Dan's Ramblings

                                                 Lost Patience
                                             3/4/00

        For a long time I believed in Denny Green; I thought he would
one day bring a title to the land of 10,000+ lakes. I now sing a different
tune. I see him as a GM with an ego out of control, a GM who hides
behind excuses and falls back on the "race" card if there is no one left
to blame. To be fair, I will readily admit that the media in Minnesota
has got to be of the worst kind; a group that carries personal grudges
and gets sick pleasure from writing personal attacks.  I don't know
Denny on a personal basis, so I can't make assertions of his character.
But I can say as a GM he leaves alot to be desired. He wanted supreme
power, the kind Parcells had and Jimmy Johnson had, but what has he
ever done to deserve it? He did not win a title.

        What has he done with this power? He screwed up a chance to
draft the best pure pass-rusher to enter the league in years, and in
the process angered many of his players. Even longtimers like John
Randle were incensed by the lack of care Green showed the defense.
So much so, that he refuses to restructure his contract. The ill will
created by the move infected the team like a virus; iritability was off
the charts in the Vikings once cohesive locker room.(See the News Page)
With players fighting eachother and the coaches, how could anybody
expect a championship. This team was good enough to win a title, but
the harmony was not there. The group was talented, but they were not
a team. They didnt pull together. A strong and respected coach could
have rallied them, but as many former players and coaches now say, he
lost their respect with his draft and his treatment of Randall McDaniel.
For the first time, the players looked into his eyes and didnt believe in
their leader.

        Green didnt get fired after the `99 debacle. He proceeded to fire
many coaches, and once again pissed off his players, because he did
not fire the most unpopular one, Richard(I could not work for anyone
else) Solomon; a joke of a DB coach. In fact, he gave him a promotion.
Now how do you think that sat with John Randle and other vets? Green's
moves shows he does not know the pulse of his own team. When he
dismissed the possibility of resigning Jeff George, he eliminated any
chance at a title in the near future. How do you think guys like CC, Ed
McDaniel, and John Randle feel about preparing for another rebuilding
job? These guys don't have much time left. They deserve another run
before their candle burns out.

        Green is not the only problem. I am starting to think that ole Red is
not so great afterall. Maybe the ra-ra Purple Pride stuff was merely an
attempt to drum up support for a new stadium. Here is a guy who has
about one billion dollars, making him one of the richest of NFL owners,
and he does not want to lose a few million a year to better the team's
chances of winning. Read this:  "Pro football contracts aren't guaranteed
like those in baseball and basketball," Green said. "So the clubs with the
big local stadium income can afford to pay the big signing bonuses and
then average those bonuses over the period of the contract. We are not in
a financial position to pay all of those big front bonuses and we won't be
until we get a [new] stadium. "[Vikings owner] Red McCombs runs the
football team like a business and I don't expect him to do it any different."

        My question is: How bad do you want to win Mr. McCombs?
...Obviously not enough. A sports franchise owner should be about
winning and team pride, not revenue and budgets. You have to be in
it to win it. You have more money than you will ever need Red.

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2/13/00     The Vikings Should Take a Step Back
1/26/00     Shaking Things Up