THE VIQUEENS FIASCO-MY TAKE

Being a conspiracy theorist, I must tell you up front I believe the NFL became a contrived for television entertainment event back in the 1960’s. This was a genius meeting of the television networks and the league to generate billions of dollars for themselves while playing with the minds of the poor hapless fans. These are fans not unlike the fans of the WWF and the cage fighting non-sense. Manufactured “sport” made up to entertain people who probably have shallower than normal lives. Does the NFL have athletes? Of course it does. Are the wrestlers of the WWF and the cage fighters athletes? Yes, the best money and juicing can buy! I also believe the NBA is a phony sports league. I’m convinced it is run tightly by television and the league office. Ever wonder why Los Angeles and Boston are at the top every year? Ratings! By the way, the round ballers in the NBA are without exception, the best pure athletes in the world! They run at a frenetic pace and the hitting is real. These guys, unlike the pansies in football, wear no padding or helmets! Anyway, I digress.

The problem with the Minnesota ViQueens “sports” franchise is real simple. In the most efficient model devised to operate a professional sports team, there is always a general manager or VP of player personnel. The Queens have neither. Since buying the franchise, the Wylf family has operated it without a person in charge of player personnel. What makes this even more moronic is that puts more emphasis on the head coach in personnel decisions. Brad Childress is in his first head coaching job. He has not had a direct superior to guide him in the personnel area of the players. Why do you think there have been so many stupid and questionable moves made these last five years with this team? The Wylfs have simply thought money will overcome any bad personnel decisions.

The resulting problems really began last year with the pursuit of Bret Favre. Without a doubt, a great quarterback. I have to admit, I even became interested in the Queens. After all, they now had Favray, the premier qb in football, some great receivers, an all-pro offensive line and Adrian Peterson running the ball. What could be better? This was a quality NFL team with excitement at all of the skill positions. The season was great, I still believe that last year, they were the best team in the NFL. They lost to New Orleans because Greg Williams, the N.O. defensive coordinator put together a plan that was simple. Kill Favray! And they did. No quarterback had ever taken that kind of beating in a game before. To Favray’s credit, he kept playing and succeeding in that game. The Queens finished with over 500 yards of offense against that super strong Saints defense, Favray’s stats were incredible, especially considering he was getting the life smashed out of him on every play. The biggest joke of that whole game was the fact that N.O. was only flagged twice for late hits and roughing. It was probably the greatest qb performance I have ever witnessed in the NFL. Keep in mind, the week before, this same New Orleans defense pounded the stuffing out of Curt Warner so bad he announced his retirement virtually right after the game. It was another dirty shameful effort by the Saints’ defense and their coordinator Williams. Anyway, Queens lose and Favray started the dance again. This is where Childress and the lack of a GM killed the Queens.

It should have been stated bluntly last January to Favray, shit or get off the can, NOW! Instead, Favray teased and used Childress like a bar of soap until he decided it was time to come to camp. To make it worse, by mid-August it was a disgusting display of begging by Childress to get Favray back. How does that sit with the rest of the guys on the team? The team’s performance this year pretty much answers that question. Childress, in all of his whining and pleading with Favray forgot about the rest of the team. Sidney Rice should have had hip surgery last spring so he’d be ready for the season, instead, on Rice’s decision, he had the operation in the late summer, he just got back on the field. I think because nobody above Childress has kept him focussed, the defense under new coach Leslie Frazier has played totally uninspired this whole season. How come Frazier’s ass didn’t get kicked weeks ago about his corral of multi-millionaires under-performing? They have sucked this whole year and rewarding Frazier with the promotion sends the completely wrong message to this team. They reward Frazier for coaching a bunch of unmotivated prima-donnas. Unbelievable!

The Queens really blew the opportunity with Randy Moss. Again, because Childress was too concerned with Favray and his feelings, he didn’t lay down the rules on Moss. Moss has a history. Lean on him, make him conform and behave, and you have a premier receiver in the league. Let him loose, and Moss can’t help himself. He’s just trouble when left unchecked. After Moss’ tirade about and at the lunch caterers, Tinucci’s, the best meat loaf and mushroom gravy in the world, Childress decided it was time to be the boss and fired Moss. All wrong! When Randy is on his game, he is probably the most electric player in the league. The last time I was a mild Queens fan was in Randy’s heydays here. He was the best, and was pure fun to watch as a fan. And, seriously, if you haven’t had Tinucci’s meat loaf, try it. I used to cater lunch for the staff at the car dealer and for years Tinucci’s was my preferred caterer! My hats off to Gus and John, their lunches are the best!

So the Wylfs wait until they get blown off the field by a very ordinary Green Bush team. This was embarrassing only by the fact that Green Bush is nothing special. Even though I did not watch any of the game live, I saw all of the indicting video of the half-hearted effort being put forth by this laughing-stock. Being that I think I am several degrees above watching NFL games, I watched the entire NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Miami to determine the season’s driving champion. It was a great race, very exciting, and yes I loved the result, Jimmy Johnson driving to his FIFTH consecutive Sprint Cup season championship!

The ViQueens will continue to be bottom feeders in the league if they don’t hire a qualified guy to be general manager. The root cause of all of their problems are the fact they don’t have a person in this position. And for the people who want Favray benched in favor of Tarvaris Jackson, wrong! The only difference with Favray’s performance and statistics this year is the fact that he has been hit more than any qb in the league so far this year, he’s running for his life on every snap, and he doesn’t have anyone to catch passes this year. Give him time, and he’ll be great again this year. In watching the game film, I noticed that Favray still has a gun. It’s still fun watching him throw. Jackson can not be the quarterback ever for this team or any in the NFL. He simply doesn’t have “it”. Frazier needs to put the fear of God in this offensive line for these remaining games and he needs to get somebody to wake up the defense. They stink, even though it’s one of the highest paid defenses in the league. If are not playing hard and with a purpose, bench them. Get control back to management and start busting some prima donna asses. That’s my view of the situation with the Queens. I’ve offered an idea to get them turned around and playing in arguably the weakest division of the conference, it shouldn’t be too tough to get back to the top! Thanks for today’s read.
Cam Obert