The Green Era

The Vikings image has not been very flattering of late, obviously. On top of all the well documented scandals over the past few years, the team has been a perennial under-achiever. My Question is, what the hell happend? The Vikings had a solid franchise under Denny Green untill the 98 season. Since then it has been down hill. Did Denny Quit on the team and in the process sabotage the next 6 years? There were reports that when Tice inherited the team there were only a handfull of NFL Quality players on the team. Was this because of McCombs? What happend to us? It couldn't be just Mike Tice, or could it? Your thoughts?

It was a combination of cheap operating by the owner, neglect on the defensive side of the ball, inmates running the asylum, and salary cap catching up to us after awhile.

People also have to realize that during the 80s we also had player behavior problems with Browner, Millard, Kramer, and others but the everyday coverage was not as complete as it is now so you just never heard about everything.

I think that there are many things that have played into the Vikings' recent history.

1. Red McCombs was a terrible owner. He was not willing to do anyhting to help the team. He was just using the position to make money. Which I don't know if he did if you just look at how much he bought the team for vs. the money he got for it, but he definitely made money off the team during the seasons that he was in charge. Tickets, merchandise, concessions, media, etc. He held this franchise back, not allowing for any progress. He didn't want to go get players, and he definitely didn't keep anyone happy.

2. Robert Smith's retirement. This is not anything that I hold against the man, but it left the team in a very tough situation. The team had to draft runningbacks to try and fill the void that was created when this great football player left. All this lead to the inability for the Vikings to draft talent at other positions.

3. Denny left the team in the hands of an assistant. Sure Denny didn't make the decision to hire Tice as the head coach, but he sure did leave his players hanging high and dry. I don't think that any of the players that played under Denny ever respected Tice. He just never was able to move past the "I'm your buddy, you know the assistant coach" phase.

4. The death of the late Korey Stringer. I just can't put into words the impact that this has had on the Vikings.

ETC.

"bigdaddy72_1" wrote:

Quote:

---

I think that there are many things that have played into the Vikings' recent history.

1. Red McCombs was a terrible owner. He was not willing to do anyhting to help the team. He was just using the position to make money. Which I don't know if he did if you just look at how much he bought the team for vs. the money he got for it, but he definitely made money off the team during the seasons that he was in charge. Tickets, merchandise, concessions, media, etc. He held this franchise back, not allowing for any progress. He didn't want to go get players, and he definitely didn't keep anyone happy.

2. Robert Smith's retirement. This is not anything that I hold against the man, but it left the team in a very tough situation. The team had to draft runningbacks to try and fill the void that was created when this great football player left. All this lead to the inability for the Vikings to draft talent at other positions.

3. Denny left the team in the hands of an assistant. Sure Denny didn't make the decision to hire Tice as the head coach, but he sure did leave his players hanging high and dry. I don't think that any of the players that played under Denny ever respected Tice. He just never was able to move past the "I'm your buddy, you know the assistant coach" phase.

4. The death of the late Korey Stringer. I just can't put into words the impact that this has had on the Vikings.

ETC.

---

Didnt Red buy the Vikes for around 250 mill? and then sold them for over 600 mill? I dont remember but i sure do know that he made a killing of the sale of the team.

Good call on Smith. And Kory. It just seems that alot went wrong Quick and were still digging out. The more I think about it the more I think of the embarasment of the 00 championship game vs the giants. That was another low point that just makes me wonder "why"

"PackSux!" wrote:

Quote:

---

Didnt Red buy the Vikes for around 250 mill? and then sold them for over 600 mill? I dont remember but i sure do know that he made a killing of the sale of the team.

---

That's why I said I wasn't sure, just wanted to cover my a$$.

Red McCombs = Boob

yup, he made a hell of a profit off of the sale of the team alone; he knew he would and thats why he bought it, even before he did he had called a football team "the best possible investment" or something like that.........

but yeah, theres been a lot of crap that has piled up over the years that led to our decline, almost everything imo goes back to poor ownership/coaching/leadership; the "scandals" etc never would have happened (or most of them) had the players been put in their place. and we never would have been blown out of the waters in 00 had we had a defense and we werent known as the Choke-Kings

http://blackthorne.dk/ images/viking.jpg

I'd have to agree with everything noted up till now, especially the with the unfortunate loss of Stringer and the early retirement of Smith. Both have different impacts, emotionally on the team and physically. The death of any player, human being, well know words can describe that on the plus add in the factor of his talent. As for Smith who I respect completely for his personal decision to follow his own path, it was sudden and left with a huge whole that we have yet to replace. I only wish there were other players like him, with his integrity, on the team and in the league. Anyway that is why I feel our biggest concern is at runningback. Being that I live in Israel I don't get to see that many games so I am not to sure about Chester Taylor. But we need someone with endurance that can help us manage the clock better and keep the defence off the field as much as possible. By the way anyone have any suggestions on how I can see games over here? Through the internet?