Join jaguars.com senior editor Vic Ketchman as he tackles the fans' tough questions.
Bobby from Jacksonville
Does Texas get credit for playing north of the Mason-Dixon Line, even though the game against Ohio State was played in early September when it was still warm?
Vic: Yes, they get credit. That’s the kind of home and home series I want to see. Texas played at Ohio State and the following year Ohio State played at Texas.
Brian from Jacksonville
How close is a deal for the stadium's naming rights? With last season's performance, it seems like many companies would jump at the chance. Is it the small market that hurts them?
Vic: There’s nothing to report at this time and, yes, stadium naming rights deals are directly affected by their markets, both the size of the market and the number of major corporations that are headquartered in it.
Mike from Jacksonville
I've started reading “Ask Vic” slower, only because I don't want it to end. Thanks for the daily entertainment, insight and football history. When and where is our golf tournament this year?
Vic: It’ll be an August event, again. It was played last year at Osprey Cove and unless there are objections, I’d like to take it back there. I think it’s a very scenic course, it offers a nice getaway feel and the club also has a large banquet facility that allowed us to increase the number of players.
Joe from St Augustine, FL
As a stupid kid ringing doorbells and running away, I got clotheslined across the throat; couldn't talk or drink for three days. My friends thought it was a riot.
Vic: I never realized what a menace to society guywires had become.
Joe from Orange Park, FL
I know you don't want to make this a horse racing column, but I wanted to give Clint some reasons why “Eight Belles” was put down on the track last Saturday. Thoroughbreds weigh about 1200 pounds, on average, and she was a big filly. Two broken ankle bones meant she would never walk again, let alone place any weight on her good hind legs. The pain they suffer would be intolerable for humans and, in lifting her off the track, she likely would have thrashed about and damaged her legs even more. The only humane thing to do was to euthanize her immediately. The track personnel do everything they can to surround the horse with equipment to prevent the public from seeing the activity. Last October, the Irish stallion George Washington broke down at the end of the Breeder's Cup Classic at Monmouth Park. He went down right in front of the grandstand at the finish line. The track staff surrounded the horse with a special tent made just for that purpose before he had to be euthanized. Euthanizing a race horse is a terrible thing to have to do, but to allow them to suffer needlessly would be inhumane.
Vic: Thanks for the info, Joe. You’re right about doing the humane thing. I have to tell you, though, these types of incidents don’t endear me to horse racing.
Dennis from Jacksonville
What’s your take on the videos that Matt Walsh is turning over to the NFL to investigate?
Vic: It’s an issue that won’t go away and now we’re talking about an AFC championship game. When will this stop? Is this the end? In my opinion, that’s the bigger issue now. Yeah, we knew there were more incidents of Spygate-type tactics, but the revelation that it involved an AFC title game is unsettling.
Todd from La Jolla, CA
Is Newport Beach still the only town in America that has two Rolls Royce dealerships? Nope, we have two as well.
Vic: Yeah, but I’ll bet you don’t have a steel mill. We did. We had a sheet mill and a bar division, too, and they even blew the whistle at night to remind you to go to bed and they blew it again in the morning to remind you to wake up.
Joe from St. Johns, FL
I hear all the time that this guy is a two technique, three technique or five technique. Please explain what this refers to.
Vic: It’s all about lanes. Two technique is head up on the guard. Three technique is over the guard’s outside shoulder. Five technique is over the tackle’s outside shoulder.
Chris from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Do you think all the media coverage for the Jags might boost them from confident, to cocky? For instance, some of the analysts are picking them to go to the Super Bowl. Could that cause them to be overconfident?
Vic: It’s something that has to be guarded against. A team should be confident, but not from reading its own press clippings. Yeah, there’s a danger there, and I’m inclined to believe Jack Del Rio will address the subject during OTA’s and/or training camp.
Mike from North Pole, AK
I also had an encounter with one of those wires except mine was attached to an electric pole. I was snow-machining behind our house on some fresh powder. I was blazing through the new snow when, all of a sudden, I was on my back with blood coming down my neck. My snow-machine went on without me for a few feet. Dazed, I got up, drove my machine home and parked it. The next day I went out and there was a wire at the perfect height to slide along the hood of my machine, up my windshield and into my neck. I took a pair of wire-cutters and ended its existence, so I got my revenge.
Vic: When I first told my version of this story, I did so to provide what I considered to be light humor. Since then, I’ve had a guy who was nearly electrocuted and now your story about a near decapitation. All of a sudden, I can’t get guywires out of my mind. I see them everywhere I go. I was driving home yesterday on a road that had a lot of newly-planted trees in the median and they all had guywires attached to them. Why hadn’t I noticed before? Please, no more guywire horror stories. They’re startin’ to freak me out.
Chris from Jacksonville Beach, FL
Georgia plays at Arizona State in September. Isn't that technically outside of the South?
Vic: Yeah, I’ll accept that. I just used the Mason-Dixon Line as an example. Georgia at Arizona State is an attractive intersectional game and it’s a tough road game for Georgia. Good for them.
Jacques from London, England
Hunter Robinson? Vic, has the entire Robinson clan put up a tent in Jags land?
Vic: “Danger” Will Robinson is next, followed by Mrs. Robinson, Robinson Crusoe and, finally, the whole darn Swiss Family Robinson. My goal is to have a whole staff of Robinsons.
Mitch from Tampa, FL
Just for you people who keep cryin’ cause Florida doesn’t play teams outside the SEC, it’s cause they are student athletes. Travelin’ across country would require missing classes more often.
Vic: Oh, yeah, that’s it.
Zach from Jacksonville
I've thought of a variation of the “34.” There are five defensive linemen and the extra defensive lineman goes to the weak side of the offensive line. There would be two linebackers, two corners and two safeties. Anything wrong with my idea?
Vic: Not a thing, as long as you shade your defensive linemen properly. What you’ve “invented” is the “under” version of the “52 Defense,” which has been a staple in college football for a long, long time. Don’t feel bad. It’s tough to find anything that hasn’t already been invented.
Rodney from Jacksonville
Speaking of stability, when was the last time a Jaguars quarterback started all 16 games? Has one ever taken every snap?
Vic: Mark Brunell took every snap in 1996.
Scott from Jacksonville
In her ESPN magazine article on David Garrard, Allison Glock wrote that “Jacksonville has yet to fully embrace its team.” This is not my perception. Last year there was a tremendous amount of fan support for the team. Those of us who live here know that Jacksonville is pumped up about the Jaguars’ prospects this year. Why do members of the media perceive that there is a lack of fan support?
Vic: There were three blackouts. That’s why.