Randy Moss Retirement

After a long hiatus I am returning, for the 6 of you who read my posts I am very infrequent and usually only post when the mood strikes me, such is the case with this post.

As you have gathered, this post shall be about the retirement of Randy Moss.

I fell in love with Moss when he burst onto the scene in 1998 with the Vikings. As a Vikings fan who was in third grade at the time, nothing was more exciting than watching Moss streak by a defensive back (who a defensive coordinator was foolish enough to not give any safety help to) and catch a ball from Randall Cunningham on his way to the endzone. The NFL had never scene an athlete with that combination of speed, size and athleticism and he had a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas.

The Vikings drafter Moss with the 22nd overall pick in the 1998 NFL draft, Moss was the best receiver and athlete in the draft but some "character issues" saw him slip from Top-10 talent to the bottom of the first round. For his entire rookie he was the most exciting player in the league, scoring 17 touchdowns en route to the Rookie of the Year award and giving the Vikings their best season in franchise history with a 15-1 record, he even caught a touchdown pass in the NFC Championship Game. For the rest of his career in Minnesota, Moss was a fan favorite (including this fan) and one of the top receivers in the NFL.

Randy Moss was also a unique personality. Like many receivers, he wanted the ball all the time and was unhappy when he didn't get it. This personality trait, along with some questionable off the field choices (including hitting a Minneapolis traffic cop with his car) led to his departure from Minnesota via a trade to the Oakland Raiders. Moss spent two years in Oakland, where he had his least productive years of his professional career before being dealt to the New England Patriots after more complaining about the franchise.

In New England, Moss showed the spark that allowed fans to fall in love with him when he first burst onto the NFL scene. He proved nearly impossible to cover and caught an NFL record 27 touchdown passes in 2007. Moss was productive with the Patriots before being traded back to the Vikings during the 2010 season. The Vikings released him later in the year and Moss finished the season as a Tennessee Titan.

Moss announced his retirement today, to me his legacy is simple. He was one of the best athletes the NFL has ever seen. I've heard a lot of comparisons to Jerry Rice today in light of the news of Moss's retirement, to me its a bit unfair. Moss forever changed the way defenses prepared for receivers of his caliber. He was the best deep threat the game has ever seen, and in my opinion will ever see. Despite his character issues, to me Moss is a first ballot hall of famer on numbers alone. He may not have ever won the NFL's Man of the Year award but it was his bad boy attitude and desire to win that made him one of the greatest players ever to set foot in the NFL. If this retirement is for real (which I highly doubt due to the fact that plenty of teams could use his skills, and if the right team asks he'll come back) then I thank him for his years in the league, he was amazing to watch.

Vikings Off-Season

As the people of Minnesota now look to survive another brutal winter in which they are left to look forward to Twins baseball in the summer, let me examine how the Vikings should approach their off-season

My philosophy: SCRAP EVERYTHING

This team needs to get back to basics...run the football, something they were not able to throughout a lot of the season because the offensive line was made of swiss cheese. The Vikes have the games most punishing back, Adrian Peterson, who is capable of taking it to the endzone every time he touches the ball and has seemingly taken care of his case of the fumbles. With a weapon like that an offensive line that can actually move a D-line off the ball would be extremely helpful.

The simplest way to rebuild the offensive line is through the draft, and there are several strong prospects this year. I realize that new head coach Leslie Frazier has already said he's looking for the next Matt Ryan but there are options at quarterback in free agency that could benefit the Vikings without the team needing to spend another year in mediocrity. Recent examples of Joe Flacco, Matt Ryan and Sam Bradford show that college quarterbacks are capable of having an immediate improvement and playoff berths. But with the Vikings picking 12th and Andrew Luck not coming out, any quarterback in this year's draft would be a project with no one for the potential rookie to learn under. This means another year of .500 at best. Cam Newton is an athlete, lots of potential but needs to learn the pro game. Ryan Mallet has a huge arm but by all accounts could be the next Ryan Leaf (he's also rumored to score single digits on the wonderlich test). Jake Locker's stock has dropped big from last year, and Blaine Gabbert is the best prospect but played in the spread offense at Mizzou, coming from a pro-style offense would be a great help to him. Due to this I think the Vikings should grab an offensive tackle.

