SB Nation Blog: Gonzo

Happy 4th of July!

Gonzo — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 14:11:24 -0000

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, today is the day that we celebrate the birth of the greatest damn country on the planet. 232 years young, she is.

Today is a day for reflection and celebration. I hope that you and your family are spending today doing both. We're taking the day off over here today, but we'll be back into the swing of things starting tomorrow.

Until then, enjoy this video interlude.

(Hey. . .what else were you expecting from someone named Gonzo?)

Happy Independence Day, folks!

Idiot Green Bay Writer Says Stupid Things

Gonzo — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:10:02 -0000

Well, it's been a while since someone from one of Wisconsin's news publications said something that was stupid on a nearly galactic level. I was wondering if maybe. . .just maybe. . .they had increased their level of journalistic integrity over on the other side of the river.

Enter Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Press-Gazette and his wonderfully intelligent, well-thought out article entitled "Minnesota Has 10,000 Lakes and Fair-Weather Fans." And by "wonderfully intelligent, well-thought out article," what I really mean is "an article that, if printed out, wouldn't be worthy of wiping one's rear end with." I can only assume that Vandermause is German for "hack."

Now, like most of you, I love me my Minnesota sports, and with that being the case, I feel compelled to defend my adopted home state against the sort of garbage that this guy is attempting to perpetuate. So, let's break this down, shall we?

A trip to the Metrodome last week told me everything I need to know about Minnesota sports fans.

The Twins, who have won four division titles in the past six years, were riding a nine-game winning streak heading into their series against the Milwaukee Brewers on Friday and had climbed within a half-game of first place in the American League Central Division.

Yet for all the excitement the Twins were generating, just 30,000 fans bothered to show up on a summer weekend evening.

The Metrodome should have been buzzing with electricity, but more than one-third of the seats were vacant. If not for a sizable contingent of Brewers fans in attendance, this gathering might have been mistaken for a wake.

It provided more evidence that fans in Minnesota are fickle, fair-weathered and faint-hearted.

Uh-huh.

We apologize to Mr. Vandermause for the fact that, within the state of Minnesota, there are actually more things to do than drink beer and watch sports. People go to the lake, for example. . .after all, there are 10,000 to choose from. . .or enjoy some of the numerous cultural activities within the Twin Cities themselves. Honestly, other than the mold that covers the various cheeses over there, what kind of culture does Milwaukee (or Wisconsin in general) really have? Do they have a Laverne and Shirley tour that people can go on or something?

Unless their teams are winning championships, the sun is shining and the sky is blue, Minnesota fans barely show evidence of a pulse.

It's comical, and sad, that although Friday's game was played indoors, pregame showers likely kept potential fans from attending. Minnesotans apparently don't want to be inconvenienced by a few raindrops while walking from the parking ramp to the stadium.

Of course, it might have something to do with the fact that Twins fans have come to realize something over the past few years. . .that a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers is the baseball equivalent of a bye week. Hell, if the Twins could play in the NL Central rather than the vastly superior AL Central, they'd probably win 100 games a year and attendance wouldn't be an issue at all.

Just think what will happen when the Twins move to their new open-air stadium in 2010. Fans accustomed to a climate-controlled 70-degree atmosphere will be forced to battle the elements in April and May, and the guess is many will choose to stay home.

Which is why the people of Minneapolis voted to, you know, help fund an outdoor stadium in the first place, right? Did this guy do any research at all?

Can you imagine how elated Brewers fans would be if they received even a sniff of the success the Twins have enjoyed?

Yes, the Brewers. . .despite a fancy new stadium. . .haven't even sniffed the post-season since yours truly was in kindergarten. During that same time period, the Twins and their "fairweather fans" and their "terrible stadium" have put up two World Series championship banners (including winning the greatest World Series in the history of baseball) and have won numerous division titles.

