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Purchase of the heart

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

Chris from Atlanta, GA:
How does the supplemental draft work? Who's eligible?

Vic: To be eligible for the July supplemental draft, a player has to be three years removed from high school graduation and he has to have applied for supplemental draft eligibility. A college player who didn't seek eligibility for the April draft but has since become academically ineligible or suspended or his family has suffered some kind of hardship would be a likely candidate to seek eligibility for the supplemental draft.

John from Jacksonville:
I heard a financial radio guy discuss the dynamic pricing concept for baseball and basketball. He discussed more variables than just the team playing poorly. Some variables were time of game, popularity of opponent, pitcher pitching, etc. I think it's a great idea for sports that have a large number of games in a season. It gives teams unable to sell out a better way to market their tickets based on the specific factors for that game. Also, it can make it more affordable for families to make it to a game.

Vic: I agree that for baseball it's a sensible concept. I don't think you'll be giving a team that's 20 games under .500 bulletin board material if you lower prices for your games against them. For football? No way. You'd be cutting your team's throat if you lower the price on certain games. You'd be announcing that the opponent isn't worthy. That's not good for the game, the players or the business of professional football. When you only play eight games a year, they all better be special.

Tony from Orange Park, FL:
I know it's hard to judge linemen during underwear practice, but do you have an opinion on how Eben Britton looks so far?

Vic: As a guard in mini-camp, he didn't look the part. As a tackle in OTAs, he looks natural. You may have seen the quote from Jack Del Rio that I used in my story on Tuesday. I think it says it all.

Drew from Jacksonville:
Rob is sort of right. Why should we buy season tickets if we are to be patient?

Vic: This is the ticket-issue mentality that bothers me the most. When I read this kind of question, I really, really worry because you clearly lack the passion that's necessary for the Jaguars to sell you a ticket in good times and in bad, and I think there are a lot of fans like you. Why buy a ticket? Because you want to buy a ticket. Because you can't imagine not buying a ticket. Because going to the football game will be the highlight of your week. Because the eight games you attend every year are the eight best weeks of your life. That's why you buy a ticket. You buy a ticket for all of those emotional reasons because that's what buying a football ticket is, a purchase of the heart. It is an otherwise illogical buy. You leave the stadium with nothing tangible. You leave with nothing in your hands, only a memory you'll run back and forth through your mental scrapbook for a long time and, in some cases, for the rest of your life. If it's not like that for you, and it doesn't sound as though it is, this isn't for you. If the day ever comes that you understand what I've just said, then you'll never have to ask your question again. It's not about the expectation of winning, it's about the eternal hope of winning and the fear that you might miss it if you're not there.

Jay from Denver, CO:
I work at a hospital and doctors get free food all day long, however, I'm glad you chose your profession as an article writer. I thoroughly enjoy your columns. Thanks for all you do.

Vic: I thought about it and I decided article writing would be easier than heart operating.

Kevin from Manchester, CT:
After watching the "Inside the OTAs" videos, I can see why you're a writer, not a reporter, uuuhhhhhmmmm. Hahaha.

Vic: I apologize for my poor performance.

Ernest from Rockville, MD:
Besides Twitter and the blogs during the game, will there be new features added to the website for the upcoming season or will we get to see the return of "Here's What I Think" or "Video Ask Vic?" Would you consider adding a FAQ section to the website? I am suggesting this in light of your response to Tom from Jacksonville. It can serve as a helpful resource to "Ask Vic" readers, especially new ones. I'm sure you already know what questions would be used. Thank you for all the work you put into the column and the OTA updates.

Vic: More videos? Probably not.

Stephen from Jacksonville:
The difference is that Colin Montgomerie is a skirt-wearing, America-hating, cry baby, bed-wetting, immature loser. Sometimes guys don't need to say what is on their mind right after a loss.

Vic: You're scaring me.

