Sid Screws Up

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Minnesota Vikings may officially be in trouble.

Sidney Rice, the team's leading receiver from last season will miss the first half of the season after undergoing hip surgery on Monday. The injury was initially suffered in the NFC Championship Game, but Rice had elected to put off surgery and try to rehab the injury. You know, cause that always works. Just ask Francisco Liriano and Joe Nathan about that one...sigh.

Rice is still hopeful that he can return in 6 weeks, which would have his return bumped up to a crucial matchup against the Dallas Cowboys on October 17th. However, it's more realistic that Rice will miss that game along with Favre Bowl III the following week.

So, now what? Well, maybe we need to look at Sidney Rice's last 12 months. Last time this year, he was a mere afterthought on a pretty good offense. It was expected that Bernard Berrian would be the team's #1 receiver. Berrian went down with a hamstring injury in Week 1 of the preseason and BOOM! Psycho Sid was born.

Sid's season (83 catches, 1,312 yards, 8 TD) earned him his first Pro Bowl appearance, and that can only mean one thing: "he outperformed his contract." Again, sigh...

So after Rice suffered this injury, I'm sure that he could have just gotten this surgery and have been ready for the steel cage...no...Hell In A Cell Street Fight going down in New Orleans on September 9th. (If you have no idea what the difference is here.) Instead, it's being assumed that Rice's agent told him to hold off on having the surgery until he got paid. Knowing football, Rice had dollar signs in his eyes and dreamed of money out the wazoo.

But there was just one problem, the Vikings didn't budge. They didn't budge with anyone this offseason...except for Brett Favre. If Sidney would have looked across the practice field, he would have noticed that Ray Edwards, who was doing a more blatant holdout, wasn't getting paid either. (Neither was anyone else in the NFL until there is a new CBA...good luck with that.)

So Sid becomes the newest holdout to completely screw himself (and his team) over with a holdout. If you look at a couple recent wide receiver holdouts, he should have known better.

First, there was Javon Walker (who ironically signed with the Vikings on Tuesday). In 2004, Walker put up great numbers for the Green Bay Packers. The next year, Walker decided to holdout and was ripped by Brett Favre for not attending training camp (Excuse me, I need to laugh at that one a second). Walker eventually did show up to camp, but tore his ACL in the season opener. Walker was traded to Denver and had one good season before suffering another knee injury, got cut, signed a huge deal with Oakland before getting his ass kicked in a Las Vegas alley, got cut again, and signed with the Vikings.

Then there was Deion Branch, who racked up 998 yards and 5 touchdowns with the New England Patriots in 2005. After winning Super Bowl MVP honors that season, Branch decided to holdout into the season. The Patriots didn't budge, and shipped Branch to Seattle for a couple of draft picks. Branch got paid and has nothing but disappoint for the Seahawks, failing to register a 1,000 yard season.

There have been many other holdouts, including ones that have been successful, but most of them turn out the wrong way.

Mark Schlereth was on ESPN talking about how players are "indentured servants" in the National Football League because you are let go once your talents deteriorate therefore they need to go after the money after one big season. Wow, what a rough life. 300 K to play football? I don't know how they can feed their families off that, Mark. I think that players should get paid after having a couple of successful seasons, not after one breakout season.

I honestly hope that Rice can come back and contribute in 2010, but to say he made the right move in this situation doesn't make sense to me. Sometimes it's the behind the scenes stuff that doesn't make you feel sorry for someone.

#1 Most Hated Team in the NFL: The Green Bay Packers

The following is the fifth part of a five part series in which I count down my most hated teams in the National Football League coming into this season. It changes from year to year as teams get undeserved hype and that kind of stuff. So here it goes...

Hello, my name is Chris Schad and I HATE the Green Bay Packers.

Did you expect anything different? Honestly? See, I grew up in Minnesota. In Minnesota our parents teach us three words at birth: Mommy, Daddy, and Packers Suck.

