Attack of the Voodoo Warriors- by Rabid SJDAdd yourself to The HERD's Official Roster (guestbook), if you think you are man enough!
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Well I, being a RAM fan of recent vintage (and yet of impeccable taste:-), am here to declare before all of electronic fandom that the true beast of the NFC West and designated thorn in the Vermeilian side will be the Hoodoo Warriors of Mike Ditka and the soon to be hated Ricky Williams.
Having already, and once again, proven himself more skilled at producing silk players out of sows ears than our own lovable Old Fart Head Coach has ever been; the 'Aints coach just might be poised on the brink of producing his 'Best Ever' group of OL and DL players. And if this is in fact the case, it appears to me that the NFC West will be the toughest division in the league.
They can talk about 'The Streak' all they want, but in my mind beating the 40 Whiners this year will be the least of our concerns. We only play them 2 games, but we have 4 against the 'Aints and Atlanteans. If those teams sweep us - again - we have to sweep both SF and the Pantsies just to break even.
If fans and media want to focus on beating the Whiners and ending the streak that's one thing. But if this team is to get beyond the doormat and into the house, its going to have to develop an almost mechanized take no prisoners attitude towards every opponent on the schedule. Its going to require a mental toughness and self-confidence that no STL RAMs team has yet demonstrated.
Perhaps DV has the coach/player/chemistry mix needed to get it done now. He certainly has a different brew than he whipped up when he came to town.
But if anything in this up coming season worries me, (and not much worries me 'cause I didn't make this mess:-) its the fact that Vermeil hasn't been able to get a better performance out of the players and coaches he's had. This is particularly galling to me in so far as the OL is concerned. To have used a #1 on Pace and have Hanifan as your OL coach, but still have the mediocre performance of that unit after two years is just embarrassing. Ditka certainly had no better when he arrived in NO, but he's certainly done more with it.
With the firepower this offensive team has now, I am not going to be accepting of a losing record in our Division. And don't give me this '8-8 is Great' 'cause I 'aint buyin' any. If we don't manage at least 5-3 in the Division and 10-6 overall, then I say we don't have the right coaches for the job and its time to get some body who can actually bring the best out of their players rather than the worst.
The Battle Cry for 1999 is NO PATIENCE, as in Fresh Out Of. I gave at the office. The barrels empty. And there's no mo' left to give. They can either WIN now, or bite the big one as far as I'm concerned. Pigs don't live forever and I WILL HAVE a Super Bowl Champion before I get served up for somebody's luau! And if not I'm not going to be the only one roasting in that pit. ;-)