10/30/07

Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.

Mike from Tallahassee, FL: Peter King is the latest big-market media guy to get on this whole college town characterization of Jacksonville following the Monday nighter and subsequent 85,000 crowd for the Florida-Georgia game. Why don’t these guys realize that Florida-Georgia gets those 85,000 from two entire states?
Vic: Perception is reality, right? Florida-Georgia drives the perception that Jacksonville is a college football town because seats are added. Hey, if Penn State and Ohio State played at Heinz Field they’d have to add seats. Does that make Pittsburgh a college football town? The same would be true if Florida and Georgia played in the Georgia Dome, or Texas and Oklahoma played in Texas Stadium, or Alabama and Tennessee played in Nashville. Pro football doesn’t have 100,000-seat stadiums. Pro football goes for high demand, not high supply. Check the TV ratings for pro football vs. college football in Jacksonville. Look at the attendances for the ACC title and Gator Bowl games – not the inflated figures but the empty seats that were so obvious to the naked eye. Instead, a blanket statement has been made based on one game and it’s just not an accurate representation of the market. I’d have no problem if the criticism was for having blacked out two games this season, but the “college football town” thing is a misnomer. Of the 20 games drawing the highest TV ratings in Jacksonville this season, 15 of them are NFL games. The highest-rated game shown in Jacksonville this season is the Colts at Jaguars game (32.2). Florida-Georgia – which is more than a football game; it’s a social event – is number two (31.4), then the next four-highest rated games are all Jaguars games. The Jaguars are so dominant in the ratings that their preseason game in Green Bay got substantially higher ratings than three of the five college games in the top 20. The Patriots at Cowboys game also got substantially higher ratings than three of the five college games in the top 20. The Bucs at Jaguars preseason game got a 14.4 to a 14.6 for Florida at Kentucky. When you look at those numbers, it’s impossible to call this a college town.

Al from Gainesville, FL: Who do you want to win between the Colts and the Patriots? A New England win would help our already slim chances of a division crown.
Vic: I don’t root. I like to watch.

Jared from Jacksonville: I could not disagree with you more on the Georgia celebration stunt. I would be all for it had it been celebration and not taunting. There were multiple players from Georgia pointing at Florida players while dancing. How genius would it have been if it had started a brawl?
Vic: You make a very good point and you’ve presented it beautifully. Florida deserves credit for not having reacted adversely.

Scott from Jacksonville Beach, FL: Me thinks you were drinking in the press box. You kept naming Garrard as the QB.
Vic: No, I wasn’t drinking. I did it a couple of times toward the end of the game when the action was fast and furious. Thank you for bringing it to my attention. A lot of people did. So how come you missed the spelling mistake I made on purpose? Early in the blog, when I announced that I was flying blind because what I was writing was not appearing on my screen, I asked everyone to please “bare” with me; you know, like take your clothes off. It was a joke. Did anybody get it?

Bill from Vero Beach, FL: In your opinion, do you think any of the Jaguars games will be moved to Sunday night?
Vic: Why is this so important? Please, tell me we’re not going to do the respect thing again. The only other game, in my opinion, that would have a chance of being moved to Sunday night would be San Diego at Jacksonville on Nov. 18. The scheduled game for that night is Chicago at Seattle. So, tell me, why would NBC want to switch out the number three vs. number 13 markets in the country for the number 26 at number 51?

Mark from Yulee, FL: Would you consider any receiver worth a trade for a first-round draft pick? Say Andre Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald are offered for your first-round pick and they are proven commodities. If you were already thinking WR, would you consider it?
Vic: Consider it, yes. Make the trade, probably not. A player you select in the first round is desirable for two reasons: 1.) He’s a talented guy who will make your roster stronger. 2.) You’re going to get him at rookie wages and that should make him a bargain, unless he turns out to be a bust. A proven commodity removes the bust possibility, but he’s probably going to be near the end of a contract period or he’s been judged not to be worth the money he’s making, and that means he’s going to be pricey one way or the other. If you trade away draft picks for veteran players, you’re going to lose your edge in dealing with the salary cap. Premium-position players introduce different circumstances. Wide receivers can be acquired in the later rounds.

Kathleen from Gainesville, FL: In the game against Tampa, the Jags were charged with a timeout because a player (Nelson) was injured on the field with less than two minutes left in the half. Why is that? What happens to a team that doesn't have any times out left?
Vic: That’s by rule. It’s meant to prevent teams from getting a competitive advantage by faking an injury to stop the clock. What you’re describing is called an “excess time out.” If an injury forces an injury time out and you don’t have a time out remaining, the player must leave the game but his team is not penalized. The first time it happens there is no penalty and the play clock is reset to 40 seconds. If it happens again in the same half, it’s a five-yard penalty and the play clock is reset to 40. There is no excess time out charged if the injury occurred during a change of possession, successful field goal or successful try. If an offense that is behind in the score requires an excess time out inside the two-minute warning, 10 seconds will be run off the game clock.

Zach from Osceola, IN: Did you see Sammy Knight tackle Reggie Nelson at the end of the game and prevent a possible huge rookie mistake?
Vic: Yeah, I saw it. I wonder if Marlon McCree saw it.

Jake from Harrisonburg, VA: Any chance David Garrard could become the next Byron Leftwich by frequently missing games due to injuries? He does take a lot of hits, especially when he scrambles.
Vic: Sunday’s game in Tampa is the first game Garrard has missed in his 21-year football career.

Garrett from Orange Park, FL: Is there a shot for the Nov. 25 game against Buffalo to be moved from a one o’clock to a four o’clock kickoff?
Vic: That’s it. I give. Yes, all games are being moved. The Jaguars are going to play all of their remaining games on Sunday night on Mars.

Mike from Jacksonville: CBS can protect certain games from being moved. Any way of finding out which games are protected?
Vic: I’ve already said which games are being protected: at Indianapolis and at Pittsburgh. That’s all. No other games. Let’s move on.

George from Jacksonville: It seems to me that a lot of our games are getting protected by CBS. Respect? Looks like we're getting plenty. Thoughts?
Vic: This is about respect. I knew that’s what it was. We can’t get away from this respect thing, can we? Respect, respect, respect; I can’t take any more. Let’s start by showing some self-respect by maintaining our dignity and stop begging for everyone to notice us. The playoffs are two months away. Want respect? That’s where you get it.

Daniel from Wichita, KS: OK, Vic, Farve is done? Boy he had two great passes. What do you say to that?
Vic: I say he’s having a great year, Mike McCarthy should be the leading candidate for coach of the year and you should learn how to spell McCarthy’s quarterback’s name.

Benjamin from Jacksonville: Brian Webber, FoxSports.com: “Yes, the same Quinn Gray who, not long ago, was a wide receiver on the practice squad.”
Vic: Quinn Gray has never been anything but a quarterback. When he was running with the scout team as a member of the practice squad, he would pose as a wide receiver in practice, but all number three quarterbacks and/or practice-squad quarterbacks do some of that. It’s not as though it’s live; it’s tag. Lester Ricard is a quarterback on the practice squad this year and he plays wide receiver on the scout team. As a sixth-round pick, I wouldn’t be surprised if Tom Brady played a little scout-team wide receiver as a rookie. Frankly, I kind of resent the insinuation that I read into comments about Gray being a former wide receiver. He’s not a Marlin Briscoe. Gray is a quarterback, has only ever been a quarterback and will only ever be a quarterback.

Ryan from Richmond, VA: What did you think about that Division III play with Trinity having 15 laterals?
Vic: I’ve never seen anything like it. It is truly amazing that they could execute all those laterals without a penalty for an illegal forward pass.