They have a better stadium than the Vikings. Some of their players are better than the Vikings players. For example, the Vikings have had one true franchise quarterback during their existence. (Fran Tarkenton) The Packers are on pace to have THREE. (Bart Starr, Brett Favre, and Aaron Rodgers [assuming he doesn't fall of the face of the planet.]

So, I'm willing to give you an anatomy of why I hate the Green Bay Packers.

The first reason is, I can't stand Packer fans. Packer fans are fiercely loyal, which is a good thing, but they are very unimaginative with their trash talk.

For example, I decided to finally bust out my Adrian Peterson jersey for the first time for River Falls Days (The River Falls town festival) in July. While I was drinking my beer, a man came up to me and said "Don't drop your beer." I chuckled a little bit and moved on. By the end of the night 7 people had said the same joke which almost lead to a brawl inside the beer garden by the end of the night.

Did the Packers brass send out an e-mail on that one? It must be the new Packer company line which replaces THREE SUPER BOWLS!!!!

That's the other thing that annoys me. Packer fans literally scream "Three Super Bowls" to end every argument. I could be talking about how Robert Smith was a better running back than Dorsey Levens and the Packer fan would say "Well...we have three Super Bowls."

They're definitely entitled to show off their rings. After all, the Vikings are one of two teams to lose four Super Bowls (Buffalo Bills). The Packers have won three...that's a plus/minus of -7 in the ego department, but come on. Be creative. I know you can do better.

They're also giant hypocrites. That's right. Remember when Mr. Favre wanted to come back after retiring the first time? Packer fans were picketing training camp wanting Favre back. Mike McCarthy even said that there would be an open competition for the starting job in Green Bay. And nobody but Brett Favre could ever lead the Packers!!! This Rodgers guy has done nothing.

Two years later and roughly 9,000 yards passing, Aaron Rodgers is God in Green Bay. He can't do wrong. Would I love to have him on our team? You bet! But he's not and that's the problem.

Of course it's the cycle of the Packers quarterback. The fans will not be sure what he can do at the beginning of the year and then suddenly, BOOM! Not only do the Packer fans love him, but Viking fans can't stand him...

That brings me to my next point. I know exactly what happened the night Aaron Rodgers season ended. You see, he got down on his knees and said a little prayer that sounded like this.

Aaron: Oh dear God...you see, my name's Aaron and I just threw for 4,000 yards, was the best quarterback in my division, and have an entire city worshiping me. But there's just one problem. Everybody outside of Green Bay still thinks that I absolutely suck!!!

And then his house shook, the heavens parted, the clouds opened and God himself appeared and said this...

God: Andrew...
Aaron: But my names Aar...
God: IT DOESN'T MATTER WHAT YOUR NAME IS!!! You are absolutely right. You do suck! But there is one thing and one thing only you can do. You must go find the man who is simply electrifying. You must go find Brett Favre...
Aaron: Oh my God, anybody but Brett Fa...
God: KNOW YOUR ROLE AND SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!!

And then as fear went through his body, tears streamed down his cheek, and piss rolled down his leg, his house shook again, the heavens opened up and what seemed like millions....and millions of Viking fans, all screaming in unison "JABRONI!!!" IF YA SMELLLLLLLLLL...WHAT THE ROCK...

Woah, blacked out for a second. Everyone refuses to state the obvious. Brett Favre is in Rodgers' head. When he wakes up in the morning, he sees Brett Favre. When he sees his reflection in the coffee he's drinking, he sees Brett Favre. FARVE! FAVRE! FAVRE! FAVRE!

Dammit...I did it again. The fact of the matter is that I hate Aaron Rodgers. I hate how football experts drool over him. I hate how he's dating the lead singer of Lady Antebellum. I hate how he does dog sled racing, fufilling a certain friend of mine's dream to cover the Iditarod and interviewing Rodgers at the same time. And I hate him because he's the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers.

