Ryan Boser: Pointing Purple Fingers

Let this be a reminder: professional athletics are a business, not a game. Instead of building upon the first good season of his three year career, the brittle Sidney Rice and the real life Jerry Maguire chose to leverage the breakout season into a contractual ploy. The injured receiver didn’t get paid in February after his Pro Bowl season, so he chose to hold off on hip surgery until September. This ensured he’d stay off the field for most, if not all of 2010, preserving his 2009 market value without risk of further injury or decline in production. Yeah, I’m speculating. Maybe Sidney really thought it would heal on its own even though two doctors told him it wouldn’t. And I agree that he easily outperformed his current contract last season, even though he stole from the team his first two years. Ultimately, where there’s smoke there’s usually fire, and where there’s Rosenhaus, there’s always conniving. This development derailed the Vikings’ season before it even started.2. Brett Favre
Brett Favre said he wouldn’t come back halfheartedly. He lied. He’s only had one foot in the door this entire season. For the 64th straight year, he skipped training camp and much of the preseason, setting the standard that he’d abide by his own set of rules, and that the coach could be undermined. As the quarterback and veteran leader, he drove a stake through the heart of the team with his never-ending power struggle against Brad Childress. A true leader gets on his coach’s page and sets a positive example for the young players on the team. Favre has done the exact opposite. The egomaniacal diva has been a major distraction off the field as well, and it’s had a toxic effect on the team. Those shenanigans are tolerable in an MVP-like season, but not when you’re the 31st-rated quarterback in the league and you’ve turned the ball over 21 times through nine games. Go home.3. Brad Childress
Only third? Let the hate mail begin. Sure, he’s made his fair share of tactical blunders, and ultimately everything comes back to the head coach. But overall, I think Childress is a pretty average coach whose cold demeanor has never been embraced by the public. I’ve become a bit of a Childress apologist in that regard, because as the automatic scapegoat, I think he’s taken an unfair amount the blame for this team’s problems. He can’t block. He can’t pass. He can’t catch. He can’t tackle. And in the back of my brain, I’m clinging to the notion that in the two biggest games of his life — Dallas and New Orleans last postseason — Brad Childress dialed up the best two head coaching performances of his career. From mental preparation, to game plan, to play-calling, he kicked Wade Phillips’ and Sean Payton’s asses for eight quarters. In a town where Ron Gardenhire has lost his last 12 postseason games, that carries a lot of weight with me. He even had the class to fall on the sword for Eric Bieniemy and Naufahu Tahi, the real culprits for “12 Men in the Huddle.” I keep hearing that players are winning (even though they’re not winning) “in spite” of Brad Childress. The truth is, Childress nearly took this team to the Super Bowl in spite of the players who coughed up six fumbles, and in spite of the worst decision of Brett Favre’s career (an interception this team has never recovered from).