Jets quarterback Michael Vick a pussy, can't take a hit

Jets quarterback Michael Vick is a pussy, complaining about a couple of hits he took from the Pittsburgh Steelers defence during Sunday's game.

Here's a guy who tortured and killed innocent dogs with his bare hands, and never expressed any remorse for it, and now he's complaining about a couple of hard licks during a football game? What a wuss. This guy is a total loser. Not to mention a crappy quarterback. Hey Vick, stop being such a pussy. You're an animal yourself for what you did to the dogs, so how can you be crying about getting hit in a pro football game...

Vikings' Zimmer a much better head coach than pinhead Childress

The Vikings may have a mediocre 4-5 record at this point, but fans have reason to be optimistic.  Great players make great coaches - but on the other hand lousy coaches can screw up a good team.

Mike Zimmer seems to know what he's doing in his first year, and first opportunity, as a head coach.  Minnesota's defense is much better now than it was in the past few years. Part of that is because of the addition of several new players, but it is mainly because of Zimmer's scheme and style of coaching.

On offense the Vikings have struggled, but having to start a rookie quarterback due to an injury to a veteran quarterback hasn't helped. Nor has the absence of running back Adrian Peterson and tight end Kyle Rudolph. Still, Teddy Bridgewater has played reasonably well for a rookie, and again Zimmer's style will help.

Even with a few misses in the last few games, Zimmer said he believes Bridgewater is good at throwing the deep ball. In fact, he said the Vikings could open it up a little more often.

Zimmer was quoted as saying, "Even if you don’t hit them, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I mean, what’s the difference between just missing the 50-yard shot or you gain one yard? Second-and-9 or second-and-10, same deal. There’s a lot of strategy involved in some of those things we’re doing.”

This is quite different from former Vikings head coach Brad Childress, who may have been the worst head coach in the team's history. Childress believed that throwing a long ball that no one has a chance to catch does no good. He referred to his schemes as a "kick-ass" offense - but the only asses the Vikings kicked when Childress was in charge were their own.

Vikings owners the Wilfs made a big mistake when they hired Childress, but they seem to have made a good decision in hiring Mike Zimmer.

NFL protecting its Golden Boy Griffin

Based on the calls made by the refs during Sunday's game, the NFL is doing its best to protect its Golden Boy, Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin. A few questionable roughing calls against the Minnesota Vikings' defense means the NFL badly wants Griffin to succeed, as a successful black quarterback is important to marketing the game. Let's be honest though, what's the point if he can't be successful on his own?  He's certainly way better than Michael Vick ever was, or is. I'm not sure why the league would want or need to protect him. Guys get injured in football even when they don't get hit, so why worry about it? Just let him, and the defense, play the game.

The 10 best teams/seasons in Minnesota Viking history

The Minnesota Vikings have had some dominating teams in their 53 year history. Let's take a look at the top ten seasons for the purple and gold.

Honorable mention:

 

1992: A 11-5 record and a trip to the playoffs.

1968: A 8-6 record and the team's first playoff appearance.

1989: While reaching the playoffs with a 10-6 record, the defense ranked number 1 in the NFL, giving up the least amount of yards of the 28 teams.

1977: While not a dominant team like in previous seasons the 1977 version finished with a 9-5 record and did make it all the way to the NFC championship game.

1986: Interestingly, while this team did not make make the playoffs with a 9-7 record they scored 398 points, the most in franchise history up until that point. The defense gave up 273 points, good for 5th in the NFL, and ranked 4th in takeaway/giveaway ratio.

The Top 10:

10) 2009: The Vikings rode Brett Favre's magic all the way to the NFC championship game, before losing excruciatingly to the Saints.

9) 1988: Although losing in the playoffs this team had a potent offense, scoring 406 points, good for 4th in the league. The defense was outstanding, coming in second in the NFL with 233 points allowed, first in yardage allowed, and first in takeaway/giveaway ratio.

8) 1971: An amazing defense allowed only 139 points, the second least amount in team history. A 11-3 season ended with a playoff loss.

7) 1974: The team compiled a 10-4 record en route to to its third Super Bowl appearance, and ranked in the top 3 in the NFL in several offensive and defensive categories.

 

6) 1998: A dream season that ended with a nightmare. A 15-1 record and 556 points scored - the second most by any team in NFL history - couldn't stop an overtime loss in the NFC championship game.

5) 1970: This team steamrolled opponents with a 12-2 regular season record before losing in the playoffs. The offense was third in the NFL in points scored, and the defense was incredible coming in first the NFL in points and yards allowed and 4th in giveaway/takeaway ratio.

4) 1976: The Vikes' last Super Bowl season, the team's veterans still dominated opponents and finished with an 11-2-1 record.

3) 1973: A 12-2 regular season ended with a Super Bowl loss. This team was well balanced, with a potent offense and strong defense.

2) 1975: The best Vikings team to not reach the Super Bowl, this squad sent 9 players to the Pro Bowl. A 12-2 record in the regular season and rankings in the top 3 in the NFL in most offensive and defensive categories makes this the second best team ever.

1) 1969: A Super Bowl loss doesn't discount this team from being the best in franchise history. They scored 379 points, which led the NFL. The defense allowed allowed a mere 133 points, which also led the NFL and is tops in team history - and second in NFL history. In addition, the defense allowed the least amount of yards in the NFL that year, was 3rd in takeaway/giveaway ratio, and won games by an average of 17.6 points. Two great playoff wins over the Rams and the Browns cement the 1969 team as the best in Vikings history.

