Hans from Front Royal, VA
Vic, what do you make of the latest suit by the NFLPA, alleging collusion during 2010? How big would the penalty be to the league if this were proven in court?
I think the NFLPA is following the lead of its baseball brethren, who won a collusion case against the owners in the 1980s. That was a very involved case that included several layers of evidence that then-commissioner Peter Ueberroth had literally instructed the owners to limit the length of contracts and their participation in free agency. Ueberroth was surprisingly candid about the matter. The situation involving the NFL and the uncapped year in 2010 is not similar, as I see it. The intent was not to restrict contracts, but to protect an equitable distribution of salary cap space, should a new CBA provide for a salary cap, as it has.
JayAre from Fairborn, OH
I especially dislike it when (the announcers) try to tell us what the players are thinking.
What drives me crazy is when they show the full-field view and tell us what the quarterback sees. How do they know what he sees?
Tom from Hallandale Beach, FL
I grew up in Trenton, New Jersey, in the early 1960s, listening to the World Series during class, while the nuns were teaching.
You were a brave child. I remember a kid listening to the World Series by having run a wire from a transistor radio in his pocket up the back of his shirt and into his ear, which he covered with his hand. When he responded to the nun's question with "Huh?" he was instructed to take his hand away from his ear, which exposed the ear piece. A biblical kind of darkness descended on that room, as the nun dispatched her favorite student, a girl with 10 brothers and sisters and voted most likely to become a nun, to the principal's office to retrieve the most feared object in the school, the dreaded shillelagh. The kid held it together until the shillelagh arrived. That's when he began begging for mercy. He was never the same.
Michael from Green Bay, WI
With 10,000 baby boomers retiring each day and a looming debt crisis in the future for America requiring higher taxes and a reduction in the standard of living, I'm thinking spectator sports in this country has reached its zenith and many stadiums in all sports will experience falling attendance going forward. What say you?
Yeah, that's why they're adding all of those seats at Lambeau Field. Michael, this is Memorial Day weekend, the official start of summer. Turn off FOX for a few days and enjoy life.
Andrew from San Diego, CA
Is the media coverage on Tim Tebow's practice interceptions the equivalent to baseball coverage of a pitcher's progress in spring training? Is it the media trying too hard to fill the NFL void its popularity has created?
Yeah, it is. The question I get more than any other at this time of the year is, "How did so and so look?" So I tell them. I don't think players should be judged by their performance in OTAs, but people keep asking so I give them what they want. I'm sure Jets reporters are inundated with questions about how Tebow looks, so they tell them. If nobody asked, we wouldn't tell.
Tom from Orland Park, IL
So the practice squad is to football what the minor leagues are to baseball, or at least that's the way the Packers are using it.
I think that's an accurate assessment. The practice squad is the Instructional League.
Michael from De Forest, WI
I just don't see how it would be logistically feasible to have an NFL franchise in Europe. Would you agree? Or am I missing something?
An overseas franchise would likely have a U.S. training base; Orlando would be a good candidate. The team might live and practice in the U.S., and then fly overseas to play its games. Games would likely be scheduled in twos or threes – two or three overseas, two or three in the U.S. – so a trip overseas would be followed by a week or two of practice over there. Then the team might fly back to Orlando to begin practice for consecutive games in the U.S. Such a team would log a lot of travel miles and jet lag, so efficient scheduling would be of the highest priority, but it could be done.
Joao from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
I can't believe you answered that American football is not practiced professionally worldwide because colleges worldwide haven't embraced American football. You really think USA is a role model for the rest of the world, don't you? Well, let me disappoint you: In most of the rest of the world, professional athletes never attended college and many of them lack totally a formal education.
I'm not sure what I did wrong here, but to avoid an international incident, please allow me to explain: My point was that American football is a game whose roots are in college football. Since most esteemed institutions of higher learning outside the U.S. don't include big-time athletics as part of their curriculum, American football hasn't enjoyed the same breeding ground worldwide that it has in the U.S. Hey, it's OK not to play American football. Soccer's a great sport. I love it.
Lee from Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR
I think the main reason American football hasn't caught on overseas doesn't lie primarily with colleges. It lies in the relative complexity of the game itself. Compare American football with the other football; soccer is fundamentally a pretty simple game that can be understood well enough to enjoy, with almost no explanation. It's very simplicity has helped to make it the world's most popular sport.
