matt weighs in

The Minnesota Vikings are 6-0, and I have a very good feeling that some Vikings fans, and non-fans, think the team should apologize for being undefeated. As though they would actually feel better about the team if they were only 5-1 or 4-2 going into today’s game against Pittsburgh. However, the fans would not feel better and would most likely be calling for Coach Brad Childress’s head louder than usual and wishing for more sacks from the league-leading defensive line.

A little perspective: the 2007 New England Patriots, the greatest team ever to not win the Super Bowl, had four games decided by four points or less. In at least two of them, they needed a turnover to preserve their lead, and versus Baltimore, they stopped a receiver at the 2-yard line, securing another victory. Now, I’m not saying this year’s Vikings team will be 19-0 heading into the Super Bowl, but I am saying that all teams, over the course of an amazing season, have last minute (or second) nailbiters. They’re not lucky to win them. They either did enough earlier in the game to win (vs. Green Bay), they made one more play than their opponent (vs. San Francisco), or the other team failed to execute under pressure when it mattered (Baltimore special teams). The Vikings dominated a decent Ravens team for 50 minutes and moved the ball and scored points to keep the lead when they needed them.

It’s not luck. It’s the course of the season. And it all determines seeding in the playoffs. And I like where the Vikings are sitting right now.
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As for the game today in Pittsburgh, I think the Vikings are good enough on offense to put 30+ points on the board against a good Steelers defense, who have Polamalu back at safety, but he’s not a full 100% yet. Favre and his receivers are doing really nice things in the passing game, and AP had a great day last week against a stout run defense similar to the Steelers. Scoring won’t be the problem.

Stopping Pittsburgh’s pass offense will be the problem. Roethlisberger has thrown for a ridiculous number of yards the last few weeks, including 417 against a bad Browns team. I’ve half-jokingly asked people this week if Big Ben has a chance of breaking the NFL record for passing yards in a game, which is 554, set by Norm Van Brocklin in 1951. The answer is always no, but comes with a nervous laugh. It can’t happen, right.

The only way the Vikings win is if they can intercept Big Ben 2+ times and turn them into touchdowns. The Wall of America has to put constant pressure on him, not only getting close, but actually sacking him when they have their hands on him. He is a big QB and is too good at finding an open receiver for a big gain when he is on the move. The Vikings need at least four sacks.

With all that in mind, I think Pittsburgh wins a shootout, with both teams scoring 27 or more points. If the Vikings get to 35, then they’ll win, but I think they lose their first game of the season 29-34.

And remember, if they lose, their’s no shame in being 6-1 on top of the division. Looking ahead, the Vikings will be at worst, 6-2 going into their bye week, with three very winnable home games after. That’s 9-2. Who would be disappointed with that?

The Minnesota Vikings moved to 4-0 in gunslingin’ fashion. Many in the media are comparing Brett Favre’s performance on Monday Night Football to that of a surgeon, slicing the Green Bay Packers defense with the precision of a very delicate surgery. I would argue that he was more of a butcher, leaving the Packers pass defense a chopped and bloodied carcass on the Metrodome Mall of America Field turf.

I thought the Vikings would win by around 10 points, which was close to the 30-23 final score, and I think I’m comfortable with how the last five minutes played out, when the Packers cut the lead from 16 points down to 7. However, it seemed like the Vikings outplayed the Packers by more than what the final score indicated. And I’ll take that, since it means they’re 4-0, leading the Bears by one game in the division and two games up on the Packers. The win also moved the Vikings to 3-0 in the NFC, which could come into play when deciding home-field advantage in the playoffs.

