Hello to all y'all Purple faithful out there. 

I realize this is not entirely Vikings-related, but I think that it might be well-received anyhow.  I will be moving to Minneapolis this summer to start law school at UMN.  I'm not coming straight from college or anything, but will be a 'mature' student.  I wonder where the good places to hang out are, particularly on Sundays to watch games and the like.

Am I excited to finally live in the hometown of my favorite football team of 20 years?  You betcha!

Also, any of you who live in Minneapolis, it might be good to get in touch.  I won't know anyone ahead of time, aside from a few cousins in the area.  Any thoughts, suggestions, or introductions would be appreciated.

Also, I think I'll have to change my DN handle--I haven't been living in Virginia for a year now, but it hasn't seemed like much of a big deal.  However, if I'm living within a mile or two of the Metrodome, I think it would be inappropriate to continue as "Virginia Viking" on the Daily Norseman.  Does anyone know how to do that, save creating a whole new handle?

Look, I'm no fan of Jenn Sterger, and certainly no fan of the way she's handled this whole situation.  That she waited 2 years until the Jets/Vikings game to come forward with these allegations (and through a third party, no less) just smacks of the worst sort of opportunism and character assassination.  And as much as I respect a woman (or a man) for making the most of her looks and her body to make good in this world — and really, what else does she offer? have you read her blog? — choices do have consequences.  Public opinion of her, though it is now more public, is not exactly positive.

The court of opinion, R4F notwithstanding, on Favre has shifted, too.  I'm surprised Wrangler still airs those adds.  If her allegations are true, Brett Favre's actions two years ago are laughable at best, deplorable at worst, and all kinds of pathetic in between.  Deanna Favre can take consolation only in that Sterger looks like a younger, more inflated version of herself.  The Vikings' PR people can take comfort only in that Favre wasn't a Viking when he allegedly sent those pictures.  They're the Vikings, remember?  They screw on boats.

Should off the field personal conduct issues be a matter for league discipline?  I don't think they should, no.  But my invective against Roger Goodell belongs somewhere else.

All of that said, Brett Favre, with the probable exception of Brad Childress, has done more to harm the Vikings of 2010 than anyone else.  He leads the league in turnovers in a season when the rest of the team has made gargantuan efforts to keep them down.  Adrian Peterson has none to his credit, even though one botched hand-off that was his fault was credited to his quarterback.  Percy Harvin fumbled a kickoff, which might be the worst time to fumble — the other team just scored, and you give them the ball right near the goal line.  Gerhart has two, I believe, which is far too many given his touches, but still only two.  Favre has thrown eighteen interceptions and lost three fumbles, including the botched hand-off to Peterson.  He's still eleven picks away from his career high, set in 2005.  But does anyone doubt that he's capable of eleven or twelve more interceptions in four games, especially with a right shoulder that hurts when he puts on socks?

Favre should have been benched long ago, but Childress, and now Frazier, believed that he gives us the best chance to win.  They must, like many of the Favre apologists around here, be very fondly remembering seasons past, because Favre hasn't been playing remotely like a future Hall-of-Famer this year.  He's been playing more like Jimmy Clausen.  I don't think Frazier will sit him down if number four says he can play.  But, it's time for him to ride those Wrangers into the sunset, where his wife will be waiting for him, rolling pin in hand.  I don't like Jenn Sterger or what she represents, and I don't like Roger Goodell, but the two of them would be doing my favorite team a great favor by suspending Brett Favre.

Man, I thought I'd seen some terrible football watching the Vikings this year.  (Guys, gals, our Purple has been pretty hard to watch this season.  You know this.)  But jumping jackalopes! the Cardinals are playing about the worst football I've ever seen.  Derek Anderson has been channeling some Spergon Wynn out there.  Takeo Spikes (Takeo Spikes!) just made him look silly, and then had a nifty lateral to Nate Clements called back on a Wisenhunt challenge.  Aren't you glad we didn't go after Anderson a couple years ago?  I sure am.  The Cards have been making over-the-hill guys like Spikes and Brian Westbrook look like Pro Bowlers this game.  The NFC West is truly the Short Bus Division of the NFL.  Jon Gruden just went on a rant about how the commissioner shouldn't let a potentially 7-9 team from this division go to the playoffs over a good Wild Card-esque team like the Bucs or Packers.  I don't blame him there, but them rules be the rules.  Tirico and Jaworski were kidding him about becoming the commissioner.  Maybe they should start that rumor, they joked.

via images.cabelas.com

A jackalope, for those of you that didn't know.  They're native to Arizona.

So, Gruden, by implication of the carrying on in the MNF booth, is not going to go coach at The U.  It was just a rumor.  It's one thing to deny it in public, and something else to deny it obliquely as a matter of course while Jawing in the booth with your co-announcers.  Other than that, Chuckie seems to really like his job at ESPN.  So, maybe there's still a shot that we get him next year, maybe not.  Personally, I like Frazier, and think that his personality is a good one for this veteran team as it reloads for next year and beyond.

Aside from that, there's been some speculation around the DN that Fitzgerald won't want to stay out there in Arizona.  Let's hope he migrates back to Minnesota like my great uncle does every Spring.

Discuss, if you'd like.

I'm so glad that the Four Norsemen of the Apocalypse will get to pummel this guy all game twice this season.  What a douchetwat.

