No Hothouse Flowers

I am old school. No big secret there.

I am a big proponent of clearly defined and simple rules.

Not the least of which should include: Having fun and being good.

The best memories and even wisdom can come from life’s experiences.

When it comes to Football, There should be one clearly defined rule.
Actually several, but the first ones should go like this.

- NFL Football Stadiums should be outdoor stadiums.
- NFL Football Fields should be natural turf.
- NFL Fans should love the elements as much as the game itself.

Plain and simple: Football is an outdoor sport!

As I watched the Vikings Monday Night Football Game against Da Bears, I came to the realization that I, and these simple rules, have been right all along . . . ;-)

And a lot of important people agree with me. Here are just a few:

Joe Gibbs: There is no indoor practice facility at Redskins park because of his long standing belief that football is an outdoor sport.

Leslie Frazier: grew up in the cold and experienced many a football game in the elements and loves the idea of being out in the elements.

Zygi Wilf: wants to reinstate the tradition back in Minnesota, or where ever he ends up moving the team . . .

I sincerely hope that this outdoor tradition catches hold and we see a lot more games played out in the elements like the one last night and see more new OUTDOOR stadiums being built.

And for those of you who want to point out that I was inside a climate controlled room with a wide screen TV while I came to this enlightened realization remember this:

I was about 1200 miles away
and
TV is NOT an outdoor sport!

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NFL DRAMA AWARDS !

Who will win?








My original idea for this post was a kind of Drama award for the NFL.

We certainly have had (and continue to have) plenty of teams, coaches, owners and players all worthy of some sort of Headline or Drama award this year.

I even had a couple top contenders in mind (Vikings and Brett Favre) vs ( Redskins, AH, McNabb, Shanahan). Yes the Redskin side out numbers the Vikings, but only in candidates.

There are plenty of other contenders out there and everyone (fans), depending on their loyalties and personalities, will have his or her own favorites.

The first dilemma I encountered was how to choose and whom?

One way might be to go simply by number of news articles for 2010. I quickly realized, that despite my , and a certain followers preferences, the previously mentioned; surprisingly are NOT necessarily top contenders.

Google 2010 news articles:

Brett Favre --------- 19K results
Donovan McNabb ------ 9K results
Albert Haynesworth -- 4K results
Mark Sanchez -------- 11K results
Minnesota Vikings --- 21K results
New York Jets ------- 28K results
New York Giants ----- 31K results

I could have done more but I did not feel like going through every possible team and player combination out there.

Another way to choose a winner might be to go simply by popularity.
For this I turned to social media to look for answers.
Again, I found some surprising results.

Teams with most Facebook fans:

#1 Dallas Cowboys
#2 Pittsburgh Steelers
#3 New Orleans Saints
#4 New England Patriots

#6 Minnesota Vikings
#10 Washington Redskins

Then we have the number of people who “like” something, or in this case, somebody else:

673K people like the Minnesota Vikings
440K people like the Washington Redskins
1.16 million people like the New England Patriots
1.26 million people like the Steelers

But what about some of the players?

T.O. has 390K people who like him (obviously there is no accounting for taste as you will soon see)
Favre 98K like him
Mcnabb 40K like him
Only 1K people like Haynesworth.
Randy Moss, has 170K liking him.

Ochocinco 1.3 million people like him (Really?)

And, sad to say, two of my personal favorite NFL role models:

5K like Darrell Green.
2.5K like London Fletcher.

Twitter had some equally interesting results for top followers:

#4 Kerry Rhodes
#7 Mark Sanchez
#9 NY Jets
#11 New England Patriots
#16 ndamukong_suh
#21 Vikings

Oh, and now for something completely different, one funny listing I saw regarding “most retweeted” for 2010 . . .








OK, now that I have totally digressed beyond / past my original idea, let me pull everyone back to how to choose and present an award.

For this, I took inspiration from the original photo I so grandiosely trashed. The Oscars and the Academy Awards.

Instead of creating a dull and most likely incomplete poll, I am going to create discussion threads on my Fumbled Returns Facebook Fan Page with the following Categories:

Best NFL Actor
Best NFL Art or Sign
Best NFL Fan Costume
Best Rant
Best Action Shot
Best Sound Effect
Best Unscripted Comment
Best Dance
Best Score
Best Commercial
And stealing one from categories turned down . . .
Best Juvenile Award

Within these discussion threads anybody will be able to nominate their own personal suggestion / link and or agree with one that is already there.
I will keep the threads open through the remainder of the season, including the playoffs and super bowl.

And in keeping with the original inspiration, tally the votes and announce the awards sometime around the real academy awards in 2011.

So, you all have some time to think about your choice awards for each category and submit an entry.

Submit multiple entries if you like.

Or confirm that you end up liking one already there.

Lets see who wins!

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A Suggestion

It has been reported that the Vikings are wanting to play in a friendly, all be it, frigidly cold Frozen environment at the University of Minnesota.

I have a better idea.














FedEx Field is perfect.

The Skins will be in Dallas.
It is still outdoors.
I've seen Viking fans here before.
Most of us hate Da Bears.
and . . .
If rumors are true, I'm sure there are still a few Patrick Ramsey fans in the area too!

That and Danny boy can not only honor all 63,000 already sold tickets to the game but he can sell about 28,000 more!

Plus FedEx field is already equipped to handle multiple concession stands and alcohol taps.

And the weather prediction for our area is noticeably better too!

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