The Crack of the Bat

With pitchers and catchers reporting in a mere two and a half weeks, I’ve been getting that familiar itch recently. With the Vikings season over, the Gophers hoops squad mired in annoying mediocrity, and the Timberwolves an afterthought, at best (Wolves! Mavericks! 7:30pm Friday on Ch. 45! Catch the Fever!), the Twins are suddenly the most appetizing sports discussion option in Minnesota.

Many Twins fans have been left with bittersweet memories of the 2009 season. If the high point of the year was the Twins play-in game victory against the Tigers that sent the squad to the playoffs, then the low point was probably the Game 2 loss to the New York Yankees in the American League Divisional Series. In a strange twist of fate, I really didn’t see either of those games. I was at a dinner that my dad was being honored at during the game against Detroit and only saw the first 7 or so innings. Needless to say, I missed the good part. During the second game of the Yanks series I was refereeing a high school football game and turned on the radio in the car just in time to hear the blown call on Mauer’s shot down the line. About two minutes later, Mark Teixeira hit a walk-off homerun, and just like that, all the good vibes from the win over Detroit were all but gone. The Yanks finished off the Twins in Game 3, and the season was over.

Still, despite the disappointing finish to the year, just getting to the playoffs felt like stealing. When Justin Morneau was ruled out for the season at the beginning of September, most assumed the Twins’ chances for a comeback were over. However, even without the former MVP, the Twins went on a 17-4 run to end the season in order to catch up to Detroit, and then passed them in that final game. All in all, the 2009 season has to be viewed as a success. In the second year PS (Post Santana), the Twins not only reached the playoffs, but won the division. Joe Mauer won his third batting championship in four years and his first MVP award. Denard Span and Jason Kubel each had breakout-type seasons and solidified themselves as everyday players. With seven of the nine spots in the lineup pretty-well taken care of and a myriad of pitching options at the Twins disposal, I think it’s safe to say that there are fewer questions surrounding the Twins than at any time in recent memory. Nonetheless, there are a few unsolved mysteries left to discuss regarding the 2010 Minnesota Twins. Here are the big three.

1. How is the second/third base situation going to shake out?

(Update: I wrote this section Thursday night before news of the Hudson signing was announced. Call me Nostradamus. Either way, second base is no longer an issue, but the third base question remains.)

If the season were to start today, right now, immediately, I think we’d see some amalgamation of Matt Tolbert, Nick Punto, Alexi Casilla, and Brendan Harris at these two spots. The likely candidates to be the “regular” starters would be Punto at second and Harris at third, with Tolbert playing the role of uber-utility guy. Casilla, in this alignment, would likely find himself back playing in Rochester for the AAA affiliate. However, the season does not begin today, and there is scuttlebutt surrounding the Twins being close to an agreement with former Blue Jay/Diamondback/Dodger second baseman Orlando “O-Dog” Hudson. Hudson has been a very productive offensive player who makes solid contact, has a pretty good eye, and possesses a modicum of power. Aside from his offense, Hudson has won four Gold Gloves over the past five years, including one last season for the Dodgers, when he committed just 8 errors in 692 total chances. Despite his undeniable upside as a player, Hudson does come with a few bugs included. Last season, he started 143 games at second base for the Dodgers before losing his job at the end of the season and spending most of LA’s playoff run planted firmly on the bench. While his lack of offense and replacement Ronnie Belliard’s hot streak down the stretch were certainly contributing factors to Hudson’s demotion, there were grumblings from Dodger’s camp all year that suggested he may not be the best teammate, but these rumors are largely unsubstantiated. Ultimately, the Twins would do very well to shore up second base by bringing in Hudson. Eliminating one of the two infield holes would allow Gardy to rotate Harris and Punto in at third, with whichever one isn’t in the lineup acting as the backup at all three infield spots. I think any hope of signing a decent third baseman is all but gone, meaning that the position will have to be filled with in-house options. Eventually, the job seems to belong to minor league prospect Danny Valencia, but with Valencia not receiving an end-of-the-year call up last season, it seems unlikely that he would hold the job coming out of spring training. The Twins are notorious for delaying the arbitration/free agency clock on minor leaguers if at all possible, so expect Valencia to start the year in AAA, but don’t be surprised if he’s the Twins regular at the hot corner by the All Star break. Short of Hudson being brought aboard, it would appear that both of these positions will be somewhat up for grabs during Spring Training. I’m sure Gardy would love to see someone like Valencia or Casilla show up and really win one of the jobs, but with Valencia being so inexperienced and with Casilla being, well, Casilla, those possibilities seem slim. There is no shortage of options for the Twins at those two spots, but I think it’s safe to say that none of the in-house options are all that palatable to the fans.

Predicted Outcome: Twins sign Hudson, he plays second base with Harris and Punto splitting AB’s at 3rd. (Seriously…this was written prior to the signing. You believe me, right?)

2. What is the starting rotation going to look like?

The good news for the Twins starting pitching prospects is that the team has a number of very solid options who are difficult to distinguish between. The bad news for the Twins’ starting pitching prospects is that the team has a number of very solid options who are difficult to distinguish between. Gone are the days of Johan Santana and Brad Radke leading the rotation with guaranteed quality start after guaranteed quality start. Things are a little more amorphous now, as the pecking order within the rotation seemed to change weekly during last season. The current suspects to be in the rotation on Opening Day are Scott Baker, Carl Pavano, Kevin Slowey, Nick Blackburn, Francisco Liriano, Glen Perkins, and Brian Duensing, with Anthony Swarzak being a potential dark horse. There have been rumors that the Twins offered Wisconsin-native Jarrod Washburn a 1 year, $5 million deal, but that was before Pavano accepted the Twins’ offer of arbitration and was kept on-board. My guess is that Pavano staying means that the Twins interest in Washburn is, at best, limited. I will be working under the assumption that Washburn will not be a Twin in 2010. The seemingly sure things to be included in the starting five are Baker, Pavano, and Blackburn. Those three guys did enough to prove their value last year that they likely aren’t going to have to consider Spring Training as anything more than prep for the regular season. That means that there are six pitchers vying for 2 spots in the rotation. Kevin Slowey could easily be added to the list of sure things, but given the fact his season ended due to a wrist injury, I think it’s safer to avoid assuming we know what the Twins will get from him early in the season. All reports have him bouncing back from the surgery nicely, but he may need a little extra time at the season’s onset before being ready to take his spot in the rotation. However, if Slowey comes back anywhere near full strength, then there is really only one spot left for Swarzak and the three lefties to battle for. Swarzak had a few nice outings for the Twins last year, but his inconsistency eventually led to him being sent back to the minors. He is likely still a year or so away from being a reliable option, and thus is not a likely candidate for the final spot in the rotation. However, if a couple of the lefties fall on their faces in spring and Swarzak pitches lights out, Gardy may decide to give him a chance at the beginning of the year. Swarzak has good stuff and a high ceiling, but as we saw a year ago, he’s still a bit raw and has trouble throwing strikes consistently. That’s a real no-no for the Twins and will probably be the reason he starts 2010 in the minors. This leaves Duensing, Perkins, and Liriano as the likely candidates to fill the 5th spot. There is little question whom the Twins coaching staff would like to see earn that final spot. While all three of these pitchers have proven to be capable of pitching at a high level in the majors, Francisco Liriano has, by far, the most upside of the trio. Liriano was well on his way to a Rookie of the Year award in 2006 and possibly a Cy Young before a torn ligament in his elbow derailed his once bright future. Liriano showed some flashes of his hold stuff last year, but was largely a disappointment. Despite his struggles in the majors, Liriano has pitched exceptionally well in the very competitive Dominican Winter League, with his performance culminating in a dominating 5 inning, 1 hit, 0 run, 10 K game in the championship game that his team won. If Liriano comes back anywhere close to his 2006 pre-injury form, the rest of the American League is going to have to deal with Johan Santana 2.0. If he can’t make the return, it would seem the bullpen might still be a viable option for him, which would give Perkins or Duensing a shot at the rotation. Perkins is a guy who could well be traded before the beginning of the season. It’s possible that Perk would have already been dealt, but teams that might be interested may still have concerns over his oft-injured shoulder and would like to see him throw in spring before committing to any deal for the Stillwater, MN native. Perkins has had issues on and off the field. He has mixed up a few brilliant starts at the Major League level with a few really bad ones. The problem with evaluating these starts is that no one seems to be sure when Perkins is healthy and when he is not. He pitched at least part of last season while dealing with an undisclosed shoulder injury that ultimately ended his season. When the Twins declined to add him to the major league roster upon his return from injury, instead optioning him to AAA, Perkins handled the situation like a true professional by filing a grievance with the union against the team. The grievance was dealt with privately, but it would not be surprising if bad blood still existed on each side. Regardless of this incident, Duensing was very sharp at the end of the season and likely had moved ahead of Perkins based on performance alone. Duensing pitched admirably in a tough spot against the Yankees in the playoffs and showed that he could be relied upon in big games. All of these guys seem to have a claim to that 5th and final spot in the rotation, but only one will be able to claim it.

