hating to attend, and arranged to sign with Minnesota at that point last year), I could do without the constant public indecision . . .

May 21, 2010

More developments in the NFL “StarCaps” case

Filed under: Football, Law — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 14:02

Of interest to Minnesota Vikings fans, the NFL having won the last round, Kevin and Pat Williams managed to get the court to rule in favour of continuing the injunction:

Pat Williams and Kevin Williams are likely going to be available for most or all of the 2010 season after being granted an extension to the temporary injunction granted in an 11-page opinion from Hennepin County District Court Judge Gary Larson this morning.

In his decision, Larson said that the Williamses had “satisfied the standard” for proving that their suspensions should be blocked during the appeals process. In short, what the decision appears to show is that the Williamses can appeal the case to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and, even if they lose at that level, would have the chance to appeal to the Minnesota Supreme Court. Given the time that having cases filed and heard at both levels typically take several months, it appears at face value that there is little chance both appeals would be heard during the 2010 season

Of even greater interest is the commentary from the presiding judge, which is quite in line with my own feelings on the matter:

“(The NFL) knew StarCaps contained Bumetanide, that players were ingesting Bumetanide, that Bumetanide was dangerous and withheld information about StarCaps, knowing that players would suffer as a result. (The NFL) created a trap that it knew would result in violations of the program.”

[. . .]

“(The NFL) could have easily avoided this very situation by informing players or teams what it already knew — that StarCaps contained a hidden, dangerous substance. (The NFL) knew that many players were already inadvertently ingesting Bumetanide and continued to the place the health, safety and welfare of its players in jeopardy, so that (NFL General Counsel) Adolpho Birch could play a game of ‘gotcha.’ The league clearly allowed a half dozen other players to use Bumetanide without punishment.”

If the ingredient had been listed on the label, or if the NFL had informed players that the ingredient was in the product, the NFL would be quite correct in trying to suspend these players. Because it was not, and they did not, the NFL should go pound sand.

April 30, 2010

Favre’s ankle still not recovered from NFC Championship game

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 12:15

For a second year in a row, Brett Favre will have to consider surgery in order to play in the coming season. Ed Werder has the details:

Favre, who would turn 41 during the 2010 season, told ESPN the ankle injury that he suffered three months ago in the NFC Championship Game against the New Orleans Saints continues to be swollen and painful.

That prompted tests to determine why healing had not occurred and Favre sent the results of those scans to orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews, who told the quarterback his opinion that surgery is unavoidable.

“We have spoken,” Favre said in an e-mail. “To play again, I would need the surgery, as I suspected. This decision would be easy if not for my teammates and the fans and the entire Vikings staff. One year truly felt like 10 — much like Green Bay for many years. That’s what I was missing in my heart I suppose, a sense of belonging.”

Favre said he must determine whether his affection for the Vikings and his belief they are capable of winning the Super Bowl overrides his disdain for surgery.

Of course, the Vikings may have their quarterback of the future in Ryan Perrilloux . . .

April 27, 2010

QotD: The NFL draft is like a lottery

Filed under: Football, Media, Quotations — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 12:45

Forty-yard dash numbers analyzed to the hundredths of seconds . . . elaborate, heated debates about what round a player “should” be chosen in . . . hours spent viewing film of men in underwear racing around cones. Mysterious lingo: Corey Chavous of NFL Network praised one player during draft weekend for “hip explosion,” Todd McShay of ESPN said another prospect was “tight in the upper chest.” Tim Tebow drafted before Jimmy Clausen — that can’t be right, contact the National Academy of Sciences!

Fascination with the NFL draft is plenty nutty, but the zaniest aspect of this event is the pretense — shared by NFL scouts, draftniks and spectators alike — that drafting is a science. Stare at enough film, click enough stopwatches and you’ll be able to determine who “should” be drafted in what round.

NFL scouts and media draftniks have a self-interest stake in maintaining this illusion, because it makes them seem the possessors of incredible insider information. But in truth, NFL draft choices are like lottery tickets. They may succeed. They may bust. The buyer has no clue what’s going to happen, just like the buyer of a lottery ticket.

Gregg Easterbrook, “Is the NFL draft science or lottery?”, Tuesday Morning Quarterback, 2010-04-27

April 24, 2010

Draft aftermath

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 22:55

I’m neither happy nor unhappy with the results of the 2010 NFL draft, because (as I’ve said before) I don’t follow college football. I trust that the Vikings’ drafting team had their homework done, had their depth charts properly prepared, and got the best value one could reasonably hope for in a crapshoot like the NFL draft. The last few years have been very good, from a draft perspective, so I’m willing to believe that the same folks who managed to do so well in recent drafts did a similar job this time.

