On The Packers Cornerbacks, the Vikings Stadium, and the Bears Safeties

by Brandon on Apr 11, 2010 7:00 AM CDT in Green Bay Packers Analysis

ESPN's Kevin Seifert is another writer who thinks the Green Bay Packers need to draft a cornerback. So is CBSSports.com's Pete Prisco, who I discussed earlier. Once the next pick in the SB Nation writers mock draft is posted, you'll read that I don't disagree that they need another cornerback. However Seifert's point is that the Packers might not be able to rely on three cornerbacks coming off injury (CBs Al Harris, Pat Lee, and Will Blackmon). The Packers are expecting all three back at some point in 2010 (I'd be stunned if Harris was 100% on week 1), and it's not like they don't exist. If all three were re-injured, then it would cause a problem, but every position is a problem if it loses three players from it.

So the Vikings lease on the Metrodome expires after the 2011 season. The Minnesota legislature is working on a new stadium deal, but are the Vikings using the lease expiration as an excuse to get a new stadium or to get out of town?

The Bears released veteran S Mike Brown this time last year. The release wouldn't have been a surprise on many teams, Brown has been in decline and battling injury for the past few seasons, but the Bears have so much trouble finding help at his position that he might still have been useful to them. They're still looking for the answer at safety.

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Sounds like the Bears...

Baffling personnel decisions, such as letting a starting DE go to New Orleans for NOTHING…

by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Apr 11, 2010 10:45 AM CDT reply actions

eh we can get a CB in the 3rd.

Bring me Taylor Mays.

They want power. We want respect...

by SenorChuckles on Apr 11, 2010 2:05 PM CDT reply actions

Mays

No thanks

by Yankees10 on Apr 11, 2010 2:12 PM CDT up reply actions

He'd be an upgrade over good ol' inconsistent Bigby

No need for a OLB; the pack seem to be satisfied with Brad Jones. There might be a run on OTs in the 1st round this year. Berry and Thomas might be gone by the time its TT’s turn.

Taylor Mays

Pros: great size, terrific speed, explosive, nasty hitter, good leaping ability, stops the run, phenomenal work ethic.

Cons: can be inconsistent in tackling, can struggle in man to man, has trouble in space, he’s not Ed Reed.

Taylor Mays would be perfect for Dom Caper’s 3-4 D. If we let him loose he can show everyone that he can be a “playmaker.” It just might be the solution to applying more pressure to the QB.

They want power. We want respect...

by SenorChuckles on Apr 11, 2010 3:48 PM CDT up reply actions

NO thanks

by Yankees10 on Apr 11, 2010 3:54 PM CDT up reply actions

I think

I just threw up in my mouth a little

by uofmike on Apr 11, 2010 2:14 PM CDT up reply actions

Wow, the Los Angeles Vikings

As far as the divisions go, it’d be an easy fix. The Vikings to the NFC West, the St. Louis Rams to the NFC North.

I just don’t know how eager the taxpayers of Minneapolis are after already building Target Field. I mean, this is a team that had trouble selling out a home playoff game two years ago against Philly.

Maybe in order to understand mankind, we have to look at the word itself: "Mankind". Basically, it's made up of two separate words—"mank" and "ind". What do these words mean? It's a mystery, and that's why so is mankind.
-Jack Handey

by jobe on Apr 11, 2010 6:33 PM CDT reply actions

Don't forget TCF Stadium

As a student, that one still bothers me because they

A) Don’t sell alcohol (What? College kids drink? I’ve never heard of such preposterous things.) Granted, some take it a little far and it causes problems, but what about us mature drinkers who can handle our booze? And what about the non student adults paying all that money to go to a game and they want to enjoy a beer or two? Oh, and let’s not forget all the lost revenue that could be generated from it that they’ll probably just pass onto students by raising tuition.

