Packers-Vikings opener is huge

"Ask Vic" will publish on Monday and Thursday through the offseason.

Tab from Middleton, WI
I've read some articles that have created enormous expectations around the Packers, despite the age of their roster. Is it like this for all franchises?
No, only the ones that have Aaron Rodgers as their quarterback.

Jim from Brooklyn, NY
Is Pittsburgh a midwestern city?
Pittsburgh is Pittsburgh. It is its own geography. It's just above the Mason-Dixon Line but you would never confuse the Pittsburgh accent with anything you'd hear just across the border. Pittsburgh is in the Pittsburgh-Cleveland-Detroit-Chicago megalopolis. Does that make it a midwestern city, despite being geographically east of Miami? Sometimes I think of Pittsburgh as being an almost separate country. It's safe from hurricanes, tornadoes and rising sea water. It has a wonderful detachment from reality and stereotype. Most importantly, it's my hometown and it's why I am the way I am, which is to say very certain about the difference between right and wrong. As a wise man once told me when I was young, "Ketchman, in the mill, all the shovels are AA." In the Pittsburgh of my youth, geography was meaningless.

John from Anderson, SC
Last Friday, we lost the great Chadwick Boseman. He played a few high-profile roles in Black Lives Matter movies, like his portrayal of Jackie Robinson in 42 and King T'Challa in Black Panther. There is one quote from Black Panther I wanted to share with you and your fans: "We will work to be an example of how we, as brothers and sisters on this earth, should treat each other. Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another, as if we were one single tribe." I think that is how we need to view the world today.
Love is the answer.

Lee from Bettendorf, IA
What’s your take on the Jaguars this season and the waiving of Fournette?
I'm not sure what's going on. Here are the choices: 1) It's a cut and gut. 2) They're stripping the team to be sold. 3) They're stripping the team to be relocated. 4) Gross incompetence. 5) Misunderstood genius. At some point, we'll know which it is.

Aiden from Jacksonville, FL
I do not understand the Jags. Why release Fournette on his last year? There isn't really an alternative and he has been productive. The Jags' front office is saying they want cultural changes. Mind you, this is the same front office that brought all of this. It's quite strange.
Fournette, Fowler, Ramsey, Bortles and Joeckel were all top-five picks. Jim McKay might say, "They're all gone." That's five in a row! If you include Justin Blackmon from 2012, a top-five pick of the previous administration, that's six in a row! That's really, really bad!

David from Fleetwood, PA
Watch the video, Vic. Kyle was defending himself.
If he goes to prison, he'll have plenty more opportunities to defend himself.

Mark from Tennessee
Vic, if somebody breaks into your home to rob you, do you feel it’s your right to defend yourself or should you just let them steal whatever they want and leave you with the mess?
I have insurance.

Scott from Hamlin, NY
I see people on social media and in the media chortle at violence. They wish it upon others and are eager to inflict it themselves. What has become of us that we wish harm to others? What has become of us that we can't condemn violence on all sides?
The line is drawn. It's winner take all. Let's go!

Cameron from Lee's Summit, MO
Vic, why do you think the Vikings are the favorites? I tried putting down my green-colored glasses and I don't see a position group where the Vikings are absolutely better than the Packers. I see a lot of pushes or the Packers being slightly better.
I think the George Floyd incident will do for the Vikings what Katrina did for the Saints. The Steelers didn't begin winning Super Bowls until big steel left Pittsburgh and its economy entered the darkest days in its history. Pittsburgh got bad and the Steelers got great. Hard times fire the steel.

Taylor from Hull, IA
As you are an older American with some pre-existing health issues, I am curious about your perspective on Covid and NFL crowd attendance. Assuming a vaccine will work similar to the flu vaccine, what would the Covid death rate have to be for you to be comfortable with fans attending NFL games without any social distancing or masks?
I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10-20 million killed, tops, depending on the breaks. Seriously, you think there's an acceptable death rate? For a football game?

Paul from Gainesville, FL
I read this opinion on a website today: "Our national response to the coronavirus is the biggest failure of truth, logic, and honesty since the Vietnam War." Your thoughts, please?
I'm most appalled by our inconsideration and  disregard for the spread of this virus. Our young people, the spring breakers and party people, are a national embarrassment.

Sean from Aubrey, TX
Why is murder an appropriate response for property damage but property damage isn't an appropriate response for murder?
Neither is an appropriate response to anything.

William from London, UK
Vic, how do you feel about the Vikings making a habit out of pressuring their players to take pay cuts when they have little or no other options?
If it's OK for the players to press their advantage in free agency, why isn't it OK for the teams to press their advantage at cut time? You can't have it both ways.

Alex from Orlando, FL
Vic, should the Jags tank for Trevor Lawrence?
At this point, yes.

Duff from Longmont, CO
Vic, that photo is brilliant. Is it the fringe of a hurricane?
No, it was shot out of the back of my house on a recent morning. It's a more pleasant picture than of a man wearing a mask. I thought we needed it.

Bob from Australia
Vic, why is it so difficult for people to accept the current U.S. malaise has little to do with politics and everything to do with the incumbent being unfit to lead the country out of its problems? This has nothing to do with Republicans vs. Democrats; it's all about one person's fitness for office.
This election is about fear of minorities. It worked for Trump in 2016 so why not try it again? I give him credit for addressing what candidates had avoided throughout my lifetime. Race is the issue. The line is drawn.

Hugh from Sioux Falls, SD
Vic, this isn't a question, just a recommendation. I clearly understand your belief in free speech and I am in agreement with you, however, you have a person in the comments section who crossed the line using coded words in nasty replies to me, and crossed way over the line of common decency with the post regarding Mark Lee's loss of his son three years ago. This person needs to be banned forever. Just my opinion.
The comments section has been turned off.

Braden from Milwaukee, WI
What is the intriguing Week One matchup?
I'm not big on the importance of early-season games, but in a season that could be cut short or altered in unpredictable ways, the Packers-Vikings opener is huge.