The numbers don't lie. The Brewers (35,000 average attendance) are drawing a whopping 40 percent more fans than the Twins (25,000) this year. Since 2002, the Brewers have finished a combined 104 games under .500, while the Twins have been a combined 104 games over .500. Despite the huge disparity in records over that seven-season span, the Brewers have posted higher attendance figures in all but one year.

Here's some more numbers that don't lie:

The Milwaukee Brewers opened Miller Park in 2001. Miller Park has a capacity of 43,000. The Brewers hosted the MLB All-Star Game in 2002. In Miller Park’s inaugural season the Brewers sold 2,811,041 tickets, averaged 34,704 fans per game and played to 81.7 percent of Miller Park’s capacity. The honeymoon was over quickly for the Brewers and fans buying tickets to Brewers games to experience what it was like to attend a game at Miller Park.

Despite hosting baseball’s mid-summer classic in 2002, the Brewers experienced one of the biggest single season attendance drops in Major League Baseball history in 2002. The Brewers sold 1,969,153 tickets, averaged 24,310 fans per game and experienced an average attendance drop of nearly 25 percent -- playing to 57.2 percent of Miller Park’s capacity. The Brewers were a terrible team on the field in the years preceding their move to Miller Park and haven’t won more than 81 games (they finished at 81/81 in 2005), since the 1992 season. Brewers’ fans have been forced to endure 14 consecutive seasons of losing baseball. Brewers’ fans are proof sports fans won’t get fooled again.

I'm sure a lot of people loved Miller Park, up until the point that they remembered that the Brewers play their home games there.

Oh, and another number that doesn't lie? Can anyone tell me which team was the first American League team to draw over 3 million fans in a season? That's right. . .it was the Minnesota Twins. And they did it in 1988, a season in which they finished in second place in the AL West. If you're trying to find the last time the Brewers drew 3 million fans, you won't find it. . .because the next time it happens will be the first time.

But, Vanderhack doesn't just limit himself to the Twins. . .

Minnesota's finicky attitude isn't limited to baseball. The Vikings are the toast of the town when they're successful, but if the team tanks on the field, fans leap off the bandwagon in droves.

The Green Bay Packers, in contrast, have sold out every season ticket at Lambeau Field since 1960, in good times and in bad. It speaks to the character of Wisconsin fans that their devotion isn't swayed, no matter the record or weather conditions.

The Vikings have their share of diehard followers. But the team struggles every year to sell all of their tickets, an indication there's a serious crack in the fan base. It speaks to the character of a large group of Minnesota fans whose support is conditional and depends on which way the wind is blowing. Or in the case of the Twins and Vikings at the Metrodome, which way the air ducts are venting the heat.

The "sellout streak" thing is hilarious, regardless of how many times it's pointed out. Sure, the tickets might have been sold, but there were plenty of times during the 80s that those "fans" showed up to Lambeau Field dressed up as empty seats. And who can forget that glorious 2004 playoff game between the Vikings and the Packers, where Green Bay got embarassed and the stadium was half-empty before halftime? And the ones that DID stick around were booing their team off the field. "Speaking to the character of Wisconsin fans," indeed.

And, keep in mind that the Packers used to play a couple of games a year in Milwaukee. . .a practice that was stopped because those games never sold out, and never really even came close. "Speaking to the character of Wisconsin fans," indeed.

Also, there's the "season ticket waiting list" thing. I know that I said that there wasn't a lot to do in Milwaukee, but the veritable plethora of things there are to do in Green Bay make Milwaukee look like Paris.

In his efforts to blow the "Wisconsin is great and Minnesota sucks" horn, this fool has attempted to generalize the entire fan base, and in the process has made himself look like a complete idiot. Do the Vikings have some bandwagon type fans? Sure, they do. Do the Packers have bandwagon fans? They most certainly do, and anyone that says that that franchise is above that kind of thing is either lying or fooling themselves. Every team in pretty much every sport has bandwagon, fairweather fans. Trying to label an entire fanbase as "fairweather" is a relatively stupid thing to attempt, and goes to show why this guy is writing for a newspaper with about the same level of circulation as the Fargo Forum.

