Tag: sports

Chad the Elder is a true Vikings fan. He knows the drill:

I don’t get the impression that many true Vikings fans are all that confident that their squad will beat the Cowboys. Sure you hear a lot of false bravado on local talk radio stations and some of the younger cadre of Purple fans may honestly believe their team is Miami bound. But deep down the fans who have been around for a while, the ones who can all too clearly still recall the playoff and Super Bowl losses, know that when it comes to the Vikings letting us down it’s not a matter of if but when. The Vikes very well might defeat Dallas this week. All that will do is postpone the inevitable letdown.

What best describes this attitude? Some might say cynicism, others fatalism. I would say it’s more of a stoicism, taking the definition of the word commonly used today rather than the philosophy itself. We accept our destiny but continue to carry on anyway, impassive in the face of eventual defeat. It’s almost as if Viking fans have taken on the persona of Bud Grant, a man well-versed in hiding the pain of crushing losses…. So on Sunday we’ll put on our grim game faces, utter a stern “Skol!,” and await our fate.

I didn’t bother posting about yesterday’s games because I wasn’t interested. The Saints and Colts won, as I expected, although the Ravens put up a better show than I would have thought. I’m not afraid of Dallas; the hype always favors the NFC East team and there is a reason teams that go 12-4 and 13-3 usually win. New Orleans shellacked an Arizona team that was clearly better than Green Bay, the team that all the NFL chatterboxes were saying everyone should fear to face. Dallas looked good in twice beating a Philadelphia team that was crushed by New Orleans this season, but the Cowboys are a good team, not a great one.

The Vikes should win. But we’ve known them to fail to close the deal before.

By the NFL:

The National Football League has been careful not to suggest that the aim of its current effort to obtain a finding that, for the purposes of selling hats and shirts, the 32 teams are a “single entity” that cannot conspire with each other in dealing only with Reebok and shutting out companies like American Needle. However, the transcript of Wednesday’s oral argument before the Supreme Court suggests that, if push comes to shove, chief NFL outside counsel Gregg Levy (a finalist for the position of Commissioner in 2006) believes that the league is a single entity, for all of its relevant business purposes.

The key moment in the exchange between Levy and the Court comes at page 47 of the transcript, when Justice Sonia Sotomayor poses this question to Levy: “What decision could the sports teams make that would be subject to the antitrust scrutiny under your definition of the permissible range of the joint venture activities? It seems to me that if the venture wanted to make sure all the teams hired secretaries at the same $1,000-a-year salary, that under your theory, that’s okay, because it’s a joint venture.”

In response, Levy didn’t say, “We are taking that position only as to matters relating to the promotion of the league,” which is what he basically said in the NFL’s written brief. Instead, Levy said, “Your Honor, my view is that the — the NFL clubs are not separate sources of independent power. As a result, they are a unit. They are a single entity and it’s –“

At that point, Justice Sotomayor cut him off.

“So to the answer to my question is, there is — you are seeking through this ruling what you haven’t gotten from Congress: An absolute bar to the antitrust claim.”

Perhaps the Wise Latina isn’t quite as dim as I’d expected her to be. And if the NFL is seriously attempting to parlay its antitrust exemption for broadcasting into a broader one covering everything from player salaries to logo gear, it is insane. As an NFL fan, I’m hoping this does not turn out to be yet another example of an extremely successful organization sowing the seeds of its own destruction through foolish greed and overweening arrogance.

If I were an NFL owner, I would pull Levy off the case immediately. And it’s worth noting that when it serves the NFL’s interest to argue the contrary, it claims precisely the opposite:

“The question is whether Minnesota law permits Pat and Kevin Williams to be suspended for a first positive test, and whether Minnesota law allows punishment to be imposed on an employee who uses an over-the-counter substance on his own time. Among the league’s arguments is that the Vikings, not the NFL, employ the players.”