For those, like me, who didn’t tune in to watch the draft live, here are the Vikings’ draft choices for this year:

  • 2nd Round (34th pick overall, from trade with Detroit): Chris Cook, Cornerback, Virginia. With starting cornerbacks Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin both suffering serious injuries last season, more depth at cornerback was an obvious need. Cook may not have been the player the Vikings originally hoped to draft, but he’ll be a welcome addition to one of the top defences in the NFC (more info from Judd Zulgad here).
  • 2nd Round (51st pick, from trade with Houston): Toby Gerhart, Running Back, Stanford. The loss of backup running back Chester Taylor to division rival Chicago clearly motivated this pick. Gerhart will have the opportunity to replace Taylor as Adrian Peterson’s reliever and change-of-pace back (more info from Mark Craig here).
  • 4th Round (100th pick): Everson Griffen, DE, USC. “Gives Vikings depth on left side, especially if Ray Edwards leaves as free agent following the 2010 season. Griffen has the ability but most prove he has the maturity to play at the NFL level. ” (Judd Zulgad)
  • 5th Round (161st pick): Chris DeGeare, OL, Wake Forest. Viking Update says he “started all 12 games at left tackle in 2009. He led the offensive line in knockdown blocks three times and graded out at better than 90 percent in games against Miami and Florida State. DeGeare was a Freshman All-America during his rookie season in 2005 and was also a member of the ACC All-Freshman team by the Sporting News“.
  • 5th Round (167th pick): Nate Triplett, LB, Minnesota. “One of the few former walk-ons to receive an invitation to this year’s combine, Nate Triplett’s career as a Gopher slowly built until he was given the chance to start every game as a senior. He took full advantage, making 105 tackles, five for loss, two interceptions and five pass breakups” (Scout.com).
  • 6th Round (199th pick): Joe Webb, QB, UAB. Will probably be converted to WR. Sports Illustrated said: “Webb has been productive on the college level at a variety of positions for Alabama Birmingham. During the Senior Bowl he made a seamless transition back to receiver and looks like a natural at the position. Still rough around the edges, Webb must improve his route running and increase his speed, but he has all the skills to be a fourth wide out for an NFL team.”
  • 7th Round (214th pick): Mickey Shuler, TE, Penn State. “Gives Vikings depth at this position and could be eventual replacement for veteran Jim Kleinsasser. First, however, he has to make the roster. Might spend year on practice squad. ” (Judd Zulgad)
  • 7th Round (237th pick): Ryan D’Imperio, LB, Rutgers. Will probably be converted to FB. Sports Illustrated said: “D’Imperio is a two-down run defending linebacker best playing downhill. He possesses marginal upside for the next level but has a special teams mentality and can back up on the inside in a 3-4 alignment.”

After the end of the formal draft, the Vikings signed several free agents:

  • QB R.J. Archer, William & Mary
  • OG Thomas Austin, Clemson
  • OT Matt Hanson, Midwestern State
  • C Tommy Hernandez, UC-Davis
  • WR Aaron Rhea, Stephen F. Austin
  • SS Terrell Skinner, Maryland
  • WR Ray Small, Ohio State
  • WR Kelton Tindal, Newberry
  • CB Angelo Williams, Ferris State
  • OT Marlon Winn, Texas Tech

These guys may not end up sticking with the team, but there’s usually one or two of the free agent signings who make a strong showing through training camp and into the pre-season. I have no idea if any of them will make the regular season roster, but here’s hoping, guys.

April 23, 2010

Vikings trade draft picks with Detroit Lions

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 10:17

As I noted in an update to yesterday’s post, the Vikings traded away their first-round pick to the Detroit Lions, who chose a running back with that selection. The source I was using for the update information didn’t completely clarify what the details of the trade were, so I mistakenly assumed that Detroit had given up more than they really did:

The Vikings’ quarterback of the future was sitting right there for the taking as the clock wound down to the 30th pick in the first round of Thursday night’s NFL draft.

Jimmy Clausen nearly had fallen out of the first round and now the Vikings had the opportunity to fulfill what had been predicted in so many mock drafts.

Only in real life, the Vikings didn’t pull the trigger.

Instead, they dealt their first-round pick to NFC North rival Detroit, along with a fourth-round selection (128th overall), for the Lions’ second- (34th overall), fourth- (100th overall) and seventh-round picks (214th overall).

With the Vikings’ first-rounder, the Lions took California running back Jahvid Best.

What little I’d heard about Clausen made me apprehensive that the Vikings might be bringing in a player who would not be a good fit, so I thought the trade made good sense. I thought that they might have drafted Tim Tebow, but he was already off the board by the time the Vikings selection came up.

Of course, with the 2nd pick in the 2nd round, the Vikings can be relatively certain that the Rams won’t pick another quarterback, having taken Sam Bradford with the 1st pick . . . but they could trade that pick to someone who does want to draft Clausen. We’ll find out tonight, I guess.

Update: Jim Souhan also thinks Clausen would be a bad fit for the team:

The Vikings were right to trade their first-round draft pick.

They were right to avoid Notre Dame quarterback Jimmy Clausen, a bratty kid who would have been a lousy fit in the Vikings’ veteran, professional lockerroom.