Feel free to hoist this guy on his own ret. . .er, petard, folks. We'll hopefully be back with more later on.

Vikings Trimming Down the Roster

Gonzo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 23:33:27 -0000

In an effort to get the roster down before the rookies start signing and before camp starts, the Vikings have released a few players that, really, didn't have much of a shot at making the roster anyway.

A couple of days ago, the Vikings released a couple of rookie free agent defensive backs in Marcus Griffin and Travis Key. Griffin was listed as a safety, while Key was listed as a cornerback. With some of the Vikings' other signings and draft picks this season, as well as their depth at the position to begin with, both players were facing a real uphill battle to make the roster, and now have a chance to latch on somewhere else.

Today came the release of someone that I thought the Vikings might attempt to sneak onto the practice squad, that being QB Kyle Wright. Wright, a highly touted quarterback coming out of high school who followed that up with four seasons of jack squat at the University of Miami, didn't have a real chance of making the Vikings' roster, even with the perceived lack of talent the Beloved Purple possess at the quarterback position. I'm not sure what kind of future Wright has in the NFL, but he could probably fill a practice squad spot and/or hold a clipboard somewhere.

And, with that bit of excitement, we've exhausted the Vikings' news for today. I promise that I will attempt to get back into the roster projection here before too much longer. . .if not tomorrow, then over the 4-day weekend I have coming for sure. We'll see you back here tomorrow regardless, and enjoy the rest of your Wednesday!

Quick Update

Gonzo — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 02:24:15 -0000

I apologize for the lack of content here on the site yesterday and today. I've been quite busy at my real world job. . .yes, again. . .and simply haven't had the time to throw anything new up here yet.

Wanted to put a heads-up out there to let everyone know that fantasy football time is fast approaching again already. The league this year will be a bit different from last year's league. . .it will be on a different platform, for starters. There will be some other changes as well, but those will be revealed as we get closer to the start of the actual season.

Also, in addition to the fantasy football league, I'm pretty sure we'll be having a picks pool of some sort, and possibly one of those "suicide" pools where you pick one team to win each week and, if they win, you get to continue. There will be fun and prizes (but mostly fun. . .hell, I'm not rich) for everybody.

So, bear with us here, ladies and gentlemen. And just think. . .in a little more than three freaking weeks, there will be NFL football once again as the Beloved Purple (and the other 31 less important NFL teams) kick off Training Camp prior to the 2008 NFL season. With all the excitement that's been building with this team, I simply can't wait for this whole party to officially get underway. The dead period is almost over.

There will be news again soon, folks. . .oh, yes. . .there will be news.

Tune back in tomorrow when we'll (hopefully. . .fingers crossed) start projecting the defensive side of our 53-man roster. Until then, enjoy the rest of your Tuesday!

Gonzo's Summer Reading List: Cold Wars

Gonzo — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 15:28:06 -0000

In the relatively short time the Minnesota Vikings have been a part of the National Football League, their biggest rival has, without a doubt, been the Green Bay Packers. While each team has had their periods of time where they've been dominant over the other, the all-time series has never really been more than a couple of games in favor of either side.

As you can probably imagine, there are a lot of good stories to have come out of this rivalry. That's where Todd Mishler comes in. His book, Cold Wars: 40+ Years of Packer-Viking Rivalry, breaks down the rivalry between these two teams decade-by-decade. The last update of the book runs through the 2003 season. . .so, we get a complete rundown of the last weekend of the 2003 season, but nothing (unfortunately) about the Vikings destroying the Packers in the only post-season contest between the two teams. Maybe Mr. Mishler will do another update of his book in the future to include that glorious event.

