Quotulatiousness

August 22, 2009

What a contrast!

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 08:56

I didn’t get to see this game (no surprise at all during the pre-season), so I’m depending on press reports for the details. Wow! The amazing quarterback seems to have arrived in Minnesota, although he was booed by the crowd when he took the field: 12 completed passes from 15 attempts, 2 touchdowns, 202 yards, and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. I’m very impressed . . . with Tarvaris Jackson.

Oh, and Brett Favre was also in the game: 1 of 4 completions for 4 yards over two series. But he got a standing ovation from the Metrodome crowd when he ran on to the field.

August 21, 2009

The Caster Semenya furor

Filed under: Sports — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 08:56

Over at the Daily Mail, there’s a surprisingly comprehensive article on the debate over Caster Semenya’s gender:

At first thought, it seems strange that the South African runner Caster Semenya needs to take a sex test to determine whether she is indeed a woman — or a man, as rumours suggest.

One would imagine that sex is something fairly clear-cut: that you are either one or the other.

It seems even stranger to discover that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) says that the tests are ‘extremely complex’, and that the results will not be known for days, even weeks.

Again, this seems to run contrary to common sense. Surely, one would think, determining one’s sex is as simple as removing one’s underwear and taking a look.

In fact, it can be rather more complicated than that. It is not generally appreciated that gender in humans — and many other species, too — is not just a binary affair, a simple case of being male or female.

While the vast majority of people are clearly either a man or a woman, many others are somewhere between the two — often with tragic consequences.

Indeed, while people have been making jokes for decades about burly, allegedly female shot putters and javelin throwers, who turn out — after often humiliating and invasive ‘investigations’ — really to be men, the fact is that such cases do not always involve intentional deception, and can result from true biological ambiguity.

H/T to Ghost of a Flea, who says “Ban all sports or award points for freakishness”.

August 19, 2009

The Favrapalooza continues

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 09:11

Jim Souhan looks at the circus that has taken over the Vikings’ preparation for Friday night’s preseason game:

If you can get past the nagging facts in this story of a 40-year-old, self-absorbed, surgically repaired, still-injured, flipflopping quarterback who shunned training camp and manipulated his way onto the roster of the rival of the team that made him a record-breaking legend, you must come to this realization:

Brett Favre signing with the Minnesota Vikings ranks among most stunning stories in the history of sport.

If you can get past Favre signing a deal worth a potential $25 million and showing up for his introductory news conference looking like the Unabomber, if you can withhold all of the “You might be a redneck…” jokes after seeing him in his cargo shorts, gray stubble and sweat-stained golf cap, you must recognize the uniqueness of this event.

The most iconic quarterback of his generation, a player who mastered the most important and scrutinized position in sports while revitalizing the quaintest franchise in football, in two years maneuvered his way from the team that not too long ago regarded him as a deity to the team that not too long ago regarded him as Diablo.

While I don’t think the story is quite as big as Souhan does, I can’t disagree with this summary:

If Favre fails, the Vikings can’t be faulted for investing money, time and patience in the one position they had failed to upgrade since Childress’ arrival. If Favre succeeds, the Vikings will become the No. 1 story in the No. 1 sport in America. They will sell countless jerseys and tickets, and perhaps even raise the profile of their stadium pursuit in the Legislature.

I’m willing to see Favre succeed in his quest, if only because it would also mean the Vikings will succeed as well. I still mentally picture him wearing the wrong uniform, though.

August 18, 2009

On the plus side, at least the “coming out of retirement” stories are over ’til 2010

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 15:02

Well, it’s apparently official:

Favre_signs_contract

I wouldn’t call myself a Favre-hater, but I didn’t want to see him wearing the purple. Now that this is no longer a question, I’ll have to re-arrange my thoughts . . . I hope that this season does work out the way Coach Childress and the owners hope it will (that is, with a Superbowl win in 2010).

Update: Sage Rosenfels and Tarvaris Jackson try to avoid saying anything newsworthy to the media. Hard to blame them . . . they’ve each just had their best chance for professional success kicked out from underneath them. I’m sure each is thinking “it’s only a one-year deal . . .”

Of course, there’s the other aspect: most NFL teams only carry three quarterbacks into the regular season — who’ll be the odd man out? Rosenfels played well in the pre-season opener, and was brought in for a 4th round draft choice. Jackson was a 2nd round pick, but still hasn’t shown that he’s able to be consistent. Booty is still the total unknown. Who will be given their walking papers?

August 17, 2009

Like a zombie, the Favre story just won’t die

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 12:31

I’m on record as hoping that Brett Favre stays retired. I’ve been saying it for a long time now, so stories like this just depress me:

Thus, here we go (again). Jay Glazer of the Fox Sports website speculates, predicts, forecasts in his Glaze Across America reports that Brett Favre will be joining the Vikings in the next few weeks, or at least attempt to join the team in that time frame. (That cup of coffee that just got spit out belonged to Sage Rosenfels. Tarvaris Jackson simply rolled his eyes.)

