94 thoughts on “October 22, 2013: Dilemma”

        1. Nicely done- anytime you can get a shot in on Meatball Tice, you gotta do it. Though I think I'd rather have him coaching right now...

          1. Dollar-for-dollar, Tice was the best head coach in the NFL.

            You could get a guy who was twice as good, but it would cost you four times as much.
            You could get a guy who was four times as good, but it would cost you as much as ten Tices.

            And you could theoretically find a guy that wasn't even half as good (say, AMR), but it would cost you only about 10%-20% less.

            1. I see you are refusing to admit the inevitable: that the Vikings are going to win the Super Bowl.

      1. Well, sorta. If he was a better quarterback, they wouldn't have signed Cassel or Freeman. And I happen to think Ponder played as well as he could, he's just not very good.

        And whatever is happening with the defense/special teams, that's definitely not his fault.

        Maybe the Metrodome will collapse again.

        1. its funny, my twitter feed was blowing up last night, fans wanting Ponder back in action when 3 weeks ago they were (pretty much) burning his jersey.

          Im not sold on Ponder as a long term 'Franchise QB', but I also think he should have not lost his starting job.

      2. Funny - my buddy and I were talking about the Miller and Kornheiser last night, wondering if some off-the-wall commentary could have improved that atrocious game.

        1. tacitly connected: i was wondering the other night if the michaels/collinsworth booth is indeed the best one in all of football, and perhaps in other sports as well. honestly, i don't really have any complaints about them.

  2. Re: football/Vikings...

    I will admit that this site has had some marked effect on my thinking on various things. Other things, not so much (I'm still not really interested in the NBA). Football is one of the biggies though. Up until this year, I've usually enjoyed watching football, at least to the point where I would tune into a game if I had a fantasy player on one of the teams. I enjoyed fantasy football. I would read recaps and check the schedule, to see how bad the Vikings were really going to be, etc.

    This year? Well, I don't have TV right now, so I don't watch any of the games, and that certainly contributes. But mostly, I'm over football entirely. I'm doubting I'll play fantasy football again. At least for a long time. I'm upset about the Vikings stadium deal, and want to see the NFL suffer for it. I don't want the NFL to get my dollars or my eyeballs. It's a weird thing. I would maybe tune in if Adrian Peterson were doing something amazing, but since it seems like that isn't happening this year, it's even easier to tune out.

    I guess what I'm saying is that the NFL naysayers around these parts may have gotten to me.

    1. I enjoy fantasy football a lot less than I used to (fantasy baseball for being more interesting!), but I still like watching the games. Compared to baseball, football has some advantages- none of the "unwritten rules" crap, I can watch nearly every Vikings game on broadcast TV, and being bad in one season doesn't mean the next couple are going to suck.

      Still, I'm getting closer and closer to giving it up with every injury caused by stupidity (learn how to tackle!) and every noncompetitive Vikings loss, though.

      1. Yeah, the not having immediate access to the games on TV was the cause-in-fact of my switch, but I think the WGOM was the proximate cause.

        1. I enjoy tweeting things like The Vikings are going to make the playoffs (last night!) and having people favorite that like it's possible. I'm pretty pissed that we are going to build those clowns a stadium.

          Oh, and head injuries. And 40 year guys that can't get out of bed in the morning.

          2. In retrospect, I started falling out of love with football when I decided that I wasn't going to let my kids play. Because if I was afraid it would ruin my kids' health, well, it really sucked a lot of joy out of watching other people's kids ruin their health. All the rest of the neagtivity kind of flows from that decision.

            I still watch some. But last night I was sick and in bed and didn't watch a second and didn't feel even a little bit like I was missing out.

            1. My initial decision was before I had kids when I realized that my Sundays were just universally terrible. I never once, even with a win, felt anything but anxiety and anger, which is a terrible way to end the week. That, and the rather ridiculously zealous nature (compared to other sports) of football fans led me to conclude that it would be best if I didn't pay attention.

              My Sundays are so awesome now.

