It seems former Viking offensive tackle and general mountain of dead weight Bryant McKinnie is in a bit of a pickle.

Last summer, McKinnie took out a loan for four million dollars to get him through a potential lockout. On top of very high interest rates, the terms of the loan allowed the lender to call in the entire balance if McKinnie missed a single payment.

McKinnie set up automatic payments to be deducted from his Viking paychecks...which stopped when McKinnie was cut in August, causing him to miss a payment. Now he has to pay the entire four million dollars back, plus interest.

http://www.tmz.com/2012/04/12/nfl-star-bryant-mckinnie-lockout-loan-lawsuit/

As an aside, I doubt very much I will ever link to a story on TMZ again on this or any other SBN site.

If watching the Packers shit the bed at Lambeau and on national TV somehow wasn't good enough for you, this video will do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ZjvXxwvg8mc Um, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words,words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words, words....

As of today, the Star-Tribune is citing sources who say an announcement of a stadium deal at the Arden Hills site could come later today: http://www.startribune.com/politics/blogs/124712978.html

Setting aside the question of whether those un-named sources are correct,  this story claims that the original one-billion dollar price-tag on the new stadium has been dropped by about $200 million, that the Vikings have "upped" their original $407 million contribution by an un-specified amount, and that the various public and private entities involved have resolved questions about who would own the stadium. No hint of how that question might be resolved.

My take: if this is for real, I am glad that the Vikings upped their contribution, as I am on record as one of those people who does not think the taxpayers should be shouldering so much of the bill for this or any other sports facility owned and operated by a billionaire's club. I did notice this story did not mention any specific numbers in terms of how much the Vikings might contribute.

I am also curious about how $200 million, or about 20% of the original cost estimate, was shaved off the price of a new stadium.

Maybe these questions will be answered today or later this week, or maybe (OK, probably more likely) this is false-start # 10,876 on the new Vikings stadium front.

OK, today the Seahawks play the Bears for the right to play the Packers in next week's NFC Championship game.

I was cheering hard for Atlanta last night (way to go, Falcons--jerks), because as a Viking fan I obviously did not want the Packers to win. That is true any time, but especially in the playoffs.

Since the Falcons dropped the ball, I will now be cheering REALLY hard for Seattle today. Not just because I hate the Bears, but because if the Seahawks lose I'll be forced to decide whether I would rather see the Packers or Bears not make it to the Super Bowl.

Having to make that choice between cheering against the Bears or cheering against the Packers would be akin to the decision Meryl Streep had to make in Sophie's Choice: no matter what team I rooted against in a Chicago-Green Bay NFC Championship game, I would be damned. I have to make this choice twice every season, but at least there is not a Super Bowl trip on the line.

So, to avoid this dilemma, my only hope is the Seattle Seahawks. The 7-9 Seahawks. The ones with a Hasselbeck at QB. Great.

/wildly inappropriate analogy between the NFL playoffs and the Holocaust duly noted

I spoke to the manager of one of the HyVee liquor stores in Iowa City a couple days ago; a shipment of Templeton Rye was supposed to arrive in the Iowa City area last night, with each store's allotment (the HyVees, Dirty John's, and whoever else carries it) going on sale today, January 7.

The HyVee I am going to hit in about ten minutes had sixteen bottles coming in, so I do not expect it to last long. Hopefully there were no delays and the booze is here. I will report back shortly with what I find.

If my information is right, and someone on here scores a bottle because of it, you have a Gopher fan to thank. If not, I am the new Bryce Carlson. 

 

Per the Star-Tribune, not only has the Metrodome roof collapsed under the weight of all the snow, it appears unlikely that the roof can be repaired in time to play the Monday night makeup time against the Giants: http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/111730439.html?elr=KArksLckD8EQDUoaEyqyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUac8HEaDiaMDCinchO7DUs

 

No word so far on whether the game would be pushed back later in the week, or moved somewhere else. If they move the game, where would they move it: The Bank? Soldier Field? St. Louis? Lambeau?

 

Nah. This being the NFL, they would probably move the game to New Jersey and paint "Vikings" in the end zone and call it a Vikings home game. They did it to New Orleans, after all.

 

Here is what Randy Moss will be thinking when he plays the Minnesota Vikings with his new team:

REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE

REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE

REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE REVENGE

Randy Moss's new team will go 19-0 next season! Guaranteed!

Randy Moss will win the Super Bowl this season! Guaranteed!

Randy Moss is the greatest wide receiver of all time!

...

...

Gotcha.

In all seriousness, watching the Vikings so long as we are stuck with Klink and the KAO is going to be a chore. Good thing deer season starts next weekend, and ice-fishing is almost here.