Prediction: Pavano, Baker, Blackburn, Slowey, and Liriano get the starting nod, Duensing pitches out of the ‘pen, Swarzak goes to AAA, and Perkins is either traded or optioned to the minors.

3. How will the Twins manage the at-bats of Delmon Young, Jason Kubel, and Jim Thome?

The addition of Thome to the roster answered the question of who the big bat on the bench will be in 2010, but created a question as to how Thome will ultimately be used. In a perfect world, Gardy would love to write Delmon and Kubel into the lineup at LF and DH 150 times this year. They are each young players with a lot of ability, but each has their weaknesses. Kubel has had his issues against LH pitching throughout his career. Last season, Kubel had an amazing .300/.369/.540 line overall, but hit just .243/.299/.345 against lefties. (For those of you not in the know, those numbers I just used stand for a player’s batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage. If you don’t know what those three things calculate, I can’t help you.) Regardless of the configuration of the lineup, Kubel is likely going to have to play against lefties, meaning that he’ll have to improve or risk losing AB’s to Brendan Harris. Brendan might be a nice guy, but I don’t think it would do much for Kubel’s self-esteem to lose playing time to him. Thome didn’t fare much better against lefties last year, going .209/.314/.429. The best bet against lefties would seem to be to leave Delmon in leftfield and hope that Kubel turns it around against southpaws. Jason still has only logged about 400 at bats against lefties in the major leagues, and former Twins manager Tom Kelly has always said that you need to have a sample size of 1000 at bats before you really know what a player is, so there is the potential for improvement there. The real conundrum comes when the Twins face tough RH starting pitchers. Delmon Young has been quite the enigma for the Twins over the past two seasons. Last year, for example, he managed to hit under .250 in both April and May and hit just three homeruns prior to August 1st. From August 1 to the end of the season, however, Delmon hit over .300, cracked 9 HR’s, and saw his on-base % increase dramatically. This begs the question heading into this season of which Delmon are we going to get? Will we get the guy resembling a big kid who hasn’t figured out how to manage his suddenly massive body, or will we get the guy who can knock a ball as far as anybody on the team and be a real menace at the bottom of the order? If we get more of the former than the latter, expect to see Thome DH against righties with Kubel playing left field and “Del-Money” riding the bench.

Prediction: Thome is used largely as a spot starter at DH and pinch hitter, ends up with about 200 AB’s, while Delmon breaks through and Kubel continues to hit like he did a year ago.

There is a lot to like about this season’s incarnation of the Minnesota Twins. With Mauer, Morneau, Cuddyer, Kubel, and Span, there is a lot of top-end talent to be excited about. With the potential addition of Orlando Hudson and the already completed additions of shortstop JJ Hardy and DH Jim Thome, there are plenty of new-comers to get to know as the season moves along. With the late-season addition of Jon Rausch last year and the potential return of side-slinging Minnesotan Pat Neshek to the back-end of the bullpen, the relief unit has the potential to be much improved over where it began last year. Gone are the likes of Sean Henn and Bobby Keppel, hopefully gone are the 6 run innings against the bullpen that happened a little too frequently in 2009. With the Twins having resolved most of their issues prior to Spring Training, I’m looking forward to the start of the season as much as I have in a long time.

Season Prediction: Yeah, right. I’m not ready yet. I’ll do this after Spring Training.

The Agony of Defeat

This was an article that probably should have been written earlier in the week, but I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Even though I’m 26 years old, I still live and die with my Minnesota teams, and without a doubt, I am connected strongest to the Vikings. Football lends itself to an emotional attachment between the teams and their fans, and I have certainly fallen victim to the dark side of that relationship on a few occasions. Three times in my life the Vikings have lost games that absolutely ripped my heart out, with each loss having its own gut-wrenching dynamic.

In 1999, The Game Who’s Name We Shall Not Speak still makes me shudders when I think about it. The NFL Network played a replay of that game last year, and I thought about watching it, but just couldn’t bring myself to do it. Even 10 years later, the wounds were still too fresh. What made this one sting so much was that the Vikings were clearly the best team in the NFC all year, going 15-1 during the regular season, with their lone loss coming in a close game in Tampa Bay. With an offense that consisted of rookie Randy Moss, Cris Carter, Jake Reed, Robert Smith, a rejuvenated Randall Cunningham, and one of the best o-lines ever constructed, the Vikings set an NFL record for points scored in a season. Even in The Game Who’s Name We Shall Not Speak, the Vikes were in control of things the entire time. Gary Anderson, who became the first kicker in NFL history to go through an entire NFL season without missing an extra point or field goal, hooked a 39 yard kick late in the 4^th quarter that would have sealed the deal. All in all, this is the toughest loss I’ve ever had to endure as a sports fan. I was just 15 years old when the game was played, and was simply ill-equipped to deal with such a blow.

In 2003, the second “Heartbreak Hotel” game of my Vikings fandom occurred in Arizona, when a last second TD by the Cardinals knocked the Vikings out of the playoffs. What makes this game hurt still today is that the final score would not count under the NFL’s current rules regarding receivers being forced out of bounds. Cardinals’ receiver Nate Poole was ruled to have been pushed out of bounds prior to landing with the ball, which at the time constituted a complete pass. The force out rule was abolished a couple of years ago. This falls below The Game Who’s Name We Shall Not Speak on the “agony meter” because the Vikings were not a great team that year and likely would have been an easy out in the playoffs. Still, it really sucked. I was catatonic for a good hour after that one.