They were lucky they weren’t forced to consider Tim Tebow, who will be one of the great draft busts in NFL history.

They were right to abide by an NFL truism, that picks at the end of the first round aren’t much different than picks in the second round.

April 22, 2010

Tonight’s 1st round of the NFL draft

Filed under: Economics, Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 12:11

As in previous years, I have nothing useful to say about the draft because I don’t follow US college football — I don’t know the Heisman Trophy winner from the redshirt freshman at your local junior college. I’m so uninvolved that I won’t even catch the TV coverage.

My favourite team, the Minnesota Vikings, have eight picks in the draft (before the traditional horsetrading gets underway), and were expected to pick a cornerback in the first round (where they have the 30th pick). Yesterday, they signed former Eagle and Jet cornerback Lito Sheppard to a one-year contract, so they’re now expected to pick a defensive lineman . . . or maybe a quarterback (Tim Tebow, anyone?).

Under the circumstances, I did find this Wall Street Journal article quite interesting:

For a league that does many things well, the first round of the NFL draft is a mess.

The league gives its worst teams first crack at incoming college talent in the name of parity, but instead of giving bad teams a leg up, it often forces them to draft players they don’t really need at prices they can’t afford. Many top picks hold out of training camp before they sign, only to end up with enormous contracts that have little to do with their true value to a football team.

What’s more, as this page reported Wednesday, NFL teams have a 50% chance of blowing a first-round pick entirely — the sort of costly gaffe that can set a franchise back for years.

Granted that there is no perfect mechanism available to replace the current draft process, it’s pretty clear that improvements could be made. Gregg Easterbrook has been championing a rookie salary cap for several years, which would move the monster contract negotiations out from initial signing to a later date, allowing teams to pay more directly for demonstrated ability (but even that sort of system could be gamed, of course). As I wrote last year:

The story repeats, draft after draft, as highly touted college stars are taken early in the first round, sign megabucks contracts and then go into the witness protection program. A rookie salary cap would be in the interests of almost everyone: teams, veteran players, and rookies-not-taken-in-the-first-round. The only ones who’d see their situation change for the worse would be the first 32 players taken in the draft (who would now have to prove that they can make the transition to the pro league before being rewarded with big contracts).

Update, 10:45pm: Speaking of horse-trading . . . I just happened to check the New York Times liveblog, and Minnesota has traded their first round pick, #30, to the Detroit Lions. No Viking pick in the first round, but they get Detroit’s pick in the second round, #34 overall, plus a 4th (#100) and a 7th (#214) in exchange. QB Jimmy Clausen had slipped from a speculated top-10 pick all the way to 30, where the NY Times folks were speculating he’d be the Vikings’ pick. Don’t know if he’ll still be there at the 34th pick, or if the Vikings are even interested (the chatter had them interested in Tim Tebow, who went to the Denver Broncos with the 25th selection).

March 8, 2010

“I’m going to be the best father to them that I can”

Filed under: Football, Sports — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 09:28

I suspect that Antonio Cromartie doesn’t quite understand what the term “best father” means. It’s not a title awarded for total fertility, dude:

The day after the Jets traded for Cromartie, Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum talked about being supportive of their new cornerback, who has the significant burden of supporting seven children by six different mothers in five different states.

“We’re looking forward to him having a fresh start here with us and we’re going to work with Antonio collaboratively to make sure we can do everything we can organizationally to give him the best chance to be successful,” Tannenbaum said. “We’re looking forward to working together in that partnership.”

[. . .]

During a Friday conference call with reporters, Cromartie spoke of how he had to clear up his paternity issues before he can report to the start of the offseason program on March 22.

“I have seven kids in five different states,” Cromartie said. “I made some wrong decisions my first two years in the NFL, and now I have to take that responsibility to be a father.

“I need to deal with my kids and child-support issues,” he added. “Those things are being taken care of. I’m going to be the best father to them that I can.”

February 16, 2010

QotD: Football

Filed under: Football, Humour, Quotations — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 13:11

The Super Bowl is one of those great annual events that is uniquely American — except for the Roman numerals. I think those still belong to the Vatican.

If you missed it, the final score was Saints, XXXI and Colts, XVII.

The Super Bowl represents what we Americans are all about: creative commercials occasionally interrupted by violence. During the six-hour broadcast, there were only 11 minutes of actual, live football action. Some of the commercial breaks were so long that, when we finally came back to the game, I had forgotten which teams were playing.

And what better Norman Rockwell-esque ritual could I have with my kids than to watch 20 erectile dysfunction commercials to every snap of the football? “Daddy, why are those people in bathtubs watching the sun set?” I just tell them the people lost their homes to foreclosure.

Football is a lot like sex: countless hours of advertising how good it will be with only 11 minutes of actual action. Then, for me, there is always that awkward moment at the end when my credit card is declined.

Ron Hart, “Super Bowl: Uniquely American – except the Roman numerals”, Orange County Register, 2010-02-10

« Newer Posts — Older Posts »

Powered by WordPress