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Jaguars News | Jacksonville Jaguars - jaguars.com

Fans do the craziest things

Join jaguars.com Senior Editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.

Brian from Fleming Island, FL:
Tell Joe Cullen thanks for the comments and I say don't give up on Harvey, he's only 23.

Vic: I completely agree. Cullen won't give up on him. He'll keep coaching and teaching. The rest is up to Derrick Harvey. How badly does he want to be a professional football player? His actions will answer that question.

Amanda from Jacksonville:
I have been keeping track of the ticket sales chart. I have trouble remembering what sales were day to day so I have been keeping it in a spread sheet. I have noticed that there have been no sales reported since last week. Is this a mistake or have we just not had any sales?

Vic: Sales are, as you might expect, slow. I'm concerned for attendance in the second half of the season.

Christian from Jacksonville:
I just read on ESPN that the Miami Heat still have tickets available for the home opener. When will they be moving to L.A.?

Vic: Does any team in Florida other than the Gators draw?

Mike from Jacksonville Beach, FL:
Bouman throws a touchdown pass and the score is 19-21. Why not go for two and tie the game?

Vic: That approach cost John Fox a Super Bowl title. Had Ted Marchibroda not taken that approach in the 1996 Jaguars at Ravens game, there may not have been a "Cinderella Jags" that year. When you play the two-point card too early in a game, you get caught in what I call the "two-point spiral." Once you miss, you keep trying to make up the points you squandered. It's like gambling, in that you keep gambling to make up the money you lost. I don't buy into that two-point chart stuff. Two-point conversions should be used at crunch time, when we have a pretty good idea what the potential is for further scoring. They should be used as last resorts, not when there's so much time left in the game that you'd have to be clairvoyant to know whether it's a good idea or not.

Vince from Tampa, FL:
When the Jaguars came into the league in 1995, teal was the new bold and fresh color. Everything was teal, from cars and trucks to clothes. Even other expansion teams, like the San Jose Sharks and Charlotte Hornets, were on board. Now that teal has pretty much run its course, it sure would be nice for the Jags to get a different color or identity after this past decade of not-so-good football. Teal is a pretty ugly and pansy color. Besides, it worked for the Bucs, Patriots, Seahawks, Rams, Titans (Oilers). What do you think?

Vic: It worked for the Rams? The only Super Bowl the Rams have ever won was when they were wearing their old royal blue and bright gold uniforms. I love those colors. When they abandoned those colors for a more drab navy blue and dirty gold, I thought to myself that I wish the Jags would claim the old Rams colors. The Patriots win because they drafted Tom Brady, not because they changed their uniforms. Frankly, I think the Patriots' current uniform is one of the dullest in the league, but it looks good on them, if you know what I mean. I liked the old Seahawks uniform, too, except that the numbers were so oversized that it made their players look like a midget team. I never thought much of the Oilers uniforms and the Titans' version is a slight upgrade. I agree that changing uniform design can be an effective way of announcing a new era, but you can't change your uniform identity so often that your identity is that you change your uniform. The Jags just went through a change.

Stephen from Jacksonville:
As you may know, Halloween is this Sunday. When I look at your picture at the top of the page, I can't help but imagine you dressed as a wizard. I imagine you wearing a blue robe and a blue, cone-shaped hat.

Vic: Imagine me wearing an I'm-glad-I'll-be-on-an-airplane-writing-my-stories-instead-of-getting-up-and-answering-the-door-to-pass-out-candy-every-five-minutes costume.

Joe from St. Augustine, FL:
How do you think Tom Landry or Vince Lombardi would look on the sidelines in today's coaching attire?

Vic: The thought of it makes me laugh. Imagine Landry wearing one of those hats with an oversized "COWBOYS" scrolled just above the bill, instead of his distinguished fedora? That's hilarious. How about Lombardi dressed in one of those overstated golf shirts? Uh, no, coach, you're not supposed to wear a tie with that shirt. I would've liked to have seen Roger Goodell tell those two guys they had to wear that stuff on the sideline. I promise you, they would've been grandfathered around having to wear that. You don't dress icons of the game as though they're department store mannequins. Landry was one of the most distinguished dressers I've ever seen. I'll give you another one: Dan Reeves. There's a guy who knows how to dress. Lombardi dressed like all coaches of his time who didn't care how they looked but knew when to wear a tie and when to wear sweat pants. You weren't gonna put any Easter egg colors on Lombardi. No way, baby. Lombardi and Landry dressed in a manner consistent with the power of their presence. I really do wish today's coaches dressed less like former players and more like men of distinction.