The third game, and the potential leader in the clubhouse as most painful Vikings losses of my life, happened on Sunday in New Orleans. It’s still too soon to evaluate the historical significance of this loss, but my gut tells me that I won’t be forgetting this game for quite some time. The Vikes and Saints were both coming off of blowout wins in the Divisional Playoff round, with the Vikings beating a Cowboys team that had defeated the Saints in New Orleans late in the regular season. The Saints were coming off of an equally impressive victory over a Cardinals club that had destroyed the Vikings in Arizona just a few weeks earlier. Each team had prolific offenses with playmakers at every position. Drew Brees was the NFL’s highest rated passer during the regular season. Brett Favre was the second rated passer. The Vikings defense had its issues stopping teams with quick-strike passing attacks, which was the exact style the Saints had employed all season. The Saints had their problems with teams who like to run the ball between the tackles, and with Adrian Peterson lining up behind the quarterback for the Vikes, they were certainly capable of exploiting this weakness. Every stat, trend, and matchup pointed to this game being an epic battle between two evenly matched opponents that could go down in the books as one of the best NFC Championship games ever. While the two teams proved to not be as evenly matched as most people thought, the game was certainly an instant classic…if you’re a Saints fan. I am not a Saints fan. This game sucked.

(Disclaimer: The following argument is not in any way meant to discredit the effort the Saints gave on Sunday. They played hard, if not well, and in the end probably deserved to win that game despite all that I’m about to discuss. I’m happy for the people of New Orleans, who needed this win as much as any fan base has needed any win, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. So there.)

While most of the so-called pundits proclaimed during the week leading up to the game that the Saints were the better team and that the Vikings would need to play a perfect game to beat them, I felt this viewpoint to be erroneous. I had seen enough of each of these squads to form the opinion that, all in all, the Vikings had more talent and that it was the Saints who would have to play up to their level. While a lot of people were making a big deal about the noise of the Superdome being a big issue for Minnesota, the truth of the matter is that such trivialities mean very little in games of such magnitude. It’s not as if the Vikings were going to show up for the game, hear the crowd noise, and get intimidated and decide to go home. Crowd noise is typically only an issue for the first couple of drives in a game, if that. In this case, the Viking went down the field and scored a TD on their first possession, indicating that the noise was not going to be a problem. My pre-game analysis was that if the Vikings played to their potential, there was nothing the Saints would be able to do to overcome the gap in ability on the field. It turns out that I may have been right. Unfortunately, none of that mattered.

The Vikings dominated the Saints on Sunday. I repeat: The Vikings DOMINATED the Saints on Sunday. They outgained the Saints by over 200 yards, becoming the first team to do this and lose an NFL playoff game in the history of the NFL playoffs. Brett Favre, despite getting the ever-living snot knocked out of him, played well enough to win that football game. His interception at the end of regulation was devastating, but as I will illustrate, he shouldn’t have been in a situation where he had to make a play at the end of the game for the Vikings to win. Adrian Peterson ran with authority and was as good as he had been all season. Defensively, the Vikings slowed the Saints running game and kept enough pressure on Brees to make him uncomfortable in the pocket and force some uncharacteristically errant throws from the 2009 MVP runner-up. The Saints had seven drives that were 3-and-outs and only had two drives that lasted more than 4 plays during regulation (their first two TD drives). The Saints never had a possession last longer than 3:05 until their overtime drive, which lasted 4:45. The Saints never gained more than 9 yards on any drive that didn’t result in points. They averaged more than 4 yards per play on just three of their 14 possessions. Cumulatively, these stats display just how dominating the Vikes were defensively throughout the game. If you had told me before the game that all the previous occurrences would take place, I would have said that the Vikings probably won going away. However, numerous mistakes by the offense and a little help in some key spots from the refs made sure that wasn’t the case.

I’m not going to blame the referees for this loss. It would be really easy to do so, but I’m not going to stoop to that level. I will, however, discuss the three calls that truly changed the course of this game. The three game changers (in chronological order) were the no-call on Bobby McCray’s low hit on Favre, the replay “confirmation” of Pierre Thomas’ first down run in overtime, and the pass interference penalty on Ben Leber that set up the game winning FG for the Saints. The most important of these was the call on 4^th and 1 that gave the Saints that all-important first down in OT. Initially, it seemed as though Thomas clearly reached the line-to-gain and had the first down. Upon further review, it was evident that Chad Greenway’s helmet knocked the ball loose from Thomas’ grip and that by the time he regained possession he had been pushed back behind the first down line. In my admittedly biased view, it was clear that after fumbling and recovering the ball, Thomas was nowhere near the first down anymore. I was in complete shock that the call was not overturned. Had it been, it is likely that the Vikings would have been able to get the 30 or so yards they needed to get into field goal range and would have at least had a chance to win the game. The least important was probably the PI on Leber, although it may have been the most egregious call of the three. First of all, I’m not sure there was ever any contact that should have been viewed as pass interference. Their appeared to be a little contact, but it was nothing more than two players getting their feet tangled up, which is not a penalty. Secondly, the pass was nowhere near catchable. Setting aside the fact that David Thomas (the pass’ intended receiver) is about as athletic as a baby moose, the ball was thrown at least ten feet over his head and couldn’t possibly have been caught regardless of who the receiver was. The penalty set up New Orleans with 1^st and 10 at the Vikings 29 yard line and all but assured them of at least a good shot at a FG. Without this call, it’s still possible (maybe probable?) that the Saints get enough yards to set up Garrett Hartley for a game-winning kick anyway, but maybe the Vikes defense holds the Saints behind the 40 and forces a punt. We’ll never know. The most surprising missed call came late in the third quarter on the play that ended up being Favre’s first INT of the game. The Saints Bobby McCray hit Favre around the shins just as he was releasing the ball. A new rule and a point of emphasis for this season was that defenders are not to hit quarterbacks below the knee. This rule was implemented after Tom Brady’s season-ending knee injury that resulted from such a blow in the first game of the 2008 season. While the hit itself had nothing to do with the poor decision Favre made that led to the interception, it would have negated the play and set the Vikings up with 1^st down from the Saints 14 yard line and would have changed everything from that point on. I personally feel that the Saints’ defensive game plan was to hit Favre as many times as possible, regardless of whether some of those hits were illegal, and rough him up to the point that he would no longer be effective. While many other QBs would have submitted to these hits and left the game, Favre never missed a snap. What made this no-call even more curious was the questionable roughing the passer penalty levied against Anthony Hargrove for driving Favre into the ground earlier in the game. If referee Pete Morelli thought that hit was a penalty, then there is no reason McCray’s hit should have gone unnoticed.

Ultimately, I do not blame any of these calls for the outcome of the game. I’m sure someone with allegiances to the Saints could come up with a laundry list of calls that went against New Orleans of equal length to mine. The bottom line is that referees are a part of the game, and their job is very difficult. Having refereed high school football for seven years, I can attest to the fact that the game moves very quickly and that things happen that go unnoticed all the time. This isn’t an excuse for the refs blowing calls, but it does explain such calls to some degree. The Vikings laid their own bed in this one, and any blame being placed on the shoulders of the officials is unfair.

So if the referees aren’t at fault, then the question of who is to blame remains. The easy answer for Vikings fans this week has been head coach Brad Childress. There are a couple of arguments that keep coming up to support this viewpoint. One is that the Vikings were too conservative offensively once they got into field goal range at the end of regulation. I understand this argument to some extent, but ultimately don’t find it credible. The Vikings got the ball to the Saints 33 yard line, which would have set up a 50 or 51 yard field goal for the uber-reliable Ryan Longwell. While that kick would have been a bit longer than I’m sure he would like, it was very doable. The last thing the Vikings wanted to do in that situation was to take a sack or get a holding penalty while trying to get too cute on offense. They ran the ball with the sure-handed Chester Taylor on 1^st and 2^nd down, which is where the issues began for most people. I don’t have a problem with these play calls, because if Chester rips one of those carries for 6 yards, no one has any issues with them. The bigger problem is that they were unable to get any yards on those two runs, which set up a situation where they really had to pass the ball. After calling a timeout to set up the play, the Vikings then got stuck with too many men on the field, took a 5-yard penalty, and the rest is history.

