Vikings Can Panic Now and Avoid the Rush

Dan Barreiro in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, commenting on the Vikings’ 0-2 start:

“When an established pro team gets off to a bad start, part of a columnist’s job is often to calm the masses. It is to remind folks of all the requisite cliches, including the notion the NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint. ...

“Yet, here is what a sports columnist says to Viking fans today: Go ahead and panic.

“Flood the letters sections, Web sites and radio call-in phone lines with vitriol. Your favorite team, fresh off a 17-10 loss to the Bears, a rinky-dink, dime-store club begging to be put in its place, is in serious trouble.”

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Trivia time: Who is the only coach to win both the NFL and the old American Football League title?

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Analytical coach: The Dallas Cowboys are another team off to an 0-2 start. They lost to the San Diego Chargers on Sunday, 32-21, prompting Coach Dave Campo to say, “Spot any team 17 points, and you’ve got a problem.”

Comment from Fran Blinebury of the Houston Chronicle: “[His] grasp on the obvious is likely much better than the one on his job.”

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Skinned: Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post, commenting on the Redskins: “[They’re] 0-2 and that isn’t close to being the worst news. The real concern is that they can’t field a competitive team.

“They’re the Bengals. No, they’re an expansion team. If you’re keeping score at home it’s Others 67, Redskins 3.

“That’s right--they have yet to score a touchdown. ... This could be one of the worst Redskin teams of all time.”

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He said what? Legendary golfer Sam Snead was asked after he won his first PGA championship if he did anything different for tournament play.

“I never eat on the day of a tou’ment,” he said.

According to Bert Sugar in the Sports Business Journal, what Snead said came out in newspapers as “day of atonement,” prompting many to believe Snead was Jewish.

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Consistent loser: Zippy Chippy, the New York race horse who has lost 89 consecutive thoroughbred races, isn’t the least successful steed in the world.

Quixall Crossett, his British counterpart, lost his 100th consecutive race July 23 and will get one last chance to break his hex Oct. 17.

Comment from Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times: “He’s a 101-time loser, if you toss in the fact he’s gelded.”

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Looking back: On this day in 1981, Houston’s Nolan Ryan beat the Dodgers, 5-0, in his record-setting fifth no-hitter.

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Trivia answer: Weeb Ewbank, who coached the Baltimore Colts to the 1958 NFL title then, 10 years later, did the same with the New York Jets in the AFL.

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And finally: Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union Tribune, commenting on Barry Bonds’ unpopularity:

“Bonds is about as popular as high humidity. The media don’t like him. The fans don’t like him. A whole lot of players don’t like him. I don’t know about the clergy. I’m afraid to ask. ...

“Me, I hope he hits 80 home runs. I hope he hits a hundred. Why not? He has a passel of folks rooting against him, but since when do we root against excellence in this country?”