No joke--it happened about two weeks ago: http://dailyiowan.com/2010/10/07/Sports/19256.html

This is one of the complications that can arise from diabetes; as I recall, Parker had to have a couple toes amputated a few years ago.

Hopefully, one of the best defensive coordinators in college football makes a full recovery.

As an aside, it is intriguing to wonder how much the "defensive coaching by committee" mentioned in the article might affect Iowa on the field. (I wrote this last paragraph to meet the 75-word minimum by writing something relevant.)

OK, this is always a dilemma for me: twice a year, the Bears and Packers meet in a regular season game. As a Viking fan I have an obvious stake in this game, but I hate both teams equally.

Sometimes, deciding who to cheer against in this matchup is easy--just cheer against whichever team has the better record. As a kid in the '80s, I usually cheered against Chicago when they played Green Bay, because the Packers sucked and were no threat to the Vikings most years. In the '90s, I usually cheered against Green Bay, because the Bears sucked most of those years and were no threat to the Vikings. The '00s have been a tossup between the two teams, but I could usually choose one to hate less for three hours.

Tonight, though, it is tougher. Both the Bears and Packers are 2-0, and neither has played Minnesota, so picking an NFC North foe to root against in this game is tougher than normal. I am going to cheer against the Packers, because I think they are the less-crappy team this year.

Anyhow, the Bears and Packers both suck.

So...did anyone else read Deadspin's unsubstantiated story on Favre allegedly showing Jenn Sterger some, uh, cell phone pics when he was with the Jets? [Story not quite SFW] http://deadspin.com/5603701/brett-favre-once-sent-me-cock-shots-not-a-love-story

So far there is no proof to back Sterger, who has not been shy of publicity, and the possibility that Favre may have been spending a little too much time with Tiger Woods when they were away from their wives.

However, the fact that Gawker allowed this story to run with names and details makes me think there is at least a grain of truth here. Maybe some mildly flirtatious voice messages were all there was to it--that is all the author claims to have heard--but I suspect Brett and Deanna are not talking about the coming NFL season this morning.

Yes, this is just hearsay so far (that's why I won't repeat any of the stories I heard about Favre and Chmura's nights on State Street in Madison in the mid-'90s), but this story could have an effect on Favre's decision to return, even if all he did was engage in some harmless flirting. Deanna may be less inclined to let her husband go on the road if his old habits may not be so completely far behind him.

But in the worst case scenario, if Sterger actually produces incriminating photos of Favre...yikes. Then we will know the true face of Favreageddon.

Personal scandals are just that: personal. Pro athletes playing the field is not exactly news, either. But in Favre's case much has been made in the last decade of his personal rehabilitation, maturity, and commitment to his wife and family. If, and I said if, the Deadspin story is true, Favre may have set himself up for a hard fall, more so than the usual pro athlete who cheats on his wife and/or gets caught sending inappropriate cell phone pics a'la Sean Salisbury.

Former Viking coach Denny Green's son, Jeremy, an NFL analyst for ESPN, was arrested in Connecticut for possession of child pornography, narcotics, and drug paraphernalia: http://www.courant.com/community/bristol/hc-bristol-porn-0709-2-20100708,0,6699516.story

There is a mug shot included; I've got to say the younger Green absolutely looks the part of a guy busted in a motel room for child porn.

Yeah, the connection to the Vikings is pretty tenuous, but the football off-season is driving me crazy.

Orangebloods.com, which has been right about pretty much everything relating to conference expansion so far, is reporting that Texas and its colleagues are at least considering a proposal to keep the remaining ten schools of the Big 12 together: http://texas.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1093803

Besides the PAC-11 offer to Texas, Texas A & M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State, the SEC is pursuing Oklahoma, A & M, and Texas, although Texas reportedly has no interest in the SEC due to academic standards. A & M's regents, by a 6-3 margin, allegedly prefer joining the SEC, even to the point of breaking their ties with the U of T. Oklahoma is said to prefer following Texas wherever they go, although orangebloods says OU is willing to hear the SEC out.

If the PAC-11 does not get any of the Big 12 South schools, they may offer Utah an invite.

As far as the relevance of these rumors to BHGP, there is a chance that ISU remains in a premier conference, and thus their rivalry game with Iowa may survive.

In the longer term, if Dan Beebe succeeds in holding the Big 12 (10) together (and nothing I have seen of him so far makes me think he has the competence to pull it off), Missouri, Kansas, Kansas State, and ISU are probably less likely to be candidates for future Big TwelvEN expansion.

On that note, Kansas and Kansas State may be on the Mountain West's radar, according to ESPN.

Finally, Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead, and the University of Texas is still not joining the Big Ten.

This story just broke on the Star-Trib--Brett Favre's daughter, Brittany, gave birth to a son recently: http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/89993417.html

This means that if Favre returns this fall he will not only be the oldest starting QB in the NFL, so far as I know he will also be the only actual grandfather playing in the NFL.