The second case against Childress involves that 12 men penalty. Childress himself has taken responsibility for the mistake, claiming that the coaching staff was contemplating two different personnel groupings and caused the confusion that lead to the penalty. I have a harder time refuting this criticism than I did the play calling. In a situation like that, a coach should have a play in mind the night before that the team will run in case they need 5 yards to set up a FG. Whether it is a screen, rollout, draw, or whatever, it needs to be a decision that is already made. Things get tense at the end of games, and the last thing the players need to worry about in that spot is whether they should be on the field or not. I’m not a big believer in hindsight, mostly because it’s really easy to decide what someone should have done when we already know what didn’t work, but even if Childress had just decided to run into the line one more time, Longwell would have at least gotten that crack at a 50 yarder for the win. Instead, confusion set in and the situation was botched. The Vikings were actually lucky Favre wasn’t granted the timeout he was trying to call, as that would have resulted in a 15-yard penalty for calling consecutive timeouts. This exchange was a classic example of how the Vikings franchise continually manages to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Ultimately, I believe the culprit to blame for this soul-crushing loss is nothing more than circumstance itself. The Vikings fumbled six times, losing three of them. Fumbles are goofy things that seem to happen from time to time, but for a team as good as Minnesota to put the ball on the ground six times in one game is unheard of. They committed 5 turnovers during regulation. They lost a coin toss at the onset of overtime that led to them not getting a possession during the deciding period of their season. The Vikes special teams unit, which was one of the better groups during the regular season, gave up two big kickoff returns that led to 10 points for the Saints. There were a couple of times when Drew Brees passes ended up right in the hands of Vikings defenders, only to fall to the ground. When you add all these things together, it’s really amazing that the Vikings got this game to overtime in the first place. All of those statistical advantages I mentioned earlier were rendered moot by the scores of mistakes made by the normally even-keeled Vikings. In any other game, any one of those mistakes would likely have been enough to swing the tide in favor of New Orleans, but because of the Vikings’ dominance over the Saints on Sunday, the whole kit and caboodle was needed in order for the Saints to get the win. That’s what made this game so hard to accept, even a few days after the fact.

I made a joke to a friend of mine that dealing with this loss was like going through the different stages of grief one experiences after the death of a loved one. Over the last few days, I’ve been through the stages of denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and am now finally in full-on acceptance mode. Initially after the game, I feared that football had been ruined for me. I was so disappointed in what had transpired that I wasn’t sure I could ever care the same way ever again. With a few days now between me and the game to cushion the pain, I understand that this loss is not the end of the world. Next July, in the midst of summer, football season will begin anew. The Vikings will have a few new players to get excited about, possibly including a new starting quarterback, and the unfortunate end to this season will be a thing of the past. I will again allow myself to daydream about how great it would be to celebrate a Vikings’ Super Bowl victory. Until then, however, the winter will be long and cold, and the season will come all too slowly. When it does come, however, I will be ready to cheer with my whole heart for the Purple and Gold. I will be ready.

I just hope the Twins keep things interesting until then.

Joe Buck is Ruining Football

I enjoy life’s simple pleasures; things like a good sandwich, a cold beer, and a Sunday without hearing Joe Buck’s voice. While the first two pleasures are always in play, Vikings fans will have to live without the third two weeks in a row. Somehow, despite a clear public sentiment against Mr. Buck, he and the eternally-concussed Troy Aikman remain FOX’s #1 football commentating crew. While Aikman is never going to be confused for a young John Madden in the booth, I really have no problem with the work he does. Even though there are a couple of moments in each game where Troy seems to lose his train of thought and starts repeating the same thing over and over again for 30 seconds, he is pretty much what a color-commentator is supposed to be. Aikman does a good job of offering up the kind of information that can really only come from someone who’s played the game at the highest level. While I believe there are better color guys in football (Cris Collinsworth, Ron Jaworski, and Jon Gruden, to name a few), Aikman does just fine. Buck, on the other hand, is a different story.

My distain for Joe Buck started to take shape near the end of the Vikings/Packers playoff game at Lambeau Field in 2005. After Randy Moss caught his second TD to pretty much put the game away, he infamously pretended to “moon” the crowd. I repeat: Moss pretended to moon the crowd. Joe Buck couldn’t have been more outraged. You can watch his reaction to the act here. I found Buck’s reaction to be over-the-top, to say the least. With all the horrors in our world, a wide receiver pretending to pull his pants down (the act was in homage to a regular post-game antic of Packer fans when the visiting team’s bus was leaving the complex) is what gets Buck’s panties all in a bunch? Please. With this seemingly insignificant moment in a Wild Card playoff game, Buck became persona non grata to me forever. The ensuing years have only done more to fuel my dislike for him, both as a commentator and as a person.

Strike two against Buck occurred last June when Buck’s HBO variety show (deftly titled “Joe Buck Live”) invited the raunchy comedian Artie Lange to be a guest on the debut episode. If you are unfamiliar with Lange’s work, he is the most degenerate member of the Howard Stern crew, which is really saying something. He is also the star of the straight-to-DVD classic “Beer League.” Since Buck and his show crew were well aware of Lange’s comedic styling, they should have expected nothing less than a controversial appearance. Ultimately, that is exactly what “Joe Buck Live” got from Artie, as you can see for yourself here. Afterward, Buck and HBO each acted as though they were completely shocked that Artie Lange, of all people, would act in a less than savory manner. The outrage shown by Buck and the network was ridiculous because they knew exactly what Lange was going to do. I believe that Buck and HBO had planned that Lange would do something so crazy that it would create instant buzz for the show, while at the same time providing Buck an opportunity to hop back up on his soap box and condemn this “outlandish” behavior. Lange even goes as far as saying that “JBL” producers instructed him to “go nuts” if fellow guests Paul Rudd and Jason Sudeikis got boring. Lange was subsequently banned from appearing on any future HBO Sports productions. The entire charade stinks of a set-up to me, which leads me to believe that Buck is nothing more than a fake wannabe media mogul .

I was able to avoid watching Buck for a good chunk of the 2009-10 season. With my Vikings typically playing the noon game on FOX, if I was going to be subjected to Buck and Aikman, it was going to be during a random late afternoon game. The 3pm games typically only interest me if I have fantasy football players in it, so I tend to only “half” pay attention to them. Last week, however, I was subjected to a solid 3-hour block of Buck and Aikman as the Vikes took on the Cowboys. For someone who gets paid to watch and describe football action, Buck always seems like he has something better he could be doing during the game. His level of excitement typically falls somewhere between a six year old child before a dentist visit and a dog right before a bath. Buck had the opportunity to call one of the great plays in NFL history when the Giants’ WR David Tyree came down with an unbelievable catch on 4th down during what proved to be the game-winning drive for the G-Men in Super Bowl XLII. Here is what the ever-creative Buck did with that call. Feel the excitement, folks. During last Sunday’s Vikings/Cowboys game, Buck put up another great performance. As the game dragged on and the Vikings gained a firm grip on things, Buck became noticeably disinterested in the game. Aikman reacted similarly towards the end of the game, but being that Troy won three Super Bowls with the Cowboys, his displeasure with the outcome of this game was understandable. I believe FOX did Aikman a great disservice by putting him in a situation where he had to call that game by placing him squarely between a rock and a hard place. Aikman is naturally going to have a hard time being unbiased while working a game involving his former team. Buck, on the other hand, has no such allegiances to either squad and therefore should have been able to remain on his game throughout the contest. Instead, he was so out of it by the end of the game that he missed a golden opportunity to rant and rave about the Vikings running up the score on Dallas when Favre threw the TD to Shiancoe with under two minutes left. This was very out of character for Buck and in my view proved that he wasn’t really paying attention anymore. Luckily, the game ended, and my day with Buck did, as well.

