What Ifs

The Nimble One posted a link to the Daily Norseman in a reply yesterday:

http://www.dailynorseman.com/2015/6/3/8724863/30-day-challenge-re-doing-one-moment-minnesota-vikings-history


To tell you the truth, I absolutely HATE these kinds of articles (Sorry Nate...)

There are dozens of plays in a fan's mind that you wish would never have happened or could have happened differently. "The Favre Interception" "The Cunningham Sack Fumble" "The Anderson Field Goal Miss" in the same game!

So what? Reliving these awful moments just bring back bad memories. It's Monday Morning Quarterbacking at its worst.

I've documented in the past that, especially in close games, there are one or two plays or questionable ref calls in EVERY SINGLE game that mean the difference between winning and losing. Cranky Curtis ceased being a Viking fan when he was a kid because of one of those plays.

They happen and that's what sports is. Dreaming about changing the past is a fool's errand.

NOW if you want to talk about organizational decisions or managing/coaching decisions or strategies that have long term effects for the FUTURE now, I'm willing to talk about it.

For instance: At the time, I hated MOST of Denny Green's late game coaching decisions in playoff situations. It was those decisions that cost us big games. That's why the Vikings fired Denny. I grew up in an era where the Vikings had great coaching for years and years and years at a stretch and I fully expected the Vikings to win the Super Bowl every year. Bud Grant and (to a lesser extent) Jerry Burns instilled that kind of belief in me.

I realize NOW that Denny was a good (perhaps even great coach). How do I know that? Because the coaches we have had since then have been absolutely, incredibly horrible. What caused me to change my opinion?

Experience.

Other than the Les Steckel fiasco, I had never seen a poorly coached Vikings team. I thought he was just a blip on the radar. But Mike Tice and Brad Childress taught me differently. I realized that MOST coaches are really bad most of the time, not just in close playoff games. That experience taught me to appreciate Denny much more than I had.

So if you ask me now what would I change if I could? I would have never fired Denny Green. It's not a playing scenario. It's an organizational one. It's not one event that affected one game. It was an event that affected the Vikings to this day AND perhaps beyond...

You don't get rid of a good coach because of a questionable call or two in a playoff game. That's my rule now. IF you are in contention every single year, you keep your coach. Your chance of winning the BIG ONE someday improves dramatically that way. It could also save you a decade of losing.

The call on the last play of the game in the Super Bowl this year was bone-headed. Every single Seahawks fan knows this and would change it if they could. But the MISTAKE would have been in firing in their coach. The right decision helps protect their future.