You don't understand. I coulda had hands. I coulda been a receiver. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it.

Yes, in case you haven't already heard, Troy Williamson has said that he would like to fight Brad Childress in light of the way he departed Minnesota this off-season.  He says that the incident stems from the way he was treated when he left the team to attend his grandmother's funeral last off-season.

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In Big Cat Country, dreams stay with you. . .

But enough 80's music for now.  I'm Gonzo, the head blogger at The Daily Norseman, and the purpose of this FanPost is to allow you fine folks to ask any questions you might have about the Minnesota Vikings.  Our team is going through what can best be termed as a disappointing season thus far (much like your team is, it would appear), and we've got some interesting stuff going on, so I'm sure you guys will have some good questions for me.

Have a good day and a good week, folks!

That's the word from Access Vikings.  Allen has been fined $25,000 by the league for his "vicious" hit on Aaron Rodgers, but won't miss any playing time due to a suspension.

Upon hearing the news, Rodgers apparently asked for his binky, a glass of warm milk, and for Mike McCarthy to read him Goodnight, Moon.  Again.

Also, in a move that's about a year and a half too late in coming, Ryan Cook is finally being removed from the starting lineup.  Artis Hicks, who filled in ably for Bryant McKinnie during his four-game absence, will start this Sunday against Jacksonville.  Remember, Cook was selected with the pick that was gained by trading Daunte Culpepper to Miami back in 2006.  Man, that deal certainly worked out well for everybody, didn't it?

(And props to Manimal for beating me to the Allen thing. . .stupid having to wait for a break at the day job to update the site.)

According to Pro Football Talk. . .and, again, feel free to take PFT for what you will. . .it appears that that might be the case.

Cornwell contends that Dr. John Lombardo, the administrator of the NFL’s policy regarding anabolic steroids and related substances, testified during the hearing that he learned in late 2006 of the presence of Bumetanide in StarCaps.  Lombardo, per Cornwell, did not share this information with NFL players, because Lombardo feared that other players testing positive for Bumetanide would claim that they were taking StarCaps, even if they weren’t.

Says Cornwell:  “Dr. Lombardo’s failure to disclose what he knew about StarCaps may have exposed NFL players to the significant health risks associated with the unintentional ingestion of diuretics.  If Dr. Lombardo had notified NFL players that StarCaps contained bumetanide, Will, Deuce and Charles would have never used the product to lose weight.”

If this is true, then there's absolutely, positively no freaking way that the league should be able to suspend anybody for the use of StarCaps.  None.  Because if this is true, the league a) knew that there were players that were using these StarCaps, b) knew that said StarCaps contained a substance that's on the NFL's banned substance list, and c) didn't bother disclosing this information league-wide.

The hearing for Deuce McAllister, Will Smith, and Charles Grant apparently lasted long past midnight last night, and one would have to assume that matters like this one are going to be central to the argument.  Cornwell is also representing the Williams brothers in their case, and you can bet that this will be brought up during their hearing as well.

If PFT's source is, indeed, true on this matter, then for the NFL to have not disclosed this information to the league and its players is nothing short of completely irresponsible.  As Cornwell mentions, it could have caused a potential health issue.  What if one of these players had died on the field like Korey Stringer did from taking these StarCaps and the NFL had sat on this information?  The league would have a whole lot more to worry about than a few guys trying to cut weight, that's for sure.

I really, really hope that this is true, and that Roger Goodell ends up looking like the fool and the hypocrite he is in this situation as a result.  Maybe then the league can start turning their attention to people who have really done something wrong.

So say the folks at Access Vikings:

Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie is scheduled to stand trial March 16 on four charges he faces from a fight outside a Miami nightclub last February. The trial date was set today by a Florida judge, according to a Miami-Dade County website.

McKinnie, who was not required to attend today’s hearing, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including a felony for battery. McKinnie already has been punished by the league for the incident, drawing a four-game suspension to open the season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

However, I'm sure that regardless of the outcome of the actual trial, the league will suspend McKinnie for another four games, due to the fact that a) McKinnie plays for the Minnesota Vikings, and b) Roger Goodell is a joke of a commissioner, and that seems like the kind of thing he'd pull.

According to the folks at Access Vikings, the Week 13 game between the Chicago Bears and the Beloved Purple will still be a prime-time game on NBC.

The NFL announced today that the Vikings-Bears game on Nov. 30 will be played at 7:15 p.m. as previously scheduled. That game had the potential to be bumped from the NBC Sunday night game to an afternoon slot that day because of the flexible schedule the league has put in after Week 10 of each season. But with the teams tied for first-place in the NFC North, along with the Green Bay Packers, the league and network saw no reason to make a move. Especially, when one considers the size of the Chicago market.

And, really, there was no reason for the league to change this game.  The Vikings and Bears are still part of a three-way race for the NFC North Division title, and this game will go a long way towards deciding that.  They also played a shootout earlier this year in Chicago, and while I wouldn't expect another 89 points to go on the board in the next game, it should still be a very close contest.