And the name...Packers. Is there any team in the NFL that could easily have their team name converted into an insensitive comment with just one word. (I'll let you figure that one out.)

Of course this is all natural, and come the two meetings this year, there will be numerous brawls throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin to determine who's the best team. Anyways, we also know that those fights will be nothing compared to family night in Green Bay, which always ends with Daddy cracking open another beer and then decking mommy cause the circus peanuts weren't cooked enough.

#2 Most Hated Team In The NFL: The Dallas Cowboys

The following is the fourth part of a five part series in which I count down my most hated teams in the National Football League coming into this season. It changes from year to year as teams get undeserved hype and that kind of stuff. So here it goes...

Bandwagon fan - Switches to whatever team/alligeiance/belief/game happens to be successful at the time. (Urban Dictionary)

Yes, back in elementary school, Chris Schad was a spaz, but never channeled his pent up aggression and rage to pummel someone. If he did, he probably would have hit a girl on the playground in that February day.

Oh yes, I remember it well. Remember Starter jackets? Man, those things were cool! (GOD I'M GETTING OLD!!!) I had an Orlando Magic one myself. (Hey, I loved Shaq and Penny...so maybe I'm a little bit hypocritical here, but that's beside the point!) This girl comes up to me...and she was a big angry girl. We were playing King of The Hill and she came up and knocked me off (DON'T LAUGH!!!). When I asked why, she started throwing out words my virgin ears had never heard before. When I repeated one of these words back to describe the team that was on her jacket, the 90 other bandwagon fans of said team came up and whooped my ass while the playground attendant dragged my beaten carcass to the principal's office for dropping my first F-Bomb. What team am I talking about? The Dallas Cowboys.

There are two generations of Cowboy fans, and they are both considered to be bandwagoners. Back in the 1970's, Tom Landry was leading the Cowboys to multiple Super Bowls with Roger Staubach. They quickly coined the phrase "America's Team." Yeah...bull@#$%!

The second generation spawned in the 1990's when Troy Aikman, Michael Irvin, and Emmitt Smith lead the Cowboys from 1-15 in 1988 to Super Bowl champions in 1992.

They are the most arrogant team in the NFL. I can't even stand their legends for God sake!!! Just go and watch the "America's Team" series about the 1992 Cowboys. You will want to jump through your TV and punch Michael Irvin. (Although there is a great moment where Irvin describes how female fans would break into his house and wait for him after road games to which Irvin would usually reply, "Um, where are your clothes?")

So why do I hate the Cowboys you ask? Funny you should ask. The Cowboys have dined off the Minnesota Vikings repeatedly in their legacy among other reasons.

The most obvious is their owner: Jerry Jones. I'll admit, if Jones was running my team, I would love it. The fact he's not makes me think he's an absolute slimeball. The southern accent. The dictatorship he runs over the Cowboys. Those are all good reasons to hate him, but the man is just like George Stienbrenner was in major league baseball.

Sometimes, Jerry does it with free agency (Terrell Owens) and sometimes Jerry does it with players falling into his lap in the draft (Smith, Tony Romo, Miles Austin). He's the anti-Al Davis in that what he does actually works!

Not to mention, he built a giant spaceship in Arlington and called it a football stadium that can seat 111,000 people. Well done sir...good for you! Jerry World has already hosted a ridiculous amount of events and all the money is going into his back pocket. Makes you sick huh?

Then there's Tony Romo. As overrated as Reggie Bush is, Tony Romo is right up there. Romo gains a majority of his stats against bad teams and as we all know has a bad taste in women. Hey it started out OK with Carrie Underwood...but to dump her for JESSICA SIMPSON??? That's a fumble in my book. Well, actually I'd take either if they came up to my doorstep...but I'm getting off track.

By the way, Romo has ONE playoff victory and a terrible December/January track record. Fantasy football managers beware!

Then there's the obvious reason to hate Dallas.

The Hail Mary play.