              1. One of the many great things about living on the Left Coast: sunday morning football. For the religious, there's church. For the health-conscious, there's the gym. For the rest of us, there's brunch.

            2. What is the view on hockey? I don't understand the people that are antifootball but pro hockey.

              I don't think it is a coincidence that the 2 former Twins with major concussion issues grew up playing hockey.

              1. Hockey is less built up with the media machine that the NFL and NCAAF have.
                And head-to-head collisions are less a required element of the game in hockey.
                It's not exactly like I'm watching hockey, either.

                Also the coincidence is: both were Canadian rather than American.
                Mauer's now got some concussion issues and he played football.

                1. As someone that doesn't watch any hockey but reads Tango who is Canadian, it seems the NHL has been proactive in addressing injury issues.

              2. at least the NHL tried cleaning up the game before Congress hauled their butts up to Congress
                they have made strides, but to me they arent truly serious about player safety until they get rid of fighting.

            3. I don't remember exactly when I read North Dallas 40 but that was when I first started thinking about pro football in terms of the cost it exacts on the players. The Lyle Alzado/steroids saga also made me rethink how I felt about the game. I loved watching football with my dad and brothers as a kid and playing in junior high and high school, but over the years I've grown increasingly cynical about the game and especially the NFL as an organization. I also have a lot of issues with the NCAA. That's not to say I don't enjoy watching a good game, I still do and I'm not sure what that says about me. But I'm a lot more aware of the really gladiatorial aspects of football, on and off the field, than I was as a kid.

              1. This is just about exactly where I am now. I enjoyed playing in high school and liked to watch games a bit (my dad wasn't/isn't a huge football fan) and still do now and then. I've even been to a few games the past couple of years, college and pro. However, my exposure to you cynics/realists/moralists has really opened my eyes. I still enjoy watching and play fantasy football, but I certainly won't be pushing any child of mine to take up the game.

    2. I'm in the same place.
      We feed on ourselves.
      An anti-NFL echo chamber.

      Inspired by SBG a few years ago who said he saved kept the fall NFL-free to make up for baseball season.

      1. I've watched a few games this year, but never when I'm with my wife. Also, there wasn't a whole lot of making up to do this fall, what with my drastically reduced consumption of Twins baseball this year.

    3. I still enjoy watching football, although I rarely have time to. What's turning me off of football is the way the sports media (largely ESPN) will talk about nothing else.

      What finally made me switch off ESPN radio was Tuesday, October 8. The day before, we'd had four baseball playoff games. Three of them were one-run games, one a walkoff, one a near no-hitter. What was the main (and seemingly only) topic of conversation on ESPN radio? The Jets-Falcons game.

      So, on those rare occasions when I have the chance, I will watch a game. But I refuse to pay any attention to all the media hype.

      1. small-town (or small-scale, at least) h.s. football can still be an enjoyable community event. I go to listen to the band, but I do watch the game too.

        1. I do the public address announcing for the local high school team. I have a great time with it.

      2. I think that is an unfair categorization of ESPN, Padre. I am sure they also talked about Joe Girardi's contract situation. 😉

  3. The Vikings' remaining schedule:

    Oct 27 - vs. Green Bay 7:30 pm
    Nov 3 - at Dallas Noon
    Nov 7 - vs. Washington 7:25 pm
    Nov 17 - at Seattle 3:25 pm
    Nov. 24 - at Green Bay Noon
    Dec 1 - vs. Chicago Noon
    Dec 8 - at Baltimore Noon
    Dec 15 - vs. Philadelphia Noon
    Dec 22 - at Cincinnati Noon
    Dec 29 - vs. Detroit Noon

    Philly, maybe. This team can go 1-15, I think!

    2. So Deer hunting weekend has a Thursday night Vikings game? I might actually make the whole season without seeing any of the NFL.
      I may end up watching some NCAAF on the evening of that Saturday night.

    3. I was gonna say above that 11-5 might not get the Vikings into the playoffs.
      But with that kind of Strength of Victory, they should win any tiebreaker.

