Opinion is the new truth

"Ask Vic" will publish on Mondays and Thursdays through the offseason.

Rik from Vancouver, WA
Not having a season may be the responsible thing to do, but what the heck is wrong with baseball?
It appears baseball is going to attempt to play a shortened season, but that's not going to fix what's wrong. The players are what's wrong with baseball. Their greed is beyond professionalism, it's repulsive, as evidenced by Gerritt Cole. Compounding the problem for baseball is it can't even attempt to bring salaries (greed) down without being guilty of collusion. Maybe baseball should give back its anti-trust exemption and start over.

Marty from Grafton, WI
Vic, isn't it possible the 32 NFL teams didn't and still don't think Kaepernick is talented enough to be their starting quarterback?
OK, so what? It's not the issue. His protest is his significance. He was willing to jeopardize his career for a cause, just as Ali did. It's how history will remember Kaepernick, not as a failed quarterback.

Reed from Florida
Vic, I uncharacteristically became afraid of the market and chose not to renew my participation in my company’s employee stock purchase program. This was before your “buy the dips” advice published. When my benefits manager kindly emailed me personally to make sure I was not enrolling, I decided to follow your advice and continued my participation. Here’s to second half 2020!
In March of 2009, the Dow was at 6,900. Now it's at 25,000. Nothing beats dividends in the form of reinvested shares. Never sell, only buy.

Matt from Marshall, MI
Is there anything that gives you specific hope a vaccine will eliminate this virus?
Cramer said never bet against science.

Scott from Lincoln City, OR
It's funny how both the left and right tack on wacko whenever referring to the other. We were all born with a bent towards wacko. Unchecked it leads to hardness of heart and/or softness of head. Truth is the only remedy.
Opinion is the new truth.

Jeff from Ogden, UT
Are all who espouse conservative politics a right wing wacko?
No. You'll know it when you see it.

Sandy from USA Proud
Kaepernick an American hero? He’s a punk and a coward. You're out of your mind! You got those cops-are-pigs socks on sale, did ya? I haven’t read your blog for awhile, mainly because I knew in my heart you were still left of insane, and I was correct. Stick to football, but I believe it’s a dying sport. The same majority of America will now and forever turn off their TV's and no longer attend games. Too bad, it was fun while it lasted. I was an over-the-top Packers fan since 1966. I traveled all over the U.S. seeing games and loving my team. They decided to put politics in and beat up their supporters. Good luck with the left wing fanatics being able to support these millionaires and billionaires; not going to happen. Welcome to the 9-5 world gentleman; your day is over. And just as a reminder, we have much minority blood in our veins, but it runs red, white and blue.
OK.

Amanda from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL
Vic, covering a dynasty like the '70’s Steelers must have been an amazing experience. I know you have had several questions about this recently. Was there ever a time of reflection after it was over?
Every day is a time of reflection. I go home again any time I want. It's a wonderful place, and it includes the 16 wonderful years I spent covering the Jaguars. I wish I could do it all over again.

Jim from Maple Grove, MN
Which way did MLK do it, Vic?
Robinson used his bat, Smith and Carlos used their raised fists, Ali used refusal to comply and Kaepernick used his knee. Martin Luther King used beautiful words and the willingness to die for them.

Jack from Jacksonville, FL
Who do you think will be the first team to sign Colin Kaepernick?
I wouldn't sign him. His presence will fracture a team's fan base and create a distraction that'll make winning doubly difficult. Again, this is not about his football career. He has risen to a much higher level of significance.

Milan from New York
How about memories of Bill Virdon and other Pirates from your childhood?
Virdon's nickname was "the quail." Bob Skinner was "the dog," Don Hoak was "the tiger," Harvey Haddix was "the kitten," Dick Schofield was "the duck," Smokey Burgess was "shake, rattle and roll" and Wilmer Mizell was "Vinegar Bend." There was "that's a my boy, Gino" Cimoli, Vernon "deacon" Law, Elroy "little man" Face and one of my all-time favorite nicknames, Dick "Dr. Strangeglove" Stuart. Oh, the memories.

Dan from Tulare, SD
Kaep settled. Not to mention his affiliation with Nike and all the child slave labor they've utilized over the decades. His time as the leader of this movement is over. I'd lean towards Malcolm Jenkins as the voice of BLM in the NFL.
Do you all hate Kaepernick because he kneeled or because he beat the Packers like a drum?

Alexander from Brooklyn, NY
How much of Darren Sproles and/or Maurice Jones-Drew's success was due to their size? I guess I'm asking why we assume bigger is better?
Low power strikes where high power is weak.

Kurt from Sartell, MN
Vic, of the three organizations you have covered, which one is setup for the most success over the next three years?
The Packers is the answer because I assume Aaron Rodgers will continue to play at a high level. If he doesn't, hard times and uncertainty will arrive and stay until Jordan Love proves he can be "The Man." The Steelers have fixed their cap and their defense. Their next order of business will be to address replacing Roethlisberger. Their immediate future is kind of bland. The Jaguars have the draft capital to hit a home run.

Jack from Middleton, WI
Couldn't society benefit by NFL football not existing for at least a year? Wouldn't the forced respite allow society to determine how much it misses and values football? There would be tremendous economic headaches (too big to fail?) and loss of opportunity, but couldn't the languor allow society to reemerge from a place of balance?
We're a mess. We have four percent of the world's population but 25 percent of its Covid deaths. The same day Fauci and the virus task force took off their facemasks long enough to tell us the danger is increasing at an alarming rate, our president presided over another indoor rally in a state that is spiking in virus infections. Athletes are testing positive as the leaders of the games they play are making plans to resume or start a season. Our beaches are packed. Our little food store in Edisto Beach is a Petri dish of beachgoers jamming the aisles while wearing little more than a bathing suit and flip-flops. I can almost smell the Covid oozing out of them. Seventeen Ohio kids tested positive following a trip to Myrtle Beach the kids' high school superintendent termed a "rite of passage." Maybe we should call that a "rite of Covid." We are incapable of denying ourselves pleasure. We will continue to have fun, fun, fun until daddy takes the T-bird away, or until everybody's dead, from sea to shining sea. A fall without the NFL? As Jack Lambert might say, "That'll cool your ass."