Continue reading this post »

Try not to think too hard about the misogyny here. Or do. Mostly think about Brett Favre. And goats. Think of purple and gold goats, stuffed into trunks, with numbers four shaved into their sides.

Continue reading this post »

Check this out.

Continue reading this post »

The Packers, say the AP, have not ruled out interest in Michael Vick.

Continue reading this post »

I recently had an opportunity to play a game of Madden 07.  It seems ancient.

I was surprised how many names were on the roster that aren't there anymore, some good, and some bad:

Fred Smoot

Koren Robinson

Marcus Taylor

Jerome Wiggins

Mewelde Moore

Erasmus James

Napoleon Harris

Darren Sharper

Brad Johnson

Matt Birk

Tank Williams

Marcus Robinson

and... Troy Williamson.

Continue reading this post »

The spread offense isn't something we're used to with Chilly and Bevel at the helm.  But get this: the Vikes' offense might be so loaded with talent at wide receiver, that we could field a squad with both Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor on the bench.  Shank can sit this one out, too.

With Berrian and Rice split wide, Wade and Johnson in the slot and Harvin in the backfield, an opposing defense is going to have problems.  A dime defense (6 defensive backs) to cover those 4 (or 5?) wide-outs leaves only 5 defenders in the box.  Try stopping Percy Harvin with 5 in the box. Or motion Harvin out of the backfield and dare a linebacker to cover him.  Bring it, Lance Briggs.  The four guys on the outside will test the deepest of secondaries, too.  An explosive passing offense from the Minnesota Vikings?  What decade is this?

Now, if only a fleet-footed quarterback could step up to the plate and add another rushing threat to the mix.  Tarvaris Jackson, you've got the preseason to show that you're worth keeping on the roster this year--not to mention another chance at the keys to the KAO in 2010, after your rookie contract comes to a close.  We've seen Farve run a spread very effectively, and we'll probably see him do it this year, too.  This time, old man Farve might be in a purple throwback jersey when the green and gold come to town.

Two things I hope about Brad Childress's offensive accumen: he's got some good ideas about how to use Percy Harvin; his evil plan to steal Garrett Mills off the Patriots' practice squad back in 2007 pans out.

Why?  These two players have the potential to add too much versatility to the KAO for defenses to handle. Percy Harvin's a rookie, who's yet to even attend a min-camp, and Garrett Mills, though he's been on the team for two years now, has yet to see a whole lot of time on the field.  Last year, he caught 5 passes for 65 yards.

Harvin, as we all know, can do a lot of things on offense.  His skills could be put to good use in the backfield, in the slot, and split wide.  Who covers him?  He's definitely too quick for any NFL linebacker in space, and can (hopefully) beat most sub-package defensive backs, too.  Devoting a safety or a top corner to covering him weakens coverage on the Vikes' X and Y receivers.  Seeing him and the NFL's best running back in the backfield pretty much demands an eight-man front.

What about this Mills kid?  As much as I was happy to see Shank bust out last season (pun intended), I was a little disappointed that we didn't see more of #45.  Maybe he's too small to line up on the line very much.  I still can't forget, though, that he set a NCAA record for 1,235 receiving yards by a tight end in 2005 for the U of Tulsa as an All-American.  Clearly, the guy knows how to catch a football.  Apparently, he knows how to run a few fullback dive plays, too.

This is what the Patriots media said after Belichick and Co. drafted him in the fourth round a couple of years ago.  What Mills's college position coach, Matt Wells, said about him after the draft--"They have a plan for him. A team like that doesn’t draft someone without having a plan"--strikes a familiar note, doesn't it?  Obviously, the Patriots' plan got derailed when Brad Childress claimed Mills off of waivers in 2007.

So, we've got two guys on the roster that are kinda tweeners, but were really, really productive football players in college.  What do we do?

Well, imagine this: It's, say, 2nd and 7 midfield, and the Vikes come off the bench with their starting QB (whoever that turns out to be), Adrian Peterson, Bernard Berrian, and Sidney Rice.  No surprises so far; these guys come out almost every play.  Then, #12 and #45 start huddling up, too.  What defensive personel do you send out?

With Harvin and Mills, the Purple could show a 3- or 4-wide set, or even a 3-back formation like the wishbone or power-i.  What defense can resonably defend against both possibilities?

The problem with Brad Childress has always been that he thinks he's the smartest guy in the room.  It's not a terrible quality in a head coach, actually.  The Hoodie has that complex in spades.  That particular coach picked right after the Vikings last weekend, and skeddadled right out of the first round after Harvin disappeared from the board.  In 2007, Belichick got so pissed that he lost Mills on waivers that he stole... some back-up linebacker whose name I don't remember from our practice squad.  In any case, Brad seems to enjoy beating Bill to versatile, exciting college prospects. 

Let's just hope that Mr. Smarty Pants can figure out how to use them in the NFL.

always make me chuckle.  We got four guys named Percy, Phil, Asher, and Jasper this weekend.  Imagine: Percy, Adrian, Sage, Sidney, Visanthe, and Bernard striking fear into NFC North defences.

Loadholt, as in, "man, is he a load to get holt of," is the perfect name for a guy 6'8" 340lbs.

Don't mess with the PH unless you want to get burnt.

I sure hope the announcers have as much fun with this as I do.