Vic: Ask yourself this: Is it good to put a lot of money into the hands of a young man who has nothing to do for the next few weeks but spend that money? Is there any chance that it would be for his own good that he remain a poor college kid for at least another couple of weeks?

Vic: The first time I saw it, which was on a cloudless winter day, I loved it. I won’t lie and tell you I wasn’t stunned at how small the downtown was, but I loved what I saw and everyone was telling me that Jacksonville was passionate about football and that the town’s passion for the game would overcome what it lacked in resources. Right from the beginning, I knew Jacksonville would have to over-achieve to be competitive in the NFL arena, but all expectations were that the town and its football fans would, in fact, over-achieve.

Vic: Fred Taylor is the Jaguars’ best candidate.

Vic: In a hard-cap system, everything that is spent in the year must be on that year’s cap. In a hard-cap system, signing bonus would not be amortized evenly over the life of the contract. Signing bonus would be treated as roster bonus, which is to say that what’s paid in the year stays in the year. The current system is a soft-cap concept that allows for money to be pushed out onto future caps. In many cases, that money is pushed onto caps of years for which the team has no intent of retaining the player. Given that kind of abuse, it’s hard to imagine that back in 1993 the owners who devised and supported the current cap system actually believed it would restrict spending. They were obviously counting on leaguethink, and that mentality was already in the process of eroding.

Vic: I would be tempted to say Houston or Buffalo, but is there anything in the NFL that’s underrated?

Vic: I don’t know and I don’t care because that’s a meaningless statistic. All it shows is which teams have the largest seating capacities. You don’t judge a team’s success at the box office by its total attendance, you judge its success by the price of its tickets, the size of its waiting list and, in some cases, by the price of its PSLs.

Vic: A hard-cap system would’ve caused immediate hardship for a few of the top teams in the league at that time. It would’ve caused those teams to immediately lose prominent players, effectively ending their runs. To get an agreement on the salary cap concept, a compromise to a soft-cap system was made. It was a mistake. The players union would’ve accepted a hard cap back then. They won’t now.

Vic: It’s professional sports; it’s about the money. In the old days, the money wasn’t that big and teams could ride out their lean years. They could hang in there longer as they developed their fan base. These days, the money is so big that losses can quickly multiply and put a team in an unrecoverable financial position. I don’t know the specifics of the Sonics’ situation, but I’m inclined to believe it’s financially motivated.

Vic: He’d take the 3-13 team.

Vic: No, it doesn’t boggle my mind. It’s all part of the we-must-protect-this-house mentality. Anger and the expression of it gives today’s fans a rush of power and esteem.

Vic: Seven or more players must be on the line of scrimmage or a penalty will result.

Vic: Those are good choices, but I would caution that Durant would seem to be in a competition for the strong side linebacker job and that would represent a new position for him. I have no doubt that he has all of the coverage skills necessary to succeed, but it’s not as though he’s done a lot of it in his years at Hampton and his one year with the Jaguars. I wouldn’t set the bar too high for Durant in just his second year; be reasonable. As for Williamson, yeah, based on what I saw in the spring, he could be headed for a breakout year, but I would also caution that OTAs are not real football. Let’s be reasonable on both counts.

Vic: Just think about all the people who’ve had their good questions ignored so I could run a question from somebody whining about not having his questions used.

Vic: I had just come off the golf course as the match was winding down. We sat at a table near a TV and I was seated with my back to the television. Never once as we enjoyed our cold, post-round refreshments was I even tempted to turn around and look at the TV. I think I heard a couple of grunts, though.

Vic: Oh, my, you’re giving me chills. What happens if the other guy is bigger, stronger and faster? Who has the swagger then?

Vic: Fans deal with the head. Players deal with the body. I can tell you with absolute certainty that the number one thought on every player’s mind is the satisfactory execution of his role. If he does his job on Sunday, he’s happy. Why shouldn’t he be? What else can he do but his job?

Vic: Two tackling dummies or pylons five yards apart, one blocker, one defender, one running back, one ball. It’s real football for real men.

Vic: Any team signing a player off another team’s practice squad must immediately place that player on the signing team’s active roster. If a player on one team’s practice squad is waived by that team, however, he may be signed by another team to its practice squad.

Vic: It’s July and non-premium and premium-seat tickets are still for sale. What else is there to say? I’m not gonna play the numbers game because it’s getting real old. It’s July and tickets are for sale. What’s that tell you?