Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Whats Wrong with the Vikes

Tuesday Morning Quarterback:
"Last night Minnesota opened with a reverse pass from Randy Moss to Brett Favre, gaining 9 yards but overturned by a penalty -- as drawn up, the play was illegal. Set aside that the Vikings have 26 coaches, yet none of them knew, or bothered to check, the rule governing passing back to the quarterback. (The rule quirk is that to be an eligible receiver, a quarterback must line up at least 1 yard off the line of scrimmage; Favre lined up under center.) What was the point of having Moss throw a rinky-dink short pass to Favre, who is 41 years old and must stay uninjured for the Vikings to post a big season?

This play was not some postmodernist commentary on the public obsession with Moss and Favre. It was, rather, an attempt to get yet more publicity for Favre, who in a very long career has never caught a pass downfield. (He's caught two deflected passes behind the line.) "Forty-One-Year-Old Superstar Catches Pass" -- that was going to be the sidebar heading. The play was the first one ever drawn up by a publicist. And it shows everything that's wrong with the Minnesota situation -- like the Jets and Packers before them, the Vikings have become a promotional vehicle for Favre, or rather for Brett Favre Brett Favre Brett Favre, as TMQ once dubbed him. Favre's media profile and endorsement deals are more important to the Vikings' organization than all other things combined. As with the Jets and Packers before, it's corrosive."

8 comments:

  1. but is he the first super-star to not complete a pass to a team-hired massage therapist?

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  2. and guess who has as many W's as the Lions?

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  3. Look, all (and I mean all) football players are over sexed boys. The only reason they televise football is to sell beer and cell phones. If they didn't televise it, we'd be happy as slugs, hunting and ice fishing.
    The Vikings are 1 and 0 in the division. They'll win their last 6 games easily, where the Bears might 3. 2 of the Vikings losses have been on the road to 2 of the best teams in the league, Saints and Jets.

    All that said....I'm getting tired of the Favre character myself. It might actually be good if he gets suspended for 4 games. Give him a chance to heal up while getting the coach off the hook, trying to sit him down.

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  4. Later,in the same column:

    Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Martz: Drew Brown of Manassas, Va., a reader with good memory, reminds that a decade ago, when TMQ debuted on Slate, I used "What the Martz!" as a football expletive. He urges me to revive this phrase.

    Early at Carolina, Martz called Flip 90, a favorite play from the Rams' Super Bowl season: Matt Forte rushed for 18 yards for the touchdown. Then, leading 17-3, Chicago faced third-and-goal on the Panthers' 1. Martz called a pass, interception. "What the Martz!" Or just, WTM! Chicago won despite 22 net yards passing by the Game Book calculation, minus-five net yards passing when interception returns are taken into account.

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  5. The Jets hired a former playboy "model" as a massage therapist? What were they trying to do--beg for problems to keep their HR department busy?

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  6. Guitarman: why the cheap shot at the Bears? we werent talking about them.

    we were talking Vikings, remember?
    and such important factors as favre, the passing game, deficiency of W's...

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  7. I read that Deanna Favre finally released a statement about this matter. She said the following:

    "The images in that text message were actually meant for me. But you know how it is with Brett -- they were intercepted."

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  8. Well, Deanna would be the best one to verify that the photos are of Brett. Well, her or Ed Werder, I guess.

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