My Vikings’ MVPs for the game are:
* Favre ->Not a surprise, considering the game he had. But it was surprising how well he played against his former team, based on the Vikings’ passing game previously this season. Maybe the end of the 49ers game last week, when he threw the TD with :02 left, gave Favre and the receivers confidence to trust each other and be more on the same page than they’ve been so far. Whatever happened in practice last week, we’ll take it.
* Packers offensive line ->What a mess that unit was. They knew they were going to have to be perfect throughout, and they weren’t even mediocre for any stretch of the game: 8 sacks given up (4.5 to Jared Allen), multiple hits on Aaron Rodgers, no consistent holes for the running game, and no push at all when they were at the one-yard line going for an important TD in the 2nd half. They need to work stuff out in the coming weeks, or the Packers will be out of the playoff picture before the midway point of the season.
* Jared Allen, Ben Leber, Sydney Rice (tie) ->Allen was a beast. Besides the 4.5 sacks, he had multiple hits on Rodgers and had him on the run a few other times. The Packers coaches rarely gave the left tackle help, and Allen took advantage. Leber continues to make plays when they’re needed. He single-handedly kept nine points off the board in the 2nd half. Seven when he made a tackle at the one-yard line on the goal line stand, and another two when he tipped the two-point conversion pass, keeping the score 30-20 in the 4th quarter. He came up big. Rice, like Leber, continues to make plays and is growing as a 3rd year wide receiver. He’s caught a touchdown pass two straight weeks and made the two huge recoveries on the onside kicks to end the game (side note: those were spectacular onside kicks by Crosby of the Packers. Drove the ball into the ground where it bounced hiiiiiigh up in the air. The Vikings did a great job of fending off the rushing Packers, so Rice had time to jump and get the ball). With Bernard Berrian showing signs of being over his hamstring injury, having Rice on the other side as a bona-fide weapon makes the Viking offense quite scary.

Overall, a great night at MOA Field for the Vikings, their fans, and for Brett Favre against his former team. He downplayed the game all week, but we know, based on his reactions on the TD passes, that it meant a little bit more than any other game.

………………..

The Minnesota Twins, too, play a huge game at the Metrodome (I think it’s still called the Metrodome for them). Anyway, the Detroit Tigers caught a break by having a day off before today’s deciding baseball game. The Tigers limped into game 163, having lost 4 of 7 games the previous week to blow the American League Central Division, a division they led since May.

Scott Baker is pitching for the Twins, and I really think he is going to earn his nickname “Big Spot Scott.” He’s going on plenty of rest and should pitch superbly, if he’s able to control his nerves. The Tigers counter with a 20-year old rookie in Porcello, who should end up with the AL Rookie of the Year. I think this spot will be too big for him, and the Twins’ hot bats will continue to stay on fire.

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Twins get to Porcello early, with 55,000 screaming fans panting for more Metrodome magic after last night’s football game. Joe Nathan will close out the game, and I predict Minnesota wins by 2-3 runs.

Bring on the Yankees!

The Minnesota Vikings and Brett Favre host the Packers on Monday night. As big as the game is – ESPN is expecting the biggest audience in Monday Night Football history – I can’t help, but wish this first meeting between the teams was taking place on Green Bay. Their fans would be even more hyped than what Viking fans have been.

The Twins have thankfully taken some of the the local sports talk away from the football game, but the anticipation has been felt since the dramatic end to the 49er game. Favre to Lewis with :02 left just added fuel to the fire for this game. We’ve heard over and over about the legend of Favre, which is overstated, as is the case with most sports stories. But I’m hoping he will add one more good game to his lengthy resume.

In his press conference last week, when asked about wanting revenge against his former team, I wish that Favre would have said, “When I played for the Packers, I wanted to beat the Vikings. I now play for the Vikings, so I want to beat the Packers. Will it mean something to me? Yeah, it will. But it will mean a lot to the other guys in this locker room, too, because we’d still be in first place.” He gave a cliched answer, as most guys would have, but maybe he’ll say more post game.

I’ll take the purple to win by 8-12 points tonight. Favre will play fine, but the Vikings won’t need him to, which could disappoint the national audience. Adrian Peterson should get back on track, and the Vikings defensive ends should harass Aaron Rodgers all game, as the Packers o-line is patched together this week.

Let’s hope the Vikings are still leading the division when they head to Lambeau in four weeks.

Skol Vikings!

[Laura and I were on our honeymoon eight years ago when the towers fell in New York, the Pentagon burned, and Flight 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. It was a time of joy in our lives, but a time of mourning for our country. I hope that each passing year brings more healing to those individuals directly affected.]