As an aside, I am impressed that the Favre family kept this quiet as long as they did.

Somewhere in the world right now--maybe Haiti, maybe somewhere in Africa--the Minnesota Vikings are going to the Super Bowl: http://www.sportsphilanthropy.com/resources/details.php?id=418

I remember this story from a few years ago, as I always wondered what happened to the t-shirts and hats printed up before big games for the team that wound up losing.

The best part of the story is the woman sighting a Buffalo Bills Super Bowl Champions shirt in Romania.

Of course, there is probably a whole village of people in Ethiopia wearing Minnesota Vikings 1998, 2000, and 2009 NFC Champions shirts and hats...sigh.

According to this AP story, Pat Williams, at thirty-seven years of age, says he is "50/50" on retiring: http://www.winonadailynews.com/sports/article_3952fba0-0a3d-11df-ba46-001cc4c03286.html

Williams says he is physically able to keep playing, but worn down mentally from the season.

I mentioned Pat Williams in a fanpost thread, saying that while he is one of my favorite players, it may be time for him to move on if Favre doesn't return next season. Perhaps Phat Pat is thinking the same way.

So...with the 2009 season over and done, what will next year's Viking team look like?

I am assuming we won't know Favre's status until about September 1, so the QB situation is one big uncertainty.

Beyond that, what likely free agent losses are we looking at? I am not a stat geek, and that extends to keeping clsoe tabs on individual player's contract status. 

I believe Chester Taylor will be gone, leaving the running game tucked in the hands of Adrian Peterson. Beyond that (and I could be wrong about Taylor's free agent status) I don't know.

Barring an epic Eagles comeback, the Vikings will play Dallas next Sunday in the Metrodome. That likely matchup has me thinking about the history between the Vikings and Cowboys...

I am too young to remember the '70s; for me, the First Great Crushing Vikings Loss was the January 1988 NFC Championship game (damn you, Darrin Nelson) to Washington.

I don't remember the Drew Pearson non-interference call in the 1976 playoffs, and the hatred it inspired among Viking fans for Dallas. My brother, however, does remember that game, and he hates Dallas with a passion equal to my hatred of the Packers.

I never got that level of Cowboy hatred. As a kid I hated the William Perry Super Bowl Shuffle Bears for winning a Super Bowl while the Vikings worked through the end of the Bud Grant era and the Jerry Burns years, along with the one-year NFL head coaching career of [name redacted].

Then came the '90s, and a hillbilly from Mississippi who took Green Bay to two Super Bowls, winning one of them. As a Viking fan, I kept hoping Denny Green would finally figure the playoff thing out, but he never did, with the 1999 NFC Championship game and 41-0 the lowpoints of that quest.

Meanwhile, I learned to hate Green Bay, especially their QB, with an intensity that passed my childhood hatred for Da Bears. Dallas? Sure, they badly beat the Vikings in the 1996 playoffs, but I remember the '90s Cowboys for repeatedly stopping the hated Packers and their QB in the playoffs, which earned them some gratitude from me.

My brother, quite a bit older than me, could not understand how I could cheer for the Cowboys to beat the Packers in the playoffs every year. Did I not remember the Drew Pearson push-off? (No, but I knew the obnoxious cheesehead fans.) This is a Viking fan generational divide I have noticed elsewhere--people my age and younger often don't get the hatred for the 'boys that older Viking fans embrace. For me, the Packers are Viking Enemy # 1.

Screw that generational divide, and my long-standing hatred for the Packer QB Brett Favre. I hope the Vikings wipe the Metrodome turf with Romo and his Cowboys; I hope Favre pummels their status as The Team No One Wants to Play Now in to the ground. I hope Drew Pearson chokes on one of his Super Bowl rings while watching that pummeling.

As reported on ESPN and by the Star Tribune, Percy Harvin missed practice again today, with continuing migraines that Childress described as "debilitating": http://www.startribune.com/sports/vikings/blogs/79431547.html?elr=KArksUUUycaEacyU

Rather than worry about the possibilty that Harvin could miss this weekend's game, too, I am going to look ahead and assume Harvin's migraines are under control in time for the playoffs. (Migraines are notoriously difficult to treat; indeed, they often come and go for no apparent reason.) If Harvin misses another game, or three, but is back in time and healthy for the playoffs, he will have been given time to recover from the shoulder injuriy that has bothered him, as well as the run-of-the-mill aches and pains that come with football.

This is NOT to say Harvin's migraines are a blessing in disguise; everyone I know who has them describes them as agonizing. No doubt he would rather be playing every week with the normal aches and pains than suffering from migraines.

Before anyone else does it, I will point out the irony that many people claim medicinal marijauna is an effective treatment for migraines...

