A snapshot in Tom history

Yesterday, my sister-in-law Heidi gave birth to Tyler Jacob Sedlacek a month premature.

Today, I got to see the litttle guy for the first time.

It was AWESOME.

He was born early, but all indications are that he's a healthy little guy. Heidi got a picture of me holding him tonight, and I can't wait to get that up as my facebook and myspace picture.

It made me think back to Kenzie's birth, 4 years and a couple of months ago.

She was also born early, but it was because she had turned in the womb and was in danger, so they did an emergency c-section to get her out. Tyler came naturally.

4 years ago, I had just started living with Jenks.

I had been drunk maybe 4 times.

I had just finished my last year of State Arts-In, and had spent the summer living in the cabin at Brainerd.

I was dating my first girlfriend, Kaysie (pronounced like Casey) and she drove over from Eau Claire to meet me in the cities to go see Kenzie for the first time.

I was still a sports management major.

It's funny, I look at myself now, and I'm so evolved from who I think I was at the time. What will I think in a few years when I start my own family?

Tommorow Kenzie will have tubes put in her ears and will have another procedure.

I hope the little fellow is a little easier on his family.....now I should get to target and buy him a little Vikings onesy!

Stand by your man, you dirty dirty tramps.

Let me begin by saying this: Fuck David Garrard. Fuck Tony Romo. And although I like the guy, fuck JAY CUTLER.

And most of all, fuck the fans who cheer for these bums.

I am taking a stand right now. I stand 100% behind guys like Drew Bledsoe, Kurt Warner and the consummate winner, Jake Plummer.

It boggles my mind the way fans will turn on their quarterbacks.

Take Byron Leftwich. In 6 games this year, he completed 59.2 % of his passes for 1,158 yards with 7 touchdowns and 5 interceptions.

Not flashy numbers, but he averaged just under 200 yards, just more than 1 touchdown, and less than one interception a game. Not ProBowl numbers, but they are numbers that will allow you to win games. I can't comprehend why analysts and fans would want Garrard on the field. Against the Eagles, Garrard threw for 80-some yards, and it was viewed acceptable.

What the fuck are these people thinking? 86 yards? How are you going to win games throwing for 86 yards? Somehow, Jacksonville eeked that one out in a 13-6 snoozer.

Fans turned on Daunte Culpepper here in Minnesota just one season after he had one of the most productive seasons by a quarterback, ever. (4,717 yards, 39 touchdowns, 11 interceptions. a.k.a. approximately 3x what the vikings will produce in total yards and touchdowns THIS year). And who did they rally behind? Old Balls Johnson. "He won't turn the ball over as much and make as many stupid mistakes as Dante" Blah blah blah. He also will NOT throw for 4,717 yards and 39 touchdowns in a season.

How can people forget such tremendous output so quickly? And how could they not think that running the most electrifying player in the NFL (Randy Moss) out of town would hurt the team? "Ohhhhh, we have Nate Burlison. He'll do just as good as Moss."

Burlison is now returning punts in Seattle (probably the highest paid return specialist in football), and Randy Moss is surrounded by losers in Oakland.

Minnesota went from having one of the most exciting quarterback to reciever combos in the game to having Old Balls Johnson hitting Troy Williamson in the head. Congratulations Minnesota, you got what you wanted, a team without Randy and Daunte, one that can't score touchdowns.

But it's not like we're the only idiots.

How can Denver bench Plummer in the middle of the season? They're 2 games behind San Diego, and they're going to start a rookie quarterback who probably had a worse collegiate starting record than any other quarterback in the NFL? How does that make sense?

Yeah, Plummer makes mistakes. He'll turn the ball over. But he keeps the whole team involved. He hit 10 different recievers. He hit his biggest playmaker 6 times, and he also threw to 9 other guys. And what his record as a starter in Denver? Something ridiculous, I believe he's 39-14. All he does is win, and you're going to bench him for a rookie? In the toughest division in the NFL? Ridiculous!

And fuck Tony Romo. Tony Romo is not a Pro Bowl quarterback. His numbers are equivilant to Byron Leftwich's. 68.2 competion percentage is better, but he has T.O. and Terry Glenn to Leftwich's Reggie Williams and Matt Jones. Romo averages a little over 200 yards a game with 8 touchdowns and 5 interceptions in 5 starts.

So, how does one quarterback lose his job and the other get mentioned in Pro Bowl conversations?

Everyone wants to feel like a genius. Everyone thinks that their number 2 quarterback is the next Tom Brady.

Well, I have news for you, Tom Brady is 1 in a billion. Garrard, Romo, Cutler, Leinert, these guys who virtually no shot at being the quarterback that Brady is. If a quarterback is any good, don't worry, he'll get on the field. You don't have to rush your starter out the door to see what your back-up might do. You know what you have in your starter. If he isn't any good, he wouldn't be your starter.

You can never expect to be better by jettisoning your starting quarterback, unless you replace him with a known quantity.

It's funny, when Brad Johnson got hurt in '98, and was replaced by Cunningham, I was outraged. When he was dealt that offseason to clear the quarterback controversy, I was devastated. When he won a Super Bowl with Tampa I was elated. When he re-signed with the Vikings to be our backup I wazs overjoyed. But when people started screaming "trade Daunte" I screamed back "ARE YOU FUCKING INSANE?"

We give athletes a lot of crap for leaving in free agency. We talk about how there's no loyalty from the players anymore. Maybe, if we showed a little more faith and patience in the guys who lead our ballclubs, they would be more valuable to their current franchises, and would therefore draw top dollars from their own teams.

But then, I guess there is no place for economics OR reason in the fans of the NFL.