I started writing the title of this post, leaving “Mission Miami” alone on the screen for a while. Laura walks by and asks, “Mission Miami? What is that? (pause) Is this going to be about sports?” I would love for this to be about a wonderfully planned trip to South Beach, but yes, honey, this is about sports, the most wonderful sport in the world to be a fan of watching – the National Football League.

The Minnesota Vikings should reach the Super Bowl. I’m being biased? Perhaps, having lived in the great state for 30 years. However, what team in the NFC doesn’t have more question marks than the Vikings? I’ll tackle this later. First, look at what experts say usually takes to win the Big Game, and the Vikings pretty much have it:

* Good-to-great defense -> The Vikings were #6 overall and the #1 run defense in 2008. They have their guys back, including the Williams Wall, Jared Allen, Antoine Winfield, and E.J. Henderson at middle linebacker, who was on his way to a possible Pro Bowl birth before breaking his toes. SB winners this decade – Steelers (2), Giants, Patriots (3), Bucs, and Ravens – won, because their D held up strong for 19-20 games.

* Strong quarterback play -> He’s not the Brett Favre of 1996, or probably even 2006, but he’s still a Hall-of-Famer leading a team who was a mentally competent QB away in 2008 from pushing further into the playoffs than a first-round loss. I hate that analysts are saying that he won’t have to do too much and that he should only have to manage the game for the Vikings to do extremely well. That’s weak expectation talk. He will need to play well in the 2nd half of at least 5-6 games this year, in order for the Vikings to win. That’s not managing. That’s going out and winning, which Favre has done more times than not in his career. And he shouldn’t have to pass the ball 33 times per game (40 in week 17), like he did last year with the Jets. Even better, he gets to play 10 games in domes this year and at Carolina and Arizona in December. Worst possible game, as many have talked about, is at Chicago around Christmas. I will mention Tarvaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels, but only to say that I am more than happy to roll the dice with them as backups. Jackson knows the offense and has chemistry with the players. Sage has been a backup his whole career and is the heir to lead the team in the future. They’ll both be ready. Tom Brady and the Mannings have won a combined five SBs this decade. Brad Johnson (Bucs) and Trent Dilfer (Ravens) had all-time defenses.

* Great running game -> This doesn’t always hold true for winning the big game, but it is certainly an asset. All Day, Adrian Peterson, leads a top-three team rushing game in the NFL (his greatness extends to marketing, seen here). Whether or not Chester Taylor would start on another team is debatable, but he would be considered for the starting RB job on most other teams. AP led the league in rushing last year, and barring injury, there’s no reason he shouldn’t do it again. The Vikings have a couple questions on the offensive line, including starting a rookie at right tackle and basically a rookie at center. But Jim Kleinsasser can help out on the end, and John Sullivan, the new center, not only has Favre calling the signals, but perhaps the best guard in the league on his left, Steve Hutchinson.

* Coaching -> This is the only reason people have a case to write off the Vikings this year. Some might not like what Favre did this summer, with waffling on whether or not he would play. But he is, and he will be solid. Favre is not the reason the Vikings could underachive this year. Brad Childress is the big unknown. He is the Head Coach and has what most would consider all the pieces in place to make a deep playoff run. Whether or not he can lead them to do it is a huge unknown. Fail this year and his job will be open. Childress is not in the same league as SB winning coaches this decade – Belichick, Coughlin, Dungy, Cowher, Gruden, and I’ll give you Tomlin, since he’s well-respected. But win, and he at least isn’t labeled “incompetent.”

The other reason the Vikings have to produce this year, and should, is that they have thrown too much money at key players not to win: Favre-$12 million, left side of O-line-$8+ million, Jared Allen and Wiliams Wall-$30 million!!!, Berrian-$13.7 million, and the kickers will make a combined $4 million. That’s a lot of green to fizzle out of the playoffs one more time.

The team won’t be as good as their best team, 15-1 (1998), or as bad as their worst game, 41-0 (2001). But they should be a good enough team to win 11-12 games, have a first-round bye in the playoffs and at least make the NFC Championship game. Here’s a look at the other teams in the NFC. Why shouldn’t the Vikings be favored to reach the Super Bowl?