I have seen enough of this year's New Orleans team to make this comparison with the 1998 Vikings. There are not perfect comparisons between individual players--Reggie Bush, for instance, has a very different running style than did Robert Smith, and none of NO's talented receivers are in the same league as the Randy Moss of 1998--and their offensive schemes are somewhat different. However, both teams' overall philosophy for winning games is identical: balanced and explosive offenses that put lots of points on the board very quickly, and enough defensive talent to protect a big lead. That strategy was good enough for the 1998 Vikings to go 15-1 in the regular season. After last night, I do not see the 2009 Saints doing any worse than that. With all due respect to R4F, his conference playoff scenario thread is now probably irrelevant.

This leads to the big question: can the 2009 Vikings play the role of the 1998 Falcons? (Probably without an assist from Garrett Hartley and John Carney, the 2009 Saints' placekickers.) I think they can. The Vikings have a defense that can punch the Saints and their high-powered offense right in the mouth. The Vikings also have enough offense to score on the Saints, and keep things close. The Saints' offense is superior to that of the Vikings this year, but the Vikings are a more balanced team overall, and taking advantage of that will be the key for Minnesota in such a matchup.

I am not guaranteeing a victory should Minnesota play New Orleans in the NFC Championship game; after all, in January of 1999 Atlanta needed, among other things, the absolutely most horribly-timed miss of Gary Anderson's career to beat the Vikings. But I do believe this year's Viking defense can knock Brees, Bush, and co. off-balance and disrupt that pinball offense, much like Atlanta rattled Randall Cunningham in the second half of the January 1999 NFC Championship game. Dan Reeves' team was able to put pressure on a Vikings defense that was used to protecting big leads, and that was just enough for Atlanta to pull off the win on the road. I think this years' Vikings can do the same in the Superdome this January, should it come to that.

 

Iraqi miitants as Favre fans? Not really.

However, according to a story on a Milwaukee news radio station website, Iraqi detainees under the supervision of a Wisconsin National Guard unit are using Brett Favre to taunt the Packer-backer soldiers, pointing out to their guards how well Favre is doing with the Vikings:

http://www.620wtmj.com/news/local/70451747.html

Just when I thought I had dealt with all the possible weird angles to the Favre saga...

Former Viking Troy Williamson has three catches for thirty-four yards with the Jaguars, along with a fumble, for the entire season. He has not played since the third game of the season, and is not listed on the Jaguars' injury report.

I bring this up because I remember some talk this past August about how Williamson was catching everything that came his way in training camp. I also remember some Viking fans--not many, but some--blaming Brad Childress for Williamson's failure to fulfill his promise as a high draft pick.

I am not one to heap praise on Childress, but since Williamson has apparently been benched in Jacksonville after failing to catch much of anything, I think it is safe to say Childress did not mis-handle Williamson.

 

The Winona Daily News police report released the names of the individuals who stashed a live goat in their trunk with plans of slaughtering the animal, which had been painted purple and gold with a # 4 shaved on its side: http://www.winonadailynews.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/article_741a548e-929e-11de-9c2c-001cc4c03286.html

Janelle Dorothy Riopel, 21, of St. Paul and Sonny Yang, 24, of La Crosse, Wis., take a bow for your inspired re-imagining of Goodfellas. 

Not noted is whether Riopel and Yang were angry Packer fans, or weirdly-devoted Viking fans.  Coming from Lacrosse and St. Paul, they could go either way. 

Having graduated from Winona State, I can tell you this story makes perfect sense happening in Winona.

According to this AP story http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FBN_INTEREST_IN_VICK?SITE=MNWIN&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT the Vikings, along with the 49ers, are said to be open to giving Michael Vick a shot.  Brad Childress would neither confirm nor deny interest in the currently-imprisoned QB.

My take: there is nothing in this story that concretely states the Vikings are interested in the PR nightmare that is Michael Vick.  (Head Coach Singletary of the Niners is quoted as saying he thinks Vick should have another chance.)

Laying the PR issue aside, Vick, IMO, was a shaky QB at best before he went to Pen State--what his conditioning might be now is open to question.  I was never sold on him as the player "who would revolutionize the position".  Vick's passing game was too erratic, and he always had a "run-first" mentality that just won't do in the NFL.  As many others have said, Vick was/is better suited to be a "slash" type/wildcat formation WR/QB/TB. 

Regardless of his physical skills, and whether they have diminished while doing time, Vick would be a PR disaster for the Vikings.  This is a team that is trying to win financing for a new stadium in an economic downturn.  Signing Michael Vick, however you feel about the charges and severity of his actions, would be, IMO, a serious blunder that would hurt the team's public image and distract from on-field concerns.  I hope this story is just conjecture, and not another Childress/Wilf gaff of epic proportions.