No, this isn’t a joke, although Glazer is basing his information on a feeling he had after having conversations with those involved with the Vikings during his stop in Mankato a few weeks back.

Here’s what Glazer wrote: “Granted, my camp stop occurred before Sage Rosenfels lit up the Colts in the preseason opener to the tune of 10-of-13 passing for 91 yards. And if Rosenfels can continue like this, he could squash this prediction as the preseason continues.

“But until I see it more consistently, I’m absolutely convinced. Why? For starters, because everyone else on the Vikings seems to be convinced of the same thing. I mean damn near everybody! During my two days in Mankato, nearly everyone I talked to within the team talked about Favre joining not as an ‘if’ but rather a ‘when.’

For what I hope is the last time: NO! Stay retired, Brett!

Oh, and no disrespect at all to Sage Rosenfels, but you can’t say he “lit up the Colts”, when he was playing against the second-or-third-string backfield. Neither starting corner was in the game, so you’d expect the Colts to give up more than the usual yardage to the passing game. It would have been much more upsetting if the Vikings hadn’t “lit up” the Colts’ defence under those conditions.

Update, 18 August: Oh, no, no, no, no, no:

Judd just received a text from a very good source with confirmation that Brett Favre will sign with the Vikings today and possibly could practice this afternoon.

Favre is expected to land in the Twin Cities anytime now.

Yahoo.com’s Jason Cole is reporting that Favre will receive a one-year contact worth $12 million. Here is his report.

Reducing the NFL pre-season

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

Mark Craig thinks the NFL preseason is too long (and it’s hard not to agree):

Let’s hope the commish steps up his goal of reducing the number of preseason games soon. VERY soon.

There’s never been another sport that’s so good in the regular season, great in the postseason and so completely awful and unwatchable in the preseason.

It’s bad for business, insulting to fans who have to buy full-price tickets to this garbage as part of season-ticket deals and pretty much useless for judging what’s going to happen next month.

For example, the Lions beat Atlanta 27-26 Saturday night. Way to go Lions. Way to start the Jim Schwartz Era. Restore the Roar, baby!

Oh, wait. The Lions were 4-0 in the preseason last year. That makes their preseason winning streak five and keeps their regular season losing streak at 17.

And that doesn’t cover the risks to starting players, as there always seems to be higher risk of injury during preseason games than regular season ones (this is not something I’ve seen stats on, and may just be a mistaken impression based on news coverage).

There’s much to be said about coaches needing a chance to see what players can do in game situations — there are some who look like superstars in practice but who can’t rise up to average in real games, and others who excel in games, but don’t look like much in practice. Talent is only part of what makes a good football player, and without some opportunity to play against real opposition, you really don’t know which category any given rookie player may be in.

August 14, 2009

Philadelphia signs Michael Vick to 1-year contract

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 12:46

I didn’t think they’d be the team which would eventually sign Vick, but the Eagles are his new employers:

According to Fox Sports, Vick will be paid $1.6 million this year, with a chance for the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback to make $5.6 million as part of a 2010 option. None of the money is guaranteed, according to an Eagles source.

Vick, 29, was the first overall pick in the NFL draft by the Atlanta Falcons in 2001. He received a 23-month federal sentence after being convicted for running a dogfighting operation in Newport News, Va. He spent 18 months in prison and was released from federal custody July 20.

The Eagles’ decision was driven by coach Andy Reid, who made it clear after the 27-25 loss that he felt as though Vick deserved a chance to turn his life around.

“I’m a believer that as long as people go through the right process, they deserve a second chance,” Reid said. “Michael has done that. I’ve done a tremendous amount of homework on this, and I’ve followed his progress. He has some great people in his corner, and he has proven that he’s on the right track.”

I’m not in the least surprised that Vick has caught on with a team: he’s still a very talented quarterback, regardless of his legal woes. I didn’t think it would have been anyone in the NFC East, however. I’d rather imagined it would have been a team in the AFC West . . .

August 10, 2009

Yesterday’s menu: random thunderstorms

Filed under: Administrivia, Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 07:18

I did mean to update the blog yesterday, but the pattern of thunderstorms coming through the area intersected perfectly with other activities, so that I didn’t get the chance.

Right after dinner, I sat down to watch the first NFL preseason game between the Buffalo Bills and the Tennessee Titans. Just after the introduction of the Hall of Fame inductees for this year, the power went out. It came back on again a few minutes later, so I got to see the most amusing fake-punt by the Titans, and a couple of first-down passes to T.O., and the power went out again.

This time, the power was out for about three hours. Much donder und blitzen, with lots of horizontal strikes of lightning, which was visually quite stunning.