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NFC North
* Packers -> Coming off a 6-10 year, they have a nice offense that will keep them in a lot of games. The defense has the makings to be decent, but the 3-4 is still a new scheme, and they moved their best player, Kampman, to a new position. They won’t make a huge jump past 6-10, and I am completely baffled that Bill Simmons on ESPN picked them to win the Super Bowl. Whatever is stronger than baffled and shocked is how I feel about this. My favorite sports writer picking my most hated team to win it all. I about passed out in my chair when I read this. I really think it was just his final way to give the two-finger salute to Minnesota for the Wolves not hiring him as GM and for not letting the Favre story go away.

* Bears -> Jay Cutler is a train wreck waiting to happen, again, without one decent receiver to throw to. Their defense is old and injured to begin the year. Maybe next year. Despite all this, the Bears are receiving buzz nationally. Like the Packers, I don’t get it. Head Coach Lovie Smith gives them a chance, though.

* Lions -> They’re the Lions. Winless in their last 17 games. And now have a rookie starting QB. Good luck with that. But I hope Kevin Smith does well, as he’s one of my fantasy RBs.

NFC West
* Seahawks -> They haven’t been able to put it together since their SB run in 2006. They should be better than 4-12 in 2008 with Matt Hasselbeck returning from injury and some nice receivers, but I’m not sure 9-7 will get them in the playoffs.

* Cardinals -> Two big questions are whether or not Kurt Warner can last another full season. If he can, the offense will again be as good as any in the league, especially with Fitz and Boldin on the outside. And I don’t the think the defense can make the run like they did in last year’s playoffs. That was a fluke, and the Cards could fall back to 8 or 9 wins.

* Rams and 49ers -> I think they are afterthoughts, but hope they give their fans a few things to cheer about this year.

NFC South
I’m going to group these teams together in one paragraph, as any one of them could make some noise this year, but no one has any really strong feelings toward any one of them. The Falcons are coming off a nice year, when many felt they played over their head. Matt Ryan has the extra experience and Michael Turner is a solid back, but they don’t have enough to take the next step. They might make the playoffs, but would not go into the Metrodome and win, again. Buccaneers and Panthers are usually strong opponents against anyone, but the Bucs have too many new pieces and Jake Delhomme is too much of a wild card at this point in his career in Carolina. The Saints? Maybe. Drew Brees is top-three QB in the league, and the offense will put up a ton of points. Their defense is like a ribbon at the end of a finish line, however. Saints will probably represent this division and might fight for homefield in the playoffs.

NFC East
* Giants -> Picked by many, so far, to do good things this season. Eli Manning has improved greatly the last couple years, and now has a huge contract to show for it. He should have deferred some of that money, so they could get some receivers, any receiver. I’ll be shocked if he completes 55% of his passes this year, his career average. The Giants awful finish in 2008 was a trend, not a mirage.

* Cowboys -> So goes Tony Romo, so go the Cowboys. But many forget that outside the NFC West, the Cowboys gave up the 4th most points in the NFC last year. With no T.O. for defenses to key on, they may be more predictable, leading to another year of devastated expectations in their new stadium.

* Redskins -> They can spend all the money they want, but they are still a dismal franchise. No QB to rely on, a running back on the downside of his career, and who to throw to?

* Eagles -> McNabb and Westbrook are always questionable to stay healthy for a whole year. They lost some guys on defense. And they’ll hear dog “jokes” all year. Could be a circus, like the Vikings.

*** And a few paragraphs on the AFC ***

AFC East
* Patriots -> The AFC is theirs to lose, if they have Tom Brady all year. But even with their offensive juggernaut, people wonder if their defense can keep their opponents from scoring as much. I think they will, and the Patriots will win at least 13 games.

* Bills, Dolphins, Jets -> Terrell Owens in Buffalo is the only story we’ll hear out of Buffalo this year. Miami played over their head last year. It will be interesting to see if they have any new wrinkles for the wildcat offense, though. New York will also start a rookie QB. This will turn out worse than Favre’s last five games last year.