PEARSON PUSHED OFF GOD DAMMIT!!! THAT REF DESERVED WHAT WAS COMING TO HIM!!! OK, Chris...calm down.

Many say that the Vikings team in 1975 was the best Viking team in franchise history despite not winning a playoff game. The refs missing 5 holding calls, an offsides, and a defensive pass interference doesn't exactly help things.

To make matters worse, Dallas lubed up thirteen years later and stuck it to the Vikings and what is known as the Hershel Walker trade.

The worst part about this trade is that the Cowboys got some Emmitt Smith guy...who turned out to be the ALL-TIME LEADING RUSHER IN THE HISTORY OF THE NFL!!! Yeah...how bad did the Vikings need a running back? I thought so.

Then there's the obvious. ESPN LOVES the Cowboys. I mean...they watch Cowboys highlights and have cold showers together afterwards. It doesn't matter how crappy the Cowboys are...when they come to your town look out.

This happened before the Divisional Playoff matchup last year. The way ESPN talked, you thought the Vikings would be foolish to show up. Final score: Vikings 34, Cowboys 3. The locals unleashed the fury all over Romo and the boys, and they went out with their tail between their legs. Hell, you could hear Keith Brooking whimpering about how the Vikings ran up the score. As Lou Holtz said (slobbering all the way) "You don't like us running up the score? Keep us out of the endzone."

So like the other teams, I would love to see Dallas turn out like Old Texas Stadium last year. America's Team has no place in my heart, but they're nothing like....SEE YOU TOMORROW! :)

#3 Most Hated Team In The NFL: The New Orleans Saints

Disclaimer: The following is the third part of a five part series in which I will reveal my 5 most hated National Football League Teams coming into the 2010 season. It changes from year to year as teams get undeserved hype and other things, so here's goes nothing.

Hopefully you were expecting me to hate a NFL team because of sour grapes in this series. Well, ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner. The New Orleans Saints.

You gotta admit, the Saints were truly a feel good story last year. Five years ago, the city was hit by Hurricane Katrina. We all know what happened, and because I'm not good at politics, I'm not going to get into anything about how help was delayed, there was a terrible recovery plan in place, etc.

Then last year, the Saints came alive. People were dancing in the streets. Saints fans came out of the wood work. This was the city's final source of pride, and they took it all the way to the Super Bowl...too bad it was a ring they didn't deserve.

Oh yeah, the Saints Super Bowl Championship was a gift from the Minnesota Vikings. The Vikings outplayed the Saints in every aspect of the NFC Championship game...except for the turnover battle. The Vikings forgot to hold onto the football, so they didn't deserve to win, but a year later, it still hurts.

When the Saints won the Super Bowl, I was actually somewhat happy for them...then came the absolute ass kissing that came from every major media outlet in the United States.

Everywhere you turned in the offseason, you heard about how great the Saints are. Well, it's time to show you why the Saints are going to have a serious hangover this season.

First of all, I feel that many of the Saints players are overrated. There are some great players on the Saints, like Drew Brees, Marques Colston, Pierre Thomas, but the one name that I can't stand is Reggie Bush.

Bush was supposed to be the next Barry Sanders, so far he's done nothing but underachieve and get hurt. Tell me, when Bush got drafted in 2006, did you imagine that the Saints would probably be giving the first and second down carries to someone else like they will be with Thomas this season? That's what I thought.

Sure, he's got sole possession of Kim Kardashian's ass, but I personally hate TMZ and could care less. Reggie Bush sucks.

Then there's the Saints defense, which is devoid of recognizable talent sans Darren Sharper. Instead of the no-name defense, they should call them the Cheap Shot defense.

Oh yeah, there seriously should have been two or three fights in the NFC Championship game. There also should have been two or three more late hit penalties for hits on Brett Favre. Gregg Williams has continued this by saying that the Saints were going to target Favre's ankle in the September 9th opener against the Vikings. Also with comments like "X marks the spot", it's no wonder that Visthante Shiancoe posted a picture of Bin Laden with a #42 photo shopped on his white...gown? Is that what they call that I guess? Sorry, I just don't know.