Baltimore gets off to a dominating start in the first quarter. It really doesn’t look too promising for New England today; they just look hapless. Given the way Dallas and the New York Jets finished off their Week 17 opponents, Green Bay has to be feeling pretty confident. Dallas looked good and the Vikes will certainly have to show up to beat them, but they didn’t look like a team to be particularly frightened of either.

It’s racist, pointless, and stupid:

Adam Schefter of ESPN reports that Carroll has agreed on a deal to take the job. According to Schefter, the only hangup is that the Seahawks can’t make the hiring official until they comply with the Rooney Rule by interviewing a minority candidate. Of course, at this point, if the Seahawks do interview a minority candidate solely to comply with the Rooney Rule, they would be making a complete mockery of the Rooney Rule. Vikings defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier has reportedly decided to sit for an interview after being assured that Carroll doesn’t have the job yet. Perhaps after reading Schefter’s report, Frazier will change his mind.

I hope he does. Frankly, I’m a little tired of black Minnesota defensive coordinators getting hired to be head coaches and win Super Bowls elsewhere. I wanted the Viking front office to fire Denny Green and promote Tony Dungy before he left for Tampa; I not only would have preferred Tomlin to Childress but would frankly have settled for David Chapelle in preference to Childress at the time. Now, the team has greatly improved under Childress and he appears to have stopped trying to prove that The Tarvaris Jackson Experiment is a starting NFL quarterback, so I can’t honestly say that I’d prefer the unknown quantity that is Frazier to the known strengths and weaknesses of Chilly.

But I do wish we could have some success without losing every doggone defensive coordinator who helps make it happen. Anyhow, it’s a ridiculous rule and it would be amusing to see the teams mock it more openly than they already are by interviewing black comedians, Hispanic gang leaders and young Asian violin prodigies. This is, by the way, your NFL playoff post… is there even a single individual here who likes Cincy today? Well, I think the Bengals and the Cowboys will make it through.

No fantasy, so I’ll just point out that The Thunder defeated the AZ Hammeroids for the VP-AFL championship. Congratulations to the Thunder and they will be joining new VPFL champion Clay, Nate, the White Buffalo, and me next season.

The NFL games will be weird this week, as they always are, but here’s hoping the Vikes can get their act together and finish off the Giants while the Cowboys take care of the Eagles. I’d like to see the Vikings draft a QB prospect while keeping Brett Favre around for one more year.

73 Alamo City Spartans
54 Judean Front

Congratulations to Clay, whose Alamo City Spartans continued the VPFL tradition of upsetting the regular season champions and claimed the 4th VPFL title.

As for the NFL, I do not understand the coaching decisions on the part of Caldwell and Childress. I thought the decision of the Colts to stupidly throw away their opportunity to go 16-0 was totally ridiculous and will contribute to their being upset in the playoffs. The Vikings are suffering from overly conservative play calling, a mysterious offensive line meltdown, and defensive injuries to Pat Williams, EJ Henderson, and Antoine Winfield; our star cornerback is clearly still a little off his game after returning from his six-week injury. They could certainly use that bye week, but it looks as if they probably threw that away too.

I’m not sure which was dumber, the predictable first-half playcalling – I called one third-down play-action rollout that the Bears defensive coordinator obviously expected as well – or Ben Leber’s continuous inability to understand the concept of containment. AD’s overtime fumble and Longwell’s blocked PAT both hurt, but neither would have mattered if Leber hadn’t made exactly the same mistake he made last week against Carolina and simply held his position to the ballcarrier’s left instead of attempting to dive in wildly and make the tackle before his four teammates who had the running back pinned to the front and right did. The result was that instead of a loss of two followed by a fourth-down punt, Leber gave Forte a first down that led directly to a field goal. But the worst decision was the one to kick the tying PAT with 20 seconds left instead of going for two. The Viking special teams had been terrible all night, the Bear defense was reeling, and it was a perfect time to put them away. It was a horrendous call by Childress and it reminded me of an equally bad decision by Denny Green to play for overtime against a heavily favored Dallas team. In both cases, the overtime result was the same. The Vikings lost.