Obviously the Vikings need an upgrade at Quarterback but they can do it through free agency. Washington looks like their going to part ways with Donovan McNabb and Tennessee has already declared that Vince Young will not be back next season. McNabb is a proven pro who given the right weapons can flourish...no offense to the Redskins but Ryan Torrain and Santana Moss are not Adrian Peterson and Sidney Rice. As far as Young, yes he's by no means a proven passer, but he's a proven winner. Young is 30-17 in NFL starts and he did much of that managing an offense that already had a strong running game with Chris Johnson and Lendale White with mediocre receivers. Young's receivers were Justin Gage, Nate Washington and Bo Sciafe...who? And both of these guys can still move a little bit, and with a patchwork and potentially young offensive line, mobility would be a plus for the veteran signal caller the Vikes desperately need.

Of course the defensive backfield also needs work, but the defense ranked in the top 10 this season so the offense needs the most work now. Viking fans are in for an eventful off-season, and thats without considering the fact that they may be leaving Minnesota...

I'm Back

After a considerable absence, you can thank my professors, I am back. A lot has happened in the time I've been gone...lets recap. Our country is now more conservative after the midterm elections, the San Francisco Giants played the Texas Rangers in possibly the most boring World Series Ever...and if Josh Hamilton is still on the Wagon after going 2 for the World Series I am convinced he has jedi mind powers because I don't know how you don't drown your sorrows after that...also the Vikings traded for, and then released Randy Moss...which brings us to today's topic, the implosion of the Minnesota Vikings Franchise.

HOW, HOW, HOW do you give up a third round pick for Randy Moss in the first place? Yes he is still a deep threat but every NFL defense has clued into the fact that the Vikings offensive line is made of swiss cheese...and the quarterback that was supposed to throw him the ball is going to have alzheimers by the end of the season. Ok, maybe they wanted a playmaker, I can buy that. Next, you make no effort to incorporate him into the offense so he has less than 20 receptions in four games...for an elite NFL receiver that is awful. Then you decide to cut him while your on the hook for your salary, congrats Brad Childress, you gave up a draft pick and 4 million dollars for two touchdowns and less than 20o yards receiving...solid month of October.

Brad Childress wonders why people in Minnesota want him fired, when asked if he thought he had lost the locker room he said "I don't even know what that means"...um, I do it means that your cold and your players don't respect you which you can clearly see by their effort on the field, this would NEVER happen in New England under the sleevless sweatshirt reign of double B. Brad Childress...you deserve to be fired, with the exception of Adrian Peterson you've had terrible drafts, for the past two years you've given Brett Favre a leash that a grey hound could use to run a full race around a track with some slack leftover, and you've turned players in the locker room against eachother...a head football coach doesn't do things like that...have fun next season as an offensive coordinator somewhere with an offense that might work if it were the 1970's. Best of luck to you.

Bored on a Wednesday Night

As you can probably guess from my title, I have nothing to do this evening so I've decided to update my lovely sports opinion blog rather than pack it in at 9:00, what self respecting college student thinks of that...probably the kind who's roommate goes downstairs to watch a movie with a girl...wait a second???

Anyway, today's topic: Josh Hamilton

Anyone closely following baseball knows by now that the Texas Rangers have clinched the American League West with plenty of time to spare. Anyone who has ever seen a sports highlight show knows how the night ends after a team clinches a playoff birth...the team goes back into the locker room and pops $3.00 a bottle champagne from the closest wal-mart and showers beer all over everyone and their mother...or father, I don't judge. Personally I've always wondered how rookie phenoms who are under the age of 21 are allowed to take part in these sorts of celebrations...this is America and we follow the law, most of the times, ok sometimes, ok...almost never when it comes to those that Moses and his Ten Commandments didn't address.

