Sports Ideas

I love sports and the teams I root for in each sport are as follows:

Football – The New York Giants are my team no matter what, but missing the playoffs the three of the last four years has led me to look elsewhere in January and February, The New England Patriots are my playoff team. I’ve been rooting for them since August of 2001, seven months later they won the first of three Super Bowls.

Baseball – The Mets and Indians are my teams. As you can see I’ve sculpted the heads of Alan Embree and Jack McKeon. The day after McKeon took over as Marlins manager I made a bold statement “They’ll make the playoffs.” They did that and even more en-route to winning the 2003 World Series. I’ll never forget Games 5 and 6. I attend Mets games regularly due to the fact that Shea Stadium is located near my house. The Mets are absolutely, 100% my favorite team. During a Mets/Phillies game in 2004 I got Darryl Strawberry’s autograph outside of Shea Stadium. As for the Cleveland, I’ve liked them since the 1997 season when they lost in the World Series. I loved the logo they have and the young players on their roster now. I also hold a special place in my heart for Pete Rose, who I believe did no wrong.

Hockey – The Rangers and Ducks, not much to say. Messier is my man. I vaguely remember the ‘94 Cup Finals, but for that glimmer of hope he gave the Rangers I’ll never forget him. They haven’t made the playoffs in seven straight years. I love what the Rangers are doing with the youngsters now. As for the Mighty Ducks, I am a big Jean-Sebastien Giguere fan. He is the best. To be honest, I grew up a big Hartford Whaler fan. When I was younger my family and I lived on Long Island and we didn’t have cable, so all of our television reception was from Connecticut. I watched the Whalers religiously and always rooted for them. I loved their colors and logo, plus they had some awesome players. When they moved to Carolina I was heartbroken, to this day I hold out hope that they will make a comeback.

Basketball – I flip-flop here, but I am a Knicks and Pacers fan. Reggie Miller is awesome. I am a huge Charles Barkley fan. He’s the round mound of rebound and I play my game in his style. He is my all time favorite player and basketball analyst. I like the Knicks, but the way they have been managed frustrates me. My brother is a Celtics fan, so sometimes I root for them.

What I wrote above is not my ideas of what pro sports teams should do to contend, it is a sampling of the teams I like. I have written a couple of things on this site about how teams should improve themselves. Teams that I have written about include the:

San Francisco 49ers

Tennessee Titans

Miami Dolphins

Also, I had a list of available MLB free agents after the 2005 trading deadline, so people can look at some players who might fit in with their team if they failed to make a deal at the deadline. The latest topic I’ve chosen is the hapless Minnesota Vikings.

The Minnesota Vikings are in the midst of a 1-4 start to the 2005 season, but that’s on the field. This is a team that also has off the field issues. All this started in February when it was revealed that head coach, Mike Tice, scalped Super Bowl tickets (something that in my opinion doesn’t matter much if your team isn’t playing in it). In March, they traded their best player (Randy Moss) for practically nothing, soon after Onterrio Smith was suspended for the year for getting caught with the original Whizzinator, something he used to avoid getting caught on drug tests. During the off-season, a flurry of moves were made to improve the team, especially the defense, but now they rank 8^th in the league in points allowed. Last week, the sex party scandal was unveiled and the most recently discovered news is that Onterrio Smith (mentioned earlier) has been charged with assault. Nice team, huh? Well, surprising as this may sound, the Minnesota Vikings can still win the NFC North. How? The division they play in is extraordinarily weak, so they are only one game out of first. They have talent, but sadly their coach is a bumbling idiot. So, I suggest firing Mike Tice and his no-name offensive coordinator. I know it’s the middle of the season, but after this whole scandal, new owner Zygi Wilf has to make a bold move, especially after losing to the Bears, 28-3. Hiring a coach in the middle of the season can be tough, but not to worry there is one man ready for the job, Dan Reeves. Reeves knows how to discipline a team and turn them into contenders. Jerry Rhome, who has been working with the offense here and there lately, should become the offensive coordinator. There, problem solved in that department. Rhome has had success in St. Louis with their offense, so the Vikings should be in good hands. Now, we take a look at the roster. Issue number one, no running game. Well, part of the problem is that they aren’t using the right guys. To fix this, the Vikes have to go with a running back trio of Mewelde Moore, Moe Williams, and rookie Ciatrick Fason. Michael Bennett has a fumbling problem and should be benched. Moore is capable of rushing for 1,000 yards easily if the offense just ran the ball a little. Williams is a good short yardage back and should get some carries in the red-zone and in many different situations. Fason is a rookie, but he had a lot of success in college at Florida. He’s really talented and could be a great starter. If all this fails then just go to the free agent market and sign Eddie George, Charlie Garner, or Dorsey Levens. It’s not so hard, but the problem doesn’t seem like the runners themselves, it’s just the fact that Minnesota doesn’t run the ball. So, pound the rock and solve some major problems. Look at your quarterback (Daunte Culpepper), he has 12 interceptions in the first five games. He didn’t have that many all of last season and he only has four touchdown passes this season. To fix that some of the pressure has to be taken off of him, by running the ball. If you become one dimensional offensively by passing too often, then opposing defenses will figure it out and stop you. Especially with the Vikings untalented receiving corps. Also, you run the risk of getting Culpepper hurt. Another way to help your quarterback is utilizing the two talented tight ends you have on roster, Jim Kleinsasser and Jermaine Wiggins. Throw the ball to them and use your running game to control the clock. While Kleinsasser was hurt last year, Wiggins caught 71 passes. He caught more passes than Randy Moss. Use everyone you have and make the defenses guess. At receiver, nobody can replace Randy Moss, but the Vikings have talent. I feel that Nate Burleson and rookie Troy Williamson should be the starters, with Marcus Robinson the number three, Travis Taylor the number four, and Koren Robinson the number five receiver. While there isn’t a real go to guy that will demand a lot of coverage, allowing someone else to get free, there is a group so average that opposing defenses won’t know who to cover or who will get the ball. It could be anyone at anytime. All five of the receivers should get equal playing time, so that they stay healthy. Depth is always a good thing. So, if all this doesn’t work do you know who should be blamed? Daunte Culpepper. Yet, if you blame him and need to bench him who will start? Well, one of their best off-season acquisitions was Brad Johnson, quarterback of the Super Bowl XXXVII champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is a great player with a strong and accurate arm. While he isn’t as young and mobile as Culpepper, he is a very solid and efficient starter. If Culpepper and the offense continue to sputter and he keeps turning the ball over, Brad Johnson can come in and stop the bleeding. If your team needs an image change, no one is cleaner than Brad Johnson. Defensively, all they need is for Ted Cottrell to light a fire under them, they are very talented. After all this, the Minnesota Vikings can carry on and possibly win the weakest division in football.

I’m up for any sports challenges, including the Pittsburgh Pirates, Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, the NHL, The New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers, Atlanta Hawks, San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, or any other bad team. In fact if you want an opinion or suggestion for any team in any sport (including Arena Football and Canadian Football) write me an e-mail and tell you.