Madison from Perry, FL:
I'd love to see some type of "Ask Vic" fan contest for free gear, or at least a coffee mug. Perhaps an NFL games pick 'em or best question of the week.

Vic: Let me think on that for awhile.

Jason from Jacksonville:
Recently, for whatever reason, I started reading about Red Grange. I get the feeling football was a completely different sport in his days. When did the days of playing offense and defense phase out?

Vic: Chuck Bednarik was the last of the great two-way players. He's famous, of course, for holding Jim Taylor to the ground as the clock ticked off the final seconds of the 1960 NFL title game. "You can get up now," Bednarik said to Taylor, "because this friggin' game is over." Bednarik made a lot of money on the speaking circuit and he always worked that line into his act. I was fortunate to have seen another great two-way player play. Jack Butler, an end and defensive back who may be the best form tackler in the history of the game, was on the field the day I saw my first pro football game. To answer your question, the '50's were the end of the line for two-way players. Anyone who played two ways after Bednarik retired was more of a novelty act than a true two-way player.

Andrew from Neptune Beach, FL:
Why doesn't Del Rio play Austen Lane on Sunday for just a drive, to see what he does?

Vic: NFL coaches don't have 80 guys dressed out, as college coaches do. NFL coaches have 45 guys in uniform and if the decision is made to put Lane on the active 45, it'll be because he has been judged to be worthy of significant playing time, not just a tryout series.

Trevor from Deland, FL:
What's the worst draft class the Jaguars have had? The best?

Vic: The worst is 2005. They're all gone now. The best draft, in my opinion, is 1996. Kevin Hardy was a good player whose career was cut short by a knee injury. Tony Brackens was a steal in the second round and is arguably the greatest defensive player in Jaguars history. Aaron Beasley had a big year in 1999 and gave the Jaguars a lot of good football. Michael Cheever would've become the best center in Jaguars history had it not been for a career-ending back injury. Reggie Barlow was an impact kick-returner. The 1998 draft produced Fred Taylor and Donovin Darius in the first round, but I'll give the nod to the '96 draft, based on depth.

Doug from Jacksonville:
This may have been asked before but, if so, I missed it. In your opinion, could Bo Jackson have been another Jim Brown?

Vic: Yeah, Jackson had Brown's dominant physical ability. I remember Chuck Noll gushing about Jackson. Chuck played with Brown and he knew how extreme Brown's physical talent was, so it hit home with me when, after Jackson ran over the Seahawks in that famous Monday night game, Chuck said in the lunch room the next day that Jackson was a modern-day Brown.

Matthew from Bartow, FL:
My grandfather is a Dolphins fan and has been since 1966. During a game long ago, he was watching on TV and the Dolphins were losing. He got so mad that he literally threw his TV out into the yard. The game took place in 1972, so they obviously won.

Vic: Back in the 1980's, I was covering a Monday, day-after-the-game press conference in the press lounge behind the baseball press box in Three Rivers Stadium. It had always been the location for the Monday press conference. There was a fence outside the press lounge that divided the press area from the ramp the fans used to get to their seats. When I came out of the press lounge following the press conference, a car was stuck in the fence. Obviously, it had crashed into the fence, but this was not a place where you expected to see a car. What I found out was that some lunatic found a way to get his car into Three Rivers Stadium and maneuvered his way up the ramp to the third level. His intent was to slam into the outside wall of the press lounge, where he knew Noll would be conducting his Monday press conference. When the guy was unable to knock the fence down, he left a note on his dashboard and fled the scene. The note said he couldn't stand to watch Mark Malone quarterback one more game. The really scary part about something like that is that this is a guy who's allowed to vote.

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