Vikings QB gets through radio trouble
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Tarvaris Jackson ran into a slight problem in the opening game last Sunday.
He couldn’t understand the play calls through the tiny speaker in his helmet.
A frequency problem transformed coaches’ voices into high-pitched squeals, blending in with crowd noise at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
Displaying no signs of panic, Jackson, who started his college career at Arkansas before transferring to Alabama State, calmly improvised.
“I just went with what I thought I heard and what I knew we had in the game plan,” Jackson said “There was only so much that it could have been. I called what I thought I heard.”
The Vikings corrected the problem after several series, Jackson said, in their 24-3 victory over the Atlanta Falcons.
Jackson had a chance to grade his guesses during a film session.
Did he get them all right ?
“Nope,” Jackson said, smiling. “I was wrong on a couple. It wasn’t a bad play. It was nothing like calling a pass play when it was a run. It was a run play, just the wrong run.”
Jackson said he “felt a lot more comfortable” than he did in his twostart stint at the end of last season.
His composure was an encouraging sign for Coach Brad Childress.
“I thought he looked comfortable back there,” Childress said. “I didn’t see any jittery-ness.” Pittsburgh women tops
The Pittsburgh Steelers have known for years their fan base included countless women — that was evidenced by all the pink official team jerseys they sell and the hundreds who attend their female training camp each summer.
Now the Steelers have proof that, when it comes to building a female fan base, Pittsburgh does it better than any other NFL market.
According to a Scarborough Sports Marketing survey of 220, 354 residents in 75 United States markets conducted last year, Pittsburgh is the runaway leader, with 34 percent of the women living in the Steelers’ market identifying themselves as fans.
Green Bay was second with 29. 4 percent, followed by Buffalo (23. 7 percent ), Cincinnati (22. 8 ), Kansas City (22. 4 percent ), Jacksonville (21. 7 percent ), Baltimore and Boston (21. 5 percent ) and Denver, Tampa-St. Petersburg and Washington, D. C. (20. 9 percent ).
Nationally, the average was 16 percent, which means that Pittsburgh has more than twice the number of female pro football fans than the average market, based on the survey’s results.
Among men, Pittsburgh (35. 1 percent ) was second only to Green Bay (38 ). Rounding out the top 10 were Jacksonville (34. 9 ), Boston and Denver (33. 3 ), Buffalo, Indianapolis, Kansas City and Philadelphia (32. 1 ) and Cincinnati (31. 5 ). Summerall’s voice
Pat Summerall’s trademark as an NFL play-by-play commentator was describing events without wasting words. Now, all those thoughts he used to keep quiet have an outlet in his new sports talk radio program that airs over the Internet.
“I had opinions, but time restrictions and whomever I was working with, they seemed to have the platform more than I did,” said the 77-year-old Summerall, who played for the Arkansas Razorbacks and in the NFL. “I had opinions, but we discussed them off the air at other times.”
The Pat Summerall Show airs Tuesdays through VoiceAmerica Sports’ Web site. Quote of the day “Obviously, after three games, this team is headed in the wrong direction. The only way I know how to fix that is to go back to the start of training camp and start swinging.” Notre Dame Coach Charlie Weis on his team’s 0-3
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