Unfortunately, Buck and Aikman will be back on the job at the Superdome on Sunday when the Vikings travel south to play the Saints. While Aikman’s conflict of interest will no longer be an issue, Buck’s ineptitude will. I would say that I am hoping for a close game that will hold JB’s interest throughout, but I’m not sure that will be enough for him. Thankfully for all us football fans, Sunday’s game will be Buck’s last of the season. FOX doesn’t have the Super Bowl this year, so the NFL’s biggest game of the year will not be an embarrassment of commentating like it was two years ago. Just as fortunately, Buck can only ruin one game per week, leaving us with 15 others watchable games during the regular season.

My advice to all of you looking for a way to lessen the effect of Buck on Sunday is to enjoy the hell out of Jim Nance during the early game. Nance may tell stories about how Mark Sanchez sat in the crowd at a football game once, and he may be dull enough to act as a stand-in for Ritalin, but for this week, he’s all we’ve got.

Game of the Weekend

The NFL Divisional Playoffs take place this weekend, and if you're a football fan, this means you're excited. This is easily the best round of the playoffs as we lose the pretenders that were weeded out in the Wild Card round (Cincy, NE and Philly) while at the same time getting back the cream of the crop in each league. The competitive balance is best in this round, and this weekend's slate of games is a great illustration of that.

I always find it fun when you have teams with contrasting styles, and in the Chargers/Jets game, this couldn't be truer. All the Jets want to do is run the ball. All the Chargers want to do is throw the ball down the field. In 2007, this game may have set a record for fewest passes thrown in a playoff game since the forward pass was invented. In 2010, the Chargers backfield sports some guy doing a poor impression of LaDainian Tomlinson and 5 foot 6 inch Darren Sproles. They will not be interested in trying to run much against a Jets defense that held people to 2.8 yards per carry during the regular season. This matchup is going to be like the US Army fighting the US Air Force. One side will try to grind their way to victory, while the other side will use flash and pizzazz en route to their desired outcome. Unfortunately for the Jets, they will not have the numbers advantage over the Chargers that the Army would have over the Air Force. None the less, this game should be very entertaining. It is not, however, the game of the week.

Baltimore/Indianapolis is another great example of a matchup between two teams who play with contrasting styles. As we saw last week, Baltimore is perfectly content to completely disregard the passing game and stick to the run, as they threw just 10 passes on their way to stomping Belichick's bunch. The Ravens play with a swagger and a confidence that is indicative of the type of on-field leadership players like Desmond Mason, Ed Reed, and Ray Lewis provide. On the flip side, Indianapolis is as business-like a team as you will ever see. Peyton Manning guides the offense like a ship captain. He's got his hand on the wheel and is in charge of every movement that takes place. Coach Jim Caldwell may or may not be conscious during games, but that seems not to matter. I'm pretty sure the Colts offensive line is allergic to run blocking, because only the Cardinals attempted fewer rushes than the Colts did this season. The Colts have been struggling since pulling their starters in the middle of Week 16 against the Jets, and the Ravens have been gaining steam in recent weeks. Despite these compelling reasons to watch this game, this is not the best game of the weekend.

Saints/Cardinals promises to be an offensive battle for the ages. According to ESPN's in-house gamblingologist (Yes, I made that word up...What of it?) Chad Millman, the 57 point over/under Vegas sports books have posted for this game is the highest in the playoffs in the 20 years records have been kept. When Kurt Warner has time to survey the field, the Arizona offense is virtually unstoppable. When Drew Brees has his full complement of weapons to work with, New Orleans is as difficult a team to defend as there is in the league. Despite Pierre Thomas' availability for the week being somewhat in question (evidenced by the emergency signing of Deuce McAllister on Friday), the Saints are very healthy and should be close to full speed for Saturday's game. Despite all the crazy offensive numbers we may see in this game and despite all of the amazing talent that will be on the field, this is not the game of the weekend.

Minnesota/Dallas has everything we could ever want in a playoff game. It's got the big personalities at QB in Brett Favre and Tony Romo. It's got game-breaking running backs in Adrian Peterson and Felix Jones. It's got young, up-and-coming receivers in the midst of breakout years in Sidney Rice and Miles Austin. It's got head coaches that raise the question of whether the huge amounts of talent each team has can overcome their buffoonery in Brad Childress and Wade Phillips. It's got dueling pass rushing units that make opposing QB's pray for an extra set of eyes coming out of the back of their head. In short, this game has a little bit of everything. What makes this a truly great match up is that these teams are so very similar to each other. Both defensive units were among the league's best. Both offenses rolled up yards and points at amazing rates. Both teams had lulls in during the regular season that caused people to question whether they are true title contenders or not. The main difference is that Dallas had their lull in November and have since recovered well enough to be considered the hottest team remaining in the playoffs, whereas the Vikings lull came in the season's final month, causing them to lose 3 of their last 5 games after an amazing 10-1 start to the year. There is little question that these are the two most complete teams remaining in the playoffs. Saints fans may argue that their bunch belongs in that argument, but in losing three straight to end the season, the flaws that most people quietly knew existed in the Saints reared their ugly heads. Minnesota and Dallas are not without flaws of their own. Minnesota had issues running the ball consistently toward the end of the season, and has given up a ton of yards to teams who employ a quick timing passing attack. Dallas has had significant trouble scoring points at times this year, putting up just 7 points in back to back games against Green Bay and Washington in the middle of November. The Cowboys have also been guilty of a few lapses in defensive play this season. This fact has been masked some by the good statistics their team accumulated over the course of the season, but those stats were boosted some by a few outstanding efforts against less than outstanding teams. A shutout of Washington in Week 16, back to back strong efforts against the Redskins and Raiders in November, and a nice game against a reeling Carolina team in Week 3 helped Dallas final defensive stats significantly. In the interest of full disclosure, however, the Cowboy's last two games against Philadelphia have to be viewed as nothing short of remarkable defensive efforts against a team that can really put the ball in the endzone. To allow just 2 TD's in 2 games to one of the better offenses in the NFL is an amazing achievement. Was it simply a case of one team having another team's number? Possibly. Regardless of that, the effort Dallas big D put gave over the last two weeks cannot be discounted. Ultimately, what this game is going to boil down to is big plays. Whichever team can make the most explosive plays is going to be the successful group. I just don't see this being a grind-it-out type of contest, so players like Felix Jones, Patrick Clayton, Percy Harvin, Adrian Peterson, and Bernard Berrian are going to have a lot of say over who wins this game. After the weekend is over, I believe this will be the game that people remember most fondly moving forward.

I do have opinions as to who is going to win these games. I will now share those opinions.

New Orleans vs. Arizona

The Cardinals won't be able to bring the same kind of effort and intensity after a short week of preparation they had a week ago against Green Bay, and the Saints will take advantage of this by getting ahead early and not letting go. Saints 34, Cardinals 21.