August 1, 2009

Definitely probable

Filed under: Football, Media — Tags: — Nicholas @ 10:48

Vikings wide receiver Bobby Wade kicked up a ruckus with his former team, the Chicago Bears earlier this week. He said that the Bears’ Brian Urlacher had problems with the new Chicago quarterback, Jay Cutler. Jim Souhan has the story, including Wade’s amusing wordmangling:

This is why we love Bobby Wade, now more than ever.

He’s always been a nice guy, a quotable guy, a guy with NFL and life perspective. Friday, while Favre was mulling ankle replacement surgery that could have him taking snaps at Winter Park by Dec. 7, 2010, Wade was giving us something else to talk about.

“It’s something I definitely probably shouldn’t have said,” Wade said.

I disagree. He should be just getting warmed up.

Wednesday, Wade told KFAN Radio that Bears star linebacker Brian Urlacher used a derogatory term to describe new Bears quarterback Jay Cutler. “Pretty much,” Wade said, “[Urlacher] said Jay Cutler was a [bleep] for the most part.”

Cutler begged his way out of Denver when he felt new coach Josh McDaniels was too unwilling to administer total-body massages to his All-Universe quarterback. Since arriving in Chicago, Cutler has been spotted at more bars than Captain Morgan.

Friday, Wade said he shouldn’t have related Urlacher’s insult publicly. What was more interesting was that Wade didn’t retract the statement, didn’t even say that Urlacher is angry with him.

“If I had the opportunity back, I probably wouldn’t have said it,” Wade said. “However, moving forward, it was said, and my communication with Brian is still good, so it is what it is.”

Well, after the way the Green Bay Packers churned the Vikings for the last few months through the Brett Favre melodrama (and got away with it, no blame attached), it’s natural to expect the Vikings want to disrupt some other team. And really, after last season, you’d have to be a truly vicious sadist to want to make things worse for the Detroit Lions (first 0-16 season in NFL history), so the Bears were an obvious choice.

July 29, 2009

Jim Souhan castigates the Vikings

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:43

I’m happy that the Favre circus is finally over (please, please, please don’t restart the melodrama). Jim Souhan pulls no punches in letting the guilty parties know:

Brett Favre, the Hamlet of Hattiesburg, finally made a decision, finally told the Vikings that, after teasing them for months, he intends to remain retired.

Favre should be ashamed of himself for toying with an entire organization. The Vikings should be ashamed of themselves for investing hope and faith in the most self-absorbed great quarterback in NFL history.

Favre was the Vikings’ human lottery ticket, and the Vikings today feel like anyone who ever wasted their money on a long shot. The initial rush of adrenaline has been replaced by nausea and regret.

[. . .]

Vikings coach Brad Childress, who kept his players in the dark while winking at Favre, now must pretend that he was a luxury instead of a necessity, that his current quarterbacks are good enough to win a playoff game, that this 12-car pileup of a courtship was nothing more than a fender bender. Nothing to see here, folks; please move along.

Jackson and Rosenfels will sheepishly take first-team snaps early in camp, knowing the Vikings preferred a 40-ish serial retiree coming off arm surgery over them.

It’s that last part that really stings: how can you expect either Jackson or Rosenfels to act as if they have the full backing of the coaches and the ownership after this five-act farce? Jackson has already had the confidence-sapping experience of being benched for an extended period, while Rosenfels came to town finally believing he’d been given the chance to earn the starting role. Yet the Vikings clearly wanted someone else to come in and take the helm.

The only thing worse that the Vikings could do now is to start flirting with the idea of signing Michael Vick.

Green Bay’s plans work to perfection

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:13

You’ve got to hand it to those slick guys in Green Bay. They crafted the perfect distraction to keep Minnesota off balance and unsettled, by dangling the possibility of Brett Favre joining the Vikings. I don’t know how they got Brett to go along with it, but it has jerked the Vikings fanbase every which way for months, and will continue to be a divisive factor throughout the pre-season and into the start of the regular season. Hats off, Packer braintrust . . . you’ve more than earned your espionage bonuses this season.

I’m only surprised that Favre didn’t keep this “will-I-or-won’t-I” charade going for another couple of weeks.

Personally, I’m relieved that he’s staying retired (I called for him to stay retired the day the news broke). As recently as May, a majority of Minnesotans didn’t want the Vikings to sign him.

Of course, the local media appears to have really wanted the Favre-a-palooza to come to town:

All the hoopla, mystery and angst ended Tuesday, however, when the Vikings learned Favre won’t be joining the team.

After three months of buildup that seemed destined to end with the future Hall of Fame quarterback in purple, Favre called Vikings coach Brad Childress and told him he would remain retired. The call came a day before the Vikings report to training camp in Mankato, and three days before the team’s first practice.

The decision could be a blow to a team considered a Super Bowl contender with Favre, who holds every significant NFL passing record. His presence also would have guaranteed sellouts for a franchise that has struggled to sell tickets in recent seasons.

Now we’ll see how Coach Childress and the ownership try to rebuild their relationship with Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels, who are probably rightfully feeling unwanted and unappreciated.

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