Vic Ketchman

Vic Ketchman (born July 30, 1951) is a sportswriter currently working for the NFL's Jacksonville Jaguars. He joined the organization in 1995, the Jaguars' inaugural season in the NFL. Ketchman is the senior editor of Jaguars.com where he writes editorials and a daily "Ask Vic" column.
Pre-Jaguars
Ketchman grew up in Irwin, Pennsylvania, a borough 22 miles from Pittsburgh. He graduated from Kent State University (Ohio) and was a Pittsburgh Steelers' beat writer for the Irwin-Standard Observer for more than twenty years before arriving in Jacksonville in 1995.
Ask Vic
Vic writes a daily column on Jaguars.com in which he answers questions from football fans around the world. The column is mainly Jacksonville Jaguars oriented but he fields questions from all walks of life. It's through this column that he has gained his large fan following. Vic provides extensive football knowledge to his readers as he mixes his personal experiences with the game along with his current views of the NFL. He also does his best to entertain his readers with sarcasm and inside jokes that only people who have been reading his column for a while would understand. He provides his audience with his own personal life experiences and advice. It is a column for everybody and anybody with a passion for football.
The Asterisk
Vic also posts his weekly NFL power rankings, and during the 2007 season it became a source of great controversy when he placed an asterisk next to the New England Patriots who were undefeated at the time. It was around the time that they were under scrutiny for allegedly video-taping opponent's practices. The asterisk basically denoted the team as cheaters. Because of Vic's sarcastic and tongue in cheek humor, regular "Ask Vic" readers did not think anything of it until ESPN picked up on this and made a story out of it. It became a great controversy and Vic eventually removed the asterisk. Since then Vic has renamed his weekly rankings: "Vic Ketchman's All Important Power Rankings." The asterisk still returns every once in a while, but never quite to the same effect.
Praise
Houston Chronicle writer Stephanie Stradley called Ketchman's columns "...one of the best Internet columns for a team website." This type of praise is common; Ketchman is generally considered one of the best team beat writers in the NFL.
Radio Work
Ketchman is the host of Jaguars' Monday, a one-hour radio show broadcast on WOKV in Jacksonville, FL. The show generally begins with commentary and a recap of the most recent Jaguars' news and/or game results. Ketchman also takes several calls from listeners. The show's opening credits begin "The always happy, always effervescent, man of a thousand smiles...Vic Ketchman," obviously taking a jab at Vic's unique sense of humor and broadcasting style. The shows are generally available the next day on Jaguars.com as an MP3 download.
Ketchman also joins Jaguars' broadcasters Brian Sexton and Jeff Lageman for the show "Jaguars This Week" which airs on Wednesday nights.
Health
Ketchman suffered a mild heart-attack on Christmas Day in 2009, just one day before he was scheduled to fly with the team for their game against the New England Patriots. Former Jaguars' defensive end and current color commentator Jeff Lageman agreed to handle Vic's "Ask Vic" duty while he was out. The column was known as "Ask Jeff" and featured a similar format as "Ask Vic."
 
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