Football

Ok, I admit it. I am a freak when it comes to football. When I visited Austraila was when I first got the tinge. That was back in ....98 I think, god has it really been that long? Ok you dont care I am sure. But I got to see the sport Rugby. I am now and probably will always be a fan of Rugby. The first Rugby game I watch was Venezuela against the New Zealand All Blacks. The game was called early, the score was something like 130 to 7. The All Blacks dominated but the game was so much fun to watch. While in town there I learned a lot about the All Blacks and Rugby, bought a wallet which I was later demonized for back here in the states because it said All Blacks on it.....I'll save the rest of that for another day though.

Anyways I got big into Rugby but there and got home to find that no one knew what Rugby was. Damn. Of course if you had satelite you could get the international games of which I later learned there is a USA team....WTF!? Either way I have not and probably never will get a satelite dish simply because I like cable and my cable internet better and it's cheaper this way. However I started to watch football. Mind you this was the year Randy Moss was drafted and put into the line up. Now I could really have picked any team in the league but I personally like the Vikings because I like history and Vikings had a large influence in Minnesota so I personally picked them...Plus gold and purple is just cool.

Now I remember listening to people talk about Warren Moon. Good and bad. I personally couldn't see how a guy his age was playing with the youth of the league and perform. He couldn't and Denny Green "sacked" him and Brad Johnson in favor of Randal Cunningham who was able to utilize the speed of Randy Moss and once the league figured out how to cover him they shifted everyone to cover Moss leaving Chris Carter wide open. This duo could have won a superbowl. Gary Anderson, the kicker who had a perfect season not missing one kick choked on a easy 30 yard attempt in the NFC championship game and we lost after a 15-1 season. Now I know Brad Johnson would have been a better choice the next year but they went with Randal again but didn't quite produce like the year before.

Fast forward to today. Randy Moss, plagued with injuries and a bad attitude over the last couple years has turned him (in the eyes of the team) into a liability rather than an asset. Am I mad that they traded Randy? Yes/No. Although Randy was trouble he was a damn good distraction. He always pulled 2 defenders and on a tight 3rd down play where passing was the rule you send him on a slant up the middle of the field throw anyone to go across the field passing in front of Randy and you had an open receiver guaranteed. Randy would pull the entire secondary with him simply because they all feared "the big play". They had a lot to fear too because if they didnt leave that receiver open then they left Randy in single or double coverage. Easy catch for Randy. It was really a win/win that was easily defended but so rarely used that makes me think someone was just completely off on their play calling.

Now, the reason I am not mad that Randy is gone. He was a drain on the team. Simply put, he didn't play for the team. He played for Randy and no one else. Randy threw this season out the window after his injury. Also with the exception of the awesome catches in green bay in the Wild Card game and then the phenominal "moon" of the packer fans the team played better without him. You saw defenses that played like they would against most other offenses except the Vikings offensive line wasn't ranked number 1 all these years simply because of Moss. Passes were thrown short, short, short, then a nice lob over the middle and boom boom. The running game was perfect too. 4 backs that can all run better than most RB's in the league.

Although I am torn, I am very excitedly looking forward to the new season. We have some good draft picks and we picked up a new CB who will add to our great defensive backs. We led the league in interceptions a couple years ago but because we were extensively injured last season we couldn't get people into line. I really really wish Chris Carter would come back. I know thats not going to happen but throw him into the line with Campell, Robinson, Burleson and every other great receiver on thet team and it would be a perfect line up.

I think that Manning is a threat in the NFL but people put too much faith in the Quarterback. That is exactly what happened this year. Everyone was so distraught that the Eagle's lost but they had this great QB. McNabb isn't great, not even close. He has talent but he doesn't have the discipline to make plays and threw terrible passes, didn't establish a running game and pretty much gave the super bowl away. The Pats on the other hand have a decent QB a decent FB a decent everything. I see the Pats going into the playoffs again, Colts....

It will be fun but I will post my predictions after we get into the preseason.