I'll admit, dear readers, I was hoping they'd bring in 'Beastmode' Lynch, but I understand why they didn't. It's a matter of principle. You don't over-pay for another team's trash.
As for Moss returning to the NFC North, it should be obvious (if it wasn't already) who is running that team from the front office to the huddle: Old-What's-His-Name. The owner-ship needs a new dome stadium, and the acquisition of Moss reeks of an all-or-nothin' gamble. The Vikings have bet the farm on the next 13 games and, they hope, this post-season.
That gamble just might work, but there's a reason the Vikings and other easily-distracted teams always crumble while the Colts and Patriots have been consistently excellent - they don't grow their own talent. Folks seem to think the Patriots are 'giving up on this season' after dealing Moss for draft picks, but I'd bet a bushel of broccoli they do better than the Vikings this year and over the next decade.
Creepy Ted is a big believer in this 'organic farming' philosophy, and as a general rule, I support this system in foot-ball and in life. A tomato grown in the back-yard tastes better, and is better for you, than one bought from your local grocer. And it's cheaper, meaning you can grow a bigger garden and stock the pantry for the long winter.
Continuing with this metaphor, when a team like the Vikings get hungry, there is nothing in the pantry so they take the easy route and pull into the drive-through. What'llya have?, crackles the speaker. I'll take a wide-receiver with extra onions, says the Vikings. Sold.
Fast-food is dis-gusting, dear readers. It may give you a temporary fill-up, but mechanically-rendered 'food' won't sustain your health in the long-run.
I'm willing to push this a bit further, however, to high-light the limits of Creepy Ted's 'build-through-the-draft' model: Let's say your pantry shelf breaks and all your stewed tomatoes jars fall on the floor, break and spoil. You could get through a winter without tomatoes, but I wouldn't want to if I could avoid it. Most folks would go to the grocer and re-stock, but Creepy Ted is an unusually-stubborn sonuvagun. Live for the future, yes, but don't ignore the realities of today, either. It's common-sense, but that example ignores certainly complexities of the NFL business.
Some have said the Packer's failure to nab Lynch and the exciting acquisition of Moss by the hated Vikings mean Creepy Ted and his organic farming methods are on the 'hot seat', but that is pure short-sighted foolish-ness. The Vikings aren't going to win the NFC North, much less a Super-Bowl, and next year they'll be a shell of their former selves. I'm actually happy to see they're going away from the only legitimate weapon they have in Adrian Peterson. Mean-while, the Packers will still be on the front-end of a promising run next fall. Creepy Ted may not chase the big names, but we do have a few big names of our own returning from injury in week six, as noted in this fine article. I've argued before that the running game we have is good enough, and getting Bigby and Harris back will certainly alter the land-scape of the season just as much, if not more, than Marshawn Lynch would have.
Of course January could prove me dead wrong, dear readers. The artificially-produced offering could best the organic produce in a taste-test ever so often, sure, but I wouldn't bet on it. So despite all this hoopla, I'm gonna pop open a can of pear-halves and begin my research on the Packer's week five preview. Until next time, then,
FG