Dennis from Tampa, FL:
I was at the game where Ovechkin did his too-hot-to-handle stick routine. It was not taken very well by the fans. Many NHL players were asked about it later and politely declined to endorse or criticize his action. The NFL seems to critique the celebrations to make them more popular. I love the NFL but I have more respect for how the NHL players go about things on and off the ice.

Vic: Ovechkin seems to have created a major buzz with an act that's repeated after just about every kickoff in the NFL. You know what I like about NHL players? I like the notion that it appears you can wake them up from a deep sleep and they'll do an interview. I like the idea that they care enough about the game they play and the fans that pay to see them that they'll do just about anything to promote the sport and interact with the fans. I watched the postgame interviews last night and they were wonderful. Hockey is not a very popular sport. It's fan base is a fraction of what the NFL's is, but I really like the way hockey presents itself.

William from Jacksonville:
Jim Furyk is the first person to pull off a blame-the-media that I think even you can agree with. After Tiger's performance over the weekend, he pleaded with the media to stop annoying Tiger. Tiger didn't miss a fairway on Sunday. Who else can you blame?

Vic: I don't agree at all. Tiger Woods is the most media-coddled athlete of all time. No athlete has ever benefited as much from the media as Woods has, and that includes Michael Jordan.

Sol from Atlantic Beach, FL:
Your memory is outstanding, but I think you may have referred to the wrong Big Ten quarterback to play in the secondary for the Colts. Rick Volk was a safety at Michigan but Rex Kern played quarterback for Ohio State.

Vic: I knew about Kern, but the guy I was thinking of is Bobby Boyd. I meant Boyd when I wrote Volk, but that wouldn't have been right, either, because Boyd was a three-time All-Pro cornerback, not a safety, who played quarterback at Oklahoma. The bottom line is my memory wasn't very good on this one. I got all twisted around. Yes, Kern made the move from quarterback to safety. He was part of that great college quarterback class that included Jim Plunkett, Archie Manning, Joe Theismann and others of renown. If I remember correctly, they were talking about Theismann having to move to safety in the NFL, which is why he elected to begin his career in Canada.

Chris from Arroyo Grande, CA:
So I'm watching the hockey game last night and the crowd is really excited. I could see how the teams could have decade-long sellout streaks. Do you think they could do that if their stadiums were 60,000-plus seats?

Vic: Fifty times a year? No. Eight times a year? Maybe. I can tell you that 73,000 fans packed the Bills' stadium for a game played in the snow on Jan. 1, 2008, to see the Penguins and Sabres play on a portable hockey rink that, in most cases, was so far from view that the puck couldn't be seen.

Zoltan from Budapest, Hungary:
Henderson's not participation on Tuesday's practice means the saga might continue?

Vic: Jack Del Rio had said on Thursday last week that his stance on the matter hadn't changed. Clearly, it hasn't.

Ken from Ontario, CA:
I actually live only a few miles from where the proposed Los Angeles NFL stadium is wanting to be built. Personally, I see it as a great site with several local freeways close by, several large cities in the area, close to a major airport and barely within the Los Angeles County border. I am confident it would bring a lot of economic help to the southern California area, as well as numerous fans. I can really see the Rams coming back to L.A., but that wont stop me from being a Jaguar fan since 1995. There are still a lot of Rams fans in the area from when they moved out in '94. Can you say you can see the Rams coming back to L.A.?

Vic: Ask me that question after they break ground on that proposed stadium.

Otto from Richmond Hill, GA:
I am in London now on business and I was in a sports pub and the "NFL Network" came on and the place went quiet for an hour. I was shocked. They actually really love American football over here. I never thought a team might move here but after watching the locals talk American football, I think it might happen. What do you think?

Vic: Yes, I think the NFL will go international, in time, and London would be an obvious destination, but I don't think that's imminent. I think you'll see a lot of games played in London before a team actually moves there. The NFL is an elite league and London is an elite place. Our world gets smaller all the time.

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