Wow. Sounds like a pretty big deal and IMO this will almost definitely cost him his job. He was only pretty thin ice to begin with until he pulled off the win versus the Packers.
Is this gonna turn into a big scandal for the league, or are they gonna to focus only on Tice?
Is this going to affect the tranistion of ownership in Minnesota? Is Fowler or McCombs going to be holding the bag for this?
How does this affect the ‘underground’ economy of ticket scalping in the pros? I was surprised by the comment in the article that many assistant coaches actually rely on the scalping proceeds for a portion of their income, with at least the tacit approval of management/team owners.
Curious on thoughts from all NFL fans, but particularly those with knowledge of this whole scalping underground and those familiar with the Vikings organization.
Oh please oh please oh please oh please let it be true. Please let him lose his job. Please oh please oh please.
I doubt it’ll affect ownership - Fowler pretty definitely didn’t know about it, and Red can always plead ignorance (even if it seems to be a pretty ill-kept secret anyway). It seems only to affect players and coaches.
And if it’s as widespread as the article claims, I doubt too much will come of it (other than Tice’s firing, hopefully). There might be some shakeup in the coaching staff, but that’d happen anyway if Tice goes. I’m guessing Tice’s brother will most likely lose his job, too, if Tice goes (all together now - nepotism!).
But please, please, please, Red, see that Tice gets fired.
This sounds like you think nothing will come of this. You don’t think the NFL will at least call for Tice’s head? Opinion or actual knowledge?
I mean, this is nothing compared to the baseball steroid stuff, but I can imagine the league really can’t afford any negative attention. Most teams are knee-deep in free agency signings and draft prep right now, so it’s not a very good time for any in-depth scrutiny of the coaching staff.
I think the league is gonna crack down on Minnesota, even with the ownership change, but that they will only issue a stern warning and threats of deeper investigation to the rest of the league. It’s not in the league’s best interest to rip this into a massive scandal, just one big enough to shake things up and get everybody to keep things much more discreet.
My beloved Giants have absolutely owned the Vikes the past three seasons, and we don’t want any more shake-ups that could further damage the delicate balance that causes Big Blue to so thoroughly demolish a generally better team.
#1, you go to hell, you bastard, and #2, thanks for admitting that the Vikings are a generally better team. And with Smoot and Winfield at the corners, ha-HA, maybe our pass defense won’t be 27th this year!
In regards to the article, Mike Tice has not been exposed as the leader of a scalping ring. Quoting from today’s Star Tribune article:
It sounds like a smear campaign so far – hell, the informant even admitted it to the newspaper.
However, the article continues:
What sounds like the most likely scenario to me is that as the o-line coach, Tice was involved in such scalping, much like every other assistant coach. (Please note I’m not excusing him for such actions, if they occurred.) Once he was promoted to HC, I suspect he stopped any such activity because of his higher profile, and that this is an attempt at petty revenge for an unknown slight.
I don’t understand why ticket scalping is illegal. It’s just a manifestation of a free market, which normal ticket prices don’t represent. This is no big deal.
Reminds me of the NCAA men’s basketball "scandal "-
Shoe company sponsored AAU types “encourage” NCAA coaches and assistant coaches to give them their issued Final Four tickets. They are then sold as part of travel packages put together by friendly tavel agencies (who make a killing).
If the coaches go along, the hot AAU prospect will be encouraged to give that school a look. It’s a great little extortion gig.
I put “scandal” in quotes because even though this has been reported, nobody seems too interested in pursuing the story.
Well, the numbers don’t lie – over the past three regular seasons the Vikes are 23-25, while the Giants are 20-28. So yes, the Vikings are generally a better team.
Of course, if we talk head-to-head specifics, then it’s Vikings 0-3, Giants 3-0.
What did I say that was so confusing? Also, this is IMHO, not GD or GQ. I can speculate in here and stand on opinion alone.
This is big for Mike Tice, and makes for some ruckus, but not much. People who know about the NFL and ticket scalping and all that just don’t give much of a hoot, because it is all part of the deal. The NFL are masters of PR control. That’s all.
You want chaos, let it be shown he was involved in point shaving, game fixing, etc. THAT would become a fiasco of epic proportions. Tice…tickets…scalping.
Eh…no big deal. Sure, in Minny Sota, were your mind goes numb on aregular basis, it has to rank as news. For everyone else, YAWN.
Nothing was confusing per se - I was just curious as to why you thought it would be dealt with quietly. I wasn’t calling you out or anything like that. I was just unclear as to whether you were basing your opinion on any specific knowledge.
Sorry if it came out as snarky. That wasn’t my intent at all.
Oh, I came off kinda smarmy, now that I read my follow up post.
Anyway, it is just the nature of the (NFL) beast. Ticket scalping (all around the league), rude fans, players who’ve commited murders, have run drugs, been sentenced for such things, etc. Doesn’t get anyone all that excited. I think the Tice thing is kind of unique, but I really think a big ruckus would be someone investigated for game fixing.
Well i give him credit for admitting it. I’m so sick of people denying they did something and then having it come out they did. Way to be honest Mike.
Now, dude, you make over a million bucks a year! Do you really need the money?? Donate it to an auction if you don’t want to go, give it to a kid, give it to yourt dad, a relative, to Daunte, anything but don’t scalp it !!
In this case at least, the coaches got the tickets for free from the league. It’d be one thing to resell tix you bought (I know that’s not legal either); this seems a little worse because the league donates them and denies itself a cut.
ESPN is reporting that Tice admitted he continued to scalp tix as head coach, including selling some to this past Super Bowl. Article here.