AFC Central
* Steelers -> Pittsburgh will be a strong repeat SB contender and fight the Pats all year for AFC supremacy. Their defense is dominant and offense has enough experience and weapons to put together drives for points when needed (example: Thursday night’s game vs. the Titans). This team is good.

* Ravens -> Their defense is still really good, if aging, and their running game, with a breakout year from Ray Rice, should help keep Flacco from dropping off in his 2nd year. Could make it to the 2nd round of the playoffs, but no further.

* Browns and Bengals -> I have nothing to say about the Browns. They stink. And I have wanted the Bengals to be good the last couple years, because I like Carson Palmer, but they, like the Seahawks, just can not put it together. It’s the same this year.

AFC South
* Colts and Titans – > Both will again be good in 2009 and have the making to at least push the Steelers and Pats for the AFC crown. Will probably bow out before the AFC Championship game, but will at least make it interesting. I was impressed with Tennessee in their opener at Pittsburgh. Their running game will get on track as the year moves on. Peyton Manning will keep Indianapolis relevant for as long as he’s in the league. They need Bob Sanders back on defense, though.

* Texans and Jaguars -> I really want these teams to do well, because I like many of their players. They just can’t ever seem to put a run of games together where both offense and defense plays well at the same time. Either one could squeak in as a wild card team, but not likely, given the quality of other teams in the AFC.

AFC West
* Chargers -> It’s San Diego and everyone else in the mess out west. If they can keep off-field distractions to a minimum (LDT worrying about who says who is the best RB in the league and Merriman playing nice with his lady-friends), the Chargers should have a playoff birth wrapped up by week 12 or 13. Rivers and LDT are as good a QB-RB combo as there is in the league. The Chargers could sneak into the AFC Championship game, if the Pats’ D or Steelers’ O falters in the playoffs.

* Broncos, Chiefs, and Raiders -> I love watching these teams play, because of their fans’ rivalry and hatred for each other. I would watch a three-hour tape of the tailgating before any of these games. But I’ll probably turn the tv off once their games actually start. I might give Denver a little benefit of doubt, but I can’t trust any team with Kyle Orton at QB, even if he is halfway competent. These teams will look up at the Chargers all year.

*****

So there you have it. My first annual, and lengthy, NFL preview. The homer in me is trying to be objective about the Vikings and put their chances in realistic terms. Bottom-line: I really like their chances. Even though 10-6 will again win them the division, they’ll win a minimum 11 games and have a 1st round bye. Despite Brad Childress as Head Coach, they have enough experience in almost every offensive and defensive unit to overcome his faults.

Whether or not it is enough to win the NFC Championship and then defeat New England or Pittsburgh in Super Bowl 44 in Miami will be intriguing to watch and discuss all year. I have a birthday in February. Maybe Laura and I will plan a trip to South Beach after all.

(deep breath in…and out…deep breath in…and out…repeat for two hours)Heeee’s baaaaaaack! Unbelievable. Or as the subject line, initialed here, in an e-mail to friends earlier Tuesday morning stated, “J-F-C.” I apologize deeply to our more religious readers for the language on our family-friendly blog.

Head Coach Brad Childress just couldn’t quit Brett Farve and Brett Favre just couldn’t quit the Minnesota Vikings. Or quit football. Or quit changing his mind. Or quit not knowing what his body is telling him. Favre will wear the number 4 jersey for the Purple this fall and winter after signing with the team and participating in afternoon practice. A few weeks ago, I helped myself explain Favre-gate 2009 using Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. Both song titles and lyrics were fitting I thought.

Now I’m wondering if Guns ‘n’ Roses Chinese Democracy might not be more appropriate. We kept hearing over and over that the album was coming out, it never did, and we all just moved on. Then BOOM. There it is. In stores everywhere when no one thought it was possible.

The sports media was all over the Vikings home at Winter Park after WCCO broke the story. Sources were confirming a Vikings jet took off from the airport in Hattiesburg. Twitter trending topics for two hours included: Brett Favre, Vikings, Vikes, WCCO and Brett FaRVe. NFL “experts” proclaimed the Vikings NFC favorites before he had even slipped on a practice jersey.

