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I didn't always agree with him, but he was a good storyteller. 

Ask Vic - Blog

Today's column is the final "Ask Vic."

A voice came to me in the night. "It's time to stop, Vic." It's the inner voice that must be obeyed. It's the voice of truth and reason.

All good things must come to an end or they'll die. The timing is good. "Ask Vic" is going out on top, and I don't have to worry about leaving money on the table because there's no money to leave.

Willie Mays played too long. Roberto Clemente got his 3,000th hit and then he died. I'd prefer something between those two extremes. I think this is it.

Readership is vigorous. Me? Not so vigorous. In what is the 50th season I've written about the NFL, I wore out. Blame it on the Steelers and Packers for playing so many night games. Hey, I have to take my back pills. The Jaguars play in a one o'clock world. I needed more of that.

"Ask Vic" is 20 years old. It was created to help Jaguars fans understand the salary cap, which was about to gut their football team. "Ask Vic" quickly mutated. Subject matter included fighting crows, guy wires, invisible paint, FULL CONSISTENCY and 998 Oaks. Fred Taylor even penned an "Ask Vic" while I was on vacation.

A rookie linebacker from North Carolina State once stared at me from the other side of a salad bar and asked, "You Ask Vic?" I nodded. Mike Peterson burst into laughter. I was "Ask Vic." It was my new identity.

In Green Bay, "Ask Vic" evolved into "Ask Vic Extra," "Ask Vic Saturday," "Ask Vic Halftime," and I even think there was an "Ask Vic Postgame." I think I could've done an "Ask Vic Bathroom" and people would've read. The column was killin' it.

It was a great run.

More recently, the column got a little angry. It was unavoidable. America is an angry place. It's a place I want to avoid so I'm going to sit on the dock and listen to the pluff mud pop as the tides come and go at the turn of Scott Creek where I live. I'm at that stage of life. I love it!

I can't help but think of what Joe Greene said that night in 1980 when the Steelers were eliminated from playoff contention, effectively ending one of the greatest dynasties the game has ever known. "They put the second number on our tombstone. Now we can rest," Joe said.

Today is that day for "Ask Vic." This is the second number. Now it can rest.

Thank you for reading the column. Thank you for the memories. Thank you for making me rich.

One more time, let's do it...

He had a good run
Personal bias got the better of him to the point I stopped reading - but I enjoyed his stuff for a number of years
Hope he has a good run at retirement or some semblance of it as well

I appreciate that he did this kind of unannounced. It avoided a column of gushing messages, allowed him to still post material that was reflective of his everyday inbox.

I'll admit that I continued reading while he was in GB, and post-retirement, and my mornings will be a little emptier without his columns. Much like he said about the game, "I like to watch." I might not have agreed with every stance he took politically or as a writer, but I still enjoyed that the banter that published made you still have an opinion one way or the other, without the column being a "reasons why I am right and you are wrong" type thing.

I learned much about the history of the game, the way the cap worked, and why it's so important to get the big guys early.

If I had resources (money and/or time), I would love to set about printing a compilation of the Q&A he's done over the years. I hate that the vitriol infected his inbox in recent years, and you could tell that either the volume of those messages (or the lack of other decent questions) caused the columns to feel less informative than in the past.

I'm glad he was able to set the terms and end it. As he continued to age, my fear was that one day the column just stopped, and eventually some savvy reader would discover an obit or some story of his passing. I'm happy it didn't end that way.

I always appreciate good writing, and Vic Ketchman is a good writer. I hope the suddenness isn't indicative of personal issues such as health. After all, we helped nurse him through his first heart attack. It would suck for another one to edge him out.

I didn't always agree with the guy, but I can't say he didn't have a pretty good grasp of the game. Even when he knew we sucked, he had a unique way of relaying that to us ("the Jaguars' weaknesses are many, and they are great"). It's nice that he remembered us in his goodbye. I thought he would have skipped us, what being sandwiched between Steelers 70s dominance and the Rodgers' Packers years. May he have a long, happy retirement.

I want to go chop down 2 trees in thousand oaks for that man.

He was huge for the Jags right when I was becoming a fan

Very sad when he left.

I'm not a child, so I don't believe in a curse, but Ossher is terrible.

I'm old enough to remember when he wrote the Jags' newspaper and sent it out in the mail.

(12-23-2021, 10:00 AM)The Real Marty Wrote: [ -> ]I'm old enough to remember when he wrote the Jags' newspaper and sent it out in the mail.

Jaguars Inside Report. Published year round, once a week in season and once a month in the off-season. I subscribed every year until it went defunct. Used to get the majority of my Jaguar news that way back in the early seasons.

Ask Vic was easily my favorite football read. I love Vic's ornery demeanor and sarcasm. I love his love of the game. I love his way with words. I kept reading him in Green Bay, even though I didn't care about the Packers, and I kept reading him after he retired. He will be missed.

Vic was one of the reasons I joined the Jaguars board. It's a little bit of a long story. I really enjoyed his column for many years.

"I hear the train a'comin" ... Vic Ketchman (Maybe 2009?) He was wrong.

(12-26-2021, 05:37 PM)Sammy Wrote: [ -> ]Vic was one of the reasons I joined the Jaguars board. It's a little bit of a long story. I really enjoyed his column for many years.

"I hear the train a'comin" ... Vic Ketchman (Maybe 2009?)  He was wrong.

I always wondered how you ended up over here…lol

(12-26-2021, 05:39 PM)Bchbunnie4 Wrote: [ -> ]

(12-26-2021, 05:37 PM)Sammy Wrote: [ -> ]Vic was one of the reasons I joined the Jaguars board. It's a little bit of a long story. I really enjoyed his column for many years.

"I hear the train a'comin" ... Vic Ketchman (Maybe 2009?)  He was wrong.

I always wondered how you ended up over here…lol

I joined because of Vic (and my nephew) ... And stayed for the hot chicks.   You know me.

My nephew (now ex-navy) lived in Jacksonville, and we would banter over the Jags, and Colts. After a few times of him quoting Vic, I asked him "Who the hell is Vic?" And so it began. I'm now a closet Jaguars fan, but I would never admit it in person.  Hot chicks on the other hand .. Check mark.

I read every article and every ask Vic as a kid growing up. After Vic left it tried to follow Osher but it wasn’t the same.