Hi, everybody. Just filling in temporarily for Vic, who should be back at it very soon. In the meantime, let's get going.
Cindy from Los Angeles, CA
Hi, Vic. In the average NFL press room on game day, how many women are there?
You know, I don't even notice, now that I think about it, and I don't notice in the locker room either. That should tell us something.
Travis from Fort Walton Beach, FL
Vic, had you been drafted in the NFL, who would you want to interview you after a game?
Am I allowed to say Vic Ketchman? Is Vic allowed to say Vic Ketchman?
Paul from Milwaukee, WI
Vic, I've been hearing a lot of enthusiasm and excitement from the rookies and younger players in general. How does Coach McCarthy and Coach Vic prevent those young players from letting the game get too big for them?
You can't prevent it. It either is or it isn't. Sometimes the first sign is when the pads go on. Or the first time the lights go on in a preseason game. I've always found it interesting that Ted Thompson likes to watch preseason games from the sideline. Your question is one of the very things he's evaluating.
John from Jacksonville, FL
Vic, I played H.S. football in a small suburb of Minneapolis. We scrimmaged a rural school one mid-autumn night, and I was struck by the intoxicating smell of the grass field and the country fresh air. I still sniff the autumn breezes wherever I am in hopes of catching a whiff of that memory.
I didn't realize until reading Vic's thoughts that it's the smell of the grass on a cool fall evening that takes me back to my days as a young reporter covering high school football. There really is something about it. They say the sense of smell has the strongest connection of all the senses to memory, and the grass wins this one. The popcorn is a close second.
Matt from Waunakee, WI
Hi, Vic. I enjoy The Rock Reports. Nice addition.
Larry gives the best two-minute Packers fix any fan could ask for.
Jerry from Wilmington, NC
Vic, what do you mean Aaron works at them?
He means the postgame press conferences matter to Rodgers. He knows they're meaningful to the writers, to the fans, to his image. There are always nuggets of insight and it makes them worth listening to. Ask a good question and Rodgers will provide a good answer.
Conor from Milwaukee, WI
73 regular-season wins, but what will Golden State's season be remembered by? Losing when it mattered most. Just win, baby! Also, with all of this madness about rigged games and bought officials, it makes the suddenness of win-or-go-home playoffs such as the NFL playoffs look much more fair. I've come to loathe the playoff series in all sports. Give me one game, winner take all, with a full period of overtime, then drop the confetti.
Baseball is a game built for playoff series because it's about pitching depth. This one-game wild-card creation frustrates me. Football is all about one-and-done. Basketball and hockey, I can go either way, and I guess it works for me that the college and pro versions of the two sports split the difference, though it does seem excessive to require 16 postseason victories to win a championship. Hey, it took a historic comeback to defeat a historic team. At the end of the day, that's pretty good drama, and that's what playoffs are about.
David from Louisville, KY
I read an article in which Coach McCarthy said he would not be opposed to going for two points every time. It got me thinking, what would an NFL game be like with no kickers or punters, always forcing teams to go for two, not being able to punt after third down, and no kickoffs (which is what the league seems to be headed towards anyways)?
Wouldn't they have to change the name of the game?
Rob from Madison, WI
If a team is up one late in a game and scores a touchdown, would you consider going for two to make it a two-score game?
I'm on the other side of that coin. I kick it to go up eight, which guarantees my defense two chances to stop them from tying the game. I hear you, though. This two-point strategy stuff is a hot topic that shows no sign of cooling off.
Chad from Tarpon Springs, FL
You have talked about colors in the past. Which college football team has the best colors? In other words, which college football fans are best looking?
Colors make college football, but it's not about the fans, it's about the sea of uniforms that runs out of the tunnel. If I steer clear of my born-and-bred, cardinal-and-white bias, it's hard for Michigan's maize-n-blue helmets and jerseys not to jump off the screen at me.
Paul from De Pere, WI
Does the battle for No. 3 QB matter?
What matters more is whether the third QB will be on the 53-man roster, or on the practice squad, opening up another spot to keep a player a different position.
Randy from Des Moines, IA
Do you think Davante Adams got cast into a lead role too soon? Something tells me he will find his groove this year.
The ankle injury early last season did not help Adams as more was thrust upon him. I think that was obvious. He’s a player to watch in 2016, for sure, and I think we'll find out more about him this year than we did last year.
Gary from Stevens Point, WI
Fresh mown lawn. 77 degrees. Sun low in the west-northwest. Impact sprinkler chittering in the distance. Cool drink speckled with condensation. The Portable Steinbeck in hand. There are some nice things about the offseason.
Add Uecker on the radio and I'm right there with you.
Ron from Wichita, KS
Looking at the practice schedule, I noticed that there were quite a few lunchtime practices the closer it gets to the season opener. I know the warmth in Green Bay is no match for the heat in Florida for the opener, but I like how Coach has the guys practicing in the sun. Did you have any input on this?
I'm sure Vic would love to take credit (sorry, my friend, but I had to take a jab at you sometime). Actually, McCarthy has always steered the practices in the back half of training camp toward the middle of the day, because that's when the players practice during the regular season. He gets them accustomed to the daily schedule and into the routine well in advance.
Randy from Portage, WI
Hello, Vic. Happy Father's Day. I think fondly of my dad Rueben these days. As I recall he was not much of a football fan. Born earlier in the last century, baseball was his game. Though I liked baseball, football is what charged me up. The one time we could connect is World Series time. We watched some great ones, my favorite being Pittsburgh-Baltimore, Willie Stargell and "We are Family." Any fond memories of that series or just watching sports with your dad?
Happy belated Father's Day to all the dads out there. I actually remember the '79 Pirates, even as young as I was. My dad and I watched Cecil Cooper's base hit in Game 5 of the '82 ALCS together to get the Brewers to the World Series. That will always be tough to beat. Then, having just turned 10, I wasn't old enough to stay up to watch Game 7 against the Cardinals. I hopped out of bed the next morning to catch the 7 a.m. SportsCenter, and as I walked past my dad making coffee in the kitchen before I headed downstairs to the family room, he didn't say anything. I don't think he wanted to be the one to break it to me.
Matt from Round Rock, TX
Vic, as if replay review wasn't bad enough. Seven holes after an official tells Dustin Johnson there would be no penalty for his ball wobbling, other officials come and tell him there probably is a penalty. Shouldn't the call be made and then just leave well enough alone?
I agree with you. It was ridiculous, and another example of how golf is a different sort of game, the kind whose rules many of today's sports fans don't find charming. Be that as it may, I don't think the prospect of the one-stroke penalty weighed on Johnson nearly as much as last year's U.S. Open, or his previous PGA at Whistling Straits. It piled on, and it was impressive to see him overcome it all.