Yes, I know that the Williamses will more than likely not be there, as they'll probably be serving the legallized raping that they'll receive from Roger Goodell for taking a substance that the NFL had approved for use. . .maybe they should have just stuck to minor drugs like cocaine (which is, apparently, only a three-game suspension) and codeine (which, apparently, carries no penalty at all, even if you possess enough of it to put a brontosaurus to sleep for a month). . .but outside of that one game, the Bears haven't exactly been explosive on offense, and just got shellacked by the Packers by 34 points.

But, the network also obviously sees an opportunity to put the NFL's best player and potential league MVP on in prime-time, and they'd be crazy to refuse that chance.  As much as I hate waiting for later games, it's sort of nice knowing that NBC thinks enough of this matchup to have not replaced it with somebody else.

Well, folks, with 6 games left in the 2008 NFL season, there are three teams at the top of the division with identical 5-5 records.  It should make for an interesting rest of the regular season, but what are all three of these teams looking at during the rest of the year?  Let's take a closer look at the schedules for each of these three teams, as well as what they've done to this point in the year.

Here's how each of the three teams involved in the NFC North race have gotten to their current 5-5 record.

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At halftime of this afternoon's game, most of the folks that were posting in the game thread, including myself, were pretty happy with the way things were progressing.  The Vikings had compiled a 13-6 lead, they had scored the game's lone touchdown on a 4-yard flip to Bobby Wade that capped a 76-yard playoff drive, and Adrian Peterson had carried the ball 13 times for 71 yards.  Even though Jeff Garcia kept running around and avoiding Viking defenders and the Buccaneers had actually outgained the Vikings yardage-wise, the momentum seemed to be in the corner of the Vikings.

Then they had to stop the game for this crazy "halftime" thing and everything changed.

Continue reading this post »

I can't count the number of times I wanted to reach through my television and throttle Jeff Garcia this afternoon, but the guy has some major cojones and played one hell of a football game.

Good luck to you guys the rest of the way.

And now, here comes my effort to reach the 75-word limit.  I love the 75-word limit.  Don't you?  Isn't it wonderful?  Have I hit seventy-five words yet?

MINNESOTA VIKINGS (5-4)	GAME #10	TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS (6-3)
	@

As mentioned earlier this week, the Vikings travel today to a place where they haven't won since 1997, facing a team with an outstanding defense and fighting to maintain at least a share of first place in the NFC North.  We'll also be keeping an eye on the other big divisional matchup today as the Packers host the Bears.  By the end of the day, there could be another three-way tie for the NFC North lead.  But, let's take a look at a couple of keys for the Beloved Purple this afternoon.

One thing that the Vikings will need to be able to do in order to be successful today is throw the ball effectively on first down.  The Bucs have an outstanding run defense, and we can't simply pound the ball into the line on every 1st and 10, as Brad Childress is wont to do.  The Vikings have to make an effort to keep the Bucs off-balance and not allow them to load up to stop the run.  Adrian Peterson and Chester Taylor can be effective against this Tampa Bay defense, but not if the Bucs are allowed to pile 8 and 9 men in the box on a regular basis.  This goes hand-in-hand with taking care of the football.  Gus Frerotte has thrown 11 interceptions in his 7 starts this year, but 8 of those 11 have come in the last 3 games (4 @ Chicago, 1 vs. Houston, and 3 vs. Green Bay).  That really, really has to come to an end, and that's a tough road to hoe against this Buccaneer defense.

The Vikings also have to contain Buccaneers' quarterback Jeff Garcia.  Garcia is just the kind of quarterback that the Vikings famously have trouble with. . .he doesn't necessarily have the strongest arm in the league, but he is very accurate, and has a great deal of mobility.  Keeping the Tampa rushing offense bottled up doesn't terribly concern me, particularly with the injuries that all of their running backs are battling at this point.  So, with the rush offense being held down, the Vikings need to keep Tampa's passing game in check.  Are they capable of doing that?  Certainly.  Will they do that?  That remains to be seen.

Oh, and it would also be nice if the Vikings' special teams could maybe NOT suck out loud today.  For a little perspective on the Vikings' special teams. . .we're 9 games into the 2008 season, and the Beloved Purple have already tied the NFL record for most return TDs allowed in a season with 6.  That there. . .that's pretty pathetic.  It's not even the kick coverage so much. . .they've gotten markedly better since the Saints' game last month. . .but the punt coverage unit is beyond awful, and the Bucs have a good young return man in rooke Dexter Jackson, the Bucs second-round pick out of Appalachian State.

Kickoff is two short hours away.  By the end of the day, the Beloved Purple will either have a three-game winning streak and some serious momentum working in their favor. . .or they'll be back to being a .500 team.  I'm hoping for the former, but I can't pick it in good conscience.  I would love nothing more than to be wrong this week.

See you all in the comments section!

SKOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL VIKINGS!!!!