Indianapolis vs. Baltimore

The Colts will have trouble early as they kick off the rust after not having played meaningful football in 3 weeks, but will recover in time to put together a fourth quarter comeback against a rattled Joe Flacco. Colts 27, Ravens 24

Minnesota vs. Dallas

Brett Favre and Tony Romo go blow for blow in this game, each putting up huge games for their respective teams. In the end, this one is decided by who has the ball last, with that honor going to the Vikings in a thrilling early Sunday game. Vikings 38, Cowboys 31

San Diego v. New York

The Chargers superior talent level proves too much for the scrappy Jets to overcome, as the Chargers take off early and never slow down. Chargers 34, Jets 14.

Big Ten Basketball at Its Worst

I'm a huge Big Ten guy. I love Big Ten football. I love Big Ten basketball. I even love the "Big Ten" bar on the University of Minnesota campus. Their Thursday Night Trivia got me through many a week of law school over the past three years. What I don't love about the Big Ten Conference is the way inter-conference games are allowed to be played. I'm writing this on the heels of a particularly ugly game between the Michigan State Spartans and the U of M Gophers last night; a game "Sparty" won, 60-53. The Spartans and Gophers were #1 and #2 in scoring average entering the game, with each team averaging right around 80 points per game. On the surface, this scoring average would seem to indicate that viewers would be in for a high scoring, excitingly played game. Instead, those of us who found the time to view for the odd 5:30 pm CT starting time saw a game where Michigan State was allowed to do what they are seemingly always allowed to do at home. They were allowed to grab, clutch and shove the Gophers all over the floor. To be fair, the Gophers were given the same allowances throughout most of the game, but certainly such tactics were used out of desperation, as the Gophers are much more successful as a team when they spread the floor and use their athleticism to wear teams out. You may be asking yourself, what's the harm with letting teams play freely as opposed to calling countless touch fouls? I'll tell what's wrong with it! When referees "let the kids play," all it really does is bog the game down and create a slow, plodding, half court game. The beauty of basketball is in the athleticism and grace the players display on the floor, but when grabbing and pushing is allowed to the extent that it is allowed in the Big Ten, none of what makes the game great is allowed to shine through. This epidemic of rough play is not specific to the game I watched last night, either. This has been an ongoing problem in the conference since I was a kid.

Many people blame the type of player that is most available to Big Ten schools. Being that the Big Ten is a Midwestern conference, there are a good number of strong, thick, slow-footed big men playing in the conference. This type of player is more likely to enjoy a slow style of play and be guilty of doing things like grabbing and bumping more athletic players in an effort to slow them down to their speed. While this is a fair critique of the problem, the real issue remains that officials allow the big bodies to get away with their tactics. Using the MSU/Minnesota game as an example, referees continually allowed MSU players to grab and bump Minnesota sharp-shooter Blake Hoffarber as he came around screens intended to get him open. Hoffarber is second in the nation in 3-point %, and in the team's last game against a tough Ohio State team he made 7-9 3-point field goals en route to a career high 27 points. Last night, Hoffarber attempted just two three point shots, having one blocked and missing another short. He managed just four points in the game. Everybody has off nights that cause them to play below their normal level, but we never got to see whether that was the case for Hoffarber last night. Michigan State continually held and bumped him to the point that it was impossible for Blake to get a shot off. Calling fouls away from the ball on such activities are what most fans consider to be cheap calls, but as a high school basketball ref, nothing could be further from the truth. Off-the-ball motion is vital to good basketball. Especially at the college level, if teams are forced to play one-on-one basketball because their cutters are unable to run the offense freely, things will invariably bog down and become boring. The Big Ten's motto on most night could easily be "The Big Ten Conference: Where Stagnant Offense Happens." This reality causes conference outsiders to view the Big Ten as a second-class conference that lacks the athleticism to compete. Those of us who are diligent followers of the conference know this perception to be but a product of the style of play imposed on these teams. Looking only at the Gophers' roster, players like Damien Johnson, Paul Carter, Rodney Williams, and Lawrence Westbrook have enough athleticism to compete against any school in any conference. Other players around the conference like Ohio State's Evan Turner, Michigan State's Durrell Summers, and Michigan's Manny Harris illustrate the type of athlete that does exist in the conference. What's most disappointing to me is that when Big Ten teams get to play out of conference with non-Big Ten referees working the game, the athleticism that all of these team possess is put on display. Each year when the NCAA Tournament rolls around, Big Ten schools are typically under-seeded due to a perceived lack of quality in the conference and are often not expected to be successful in the Big Dance. Despite this, Big Ten teams are usually among the toughest outs in the tournament and continually reach the Final Four. Since 1979, the Big Ten has had 21 teams earn spots in the Final Four (second only to the ACC's 28) and won five national championships (behind only the ACC's nine). What this record under the bright lights of the tournament proves is that the Big Ten has comparable, if not superior talent to the other conferences (outside of the clearly better ACC). Equally clear is the fact that during conference games, that talent is not put on full display due to the way Big Ten games are called (or not called).

Some of this may sound like sour grapes stemming from watching my favorite 5 get knocked around like crash test dummies for 2 hours before coming up short in a game that would have provided an important conference victory, but quite the contrary is the case. Despite the Gophers having lost the game, I was pleased with their effort against a team with, quite frankly, a little more talent in a building that is no treat for opposing teams to play in. My only regret is that the game was turned into more of a football game than a high level basketball contest. Such is life in the Big Ten Conference. Unfortunately for the fans, there doesn't appear to be anything on the horizon that is going to stop this trend from perpetuating itself.

So what is the solution? New referees? No. The referees the Big Ten has are more than capable of calling a good game. Many of them work games in other conferences, as well, and a quick view of a Monday night Big East game on ESPN will show that their conference doesn't suffer from the same affliction. Do member teams have to change the way they play stylistically? Maybe. Teams like Wisconsin and MSU are notorious for this rugged style of play, but overall, I don't think the teams are the problem. Indiana's coach, Tom Creen, came from Marquette, which is a Big East school. Minnesota's coach, Tubby Smith, has coached at Georgia and Kentucky, which are both SEC schools. Brett Beilein, the coach of the Michigan Wolverines, was coach of West Virginia when that team employed a wide-open, three-pointer oriented offense that utilized skill and athleticism over brute strength. The coaches of the conference have the ability to play multiple styles, so that can't be the only issue. I think the main thing that needs to change is the direction given to officials by the conference itself. If the quality of play produced during conference games is going to approve, it's going to be because Conference Commissioner Jim Delaney and Associate Commissioner for Men's Basketball Rick Boyages directs the officials to force cleaner play during the conference season. Players are going to play whatever way the referees allow them to play. If the refs force the players to stop with the clutching and grabbing nonsense that is running rampant through the league like an epidemic, then after a short period of adjustment and a few more foul-outs than usual, the players will change their style to accommodate the new enforcement and the game will be better for it.

The Big Ten has to view their current situation as a serious problem. The eventual result of continued rough play during conference games is that the member teams are going to start relying too heavily on such tactics and won't be able to change their style when tournament officials keep them honest. There's nothing worse than watching your favorite conference fall short time after time in big spots, and the Big Ten is getting tenuously close to such a reality. Here's hoping the conference big wigs realize what may lay ahead before it's too late.

In the meantime, Tubby would do well to ask Gopher football coach Tim Brewster if he can borrow a few of his players. The style of play may be a bit rough for them at first, but eventually they'll get the hang of it.