I listened to most of the press conference, which started about 45 minutes later than the stated 5:00pm time given. Many had to be thinking, “Has he changed his mind again after only being on the field a couple hours?.” This would have surprised no one given Favre’s record.

However, he was finally introduced by Vikings’ coach Brad Childress, and this is what we learned:

1. Chilly called Favre on Monday and gave him a small opening he drove his lawnmower through. Huh? Guess we know what the team thought of the quarterback situation after the first few weeks of training camp. Maybe there’s something more to Sage’s and T-Jack’s injuries than we know. Sage looked pretty good in the first game. Why not wait until after game number two? They couldn’t wait.
2. Favre’s freaking rotator cuff has a slight tear. Huh? He may have played with it the last couple years. Great. His elbow stayed together by a thread last year, which ended badly for the Jets, and now the Vikings Super Bowl chances hinge on the severity of a tear in Favre’s throwing shoulder. His doctor said it will be fine. I think it’s an incredibly convenient excuse for missing training camp in Mankato and living in the dorm eating terrible food.
3. Favre, of course, says he has no hard feelings toward the Packers organization. They’ve gone their way and he’s gone his. 16 great seasons together and he says there’s no reason for revenge, because even if he beats them twice, they could still win the division and then what. I guess I believe him, but that game in Green Bay could be the most electric atmosphere in a stadium this year, including the Super Bowl in Miami.
4. Favre gets to wear number 4. Wonder what he had to give Booty for that? JDB should have asked for 1% of Favre’s season salary.

Leading up to Vikings training camp, I had resigned myself to accepting Brett Favre as a Minnesota Viking. When it didn’t happen, I told anyone know who would listen what a conniving cheesehead Favre was, and that he just had to stick it to the Purple and the fans one more time. 16 years wasn’t enough. I was encouraged after the first preseason game that maybe Sage could be alright, even though I knew he was playing against the Colts 5th string defense.

And now here we are. Four weeks from the season opener. Plenty of time for a veteran like Favre to get his rhythm and timing down with the receivers. Plenty of time for the linemen to learn his cadence at the line of scrimmage. Plenty of time for Adrian Peterson to dream of the reality of rushing for 2,000 yards in a season. Plenty of time for Packer fans to work out their feelings. And finally, plenty of time for the Vikings to find room in the (mostly bare) trophy case for the most prized one of all, the Lombardi Trophy. How ironic would it be for this team to win its first Super Bowl with the former Packer lifting the trophy named after the leagues most famed coach, Lombardi of the Packers.

I still don’t know if I’ll be able to root for Favre in a Vikings uniform, but I do know that I’ll be rooting for the idea of him leading this team to championship glory. I just hope the season doesn’t fade into nothing as fast as Chinese Democracy did. If nothing else, it will be one heck of a trip. Mission: Miami!

The guy shot himself in the leg.

Plaxico Burress, multi-millionaire wide receiver for the New York Giants, shot himself in the leg, apparently. I’m not one that is going to rail on star athletes or entertainers for wanting to go out and have some fun once in a while. Plax wasn’t even going to play two days later, due to a hamstring injury. Maybe it had been a while since he had been out. I don’t know.

However, instead of spending a few hundred bucks for 2-3 very large men to stand around him for a couple hours, he decides to carry a gun in his sweatpants. COME ON!

How does he not have anyone around him that knows this and talks him out of it? He’s the same age as I am…how can he not know that maybe it’s a bad idea for him, a well-known New York athlete, to go someplace where he thinks he needs to protect himself with a gun? My only thought is that he’s gone nuts and just doesn’t know any better.

In this day and age, where celebrities have to be “on” 24/7, it blows my mind whenever someone in the public eye messes up in this way. STAY HOME! No one is going to care if he didn’t go out that night. And his name wouldn’t be in the news for something so stupid. And he’d still be playing for the best team in the league with a chance to win a 2nd consecutive Super Bowl title. But that chance has been blown. And there’s a good chance he’ll spend time in jail. Remember Michael Vick?

