FB: Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference

[RoyalsFan]

But I leave you with this thought challenge: Would the Vikes have been NFC North champs without AP?  Would they have still been champs with a different second-year QB?

My answer to both of your questions would be yes. I think the main reason they won the division this year is because of the defense, not the offense. If you look at the stats from last year without AP (except for 1 game), the total yards were almost identical. McKinnon/Asiata combination could have done just as well as AP this year as they proved last year.

[OzJohnnie]

After just short of fours years legal appeals the Court of Sport Arbitration in Switzerland has handed down it's judgement.  34 current and former Essendon Football Club players have been founding guilty of performance doping and suspended for two years.

Generously, despite this being a systemic, club-administered program over the course of an entire season, the court treated it as a single violation rather than multiples which would have had life bans as punishment.  Additionally, they have granted credit for time already voluntarily in suspension (despite that voluntary suspension leading to no missed games) so the players who come back will only effectively miss one season.

This is easily biggest, darkest event in Australian sporting history.  And talk is that outside of communist bloc Olympic efforts, the largest systemic cheating program in world history in terms of the number of athletes in the scheme.  Of course, sports writers have a flair for the dramatic (right sfury? ) and I'm sure we'll see if that claim holds up over the next few days.

Whew.

EDIT: For additional impact context, all but two players are still involved in the game.  12 are at Essendon still (18 players take the field plus 4 on the bench for each game, so that's a bit impactful), 5 are at other AFL clubs, and the rest play in lower leagues or are coaching.  The damages law suits from this will be exceptional.

The Essendon side will be refilled with uncontracted ex-AFL players.  It will be like one wildcat NFL side playing regular teams who didn't strike.  I bet their average losing margin is 70 points or more next year.  The only thing that keeps it close will be that each side is likely to rest half the team against the 'Dons each week.  They will present little more contest than a scrimmage against a practice squad.

[faunch]

"If you build it they will come."

MIAC Baseball Tournament heading to Collegeville.
http://www.miacathletics.com/sports/bsb/2015-16/releases/011116_bsb_playoffs

[Tom Thumb]

Stafford and Culpepper have/had a lot of help. As an example, during Culpepper's season he had Randy Moss and Cris Carter as his receivers, Robert Smith as his running back, and an OL that consisted of Matt Birk, Todd Steussie, Korey Stringer, David Dixon, and Corbin Lacina. That's a lot of Pro Bowlers and Hall of Fame caliber players. Moss had 1,400 yards and 15 TDs; Carter had 1,200 yards and 9 TDs; and Smith exploded with almost 1,900 yards from scrimmage and 10 TDs. Needless to say, Culpepper had a lot of help. And I do not think any of us would argue that Culpepper had the "it" factor. And we do not even need to talk about Stafford. He has Megatron! 

To your point about whether Teddy has "it" or not, I do not think we have seen enough to render a judgment. I think the stats are more of a reflection of the system that Teddy is in rather than what he is capable of. Instead of playing to Teddy's strengths, it appears that Norv was trying to find a way to incorporate AP into his system. I don't think AP has the skills necessary (i.e. catching the ball out of the backfield, route running, etc.) to do well in Norv's system. What the system requires is a Darren Sproles type of athlete, which is why McKinnon looked better than AP at times this season. As we witnessed during the Seattle game, AP was sitting on the sideline while Teddy (out of the shotgun which is what he prefers) drove the Vikings down the field and got us in field goal range to win the game. And then Gary Anderson's son shanks the field goal! But I digress.

To your first question, I would say yes. I think you could point to several variables that contributed to their 11-5 season, none of which are a direct result of AP being back on the field this year. As RoyalsFan pointed out, the defense made a huge leap under Zimmer's second season. They allowed the fifth-fewest points in the NFL and on average they gave up 3 fewer points this season compared to last season. The Vikings lost 4 games last year by 3 points or less, several of those games the defense lost during the final drive.

To your second question, the answer is, it depends. Blake Bortes? Maybe. Derek Carr? I think so. Jimmy Garoppolo? Anyone's guess. Johnny Manziel? Heck no! When you look at the other second-year QBs in Teddy's class, it is impossible to project how they would have performed in the Viking's system. Each QB has unique skill sets that may or may not work with Norv's system. While theoretically, the answer to your question is, "yes", the issue is really the fact that the Viking's system relegates Teddy to a game manager. I think they need to let him be a little more aggressive.

We still do not know if Teddy has the "it" or not, because he has not been given the opportunity to sink or swim. I think it is too soon to write him off and start looking for a new QB until we at least give him the opportunity to succeed.

And I'm not saying Teddy will be the next Manning or Brady, but I do think he has the potential to be as good as a Phillip Rivers or Matt Ryan. I think as Viking's fans we are a bit envious of some of the other great QBs in the league and dang it, we want one too! But there are only a handful of those guys and you can still win a lot of games and even Super Bowls with a good QB under center.

[GoldandBlueBU]

Is this really what it has come to?  The WIAC board has some explaining to do... http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/01/11/wisconsin-high-school-basketball-air-ball-scoreboard-chants-banned

[BDB]

Is this really what it has come to?  The WIAC board has some explaining to do... http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/01/11/wisconsin-high-school-basketball-air-ball-scoreboard-chants-banned

My son told me about this when he came home from high school yesterday and I thought he was joking. Good luck to the WIAA on this one!

[OzJohnnie]

Next to be banned: unhappy faces. Followed shortly after that are happy faces. Then people.

[GoldandBlueBU]

My son told me about this when he came home from high school yesterday and I thought he was joking. Good luck to the WIAA on this one!

I like Oz's comment, but realistically, next step would seem to be banning any cheering at all, right?  Wouldn't want to make the opposition feel bad for not receiving equal encouragement.  Those in attendance will be required to sit in silence.

[jknezek]

My son told me about this when he came home from high school yesterday and I thought he was joking. Good luck to the WIAA on this one!

I like Oz's comment, but realistically, next step would seem to be banning any cheering at all, right?  Wouldn't want to make the opposition feel bad for not receiving equal encouragement.  Those in attendance will be required to sit in silence.

Wearing only neutral colors!

[pg04]

All games must heretoforth end in a tie and end with cookies for both teams.

[57Johnnie]

Is this really what it has come to?  The WIAC board has some explaining to do... http://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2016/01/11/wisconsin-high-school-basketball-air-ball-scoreboard-chants-banned

My son told me about this when he came home from high school yesterday and I thought he was joking. Goyod luck to the WIAA on this one!

BDB:
Us old folks have trouble understanding that the Bill of Rights now starts out with Amendment III.

[BDB]

57- As long as I and II are there, the rest will follow.

[BDB]

From Twitter on the subject:

WIAA acceptable chant: "We note your attempt did not reach the rim, but only to alert the clock operator that a reset is unnecessary."

[bulk19]

The WIAA is oftentimes "OVER... RATED!" This rule is like a SIEVE...

I heard a bit about this yesterday on a state-wide sports talk show, and if I heard correctly, you might get another free throw attempt if you miss one because somebody yelled "air ball."

If that's the case, when I'm rooting for my team, I'm going to sit on the opponents' side of the gym and yell it every time, so that my team gets an extra free throw if the attempt did not reach the rim....

That is, until they figure it out and throw me out...

I hope they don't take away hand signals, since I always greet my niece with an L, for loser, since she goes to a school that begins with that letter... Ha. What a joke...

[OzJohnnie]

Bulk, you meanie poo-poo face.

(Now you get a free post. And a popcicle.)