Lane Kiffin: Jackass

There are many people in the public eye who make it difficult for sports fans to decide whether or not we should like them. People like Tiger Woods, who excel remarkably well on the field, but have personality holes the size of volcanoes off of it, fit this bill. People like Bill Belichick, who is so very good at what he does for a living, but is such an insufferable jerk that it's to the point of being off-putting also fall into this category. People like Brett Favre, who is unquestionably one of the greatest NFL quarterbacks to ever play the position, but who is also such an obnoxious media hound that the mere mention of his name is like fingernails against a chalkboard for millions of sports fans is yet another example. These guys all make it hard to determine which side of the fence we should fall on when rating their likability. Personally, I find myself waffling back and forth. Tiger is my favorite golfer, but I'm not sure I'll ever cheer for him the same after finding out about his infidelity. I find myself smiling at Belichick's childish mind games from time to time. He is fun in the sense that he seems to really stick in the craw of others around the NFL, and I am eminently impressed by his amazing run of success, but his grating personality often prove too cumbersome to ignore. Favre is currently the QB of my favorite NFL team and is threatening to lead them to a Super Bowl, but still I find myself unable to embrace him the way I once did Daunte Culpepper or even a young Brad Johnson. Some of this might have to do with his past as an "evil green meanie" from eastern Wisconsin, but some of it is because he's a tough guy to take seriously with all of the changing of plans he's made in the past few years. These guys all have personalities that make it difficult to like them, but have abilities that are so extraordinary that it is hard to have anything other than admiration for them. It really can be a conundrum for the modern sports fan.

Thankfully, there are people like Lane Kiffin in the world who take the decision of whether or not to like them completely out of our hands. Thanks, Lane.

Lane Kiffin is the blowhard ex-University of Tennessee/current USC head coach from the great state of Minnesota. Things are so bad right now that if this were an Orwell novel, I'm pretty sure Minnesota would ask the Ministry of Truth to change the records to show Kiffin attended high school in Wisconsin or Iowa. Kiffin first got himself on the "douche bag map" by attacking the "illegal" recruiting practices of the chosen-one coach of Florida, Urban Meyer. The problem was that Meyer was doing everything by the book. Kiffin just did not understand the recruiting rules. OK, strike one. For his next act, Kiffin drove home the fact that he does not understand recruiting rules by committing three second-class violations in recruiting himself. OK, strike two. Strike three came on Tuesday, when word came that Lane was leaving Ol' Rocky Top for his former haunt in LA. After just one season at a premium NCAA job, Kiffin decided that he needed a change. I wouldn't be surprised if Tennessee's AD put the newspaper clipping about Pete Carroll going to Seattle on Kiffin's desk as a reminder that the job could be his. Remember that Kiffin is the same guy who crazy old Al Davis couldn't stand anymore in fall of 2008, calling him a "flat-out liar" and saying that he "brought disgrace to the organization." When someone can be said to have disgraced Raider Nation, you know they're trouble. The liar charge from Davis seems to have been vindicated Tuesday, as Kiffin held a meeting with his players to announce his decision to leave. Kiffin, not 10 months ago, was telling these same young men that he was going to be their coach for the rest of their college career. He told the players' parents that he was going to be their eyes and ears on campus and that he would look after their children. He told the UT fans that he would be right there after they beat Florida to sing "Rocky Top" all night long. All of these statements have been proven to be false after Kiffin's latest detestable act. While USC is a great job and one that most college coaches would jump at given the chance, Kiffin already had a great job. Tennessee has proven they can win National Championships, winning their last one in 1998 (the year after Peyton Manning graduated). This was a school that had just two football coaches in the last 31 years before hiring Kiffin. Tradition runs deep in Knoxville, but Kiffin couldn't be concerned with all that. He had an opportunity to run back to LA and be a celebrity coach, and he took it.

I don't feel particularly sorry for Tennessee in this instance. There was more than enough evidence to prove that Kiffin was a schmuck before he got hired. Tennessee either ignored or discredited these red flags and seemingly got what they deserved. I thought they overreacted in firing long-time coach Phil Fulmer before the season, and part of me thinks this Kiffin situation is some sort of karmic reaction for letting a quality, beloved coach go after a couple of rough seasons. I do feel sorry for the players and the fans, who didn't got a say in who was going to be hired. They all saw a young, brash 30-something come in with movie-star bravado who was promising them the world. Now they are left with a coaching vacancy and the prospect of yet another new beginning that is going to set the program back even further. Not much of a consolation prize, if you ask me.

Unfortunately, Lane Kiffin isn't the only guy in the sport who is guilty of this type of treason. Coaches leaving their schools for better offers while still under contract has become par for the course over the past decade or so. Brian Kelly left a BCS school in Cincinnati to become Notre Dame's newest sacrificial lamb right before his old team was to play in their second consecutive BCS bowl game. Rich Rodriguez left West Virginia, a school he had on the verge of being perennial national title contenders, to go to Michigan, and has subsequently fallen on his face over the past two seasons.

This is an easy argument for me to make. Not only does Kiffin's departure not really affect me in any real tangible way, but I get to look down from my tower and snipe at him with no real repercussions. I'm not in Lane's situation. I can't tell you what I would do if I were in his shoes. Maybe I'd do the same thing. Who knows? What I do know is that if I were an athletic director, I would have a hard time convincing myself that this guy was someone I'd want representing my university. If this were just another Wall Street broker leaving his firm for a more lucrative offer, I'd understand. Money is money, no matter how much of it you have, and leaving a job like that is really a victimless move. The broker's old firm will find a new young buck to take his place and there will really be no change at all. That's not how it works in college football. There are victims, here. Tennessee's season ticket holders who were promised national titles are victims, and the dozens of young student-athletes who were told of all the great things Kiffin would help them do are victims. Their college careers won't be what they signed up for, as many of the Vols' players will now be playing for their third coach in three years through no fault of their own.

The third victim is likely to be USC. While they may believe that they are sitting pretty right now, I assure you that this situation can only end badly. Kiffin will wear out his welcome there, just as he did in Oakland, and just as he was in the process of doing in Tennessee. The sad part is that USC is another school with a long tradition of excellence that Kiffin will have a crack at derailing. What happens in two years when an NFL job comes up that Lane wants? Clearly there is nothing inside him to stop him from taking it. Kiffin is apparently working on becoming the next Bobby Petrino, who quit his job as Louisville's head coach to become the Atlanta Falcons head coach, only to quit that job in the middle of his first season in order to take the head coach position at Arkansas. Kiffin is one mere job change away next season from equaling this mark.

Now some other university is going to lose their head coach when Tennessee decides to pilfer an up-and-coming coach from an up-and-coming program and will impose on that school the same cycle they themselves are about to embark upon.

And so the circle of college football life continually perpetuates itself, and so it will be into the future.

