When it comes down to it, I think I watch sports to see athletes pushing themselves to the limit, trying to be as good as they possibly can. Things I'm looking for today:
- A good game out of Randy Moss
- A good game out of Laurence Maroney
- The Giants to push the Patriots just [...]

Or: Andrew's Attempts to Rationalize the Colts' Chances Under the Guise of Analysis
As this year's NFL playoffs approach, I thought I might have a look at the AFC side of things, specifically the Patriots' division and the Colts' division. As the #1 team in the NFL and the #1 contender, one of these two [...]

I definitely do.
It's not that I'm a Patriots fan -- I'm not an NFL fan. But, I am a fan of achieving excellence and this team is in position. I want the 1972 Dolphins in the dustbin of history.
Listening to the morons on ESPN this morning, I'm just outraged with their bullshit. [...]

I have to say, I'm somewhat surprised that Tom Brady is considered to be such a heavy favorite for the NFL MVP award. Tonight the Patriots (551 points) will likely surpass the 1998 Vikings (556 points) as the highest scoring team in NFL history. What do those two teams have in common? [...]

I feel bad for Mike Vick. I do.
I don't approve of what he's done. It was cruel and sadistic.
But, I feel bad for him. He's going to the Big House for almost two years. I think that's a lot, maybe too much. But, then again, he failed a lie detector [...]

I was listening to Reusse on his Sunday morning show yesterday. When the topic of the Vikings came up, Patrick indicated that because of the national interest in running back Adrian Peterson, NBC was contemplating moving at least one (and possibly more) Viking games to the Sunday night time slot.
Mr. Reusse did not want [...]

Via John Clayton
"He's a great player," Brady said of Moss. "I think everything that's been written about him is the complete opposite. He's a great teammate. He's a great player. He's very coachable. He's very selfless. He's a great worker. He leads by example."
He doesn't attempt to run over traffic cops. He's never left [...]

We don't talk a lot about the NFL, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to Pats v. Colts. The Pats are making a mockery of the league this year and Tom Brady is in full-on assault of the single season QB record book. (How much of that [...]

Good grief:
Remember, the charges against Vick are accusations. The Duke lacrosse mess reminded us that accusations are not the same as guilt and that prosecutors might be unscrupulous.
True enough (well actually, accusations are not the same as a conviction, which is proof of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, but considering the rest of the article, [...]

The Minnesota Vikings have announced that they will switch leagues to the Arena Football League. Owner Ziggy announced the move, saying that he was excited to move the Vikings into a league more commensurate with the Vikings tradition. After years of playing inside an arena and a couple of years playing at the [...]

Go on over to SBG Citizen Cheesehead Craig's Oracle of Cheese for his take on the Moss to Packers rumors. I love that picture, CC!

The Green Bay Packers are reportedly "very interested" in Randy Moss. I'd get some perverse glee watching Packer fans cheer for Moss.

Rachel Blount of the Strib:
When it was revealed that baseball planned to make its Extra Innings pay-TV package available only through DirecTV, Sen. John Kerry took it up with the Federal Communications Commission in the name of public service. When the NFL's lawyers shut down the big-screen church parties to protect their Nielsen ratings -- [...]

I'm pretty sure that God doesn't care that the Colts won the Super Bowl, the comments of Tony Dungy and Robert Irsay notwithstanding.
Regardless, Manning has been the best player in the league for last five years. Tonight, there are no criticisms that can be levied about his play with a straight face.

Get on the record as to how it turns out.
Update: Bah! My neat new ajax polling isn't working! Just put your predictions in a LTE.

Sid:
This is a tough blow for Childress, who thought so much of Tomlin that he gave him complete control of the defense. The players had so much respect for Tomlin because he was so smart and so knowledgeable and was super at handling people.
But I have complete confidence that Childress will find a good replacement [...]

Preface: I like Bill Simmons, humorist. His columns generally make me laugh, and that's why I've more or less read every one of them since I knew about Bill Simmons.
In his most recent column, though, Simmons misses the mark badly. He thinks that we, as non-Bostonians, see the Patriots as the NFL's version [...]

KFAN is reporting that Mike Tomlin will be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Tomlin is denying reports.
If Tomlin gets this job, it will be a fantastic situtation for him. The Steelers are a quality organization and are the definition of stable. Since 1969, they've had two head football coaches. [...]

The Vikings situation is so bad right now, that Top Jimmy writes a column suggesting that the Gophers have a chance to overtake the Vikings as the most popular football team in town. You know the Gophers -- that team that just fired its coach after the biggest collapse in a bowl game ever.
I [...]

"Take a Knee" Denny fired by the Arizona Cardinals. Personally, I always liked Denny when he was in Minnesota, mainly because his teams were entertaining.

I've written a few times about how the NFL is really unfair in how it treats player "contracts". By not guaranteeing the contracts the players are bound but the team is not. Here's another Christmas moment courtesy of your Minnesota Vikings. Fred Smoot will not be paid for the last game of [...]

Brad Childress has named Tarvaris Jackson the starter for Thursday's game. Two weeks too late. Now that the Vikings are all but completely out of the playoffs (a totally predictable outcome two weeks ago) someone tell me what good it did to beat the Lions last week? Or more accurately, what good [...]

The Vikings have not only pretty played their way out of playoff contention in a ridiculously weak NFC, but they've committed the cardinal sin of being boring. This was entirely predictable, because they went into the season with a backup quarterback at the helm. I hate to say I told you so. [...]

That Bears/Vikings game was just like a baseball game. You know, the game where you don't have the ball when you are on offense...