But I digress, when the Texas Rangers clinched, Josh Hamilton stayed away from his teams celebration because he has a history of alchohol abuse that derailed his major league career once before. It takes some pretty strong character to not take fun in something that you've never experianced before, Hamilton's never made the playoffs, he doesn't know what that feels like. His bat is a big part of how the Rangers made the playoffs in the first place, and yet he stayed strong to his lifetime rehabilitation program and abstained from the drinking.

While I personally have never battled substance abuse of any kind, everyone knows someone who has been affected by someone who has a substance abuse problem. So everyone knows that straying from the path once can lead to a hard crash from a partially climbed ladder, and that temptation is something recovering addicts battle every single day. So while Josh Hamilton's post game celebration may not have been ideal, it was the right decision and I applaud him for doig so.

Switching It Up

I started this blog as a required component for an online journalism class that I was taking my sophomore year of college. To this point it was used specifically to inform my professor as to how I was doing in building my website for the class. Quite frankly, that's boring. So now I plan to convert it into my personal blog to comment on current issues in my favorite realm of discussion...sports.

Something I love about the job I'm training for is that it gives me something new to talk about everyday, however due to the busy life of a college student (what with class, running a newspaper section and playing the latest version of Halo) its amazing that I have time to sleep, which comes rarely let alone take time to look at my very first love...sports.

Today's Topic: Michael Vick and his chance at redemption.

We all know the story of how Vick fell from grace after it was discovered that he participated in a dog fighting ring run out of his Virginia home and even participated in the killing of dogs. I'll be the first to admit I jumped on the Anti-Vick bandwagon. Like everyone else I was horrified at the accusations made against him...not to mention the fact that I love puppies (how can you not love puppies, they are literally the sweetest things in the world) and like everyone else I felt the punishment passed down on Vick was justified.

That being said, he has done his time in jail and is in his second full year of reinstatement in the NFL and whats more impressive, after a two year layoff and a year as Donovan Mcnabb's ball boy...he's lighting it up.

Two games into the 2010 NFL season, Vick is the most exciting player under center, unless you love seeing Old Man River up in Minnesota try and guess who to throw to when he's going color blind in both eyes, here's a hint...its not a player who's number is below 80. When Vick takes a snap he commands the respect of everyone on the field and in the stands because of his pure athleticism that earlier in the decade electrified the NFL and gave it the jolt it was missing.

His stats are efficient, he still faster than 90 percent of the guys in the league which includes most of the defenses he's facing. When the Eagles signed Vick he was a last resort insurance policy, well in 2010 it was time for the Eagles to cash in the deductable because Kevin Kolb went down and was playing aweful. Vick stepped and brought his team close to beating the most hyped defense in the NFC, and the next week goes out and in his first start since 2006, passes for over 250 yards and two touchdowns to get his team a much needed W.

After reports that Kolb was going to regain his starting job in week 3, Eagles head coach appointed Vick the starter and put his eggs in what looks to be a rew0ven and very secure basket.

Andy Reid once said of his team, "your hearts are as big as my waste." If you've ever seen Andy Reid than you know his team has the heart of Andre the Giant with an enlarged heart, dude's a donut short of owning krispy kreame. But Reid showed that his team not only gets its heart from its head coach, but when making decisions like starting Michael Vick, it may be getting its brains and some jewelry to wear on their hands as well.

Finishing Up

Today I expect to be done building my site and putting the content on it. I wrote my last two sidebar stories last night and they are in and saved on the server.

The only problem I'm having is even after I "put" some of the content on the web, various aspects will not show up even though all of the content has been posted. While my web photos won't open in firefox, my video won't play in safari. I'm not quite sure how to fix that.

This class has been a very valuable experience. Building something from scratch has given me a real sense of accomplishment and has given me a different skill set that I definitely did not have before.

Friday May 21

Today I shot my video for my website. Hope VanZinderen and Aly Kiracofe both shared their experiences through Wartburg.

Both girls had a lot of valuable insights and their comments made it an easy video to shoot.

After the interviews with Aly and Hope I edited the footage on the NLE's and exported to a flash drive and it will be ready to put on the website on Monday