Who was the New York Yankees Most Valuable Player in 2014?

The New York  Yankees struggled through a long 2014 season, finishing with a middling 84-78 won-loss record and missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

 

Still, every team has players that contribute to its success during the course of the year. Here is a look at who were the Most Valuable Players of the 2014 Yankees.

 

5) Brian McCann, catcher: McCann started slowly at the plate but still finished with 23 home runs and 75 RBI’s, both of which led the team. He also handled the pitching staff well, and threw out 37% of runners attempting to steal, above the league average of 27%.

 

4) Hiroki Kuroda, starting pitcher: Kuroda was steady, providing 32 starts and 199 innings for a starting staff that was decimated by injuries. He finished with an 11-9 record and 3.71 ERA.

 

3) Masahiro Tanaka, starting pitcher:  Tanaka was the closest thing to a sure win in games during the first half, before a partially torn ligament in his elbow shelved him for the second half of the season.  The Yankees would have finished under .500 without him. He posted a 13-5 record and 2.77 ERA in 20 games and 136 innings.

 

2) Jacoby Ellsbury, centerfielder:  Leading all position players with 149 games played, 156 hits, 27 doubles, and 39 stolen bases, Ellsbury batted .271 with 16 home runs and 70 RBI’s. He also was steady defensively.

 

1) Dellin Betances, relief pitcher:  His first year in the bullpen proved to be a huge success. Betances shut down opposing hitters when the Yankees had a close lead in late innings of games.  He finished with a 5-0 record, 22 holds, an unbelievable 1.40 ERA, and set a team record for strikeouts by a relief pitcher, with 135 in 90 innings. He gave up only 46 hits, and batters managed a measly .149 average against him. Dellin Betances is the Yankees’ Most Valuable Player for the 2014 season.

Jets are desperate, to be playing Michael Vick at quarterback

The New York Jets put Michael Vick in as quarterback for the first time this season on Sunday. The results were predictably pathetic.

Vick has always been over-rated as a quarterback. He was a pretty good runner but never did much to stand out as an all-around quarterback. When he played in Atlanta supposedly the Falcons had to cut the playbook in half since he couldn't learn some of the plays. 

The Jets need to hope that Vick doesn't remain the turnover machine that he was in 2012, when he fumbled the football 8 times in 5 games, to go along with 6 interceptions in those 5 games. Or that he remains injury-prone like in 2013. In six games started he fumbled the ball four times and threw three interceptions.

The Jets also need to hope Vicky doesn't stir up any new controversy with his dog, like several years ago when he posted a photo on Twitter titled "we workin" with a picture of his daughter doing homework - but sharp eyes noticed a Milk Bone box in the background, which led to Vick later admitting that he now owns a dog. He stated that he wanted his "children to develop a healthy relationship with animals."

Hmm. Well, it might be more believable if it sounded like it was something he would actually say. Sometimes having your publicist write your statements isn't the best way to build credibility.

When his kids get older they'll probably ask Dad what he was thinking back in the day when he electrocuted, hanged, and abused dogs. Animal rights groups ought to try to get that family meeting on tape, and sell it as a fundraiser.

We don't know the breed of Michael's dog; although we can be hopeful that it is being treated well, since the last thing Vick needs is for the dog to get worms. That wouldn't help his image.

Maybe he ought to ask his dog to teach him how to hang on to the football. But I don't think you can carry a football in your mouth in the NFL.

Who was the New York Yankees Most Valuable Player in 2014?

The New York  Yankees struggled through a long 2014 season, finishing with a middling 84-78 won-loss record and missing the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

 

Still, every team has players that contribute to its success during the course of the year. Here is a look at who were the Most Valuable Players of the 2014 Yankees.

 

5) Brian McCann, catcher: McCann started slowly at the plate but still finished with 23 home runs and 75 RBI’s, both of which led the team. He also handled the pitching staff well, and threw out 37% of runners attempting to steal, above the league average of 27%.

 

4) Hiroki Kuroda, starting pitcher: Kuroda was steady, providing 32 starts and 199 innings for a starting staff that was decimated by injuries. He finished with an 11-9 record and 3.71 ERA.

 

3) Masahiro Tanaka, starting pitcher:  Tanaka was the closest thing to a sure win in games during the first half, before a partially torn ligament in his elbow shelved him for the second half of the season.  The Yankees would have finished under .500 without him. He posted a 13-5 record and 2.77 ERA in 20 games and 136 innings.

 

2) Jacoby Ellsbury, centerfielder:  Leading all position players with 149 games played, 156 hits, 27 doubles, and 39 stolen bases, Ellsbury batted .271 with 16 home runs and 70 RBI’s. He also was steady defensively.

 

1) Dellin Betances, relief pitcher:  His first year in the bullpen proved to be a huge success. Betances shut down opposing hitters when the Yankees had a close lead in late innings of games.  He finished with a 5-0 record, 22 holds, an unbelievable 1.40 ERA, and set a team record for strikeouts by a relief pitcher, with 135 in 90 innings. He gave up only 46 hits, and batters managed a measly .149 average against him. Dellin Betances is the Yankees’ Most Valuable Player for the 2014 season.