Top Jimmy, expert on all matters, offers this advice on the Vikings quarterback sitch-iashun:
Now Childress must fix his no-offense huddle, and he faces a coach's toughest decision -- whether to change quarterbacks when the playoffs are a mathematical possibility.
His options: Johnson, who's playing like a victim of identity theft; Bollinger, who's hurt; and Jackson, who [...]

If only the Vikings had given Brad Johnson a raise like our buddies Top Jimmy and Bump were advocating things would have been so much better.

Top Jimmy with a new record 5,437 corny references in his latest column on the Vikings "performance" on Sunday.
What was missing, though, was his impassioned argument about how Brad Johnson deserves a pay raise. Probably hit the cutting room floor to make way for his legion of witticisms.

I gotta believe that all of Detroit is on pins and needles over this one. Heh.

SI.COM is reporting that Dallas Cowboys wide receiver Terrell Owens, who was reportedly hospitalized because of "an allergic reaction" to pain killers actually attempted suicide.
I happened to hear on the radio this morning that Owens will play this Sunday, despite his hospitalization.

Can the Vikings outsmart their old nemesis Mike Ditka today?

It seems to me that the 2005 Vikings might have tried a play like having the field goal kicker throw a pass, too. However, the difference between this year and last year is that last year the head coach probably would have told the media that he was going to do it at his [...]

At least the Vikings are named after a state. I've been to North Carolina, I've been to South Carolina, but I've never been to "Carolina".

I'm afraid that our good buddy Top Jimmy will soon be fired from his position at the Strib. From his latest column:
NFL locker rooms are rarely happy places, at least in my experience of covering the league since 1989.
They're filled with large, sweaty men, some of whom appear to be in the throes [...]

If you must.

The other day, Mike Morris had Aaron Schatz from Pro Football Prospectus on the radio. Mr. Schatz was telling The Superstar that the Vikings don't look very good on paper and that the Vikings got lucky last year and that Brad Johnson wasn't all that good and furthermore, he tends to get hurt and [...]

One of the things that is really important here at SBG is to identify the Face of the Franchise, no matter what franchise it might be. Thanks to Top Jimmy, we've got:

That's a no doubt, first ballot FOTF. Right?
Hmmm. That's the FFOAFIF (familiar face of a franchise in flux). And the [...]

He never disappoints.
To wit, Brad Johnson, Face of the Franchise. Because every franchise needs one.
And a little nugget for at least one of my readers:
That's one difference between Johnson and Packers star Brett Favre. Johnson insists on throwing the ball away; Favre increasingly throws it to the other team.

During his career, Favre has completed [...]

From ESPN:
Sources told [a Pittsburgh] TV station that [Ben] Roethlisberger had a license to operate a car but has never had a Pennsylvania motorcycle license.
Roethlisberger had a learner's permit to operate a motorcycle that expired March 29 but had never taken the written and driving tests for a motorcycle license, a source told KDKA. [...]

Big Ben in surgery after motorcycle accident:
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was badly hurt in a motorcycle crash Monday and undergoing surgery. The extent of his injuries was not known.
Roethlisberger was in serious but stable condition, said Dr. Larry Jones, chief of trauma at Mercy Hospital.
"He was talking to me before he left for [...]

Joe Theismann has his shorts in a bunch because Ricky Williams is playing football in the CFL while he's suspended for drug use in the NFL. Says ole Joe:
He's a disgrace to the game. The man doesn't deserve to play football. He should go on with his life and treat his drug addictions or [...]

The Vikings sex boat cruise scandal netted two convictons.
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Fred Smoot and left tackle Bryant McKinnie pleaded guilty Friday to misdemeanor charges in the team's boat party scandal. Each agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and perform 48 hours of community service.
Smoot and McKinnie pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct and being a public nuisance [...]

I'm listening to Barreiro on the way home from work and he's got this guy on talking about the NFL draft and I had a flashback to Constitutional Law class.  There was a case in front of the United States Supreme Court in which the Court had to decide what an epithet printed on the [...]

I was listening to the radio this morning and I heard that some bookmaker has established point spreads for week 1 of the NFL. The games are over 5 months away.
Am I alone here when I say that the NFL is just way too much anymore? Am I so out of touch with [...]

I've been a little slack with my posting lately.
With the new job, I've been keeping different hours than normal. I've been getting up early and getting to work by 6:30 or so. I want to get my work in and get home before my wife, Lucy. I usually do and get dinner [...]

Link:
There is a tendency to look at what's gone on for the last two months and say that Culpepper has screwed up every step of the way: asking for more millions, refusing to meet with Childress, staying in Orlando to rehab.
He's either the blockhead the anti-Daunte crowd has claimed, or he wanted out all along [...]

Zygi Wilf is denying that a trade is imminent. I'll post information on Daunte's trade situation on the bulletin board. Don't be afraid to set up an account (it's free) and chat about Daunte over there.

KFAN is reporting that the NFL Network is reporting that Daunte Culpepper will be traded to an unspecified team by tomorrow (Friday). SBG, your source for third hand gossip.

Once again, Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper has sent out an e-mail missive. From the Strib report Daunte has this to say:
Now that I have confirmed that the Vikings have been seeking to trade me, I have asked for permission to speak to the interested teams. The Vikings have denied my request. If a [...]

For some time I have been threatening to write a white paper, or more accurately, a manifesto on the NFL. This is an ongoing project. I intend to develop the NFL Manifesto over the course of time. I will include a link to this under Ongoing Projects. I'll also try to let people know when [...]