Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.
Pete from Jacksonville:
What was the average seating in Alltel for the last four years? I believe that should determine how many seats should be up for grabs to level supply and demand. People should be worried that they can't get a seat as a walk-in and won't be able to just turn on the TV to see the game.
Vic: The average per-game attendance for the last four years is 58,312.
Herb from Jacksonville:
Many years ago the 49ers had a quarterback named Y.A. Tittle who would throw a high lob pass to R.C. Owens who, because of his great leaping ability, would simply out-jump the coverage to catch the pass. In addition to being a receiver, Owens would stand under the goal post on long field goal attempts and on the occasion when an opposing kick would be about to clear the cross bar he would jump up and swat the ball away, thus, effectively blocking the field goal attempt just as a lineman does at the line of scrimmage just after the kicker hits the ball. I have not seen this practice in decades and wondering if it became illegal.
Vic: "Goal-tending" is not permitted by NFL rules. Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, (r): "Goal-tending by a defensive player leaping up to deflect a kick as it passes above the crossbar of a goalpost is prohibited. The referee could award three points for a palpably unfair action."
Brian from Jacksonville:
Is Bobby McCray a lock for a roster spot with the cutting of Tony Brackens and the injury to Jorge Cordova?
Vic: The key is in his hand.
John from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL:
Scobee made 67 percent of his field goals during his senior year in college and was only five of eight from 30-39 yards. How does one translate this type of performance in college to a pro career?
Vic: Josh Scobee was a "need" draft pick. The Jaguars liked his leg and they selected Scobee at a point in the draft that doesn't involve much risk. I don't like "need" drafting. A few years ago, I harshly criticized the selection of David Leaverton, a punter, in the fifth round. But if you study closely the yield of talent on the second day of the draft, you'll see that it is traditionally very thin. I produced statistics on second-day picks for an "Ask Vic" question at draft time this year, and I was stunned at what my research revealed. Be patient. Teams haven't started cutting their rosters yet. There are teams who have more than one kicker on their roster, and it's not likely they'll keep both. The Jaguars have to wait for those guys to come free. More than likely, they have their eye on one or two guys and are closely monitoring their progress.
Devin from Middleburg, FL:
Do you think blackouts are an issue for the Jaguars? Not being able to see your team play, and having them do poorly the season before isn't going to sell tickets.
Vic: Neither is giving the product away.
R.J. from St. Augustine, FL:
Obviously, Chandler and Scobee both aren't up to par on the kicking level. But why keep the rookie? He missed more kicks. Granted, he made one and Chandler didn't, but why keep him?
Vic: Your question reminds me of a funny story. The Bears had a hard-hitting safety named Doug Plank. He was from the circulation area of a newspaper for which I worked and I had written a lot of stories on Doug and we had become friends. Anyhow, Plank was the roommate of a kicker named Bob Thomas, who had the misfortune of missing some big kicks one season. One night, a crowd gathered outside the Bears hotel and, from the window of his hotel room, Plank decided he'd have a little fun. He let it be known that Thomas was his roommate, which caused the crowd to boo. Plank bantered back and forth with the crowd until he had them pretty wound up, at which point he asked them: Who do you want, Thomas or Barabas? I guess you gotta pick one, R.J.