Spend the extra dough. My guess is that there are thousands of tough guys in New York/New Jersey who would have no problem using a gun if the situation warranted it. Plax needs to hire them. At least he’d be able to move and dance without making himself look like a damn fool. He’s paid to not fumble a football, and he’s in the news for fumbling a handgun. I wonder if they can rename the winner of the “Turkey of the Year” award?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SIENA! I think my next birthday will be celebrated for four days, too (although, maybe it should be 32 days for 32 years?). Note for when you’re older and reading this: I hope you chose to eat at Pepito’s again this year. How your mama and I love us some margaritas! Also, I’m sorry I couldn’t keep Norah Jones fish alive for a full one year. 361 days isn’t bad, though.

Let’s just move on. Of course Brett Favre is thinking about retiring from retirement. The 2nd paragraph on the 2nd page of Peter King’s article made me throw up a little bit in my mouth.

I think everyone saw this coming back in March about 3 minutes after he announced he was retiring. I don’t know why he decided to retire this year anyway – team just missed the Super Bowl (thanks to Favre), he had a great year and the team is still young and would be factors in the 2008 season. It didn’t make sense for him to step away now, and my guess is that he realized it too late.

If he does come back, I don’t think Packer fans will be mad or sick of him. They might feel bad for Aaron Rodgers for a minute, but the team, already close to the Super Bowl, would be better. Why be angry at that? Anger should set in if he ends up playing for another team, either by trade or if the Packers decide to release him. Right now, I don’t believe I could root for him as a Viking. Favre in a purple uniform? If it happens and the Vikings go to the Super Bowl with him at QB, I would cheer for Favre throwing three interceptions and fumbling twice, but hope for the Minnesota defense to score three TDs and the team win 21-17…or something like that.

I hope it’s not like that.

It’s appropriate that I write this as we watch the semifinals of the Minnesota State High School Hockey tournament. It has been a pretty good week. Happenings in no particular order: state hockey tournament (it’s so big that it’s played on the biggest sports station in the midwest, the Fan Radio Network), Brett Favre finally retired, had riveting elections in Ohio and Texas on Tuesday night and it will all culminate on Saturday morning with a first attempt to brew our own batch of beer at home (actually at a friend’s house, as he has done it before, is much more responsible than me and has a turkey fryer in which to make the process go faster).

First, Favre. There was some pretty ill-intentioned ribbing of my brother-in-law, a Packer fan, this week. The ribbing from me and other Vikings fans revolved around “Favre sucks,” “Go cry some more,” “Now he can swallow pain-killers in peace,” and “Damn, the Packers and Favre suck.” That kind of stuff.

I tried making the point that it wasn’t that we really hated Favre so much, but we hated the way he ended up making Vikings fans feel – he won another Super Bowl for their franchise, broke a ridiculous number of QB records as the Vikings went through an average of one QB every two years, held press conferences to tell us he would hold other press conferences to tell us whether or not he might retire, and to top it off, had every national broadcast team love him up every frickin’ time he was on national television. Absolutely sickening.

Filthy Packer fans had reason to be optimistic every dang year, because they knew he was going to be under center each game (275 straight). I loved it when the Packers had a horrible year two years ago. I thought for sure he was done then (then all the non-press conferences only to announce he was coming back), and he comes back and leads them to the brink of the Super Bowl. I’m just glad he laid an egg in his final game and threw an interception on his final pass to lose the game for the Packers. That’s what I’ll hold on to, even though I guess I’ll solute a pretty damn good career for a pretty damn good quarterback for a pretty damn insufferable fan base. Oh, and he had one of the worst acted athlete cameo roles of all time in There’s Something About Mary. I’ll solute Fav-ruh for that, too.

I like that there’s at least one race for President still going on in one of the parties. Why not let it take a little longer to decide which Democratic candidate will have the chance to make history in November. Good for the Republicans for choosing their candidate already. From the list they had, it shouldn’t have taken long to come up with the best of the worst. Anything can happen, of course, but they cannot be confident with their nominee. Experience, sure, and a great American, but not much of an independent thinker anymore. The race will do that to a candidate.

Clinton and Obama is riveting to watch. Emotional crowds and speeches (unlike the stinker McCain laid on Tuesday night), aides resigning, an ex-President getting called out for hurting the campaign and the whole woman and minority angles. Fascinating stuff, with at least another six weeks of seeing who might fall apart first (Obama needs a big boost soon).