Did you know that three billion people in Hong Kong watch soccer on TV 24 hours a day?
Mike from Bridgeport, CT
You painted a scenario with the trade deadline being pushed back that sounds eerily similar to baseball's trade deadline. In baseball, every season you see rebuilding teams dump high-priced talent onto contending teams late in the summer.
It's amazing how opposite the football and baseball cultures are. What works for one often doesn't work for the other. For example, baseball trades players for players; football doesn't. The situation you've described is a major event in every baseball season. Which team is going to "buy" the player that's going to win the pennant. For me, that player will always be a pitcher named "Vinegar Bend" Mizell. He was the guy the Pirates "bought" in 1960, the fourth starter, that made the difference. Without him, they don't win the pennant, Mazeroski doesn't hit his bottom-of-the-ninth home run, and the Yankees would've won, yet, another World Series. In baseball, it's a feel-good story. In football, it would leave a sour taste in everyone's mouth. Why? I think it's because football has always been a more noble endeavor.
Eric from Amherst, WI
Sir Vic, my fiance and I are planning our Packers-themed wedding. Wondering if you had any suggestions. Also wondering if you would like an invite.
Colts colors worked in "Diner," but I don't know about green tuxedos and yellow dresses. I think you might regret that when you're celebrating your 50th anniversary.
Colin from Milwaukee, WI
Vic, one of the questions yesterday was about radio broadcasts. What do you think of Wayne Larrivee? I can remember my grandpa putting him on the radio with the TV on mute, cause he liked Wayne's call better.
Wayne is a treasure. He's one of a select few broadcasters who have achieved icon status in their home market. He has the wonderful ability to describe what he sees in a voice that is comforting. It's a lost art. Wayne and Larry McCarren provide a Packers broadcast for Packers fans.
Tudor from St. Augustine, FL
No intent to argue here but I am curious about your response to Chris in regards to knee pads and thigh pads. Your theory is that if you remove the facemask players will be less eager to lead with their head, which I agree with. Wouldn't the same apply for knees? I feel like one would be more likely to use the knee to their advantage if it was padded than if it was not. Why are the two different?
I think I just had a flashback. Get your knees up? Didn't that go out with the seven-man sled? I can't remember the last time I heard a coach yell at a back to get his knees up. Those days are gone.
Jerry from Des Moines, IA
Vic, in reading about the Packers personnel department changes, you see titles for both pro personnel and player personnel. What's the difference?
There are two separate divisions within a scouting department: college scouting and pro scouting. A pro personnel director supervises the scouting of talent in the NFL and other pro leagues. A player personnel director supervises the scouting of pro and college prospects.
Lucy from Santa Fe, NM
"Video Ask Vic: The Tunnel." Again, overexposed video. All you have to do is go to "The Pack is Back" video on your own website to see the difference in exposure in order to see what I'm talking about. It's really not that difficult.
I know, Lucy, and thanks for noticing.
Jim from Cottage Grove, MN
Thanks for "Video Ask Vic: The Tunnel," and thanks to Mike Sherman's appreciation for history for adding that strip of history to the tunnel. When I took the tour, it was almost chilling to actually step on that historic piece of Packers history.
Yeah, but it was overexposed.
Shannon from North Little Rock, AR
Your story of the player who hid in training camp because he had nowhere to go always makes me take a deep breath and count my blessings. I can't fathom how scary it would be to have nowhere to go. A while back there was a story about an undrafted player sleeping in his car in the parking lot at the stadium in Jacksonville. Did he find a roster spot?
Oh, yeah, I forgot all about that. Thanks for reminding me. As the story goes, we were boarding buses on a Saturday to go to the airport and fly somewhere for a game. We noticed a guy sleeping in his car in the parking lot and the security guard told us he questioned the guy and the guy said he had arrived early for a workout that was scheduled for Monday. He explained that he was afraid his car would break down so he made sure he gave himself extra time. He didn't have any money, so he was just going to sleep in his car, if the guard didn't mind. When we got back on Sunday night, he was still there. That's the last I heard about him. As was mentioned, not every story of desperation ends as Donald Driver's has.
Brian from Chetek, WI
While in Green Bay for the marathon, we toured the Packers Hall of Fame. Some incredible history, but my favorite item was Ray Nitschke's helmet with the hole in it. What is your favorite item in the Hall?
Lombardi's office.
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