But, all will be well in the Saints world. Because the Madden Curse is coming to New Orleans, baby! That's right, Drew Brees was selected as the cover boy for Madden 2011. Don't believe in curses? Well, take a look...

I'm pretty sure that it's destiny that Brees will be going off on a stretcher at some point this season, and if Brees goes down, so do the Saints.

Look, I won't be completely stupid here, if the Vikings had destroyed Brees' ankle in that game and won the Super Bowl, I would have taken it. You have to take Super Bowl victories when they come no matter the circumstances. Besides, how many do the Vikings have right now? That's what I thought.

But karma will catch up to the Saints this season if Mr. John Madden and his legion of XBox 360 junkies have anything to say about it.

#4 Most Hated Team in the NFL: The New York Jets

Disclaimer: The following is the second part of a five part series in which I will reveal my 5 most hated National Football League Teams coming into the 2010 season. It changes from year to year as teams get undeserved hype and other things, so here's goes nothing.

Coming into every NFL season, all the experts try to pick the team that's going to take the next step. For some teams, that might be winning a single game. For others that might mean getting past the conference championship game.

When these experts make such picks, they occasionally swing and miss worse than Prince Fielder on a 3-2 fastball from Joe Nathan (or any other top closer for that matter). I have a feeling that this will be the case with the New York Jets.

Don't get me wrong, the Jets have talent. They have the best shutdown corner since Deion Sanders in Darrelle Revis. They have a nice, young running back in Shonn Greene, and they have a potential franchise quarterback in Mark Sanchez.

All that is nice, but you have to look at what the Jets did in 2009. Of course the Jets got to the AFC Championship game, but look at the season as a whole and you'll see a different team.

The Jets were 9-7 last season and 3-2 against playoff teams. That's not bad. I mean, you have to beat who's in front of you, right? Well, the 3-2 record is a bit flawed. You see, the Jets got the Colts when they suddenly decided that they didn't care about having a perfect season and benched their starters. Two weeks later, the Jets hosted the Bengals, who not only were fading after the death of Chris Henry left them without a legitimate deep threat (along with Carson Palmer's recovering arm in year one of post Tommy John surgery), but who had also locked up a playoff berth meaning they really didn't care when they got destroyed 38-0 in front of a national television audience.

Still, they made the AFC Championship game...after beating two more bad teams. The Jets picked up a victory against the same fading Bengals team in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, and then got Norv "Can't win the big one" Turner and his San Diego Chargers in the divisional round. So the Jets beat a bad team and a choke artist. Sounds impressive.

Then there's the argument about how they've added all this talent. Santonio Holmes, LaDanian Tomlinson, and Jason Taylor are just some of the names that have joined Rex Ryan and the Jets this season, but they've lost quite a bit too.

Alan Faneca is one of the premier run blocking guards in the NFL. Last season, while the Jets had a horrific passing offense, they also possessed the #1 rushing attack in the NFL, which masked Mark Sanchez's rookie deficiencies. This season, Faneca is gone (Arizona Cardinals) as is their leading rusher from last season Thomas Jones (Kansas City Chiefs) who had a stat line of 1,402 yards and 14 touchdowns. To replace that veteran leadership, the Jets signed Tomlinson, who no doubt is one of the greatest running backs of all-time, although he is declining. He's the same age as Jones and rushed for about half the yardage (730 yards, 12 TD).

So the important pieces of the running game are gone, which brings me to Mark Sanchez. As a portly guy, I tend to hate some of the beautiful people in society. Sanchez is one of those people. A former GQ cover boy, Sanchez is being leaned on to lead the Jets next season. Really? Sanchez challenged Jay Cutler for the NFL interception title last year with 20 INT compared to 12 TDs. Yeah, he was a rookie, but how the hell is he supposed to get the ball to a crappy receiving core. Braylon Edwards drops everything in sight and Santonio Holmes is suspended for the first 4 games of the season.