And probably the worst of all, the team sucks and always will. Minnesota is a hockey first state and when we do have a top football prospect, they often go for greener pastures (See Seantrel Henderson, James Laurenitis) So why again, did we need to waste money on building a stadium that couldn’t even get through it’s inaugural season with full student attendance?

Sorry to go off topic, but seeing as we were discussing Minnesota stadiums, I wanted to vent. I am pretty excited for Target Field though.

by Charlie Kelly on Apr 11, 2010 9:46 PM CDT up reply actions

Thank you for proving my undying theory

Namely that the Twin Cities area is a Twins town…although I do agree with you as well that it’s a hockey area as well. The Gophers and Vikings play second fiddle to those two here.

by PackApologist on Apr 11, 2010 10:50 PM CDT up reply actions

Yea, it's hard to really make a case for anything other than the fan support just not being there.

1. You can’t really blame the economy because the economy is bad everywhere and there are still teams that manage to sell out. Also, Wild tickets are about as expensive as Vikings tickets only they play a little more than four times the games, and I heard the other day they had their 400 something straight sell out.

2. It would seem hard to blame the stadium, because the Saints, Rams, Falcons, and Colts (Who at the time, were still using their old stadium) all were still ahead of Minnesota in revenue despite all of them having older domes. Also, Detroit has a relatively new stadium and they are still near the bottom in revenue.

3. I just don’t think the fan support is there. Viking fans are notoriously fickle, they weren’t even on progress to sell out all their games last year (Hence the packaging of lower selling tickets with the higher selling Bears/Packers ones) until Brett Favre signed. Not saying they don’t have any great fans, they have a lot of them, but all in all the general fanbase is only interested if A) They win a Superbowl or have a real shot, or B) They make a big splash signing like Brett Favre.

by Charlie Kelly on Apr 12, 2010 6:39 AM CDT up reply actions

I think getting the college a stadium was a good move. No college should have to play in the dome…that was an embarrassment to college stadiums everywhere. First, the size was about twice as big as they needed, second it was a mile away from the campus, third, it felt so fake. I went to one gopher game there and said I’d never be back. Now maybe the Vikes and Gophers could have worked something out, but honestly, how many pro teams are sharing with a college team these days. The Cardinals don’t even do that anymore.

I still say that MN is a Viking state, BUT I just don’t know that they want to pay for the tickets. All the talk about on KFAN is the Vikings…with some occassional Twins and Wild mixed in. The Twins are getting really popular again with the recent success and the new stadium but it wasn’t that long ago that their attendance was WAY down too. The fanbase in MN is VERY fickle (except for the hockey fans…but that is a smaller group of VERY loyal fans) they ebb and flow with the teams success and whoever is hotest will be the one that looks like they are the favorite.

I am heading to Target Field next month, I can’t wait. Two games…get to see them take on the Orioles and then the Brewers!!

by TrevorR on Apr 12, 2010 11:02 AM CDT up reply actions

I agree that it does seem to be based on who is the most successful at the moment

Look at 2004, with the Timberwolves. Everyone loved them then and they were talk of the town, now they can hardly give away tickets. But I do think ultimately that the Twins and Wild are the two teams the state cares about the most. Even the last few years as the Vikings have had a pretty solid team, there hasn’t seemed to be a massive amount of interest (Until last season, and as I said a lot of that was the Brett Favre circus coming to town)

As for the Gophers, I think a dome would be somewhat more beneficial to their team, if anything to get some recruits from warmer climates. It didn’t feel right but the Gophers football team hasn’t been a good program for a long time and I don’t see that changing anytime real soon. They simply don’t have the resources to complete with the other Big Ten teams. I enjoyed the stadium, I just felt it was a waste of money because there won’t be a winning team to go with it anytime soon, and because of that, like last season there will a lack of fan support and attendance.

by Charlie Kelly on Apr 12, 2010 11:52 AM CDT up reply actions

Just keep in mind that the North Stars left the state due to attendance issues…same goes for the Lakers when they left for LA. This is a state/region with a LONG history of unloyal fans who border on fanatical when things are great but virtually non existent when things get tough!

