Greg from Naperville, IL
Why do you think we, as fans, aren't patient with players?
It's because this is a win-now game and the owners are to blame. Their impatience with coaches has given license to the fans and media to act in kind. Everybody wants to win now. Coaches are hired to turn losing into winning, but if they don't succeed within two years, they'll be fired and somebody else will take their turn at the job, and that means there will be another housecleaning and rebuilding project on a two-year time limit. It's nonsensical, but it goes on and on. Some teams are paying multiple staffs of coaches that are now working for other teams. If there's one thing in this league I could fix, it would be the impatience that now dominates this league. Everybody's trying to learn how to win. What we really need to do is learn how to lose.
Bubba from Pocatello, ID
Vic, give me something to worry about.
Worry about being impatient. Worry about losing perspective, not enjoying the game and being at the mercy of expectations that are not only unnecessary, but doom your potential for enjoyment before the season even begins.
Matt from Plainfield, IL
In response to my Johnny Manziel question from the previous article: First of all, I appreciate the answer you gave. It's interesting to get a reporter's perspective on something like that. It's easy to forget that by watching football I'm consuming a product, and the reason the media does what it does is to cater to consumers. I guess I just have a more personal attachment to the game. It means a lot more to me when I see guys who have proven themselves on the field and gone through years of being obscure and unknown before they become well known and loved. Manziel has been famous for a while and he hasn't really done much in the NFL that is noteworthy. He could be great. We just haven't seen it yet. I want him to prove it.
You've created a false god. Again, expectations are the problem. You have it in your mind that a player has to perform to your standards for you to enjoy the game. As a result, you've narrowed your field of enjoyment and your potential for it. Be more open-minded. Allow for a different way. Just watch, baby.
Cy from Reno, NV
The Packers have five home games late in the season, which gives me optimism the defense will have a slight edge in the cold weather, giving the Packers a top 10 defense overall this year. Is my logic sound?
Yeah, it is. Cold weather tends to favor defense, including the opponent's defense. So what's important here, the ranking or the record? I'll use stats to support an opinion if I believe a stat legitimately represents my point. Most of all, I use my eyes. I know a good defense when I see one. It plays its best football late in the season, regardless of the weather, and it rises to the occasion by making stops at crunch time. When I see that, I won't need to look at the rankings.
Thomas from Milwaukee, WI
I think Tuesday's "Ask Vic" was an excellent reflection on why the preseason is such baloney from a fan's perspective. The NFL has clearly shown it cares little about us fans during the preseason, so I return the favor by not caring about the preseason. If you are unhappy with the product, don't watch it, right?
Yeah, I guess so, but maybe you're expecting too much from the product. Hey, it's the preseason. It's a chance to warm up for the season by watching some tension-free football. What's so bad about that? Everybody, please, take a deep breath, blow it out and relax.
Matt from Bloomington, IN
What do you think of the possibility of the Eagles going back to their kelly green jerseys? They looked great, but I don't understand changing jerseys so often.
I like bright colors, so I'm all for the Eagles going back to wearing a real color instead of that designer shade they've been wearing for the past several years. When I think of the old Eagles green, I think of Chuck Bednarik. Why would a franchise ever want to distance itself from a player that popular and that iconic? Bednarik is the Eagles and Bednarik wore kelly green, therefore, the Eagles are kelly green.
Adam from Germantown, WI
Vic, I liked the complaint by Matt from Plainfield about the Lions vs. Browns being all about Manziel. Wonder why he tuned in. He got exactly what he wanted and he knows it.
Oh, I like that perspective. It has an edge to it.
Bart from Sanibel, FL
I really loved the little "mamma mia" at the end of the "Top 3 at TC" video. Keep us laughing.
That's the second time in my career I was attacked by a sprinkler. The first time was a few years ago when I was doing a video with Jaguars wide receiver Mike Thomas, but that wasn't so bad because the water in Florida comes out of the ground at room temperature. The water in Green Bay is always cold and I have always had an aversion to cold water. It takes me 10 minutes to get into a pool. I'd almost rather fall into a wood chipper than into a pool of cold water. When I was a kid, we swam in a little river and the best way to get into the water was by jumping off a low-hanging bridge. It was called the "Iron Bridge." I lost sleep every night knowing I'd have no choice but to jump into that cold water the next day. If you want a refreshing glass of ice water, just come to Green Bay and turn on the tap.