  5. The Twins have removed Wilkin Ramirez from the forty-man roster and sent him outright to Rochester.

  7. Minnesota Twins ‏@Twins
    BREAKING: The #MNTwins are happy to announce they have added Paul Molitor to their Major League coaching staff!

    1. Gah- I watched/listened, just so you aren't the only one with your ears bleeding.

      Now I'm sad the Metrodome didn't get a song.

    1. From this link:

      he will "oversee base-running, bunting, infield instruction and positioning, plus assist with in-game strategy from the dugout for the 2014 season." [Emphasis mine]

      In-game strategy? Sounds like the Gardy replacement.

      1. "Bunting"? Isn't that what they put all around the stadium during the World Series? 162-0, baby!

  10. Just saw this and thought I'd share - not sure if it was reported here a few weeks back:

    The Pirates on Saturday (10/5) sent former second-round pick Duke Welker to the Twins to complete the Justin Morneau trade.

    Welker, a righthanded reliever, appeared in two games for Pittsburgh last season, pitching 1 1/3 scoreless innings. The 6-foot-7 former Seminole State pitcher, drafted in the second round in 2005, had a 3.57 ERA with 65 strikeouts and 31 walks in 63 innings for Class AAA Indianapolis in 2013. He is expected to compete for a spot in the Twins' bullpen next spring.

    1. About what we could expect, I guess. He might be a serviceable arm out of the bullpen. At age-28, not much reason to expect more than that.

    1. That's pretty awesome. What's with the guy who ends up in the cart after getting clipped? He just bails out at the end there after trying something vaguely resembling steering...

      1. I think what you are witnessing is someone realizing that he just got hit by a billionaire's golf cart and it is time to be "injured."

    3. dude who ends up riding the cart is the coach of the H.S. State Champion. He's suing Jerry Jones for a million plus.

  13. From Arm Side Run's World Series preview... he ends with this:

    The joke in Washington used to be that for a Democratic Congressman, the Republicans were just the opposition; the Senate was the enemy. That jovial spirit seems irretrievably lost these days, in politics. We should strive to maintain it in sports. Whichever team you hate most, be they your favorite team’s rival or just the public’s supervillain du jour, treat them as the opposition. Football is the enemy.

    1. That is completely true.
      I gotta remember to read more of his writing.
      Can you re-post the link?

  14. Apparently there's been some ongoing negative chatter about the fact that Phillip Rivers and his wife are expecting their 7th child. In fact, ESPN put this question (pulled from reader comments, apparently) to him: "Six kids? Regardless of your profession, it's impossible to be a good parent to six kids. Not enough hours in the day."

    I just thought it was worth sharing this bit of coverage that I read in response:

    "Ah yes. How “intensely weird” it is for an NFL player to be having his seventh kid. Except that it isn’t weird at all for an NFL player to have his seventh kid. It’s only weird for an NFL player to have seven kids with his one wife.

    1. Most NFL players don't last long enough in the league to procreate seven times with one person

    2. If I could make NFL player money I could hire a few people to help my wife with all the unrewarding tasks of daily stay-at-home parenting.
      (Making meals and snacks, cleaning up, laundry, making sure we have milk and detergent, driving all over to get milk and detergent, etc.)

      We'd probably be expecting out 8th or 9th at this point.
      Wait, I forgot about the c-sections.
      OK, we'd be expecting our sixth, and they'd've all been born in Mid-Februaries.

  15. Jerry Burns was the greatest thing ever in the NFL (NSFW, lots of f-bombs)

    httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNcBFZ26lcI

  16. so, I'm on the Bookface. And a "friend" from h.s. posts something with the preface, "I can't vouch for this until I've read it..." but then proceeds to share some hairbrained political lunacy. My question: why can't I just ignore him?

    1. Upper-right corner of his posts, there's a little caron.
      Click that and it gives you four options:

      Follow Post
      ------
      I don't want to see this
      Hide all from brianS
      ------
      Take survey to improve News Feed.

      Those middle two should help.

      1. yea, yea.

        I consider it a test of faith and patience. Kind of a classical conditioning experiment in impulse control.

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