In addition to going though every game in the history of the Viking-Packer rivalry, Mishler also gives us his list of the Top 10 Viking-Packer games. You can probably guess a few of the matchups that are listed, but to hear the stories re-told is a pretty enjoyable experience. There's also a chapter about the fans of both teams, as well as the stadiums that both teams call home. To conclude the book, there's a chapter full of a lot of obscure facts about many of the players that have played for the Vikings and Packers over the years. For example, did you know that former Vikings kicker Fred Cox was responsible for the invention of the Nerf football? I certainly didn't, until this book told me that he was.

Overall, this is a highly entertaining read. Todd Mishler presents this rivalry in a manner that captures all of the excitement and passion that each game has to offer. He also manages to present it in an even-handed manner, never really favoring one side over the other as he tells his stories despite the fact that his bio states he grew up in Wisconsin and grew up watching the Packers. He's gotten many quotes from players on both sides, which add depth to many of the stories.

One thing I do have to caution you on when searching for this book. There are two different versions, one that was published in 2002, and one that was published in 2004. The picture to the left there is of the 2004 version, which can be distinguished by the little "REVISED" strip in the upper-right corner. The updated version simply includes a few more seasons of Viking-Packer game recaps.

There are many places that you can order Cold Wars from, but I'd recommend going to the site of the author himself. There, you can not only order the book (for which you'll pay through PayPal), but Mr. Mishler will also customize the book for you. The cover price of the book is $18.95, but the $21.00 price on Todd Mishler's website includes the personalization and the shipping fee. If you're a Big Ten fan, he's also written a book about Big Ten football rivalries called Blood, Sweat, and Cheers. He's also written an informational pamphlet called Great Moments in Wisconsin Sports.

Cold Wars: 40+ Years of Packer-Viking Rivalry is definitely a book that Viking fans AND Packer fans. . .the ones that can read, anyway. . .should seek out. Informative and entertaining, it will be a welcome addition to the library of fans of either team

Projecting the Vikings' 53-Man Roster: Special Teams

Gonzo — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 15:23:47 -0000

Yes, I apologize. . .I'm sort of taking the easy way out on this one. Hey, it's the weekend, and this one still has to be done, so let's get it out of the way, shall we? The Vikings are pretty well set at all of the special teams positions. Ryan Longwell is going to be the kicker, Chris Kluwe is going to be the punter, and Cullen Loeffler is going to be the long snapper.

I know that Steven Hauschika, a rookie from North Carolina State, is currently on the roster as a kicker, but he's pretty much just there to give Ryan Longwell a break during the pre-season. I don't think he's a serious threat to Longwell's job security or anything. Nor should he be, considering that Longwell has been pretty outstanding for us in the two seasons he's been in a Viking uniform. Since escaping Green Bay for the much, much greener pastures of the Twin Cities, Longwell is 41/49 in the field goal department (missing 4 field goals in each season), and 5 of his 8 misses have been from 50+ yards out. He's even thrown a TD pass since joining the Vikings (Week 2 against Carolina in 2006). Longwell has also managed to improve his kickoffs since coming to Minnesota as well. He'll continue to be the Vikings' kicker for the foreseeable future.

On the other hand, nobody has been brought in to compete with Chris Kluwe as of yet, and I'd be surprised if anybody was. . .although the Vikings DID work out an Australian punter by the name of Shane Phillips, according to the blog of former Vikings' special teams coach Gary Zauner. However, Kluwe isn't going anywhere. The best Vikings' rookie of 2005. . .which is sad, considering he was a UDFA and not part of our actual draft class. . .has done a solid job for the Vikings thus far. I've got a soft spot in my heart for anyone that can go out and punt with a torn knee ligament, which is what Kluwe did towards the end of his rookie season after getting injured. The Vikings signed him to a long-term deal not too long ago, so they obviously think he's the answer at punter. With the way he's performed in his three seasons in Minnesota, I see no reason to disagree.

Cullen Loeffler is the long snapper. He. . .ummmmm. . .snaps the ball. Long. He's been doing the job for Minnesota since 2004, and to be honest, I can't remember very many bad snaps during that time, if there have been any at all. Long snappers are like baseball umpires. . .we don't notice them unless they screw something up. The fact that I don't have a whole lot to say about Loeffler means that I haven't noticed him much. . .which, in this case, can only be considered a good thing.