Right now, Philadelphia and San Diego look like the teams of destiny. Of course, this probably means that they are the only two playoff teams we can be certain we will not see in the Super Bowl.

52 Judean Front (10-4)
42 Bane Silvers (7-6-1)

102 Alamo City Spartans (10-4)
69 Mounds View Meerkats (8-6)

Ah well. Another year, another first-round exit. I can’t say I’m too surprised, but it’s a bit annoying to again lose while outscoring both teams in the other side of the bracket. And no one can argue that the Front and the Spartans have been the two teams to beat this year; the failure to get any serious production out of Clinton Portis, Greg Jennings, and Matt Forte really hurt me, as did the mid-season collapse of the New York Giants defense.

VP-AFL

116.70 AZ Hammeroids (8-6)
114.65 Lesbian Dorito Night (9-5)

122.65 The Thunder (8-6)
99.10 Brave Sir Robins (10-4)

Two big upsets in the Alumni league, as blog favorites Lesbian Dorito Night complete their late-season collapse and Brave Sir Robins end their season in classic Meerkats 08 manner. Here’s hoping that the Vikes don’t follow suit today; we need that first-round bye.

Judean Front (10-4)
Bane Silvers (7-6-1)

Alamo City Spartans (10-4)
Mounds View Meerkats (8-6)

It looks like another one-and-out for the Meerkats, although that’s less disappointing this year. Getting no performance out of two of my three keepers – Clinton Portis and Greg Jennings – and making a terrible blunder by picking up Mario Manningham instead of Steve Smith (NYG) left me scrabbling to fill my roster from week to week. With every starter but one playing on the road and the Spartans up 30-7 already thanks to early points from MJD and Miles Austin, I’m just hoping to keep it halfway respectable. Besides, everyone would be disappointed to miss the big showdown between the Spartans and the Front.

The Saints have blown their perfect season, I expect the Colts will next week. I’m just hoping the Saints drop another one while the Vikes win out and claim home-field advantage.

64 Mounds View Meerkats (8-5)
50 Judean Front (10-3)

71 Masonville Marauders
61 Alamo City Spartans (9-4)

78 Valders Valkyries (6-7)
61 Winston Reverends (6-7)

89 Burns Redbeards (4-9)
58 Black Mouth Curs (5-8)

56 Bane Silvers (7-6)
41 Greenfield Grizzlies (4-9)

The Meerkats are in the playoffs for the third year out of four, but I have to say that they have never looked less likely to win it all. The Piranha of the Serengeti are stumbling toward the finish, with copious injuries and possibly the weakest collection of WRs in the league. Still, it was a big win last week over the powerful Judean Front; this week’s question is whether to start Percy Harvin or not. Rookies tend to wear down during the final four games, after all.

I have to admit, I’m just a little bit concerned about the Vikes. I’m not worried… but I am concerned. A strong performance against the Bengals today would be very encouraging.

97 Judean Front (10-2)
25 Valders Valkyries (5-7)

48 Alamo City Spartans (9-3)
44 Burns Redbeards (3-9)

79 Mounds View Meerkats (7-5)
64 Masonville Marauders (5-7)

79 Winston Reverends (6-6)
69 Bane Silvers (6-6)

59 Black Mouth Curs (5-7)
50 Greenfield Grizzlies (4-8)

VP-AFL

98.85 South Plains Storm (5-6)
81.80 Lesbian Dorito Night (8-3)

112.55 Lambs (3-8)
79.25 Brave Sir Robins (7-4)

145.30 COS Paper Tigers (4-7)
101.10 Village Valkyries (6-5)

115.85 Ocean Sprayer (6-5)
113.50 Cranberry Bogs (5-6)

116.45 Supernaut’s Jihad (5-6)
114.45 The Choking Thunder (6-5)