Chris Henry's Legacy

Sport is full of mercurial characters that both amaze and disgust us. So many of the athletes that we revere as something more than human on the field continually disappoint us with their behavior off of it. Michael Vick’s dog fighting ring, Tiger Woods’ remarkably thorough job of cheating on his wife, and the adventures of Adam “Pacman” Jones are all recent examples of the kind of foolish and destructive behavior that these modern day gladiators are capable of. We all have different responses to their actions, and each reaction has its reason for existing. Some of us laugh off the behavior and make jokes at the expense of our troubled athletes in an effort to distance ourselves from the reality that we’re seeing. Just like we learn to laugh at ourselves during our embarrassing moments, we learn to laugh at those we revere most in order to minimize the effect the situation has on us personally. Some of us admonish these “men of men” for their problems as if we were the morality police. This reaction grows out of natural human vanity that almost forces us to use the downfall of others to artificially inflate our own self worth. We all have insecurities about who we are, but when the rich and famous among us go out and do something stupid or even criminal, it allows us to put ourselves on a pedestal above the American Royalty that celebrities and athletes represent. Others completely ignore the transgressions, claiming that they are only interested in what the athletes do on the field, and that any personal issues they may have are irrelevant. I fall into the last category. I refuse to discuss the Tiger Woods situation with anyone because I believe that it’s no one’s business outside of Woods’ family. The current TMZ generation (of which I suppose I am a dissenting member of) that laps up every bit of celebrity gossip like a cat at a milk saucer and revels in every instance of strange, inexplicable behavior that our celebrities are guilty of sickens me with their blatant disregard for anyone’s personal privacy. I think the best possible explanation for why I react to sports scandals the way I do is that if I were to validate them, it would make it harder for me to continue to cheer for these guys on the field and still retain any amount of self-respect. Sports is a huge part of my life, and by admitting that athletes’ off the field problems color their on-field performance I would be admitting that all the countless hours of athletic performances that have entertained me over my 26 years on this earth were wasted cheering for derelicts. I’m not ready to admit that this is the case, so instead of validating the ridiculous off-field behavior of these guys, I just choose to ignore it. Maybe this isn’t the healthiest thing in the world, but it seems to work for me.

Ultimately, the ugly behavior of our favorite athletes is something of a byproduct of being human. People in all walks of life make mistakes, so why would these guys be any different? We all hold them to a higher moral and ethical standard than “regular” people because of their public visibility. Whether this is fair or not is irrelevant, because it is what it is. When athletes make mistakes, the whole world sees them and silently (and sometimes not so silently) judges them for those mistakes. However, after all is said and done, the mistakes made by our heroes typically prove to be but small speed bumps on their freeway of a career. We take special pleasure in watching these fallen angels rebound and rebuild their public image to the point that their issues are almost forgotten. Ray Lewis was involved in a murder investigation just 9 years ago. Despite having murder charges dropped against him as he plead guilty to a misdemeanor in exchange for testimony against the two (now acquitted) suspects, Lewis still settled out of court with the family of the deceased for an undisclosed amount of money in order to eschew upcoming civil proceedings against him. These are not the actions of someone who is completely innocent. I’m not saying that Lewis killed anyone, but clearly he knew what happened and was familiar with the situation. In other words, I’m not saying, I’m just saying. Either way, within 12 months, Lewis was being named MVP of the Super Bowl (although Disney, the corporation founded by an allegedly raging anti-Semite who may or may not have worked for the House Un-American Activities Committee in the ‘50’s, decided that Lewis reputation should preclude him from getting to say the “I’m going to Disney World!” line that is traditionally granted to Super Bowl MVP’s. The immortal Trent Dilfer was given the honor, instead). In 2005, Ray was granted the prestigious honor of gracing the cover of Madden ’05. All of this happened for Lewis after nearly being tried for murdering another human being. If Lewis can make it back to prominence, then so can everyone else, right? Michael Vick is finding it a little more difficult to overcome has past this season as he attempts a comeback with the Eagles. He is roundly booed both at home and on the road, and until recently, his play was seemingly suffering (this, of course, could have had nothing to do with his cold reception, instead owing itself to the fact that he spent two years eating prison food and protecting his backside). Still, Vick is back and now thriving on a team that seems playoff bound, leaving the possibility that Vick will play in his first Super Bowl in his first year back from jail. My point is that regardless of what someone has done in the past, in the world of sports, second chances are plentiful.

Unfortunately, athletes are not like cats. Eventually, their chances run out. Chris Henry demonstrated this to the world yesterday when he was involved in what is now known to be a fatal accident, ending his once promising life at the tender age of 26. Henry was a third round draft pick for the Cincinnati Bengals out of West Virginia, and despite his slight frame that earned him the nickname “Slim,” Henry became an effective deep threat in the NFL before his off-the-field issues started to take their toll. A quick check of his Wikipedia page indicates just how significant Henry’s arrest record is. In 2006, Henry was suspended by the NFL for 2 games for violating the personal conduct and substance abuse policies. In 2007, Henry was suspended for 8 games for the same violations. Immediately upon his return, Henry caught 4 passes for 99 yards against the Ravens, further illustrating how his tantalizingly unique talents had the potential to shine if he would ever get his life outside football on track. In 2008, Henry was arrested yet again, prompting the Bengals to cut Henry loose. After suffering a few injuries during preseason in ’08, Bengal’s owner Mike Brown convinced coach Marvin Lewis to bring Henry back for one last chance. This time, it really would be his last one.

Henry has been out the past few weeks and was already on IR with a broken arm. We kept hearing about how Henry had recommitted himself to living a clean life and taking full advantage of the opportunity the Bengals had given him, and of course, we all wanted to believe it. Everyone who follows the NFL was hoping this kid would figure it all out so we could be entertained by his electric skills. Unfortunately for all of us, Henry’s dysfunction caught up with him before he learned how to control himself.

This NFL season has been particularly entertaining. The Saints and Colts remain undefeated after 13 weeks. Old Man Favre has put on quite a show as he continues to surpass everything he’s accomplished in his already phenomenal career. Chris Johnson has put himself in position to take a run at the single-season rushing record with a record number of ridiculously long TD runs. Despite all of these things that should be dominating our NFL-related conversations, Chris Henry’s terrible accident is going to take precedent for the next couple of weeks. The saddest part of all of this is that for the next few months, this season will be remembered for Henry’s death. Players will say that they’ve learned a lesson in Henry’s catastrophe and that his misfortune has given them a new perspective on their lives. There will be stories about the impact that Henry’s death will have on the league moving forward. Then, something will change. People will start to forget. This season will eventually be remembered for all of the things that I mentioned before, because ultimately, the NFL is about on-the-field stuff. Players will go back to doing things the way they used to, and Henry’s death will have been in vain. Don’t believe me? When was the last time you heard about the 1963 NFL season being marred by the gambling scandal involving two players? Do you even know who those players were? Would you be surprised if I said they were Hall of Famer Paul Hornung and former star of the TV show Webster Alex Karras? Both players were suspended for one season, and both guys went on to be relatively unharmed by the incident. In fact, Kentucky’s high school football player of the year award is still called the Paul Hornung Award. This entire incident has been completely forgotten by the vast majority of the population. Henry’s incident will end up dispersing into thin air the way other mistakes of the past have. That’s just the way these things play out over time.

There is one person who I pray learns a lifelong lesson from Henry’s tragedy. Pacman Jones was a teammate of Henry’s at West Virginia. Jones is a young man whose life has taken a path similar to that of Henry’s. Pacman’s issues have become so cumbersome that he is not playing in the NFL this season despite having no pending suspensions or no existing injuries to preclude his participation. The 32 NFL teams have simply decided that his antics and troublesome tendencies are too much to tolerate. When the NFL decides you’re too much trouble to employ, regardless of your world class skills, it should be a wake-up call of epic proportions. If, somehow, Jones has found a way to ignore such a slap in the face, Henry’s death should act as the ultimate display of how his life could wind up if he doesn’t change his ways. Henry’s death doesn’t have to become a largely insignificant footnote during an historic NFL season. It can have a lasting impression on the life of another trouble young man who was given too much, too soon and has proven incapable of handling it. “Pacman” can become ‘Adam’ again and be a fully functioning member of the NFL community if he commits himself to rebuilding his life. Let’s all hope he takes this tragedy and uses it to reevaluate his situation so none of us have to go through losing another athlete in this most horrific of ways.

Personally, I’d like to extend my deepest sympathies to those who were close to Chris Henry. Let's hope Chris' legacy is that of inspiring change in the life of others and not for squandering the potential of his.