So now that we've talked about the specialists, let's take a look at a couple of positions that need to be filled by guys that we've already discussed. I'm referring to the positions of kick returner and punt returner.

I've mentioned my confusion over the signing of Maurice Hicks before, because from all of the reports that have been out there, the guy was primarily signed for his return skills. It's puzzling because I thought that Aundrae Allison had done an outstanding job in that role for Minnesota in 2007, with his 3 returns of 60+ yards and 28.7 yard return average. Hicks is also the #3 running back, but come on. . .barring injuries to both Chester Taylor and Adrian Peterson, how many snaps is he actually going to get back there?

I guess that I really, really just don't understand the role Maurice Hicks fills on this football team at the moment. Allison is our best kick returner, in my opinion, and is the best choice to stay there. I know that Allison's role in the offense might be increasing, but he's still, at best, the #4 guy on the depth chart right now (behind Bernard Berrian, Sidney Rice, and Bobby Wade), and possibly lower depending on your opinion of Robert Ferguson. Allison has great speed, good moves, and seems to be a natural returner. If I'm the Vikings, I'm not sure I want to mess with that.

As far as punt returning goes, our main guy last year was Mewelde Moore, who has since moved on to Pittsburgh. The only other guy on the roster that returned any punts last year was Bobby Wade. Neither of them have met a fair catch that they didn't like. Hicks, again, doesn't seem to fit in here either, as he hasn't returned a single punt in his 4 years in the NFL. This will be one of the more intriguing positions to watch in training camp this year. Is this going to be how rookie Jaymar Johnson makes his way on to the roster? Will the Vikings give someone like Charles Gordon (who was an outstanding college return man) a chance to win the job? Or will they stick with the one real proven commodity they have and let Wade keep the job? To be honest, I think that with Johnson's speed, I hope he can handle the role. It would be nice to have explosive young returners on both the kick and punt return units.

What do you folks think about out special teams? Go ahead and discuss it right here, and we'll be back either later today or tomorrow morning. Continue enjoying your Saturday, everybody!

Complete Madden 2009 Ratings for the Minnesota Vikings

Gonzo — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:43:28 -0000

They are officially out, thanks to the good folks at IGN.

Since the table is entirely too massive to put in this space, here's a list of just the overall rankings for the entire roster.

QB
Tarvaris Jackson - 79
Gus Frerotte - 77
John David Booty - 77

HB
Adrian Peterson - 95
Chester Taylor - 88
Maurice Hicks - 76

FB
Thomas Tapeh - 85

WR
Bernard Berrian - 85
Sidney Rice - 83
Bobby Wade - 81
Robert Ferguson - 77
Aundrae Allison - 76
Jaymar Johnson - 72

TE
Visanthe Shiancoe - 79
Jim Kleinsasser - 78
Garrett Mills - 71

LT
Bryant McKinnie - 96
Chase Johnson - 65

LG
Steve Hutchinson - 98
Brian Daniels - 70

C
Matt Birk - 95
John Sullivan - 73

RG
Anthony Herrera - 88
Artis Hicks - 80

RT
Ryan Cook - 87
Marcus Johnson - 73

LDE
Ray Edwards - 83
Jayme Mitchell - 70

DT
Pat Williams - 98
Kevin Williams - 97
Ellis Wyms - 76
Letroy Guion - 71
Fred Evans - 68

RDE
Jared Allen - 97
Brian Robison - 82

LOLB
Ben Leber - 81
Vinny Ciurciu - 69

MLB
E.J. Henderson - 92
Derrick Pope - 69

ROLB
Chad Greenway - 87
Rufus Alexander - 71
Heath Farwell - 68

CB
Antoine Winfield - 91
Cedric Griffin - 83
Marcus McCauley - 79
Charles Gordon - 77
Benny Sapp - 77

SS
Darren Sharper - 92
Michael Boulware - 79
Eric Frampton - 71

FS
Madieu Williams - 88
Tyrell Johnson - 80

K
Ryan Longwell - 90

P
Chris Kluwe - 82

A few bits of dubiousness (dubiosity?) to be found here. . .