So this team is a bit different than the others that have made this list. The Jets are hated because they're simply overrated. I could always be wrong about this and maybe Sanchez improves in year two under Rex Ryan (who has guaranteed a Super Bowl Championship already). The Jets have a strong defense and a blossoming offense, but I just don't see them overcoming the loss of two staples in their running game.

#5 Most Hated Team In The NFL: The Chicago Bears

Disclaimer: The following is the first part of a five part series in which I will reveal my 5 most hated National Football League Teams coming into the 2010 season. It changes from year to year as teams get undeserved hype and other things, so here's goes nothing.

One of my greatest moments as a sports fan was going to a Vikings/Packers game with my mom on Christmas Eve in 2004. Yeah, the Vikings lost the game, but there were so many other things going on around the game that made it so much fun.

One of those incidents was with a fan behind us who was dressed in blaze orange. No, he was not wearing the Green Bay Packers alternate jersey, but he was instead wearing a Chicago Bears sweatshirt. Yes, this fan had driven all the way from Chicago to try and pick a fight with either a Vikings or Packers fan. I don't think it mattered who he fought to be honest.

And that's where my argument begins. The Bears fans have to be some of the most blind in sports. I'm pretty sure that they're the second biggest rats in all of sports as a matter of fact, only behind the ones that inhibit Yankee Stadium on a nightly basis.

The typical Bears fan has a sense of entitlement. Hey, the Bears were one of the first franchises in the NFL. That's kind of like being an original six member of the National Hockey League. (Which coincidentally, the Chicago Blackhawks were a part of.) But it's the constant sense of entitlement that drives me up a wall.

The Bears could be 2-10 and the Bears fan would still be optimistic that the season can still be turned around and that a couple bad bounces went their way in a trio of 34-0 losses.

But when they win...OHHH when they win!!! The Bears fan becomes euphoric. Recently, when the Bears have put together winning seasons, it's been because of lucky bounces or freak plays that only happen once every 25 years. But when they win, the Bears fan thinks they're the greatest team ever. Examples?

This team once embraced Cade McNown and Rex Grossman as franchise quarterbacks. And I didn't mention Curtis Enis or David Terrell yet.

And another reason I can't stand them: Brian Urlacher. This may be a simple case of jealousy as the Vikings have never had a linebacker who could simply dominate a game. However, I just can't stand the sight of the man.

Think back to high school. Did you ever take a look at a player and think to yourself "What the hell is he going to do after football?" Well, some of those people make it to the NFL and I think that Mr. Urlacher is in that class. Have you seen his Old Spice commercial.

"I BRIAN URLACHER!!! URLACHER USED TO GET LAUGH AT!!! URLACHER NO LIKE!!! URLACHER WEAR DA SWAGGER!!! SWAGGER GOOD FOR DA URLACHER!!! WHO LAUGH NOW!!! HUH HUH...URLACHER LAUGH NOW!!!"

He also runs around the football with such wreck less abandon as Bobby Boucher in the Waterboy. Just one time after he causes a fumble, I expect him to stand up and start jumping around screaming "I GOT THE FOOTBALL MOMMA!! I GOT THE FOOTBALL!!!"

And my biggest pet peeve is the renovation of Soldier Field. Old Soldier Field looked awesome with the pillars at the top of the stadium, but then came the renovation. Soldier Field now looks like a UFO landed on top of the stadium. Most of the charm has vanished and to me it's just another stadium. It's sad.

Mix in the fact that the Bears have one more Super Bowl win than the Vikings, and you got a cocktail of hatred. It would put a giant smile on my face to see the Bears fall on their face and have the Lions win more games than the Monsters of the Midway. But that's why they play the games folks, and that's why I hate the Chicago Bears.