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Additional Minnesota Viking Commentary

Storm Signals  
If you're a sailor, you're well aware of the coast guard and navy warnings.  One & two triangular red flags are small craft & gale wind warnings, respectively.  One & two red flags with black squares in the center are storm & hurricane warnings, respectively.  Tell me, which warning flag was just sent up when the Vikings placed Percy Harvin on injured reserve.

On the 53 roster, every week every franchise must indicate 8 players per week on the inactive list, where the 3rd quarterback, as part of that 8 player inactive list can dress where new rules are now in place for that quarterback.  One of the key purposes of this inactive list is to stash injured players, not having to clear waivers, until that player is ready.

The Baltimore Raven's are headed to the playoffs.  There is no question of that.  Their roster is geared toward playing in Super Bowl XLVII.  Now the Raven's declared that Ray Lewis was not stashed on injured reserve because he was the team leader.  More importantly, this may be Ray Lewis's last hurrah, as retirement is in his near future.  The key signal to the NFL in not putting Ray Lewis on injured reserve is that the Raven's intend on being there on February 3, 2013.   

It wasn't so long ago that Terrell Owens broke a bone in his leg playing for Philadelphia late in the season.  In fact a new league rule was put in place where you cannot grab the inside of the back of some ones shoulder pads to bring down a player.  It's called a horse collar and it now carries a 15 yard penalty.  The key signal again was that Terrell Owens was not placed on injure reserve where he got to watch McNabb puke in the Super Bowl standing in that same huddle.

The Vikings could of left Percy Harvin on the active roster and classified him as inactive week after week.  Even if Percy were to have surgery this week, he might have had a shot to play on February 3, 2013.  The Vikings reasoning is flawed in that moving Harvin to injure reserve only clears one player to move up to, most likely, an inactive roster spot on our 53 man roster.  The key difference is that Harvin now has no shot at playing on February 3rd.   

Harvin was injured on November 4, 2012.  February 3rd is 3 months away from the day of that injury.  Regardless of the extent of the injury, there's still a possibility at the Super Bowl.   If the injury was so extensive, why was Percy's surgury delayed?

So what's the signal?  Are there no flags indicating favorable winds & conditions or did our owner just sent up two square flags indicating hurricane warnings on the peril of our 2012 season?  Have we just notified the league that we're playing for December 30th only?  Is the message ... "Games for Sale!" ... just been posted by our owner?   Starting Ponder certainly falls in line with the Harvin's move, on Sir Zygmunt's path to scapegoating Leslie Frazier into the unemployment line.  Hey, you don't have to have a World Series of Poker ring to read these moves ... do you?

We always tend to forget that you don't get to pick & choose when you win the Super Bowl.  Percy Harvin is only one man ... a key cog mind you ... but not the only way that you can win a Super Bowl.  As an organization we most likely are targeting the 2013 or 2014 season ... off in the future.  The problem is, that at that time, there will be much stronger teams whereas this year ... not so much.  Another way of saying this is that Adrian Peterson won't be in prime of his career forever.  On the other spectrum, if you're a rookie or a young player, always remember Dan Marino where he only had one shot at the Super Bowl and that was in his second season in 1984.  This may be your one & only shot regardless of where you are in your career.   If this is your year ... then you don't let your owner continuously press down upon your throat.  In other words, will the Percy Harvin move be the final straw on the back of this camel? 

Leslie Frazier says that he has the ability to make the moves necessary to protect the interest of his players.  If he does nothing, then all you'll get to see is meaningless year end statistics, the realization of personal goals, and the potential play of malcontents.  Leslie Frazier's hand is now on the switch.  The nuclear option ... laying waste to 31 other franchises or the entire league, is now directly within his grasp.  What will he do?   It's either forward  with pride & distinction ... he is simply a brilliant man ... or into a ugly place, where not one of his players wants for him.  The answer is clear. 



The Viking Ghost Writer
http://MyVikingBlood.org
Date: 
December 7 , 2012

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