First, Rufus Alexander being ranked ahead of Heath Farwell is kind of strange, since Alexander spent all of '07 on the shelf. I know Farwell hasn't been much more than a special teams player thus far in his Viking career (albeit a damn fine one), but I'd think he'd be better than a guy that didn't make it through the first pre-season game of his NFL career.

Letroy Guion ahead of Fred Evans is a bit of a curiosity, too. I know I've been hard on Evans because of his off-field antics, but he was actually fairly solid when he got on the field last year. No reason for him to be ranked behind someone that's never been on an NFL field before.

Apparently the folks at EA have solved our TE/FB problem by not having Jeff Dugan OR Naufahu Tahi on the roster, which is something I really can't see happening. I think Brad Childress is going to want at least 5 players between those 2 slots, if not 6.

Our lowest ranked offensive line starter is ranked at an 87. To contrast, the Lions and Bears combined have a total of 1 offensive lineman ranked that high on their entire rosters (that being Chicago's Olin Kreutz, who comes in at a 93). Between that and the rankings of Peterson and Taylor, is it any wonder that this team, much like their real-life counterparts, runs the ball where they want and when they want?

Chris Kluwe isn't ranked high enough. . .but, then, I've been a huge Kluwe fan since he joined the team, so I'm probably not the guy to ask there.

Our lowest rated defensive starter is Ben Leber. . .and, you know something, Ben Leber is a pretty damn good football player. If he's the weak link, then I can't wait to see what this defense is going to do.

And, contrary to what I said when the announcement was made about putting a piece of trash on the cover of the game, I'll probably end up picking this one up anyhow. . .there are lots of places to get custom Madden covers on the internet, and I'm sure that there will be some sort of collector's edition, too, what with this being the 20th anniversary of Madden and all.

Hopefully I'll be back later on this afternoon, folks. Until then, keep enjoying your Friday!

Robert Griffith Retires As a Minnesota Viking

Gonzo — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 01:58:21 -0000

Today, former Viking safety Robert Griffith signed a one-day contract with the Minnesota Vikings for the express purpose of retiring as a member of the team.

Griffith came to Minnesota as an undrafted free agent out of San Diego State in 1994. He played in Minnesota until 2001, and for a pretty solid majority of that time he was the only solid DB on the Minnesota roster. (Kenny Wright? Robert Tate? Wasswa Serwanga?) His coverage skills might not have been the greatest, but the man was a damn good run support safety.

Now. . .if only he could have held on to a couple of sure-fire interceptions in the 4th quarter of the 1998 NFC Championship game. Argh.

We here at the Daily Norseman would like to wish Mr. Griffith the best in all of his future endeavors outside of football.

The Vikings Are A Picture of. . .Consistency?

Gonzo — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 01:06:36 -0000

The impetus for this post comes from, of all places, Mile High Report. Apparently the good folks over there were looking in the Broncos media guide about how teams have performed since the AFL/NFL merger, and they seemed to be surprised by how consistent the Vikings have been since that merger. Here are some of the stats that they cite:

Winning Seasons

	Team	#
1	Miami	28
2	Dallas	27
	Pittsburgh	27
4	Denver	24
	Minnesota	24
6	San Fran, Washington	23

Overall Wins

	Team	#
1	Pittsburgh	379
2	Dallas	378
3	Miami	374
4	Denver	356
5	San Francisco	355
6	Minnesota	349

Regular Season Wins

	Team	#
1	Miami	354
2	Pittsburgh	351
3	Dallas	347
4	Denver	339
5	Minnesota	333
6	San Francisco	330

Home Wins (Regular Season)

	Team	#
1	Pittsburgh	210
2	Denver	207
3	Miami	204
4	Dallas	198
5	Minnesota	196
6	Washington	185

And the more I think about it, the more I realize that the folks at Mile High Report are absolutely correct. The Vikings HAVE been a very consistent team over the course of the last four decades. Unfortunately, that fact gets lost because the team has never won the Super Bowl. Whether that's the way it should be or not is a subject that's up for some debate. But let's illustrate this a little further by looking a little more closely, taking the records from Pro-Football-Reference.com.