Jack from Madison, WI
It seems to me Bostick is taking charge of the tight end race so far. Do you agree?
I think it's Andrew Quarless' job and Bostick and Richard Rodgers are in hot pursuit for playing time. I think the Packers are loaded at tight end. Whatever concerns there were for that position have been significantly eased.
Jacob from Muskegon, MI
How do you get your question answered? I have tried several times and my questions never show up. Why?
I think you know the answer to that.
Myke from Janesville, WI
I've been a Green Bay fan since 1958; never lost faith. Your column is where I go to get away from the armchair geniuses I constantly encounter. Those geniuses are always whining about preseason games being boring. What do you think? Am I wrong?
Since we would seem to be of similar age, I have no doubt you can recall the days when we listened to preseason games on the radio. We didn't complain. We were just happy to hear the names again. The more we get, the more we want. What if this Saturday's game in St. Louis wasn't televised? What do you think my inbox would look like? "Vic, why was I denied the opportunity to see that terrible preseason game that is beneath my standards? This is an outrage."
Phil from Plymouth, MN
Vic, you asked, "Should the media deny the fans what they want and instead give them what they need?" Yes. How many people have written in saying you've helped shaped their outlook on football? Like it or not, you guys sway opinions. Johnny Manziel is being super hyped. I'm not really sure the fans want him that bad. I think you guys could put the fire out if you wanted. Am I giving you too much credit?
Yes, you are. The fans have the conn. They control us. What they perceive as us controlling them is merely us taking them where they want to go.
Steve from Toronto, ON
Mike McCarthy does care about preseason scores (to a point). Two or three years ago, down eight, the Packers got a TD in the final two minutes and went for two. Then they recovered an onside kick and hit the winning field goal. In the postgame press conference, McCarthy said not going for two would send a bad message to the team. I think it showed his thinking: Winning preseason games doesn't matter, but trying to win them does.
Bingo! It was a game in Indianapolis in 2011.
Tim from Houston, TX
Vic, I haven't been back in Green Bay for almost a decade. Just wanted to say I've enjoyed reading your work over the past few seasons and how valuable a resource your column is to distant fans. Hope you're ready for a wonderful season of beautiful football.
I am absolutely ready for a wonderful season of beautiful football. Most of all, I'm looking forward to a trip to Seattle that will open the season. I'm looking forward to seeing what I consider to be a classic matchup of a great quarterback vs. a great defense. I'm looking forward to those moments right before the opening kickoff, when the kicker stands with his right arm in the air and the whole football world takes a collective breath. At that precise moment, I'll think of those famous words of one of my longtime reporter friends. "Well, Vic, the baloney stops now," he would always say, except he didn't say baloney.
Brett from Green Bay, WI
Vic, what are you looking for in the game on Saturday?
This is a nice little matchup of one of the NFC's elite teams vs. a team considered to be on the way up and possibly on the doorstep of becoming elite. I'm not going to come to any verdicts based on a preseason game, but I like the matchup. Once again, Brett, you've asked the definitive question. You are, without a doubt, the best "Ask Vic" question asker and all of Vicnation should bow to your superior intellect. I'm going to send you a Cenex gas card. I hope you enjoy your gas.
Augustus from Eureka, CA
The Packers don't run the Wildcat because taking the ball out of the hands of the best quarterback in the game is foolish. Why then should the Packers take the ball out of the hands of one of the best return men around?
I like the way you think. I'd like to give you gas, but you live too far away.
Jill from Guilford, CT
Nothing made me happier than hearing you say Eddie Lacy is having fun. I remember reading a piece about him and he had such a sad demeanor and basically said after what happened to him and his family during and after Katrina, he could never be really happy again. I do really hope joy has been brought back to him through the brotherhood of football. Thank you for making that one of your "Top 3 at TC."
Here’s a link to a Q&A I did with Lacy, in which he talks about the aftermath of Katrina.
Sean from Fort Collins, CO
"You mean like giving up on Derek Sherrod?" Vic, sometimes we have to give up on a player and see what we can get in return. I just hope this isn't one more genius move by Bill Belichick.
I don't see trading a player as giving up on him. I see releasing a player as giving up on him. Trading a player is an attempt to recoup a portion of his value.
