Secrets of the City

The Vikings play the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Predictions?

Here’s a game preview from Vikings Gab.

“The Vikings will dominate this game as the Seahawk’s will provide little more than a few speed bumps as resistance.  Home field advantage, nearly at full health, and superior talent spells a victory for the Vikings.”

Seems like a no-brainer. Put money on it.

As for the home field advantage, however, looks like it’s going to be the Metrodome for a while still — which the Vikings aren’t very happy about. The Metropolitan Sports Facilities Commission approved a plan to force them to extend their Metrodome lease by two years.

During the Hank Williams III show at First Avenue on Saturday night, I couldn’t stop thinking about possible parallels the foul-mouthed grandson of a country music legend could potentially have with Brett Favre. Williams splits his shows into two different sets, the first hour he plays a rowdy brand of hillbilly country that pays tribute to the country legends of old while mixing in elements of punk rock. The second hour he ditches the stand-up bass, banjo, and steel guitar, unbraids his mid-back length hair, and headbangs to death metal anthems that send country fans running for the exits and metal fans rushing the stage.

Hank doesn’t care that some fans of his country music can’t stomach the metal portion of his show. He also doesn’t care that he makes his metal fans wait through the country set before unleashing the heavy guitars and double-bass drum pounding. For much of his career, Favre didn’t seem to mind crossing over two different styles either. He embraced his heavy metal side: Making risky throws into double and triple coverage, flinging underhand pass as he’s inches away from being sacked, and launching the 50-yard bomb when a receiver may have been more open underneath. He also showed a country side: Throwing conservative slants and screens with precision, involving his team’s tight ends to pick apart coverages designed to eliminate his downfield threat, and speaking frequently about sitting on his lawn tractor in Mississippi. (more…)

Suspended Minnesota Gopher Royce White is now under investigation for a laptop computer theft on campus last weekend. The freshman forward already faces misdemeanor theft and fifth-degree assault charges for allegedly shoplifting and shoving a security guard at a mall last month.

Teammate Devron Bostick was suspended for violating team rules. Forward Trevor Mbakwe is sidelined until his upcoming felony aggravated assault trial wraps up in Florida in December.

And in football, freshman defensive back Michael Carter was arrested and jailed early this month for underage drinking and obstruction of justice. Linebacker Gary Tinsley was arrested last month. And Cedric McKinley and Tim Dandridge received two-game suspensions for violations of team rules.

To top it off, the Gophers just don’t seem to be doing very well at all. Why the continual embarrassment?

The Strib didn’t pull any punches this morning, suggesting that the Tim Brewster era as Gopher football coach should soon be over. Should there be quicker results, especially with the new stadium that the “actual” students have to contribute to? Is there really any chance the Gophers will ever be good? The last 50 years of so suggest not.

Pro-football Hall of Famer Carl Eller has had a bad week. He’s doing at least two months of a four month sentence in a case stemming from his assault on a cop last spring. But, when explaining his sentence, the Judge explained that some of the punishment stems from Eller’s criticisms of the police and the courts: “I have to send a message that I do not find credible what he has asserted,” Mabley said. “The best way I can to that is to take him into custody.” DeRusha asks if this is fair.

I think there’s too many bowl games, and I don’t think the Gophers deserve to be in one after their lousy finish, but the fact is that they’ll face off against the Jayhawks in today’s Insight Bowl, airing on the NFL Network, which I don’t get. Does anyone care? Is anyone watching? Frankly, I think the Jayhawks with Gary Louris would be able to beat the Gophers. Yes, I know there’s only four or five of them and one of them’s a girl.