Don’t mistake the lack of sellouts in the playoffs for the vikings as a lack of interest, it was purely just people not wanting to spend the money. The fans here love their vikings, but that doesn’t mean they’ll fork over $75 for a medicre seat in a sucky stadium. I think that is more of the issue. personally football games are just too expensive, I wouldn’t go if I lived near Lambeau unless I got a crazy deal. Call me crazy, but I get better views and cheaper food and more comfortable seats sitting in my house watching on my 42" flat screen. I think that is the attitude of a lot of people.

I think Gopher recruiting was hurt by that stadium, it was too corporate feeling. Lets not fool ourselves the Gophers aren’t going to draw kids from Florida…its kids from MN, IA, WI, SD, ND, etc. Occasionally a few others but that is there area. You are probably right about a lack of attendance and stuff but at least its there for the students now so they can go and not have to drive across the city while in a drunken stupor.

by TrevorR on Apr 12, 2010 3:26 PM CDT up reply actions

LA fans would be tempted to suicide if you swapped the Lakers with the Timberwolves.

Because now you have not one but TWO NBA franchises contending for No. 1 draft picks year after year…

by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Apr 12, 2010 5:49 PM CDT up reply actions

I don't think you can even call them a hockey state

Didn’t they lose teh North Stars like a year after they got to the Stanley Cup? Didn’t the owner say something like only an idiot could not make money on hockey in Minnesota? Then well he was an idiot for sure.

No Minnesota has two problems. To many profesional sports and not enough people.

It's a lot easier to love the Vikings when they win...

by Grime on Apr 14, 2010 8:20 AM CDT up reply actions

That was why the North Stars left but the Wild are really, really popular now. They’ve sold out like 400+ games straight and that’s despite them being a little below average. The Wild and Twins seemed to be loved by Minnesotan’s, with the Vikings being a notch behind each. Though when the Vikings are really good usually there is a lot of buzz and popularity amongst the people here.

Like TrevorR said above, I think what really hurts the Vikings is the metrodome. That place really is a piece of crap. It’s pretty old, and everything is just so congested in there. I went to a few Wild games at the Excel Energy Center this past season, and was actually surprised at how much I enjoyed them. And I think a lot of that is because pretty much all of my other experiences attending pro sporting events have been at the Metrodome, which like I stated above isn’t usually very pleasant.

by packallday555 on Apr 14, 2010 10:28 AM CDT up reply actions

LmAo

-
The glass is more than half-full.

by NorthStarr on Apr 12, 2010 12:57 AM CDT up reply actions

Packer Fan in the Twin Cities (aka 5 years in Purgatory)

Glad to see this come up, as I have spent a lot of time thinking about this topic. I’d go with the “Fewer Die-hard Fans” theory with a side dish of the “Don’t Like to Spend Too Much on a Game” theory.

Let us start with the appetizer, or “Cost” theory. Many of the Vikings fans I know around here simply can’t afford to go to many games (though this may speak more of the socioeconomic status of my social circle than the behavior of Minnesotans in general). Of course, it does not help that they play in the Metro Dome. Good for crowd noise but little else. Loud-but-dirty-and-unappealing is a poor family environment that eliminates another demographic of potential ticket-buyers.

Now, the main course, the “Sociological Makeup of Minnesota Results in Fewer Die-hard Fans” theory. Minnesotans do not seem especially excitable and often prefer a passive stance (just my impression, probably prejudiced by years of Prairie Home Companion). Of course this is all just a huge generalization, but if a lower percentage of your population is the excitable, looking-for-a-rowdy-good-time type, then it seems to follow that a lower percentage of your population would be the type to attend a sporting event. Of course there will always be people looking for a bandwagon to join, but that’s true of almost all sports teams.

by I voted for Kodos on Apr 13, 2010 1:34 AM CDT reply actions