We’re brewing an amber ale for our first batch, and we’re leaving the house at 7:30am on Saturday morning to do it (we being me, Siena and Elliot, so they can play with kids their own age). But blueberry pancakes await at our destination. I’ll let you know how the beer turns out, as we’re hoping to have it at Elliot’s 1st birthday party in two weeks.

Just when you think Green Bay Packer fans or anything related to the Green Bay Packers could not get more annoying, comes this story from the guys over at profootballtalk.com. I love calling things ridiculous, but this takes the cake so far for the New Year.

Quick thoughts on the NFL conference championship games. Looks like we’re heading toward a Packers-Patriots Super Bowl, which would have some great storylines to it. Everyone outside of New England, Minnesota and Chicago will be pulling for Green Bay, with John Madden leading the Brett Favre last-hurrah parade.<

In the week before the Super Bowl, we’ll read articles and hear blowhards experts on sports talk radio and ESPN discussing good vs. evil (Pack vs. Pats), the best QB match-up in Super Bowl history (Montana/Marino and Kelly/Aikman were good, too) and whether or not the Patriots can finish the best season in team sports history (I’ll hear arguments for the 1996 Bulls, 1986 Celtics, 1985 Bears, 1997 Yankees and any others you’d care to throw out there, but they’d be undefeated, so it better be a hell of an argument).

It’ll be cold. I don’t care how much of a man’s man people think Favre is or how great the Patriots are. The thermometer is expected to be below 10 degrees for at least one of these games, so I think all bets are off. A Giants or Chargers win would be a great upset, but the cold gives them a chance to pull it off. The ball will be slick, which means a better chance for it to end up on the ground (see the Packers in the 1st quarter against the Seahawks).

Enjoy the games, but seriously, does a TV station really think they need to do anything to throw Eli Manning off his game?

Random thoughts on the sporting world heading into the last weekend of 2007:

* Has anyone cared about the bowl games, yet? You know a playoff is needed when the biggest story, so far, is whether or not a guy on the sidelines (not even a coach, player or trainer) touched a bouncing ball before his team recovered. Even if he didn’t touch it, shouldn’t they have been penalized for all those guys being on the field, which would give the other team the ball back anyway? Apparently, Chris Jessie is the head coach’s stepson and in charge of coordinating the team’s travel and hotel reservations. And he’s on the sideline of a bowl game. Oh well. There is a BS in BCS (one of my favorite sayings, by the way).

* KG won’t let the Celtics slow down all year. I doubt they’ll match the Bulls’ 72 victories from ’95-’96, but damn, he has lit something under Paul Pierce that will carry them to a #1 seed in the East and well into June 2008. However, is it possible that KG’s current team sets the all-time win record, while his former team sets the all-time loss record? Can’t wait to see the outcome of their Feb. 8^th game at Target Center (note to Laura: that’s close to my birthday).

* NBA season has 6 months to go? Maybe thoughts on that another time, although it is now more intriguing than it has been in years. I miss “NBA on NBC” – one of my favorite lead-in tv musical anthems of all-time. I know some of you are humming it right now.

* I believe the Vikings blew their season last Sunday night at home against Washington. Win and they were in the playoffs, which no one could have foreseen after 34-0 in Lambeau. I heard the guys on KFAN’s morning show (AM-1130 in the Twin Cities) talking after the Washington game that if it had been outdoors, instead of in the ‘dome, the outcome would have been different. Really? What part of this Vikings team is so tough that playing in 18 degree, snowy weather gives us more faith in them to produce in such a huge game?

* I think the Giants will beat the Patriots, leaving the Pats 15-1 on the year. I want them to go 16-0 and win the Super Bowl (since the Vikings will be out of it, of course), but the Giants seem to do something every year to save Tom Coughlin’s job. They’ll win this game, giving them 11 wins, then won’t do much in the playoffs, but he’ll still have his job and that constipation-type pained look on his face.

* Johan’s still here, so I have hope the Twins will re-sign him. By the way, less than 2 months until pitchers and catchers report.

Happy New Year to all and to all a big drink!