Here's a breakdown of the Vikings' regular season records since the merger:

-Seasons with a winning percentage above .500: 24 (1970, 1971, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1982*, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2005)
-Seasons with a winning percentage of exactly .500: 6 (1972, 1983, 1991, 1995, 2004, 2007)
-Seasons with a winning percentage below .500: 8 (1979, 1981, 1984, 1985, 1990, 2001, 2002, 2006)

So, nearly 80% of the time since the NFL/AFL merger, the Minnesota Vikings have been average or better. There have been very few seasons where the Vikings were truly out of it from the very beginning of the year.

This is probably a part of why so many Viking fans like to play the "tortured fan" card, a card that I've been guilty of playing from time to time myself. It seems like the Beloved Purple is always in the running, but have never quite gotten to the top of the mountain. When it comes down to it, however, we're damn privileged to be fans of a team that give us a chance to win nearly every season. The point in time will come where that consistency will be rewarded with the big breakthrough we've waited all our Viking fandom for.

Enjoy the rest of your Tuesday night, ladies and gentlemen, and we'll see you back here tomorrow!

(One more thank you to the folks at Mile High Report for the stats cited above.)

The Minnesota Vikings Would Like to Thank Pro Football Talk

Gonzo — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 13:55:11 -0000

Over the course of the last few days, a lot of Vikings blogs (including this one) have brought up Dr. Z.'s article that says he likes the Vikings to win this year's Super Bowl. Many. . .again, including this one. . .have even gone so far as to say that it's possible that the good Doctor has jinxed the Vikings in some way, shape, or form.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm pleased to inform you that any jinx that Dr. Z. MIGHT have placed on the Beloved Purple has been effectively cancelled out, thanks to the good folks at Pro Football Talk.

History is also against the Vikings, when it comes to being a presumptive preseason favorite. In 1988 and 1989, they failed to deliver. In 1999, a year after the 15-1 campaign that collapsed under Gary Anderson’s only missed kick of the year, they struggled early and were no match for the Rams in the playoffs.

In 2005, the Vikings were expected to be among the league’s elite, even though it was their first season without Randy Moss. Then came a 1-4 start, followed not long thereafter by Daunte Culpepper’s knee implosion.

Some teams can perform well despite the glare of high expectations. The Vikings, however, have traditionally proven that they can’t. So the one thing Vikings fans should be rooting for over the next couple of months is that no one else follows Dr. Z’s lead.

You know, the same sort of things that the Indianapolis Colts heard every year prior to beating the Bears in the Super Bowl. . .the same sort of thing that the Boston Red Sox heard every year prior to winning the World Series. . .you know, that stuff.

Then again, I don't think the folks at PFT are what you'd classify as Viking fans by any stretch of the imagination. If we go back to the pre-season Power Rankings that they put together last year, they made the declaration that only two teams in the entire National Football League would be worse than the Minnesota Vikings. (To their credit, they managed to get both of those teams right, but hey. . .blind squirrel, acorn, etc.) Most of us knew that that was a load of crap from the start, but it was thoroughly proven as the season wore on. Now, the Vikings have improved all of their significant weaknesses, and PFT is still telling us not to get too excited.

So, basically, Pro Football Talk telling us not to get too excited is as much of a reason to get excited as Dr. Z.'s excitement is a reason for pessimism. They, essentially, cancel each other out.

Good lord, can the season just start already?