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…)

Yes, it’s real, and it’s spectacular: Yeah, it’s game day!!  Waking up on game day is like waking up on Christmas morning or your birthday! I can hardly sleep the night before, even though I know my body needs at least 7 hours  to be energized and on my toes for our  3 ½ hours plus of constant dance and movement on game day!!

Brett Favre has only been here a few weeks, and already things are getting weird. Via the PiPress: “Brett” the goat apparently avoided being butchered by a group of carnivorous football fans Friday after he was found painted, partially shaved and tied up in a car trunk at the Minnesota-Wisconsin border.

The Strib breaks the news, and, collectively, the local media weeps at not being able to endlessly milk the story. But what will become of the Strib’s Favre page?

That is, if you can believe Mark Rosen: Barring some unforeseen major physical setback, Brett Favre will be at training camp in Mankato when they open up the end of July, a source has told WCCO’s Mark Rosen.

[via Good]: The Hall of Mascots categorized according to species

VIktor the VIking? When did that happen? I remember only Ragnar … but he wasn’t the “official” mascot, was he?

I do love some of the other teams’ mascots names: Captain Fear, Swinging Friar (does the Pope know?), Lou Seal, Edgar, Allan & Poe, Dinger, Wally the Green Monster.

Do you love video games so much that that you would consider changing your name over them? No? well…Chris Kluwe does!

By eking out a one-point victory over the Giants, who mostly sent in their second team for the second half, the Vikings didn’t even need to wait out the Texans victory over the Bears to win a very mediocre division and clinch a playoff berth with at least one home game. They will probably see the Cowboys next week, though there may be a rematch against the Falcons, whom they faced last week. The biggest concern for the Falcons in that game was the Vikings vomit getting on their uniforms. Post your predictions here. Will the Vikings “surprise a lot of people” as players like to say, or be one and done in the dome? In other divisional news, the Lions seem poised to finish their perfect winless season. They now trail the Packers by 10 at Lambeau.

While Rod Blagojevich is picking R. Kelly’s attorney to be his own, Laurie Coleman and Norm Coleman picked their top-notch lawyers in light of the FBI investigating wrongdoing related to the Colemans. Laurie picked Daunte Culpepper’s successful lawyer, Earl Gray. Norm, who has his own representation, hired Doug Kelley. Also, a blast from the past: original MNspeak “love boat” thread from 2005.