Minnesota Vikings's Minnesota Vikings friend's fan blogs

The Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers are locked in a border battle of non-epic proportions.  Compared to the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox rivalry, we are the two douche-bags on the play ground yelling about an ill-advised Magic the Gathering card throw.  

Unfortunately for them, the Yankee’s and Red Sox’s players are tainted with steroids over the past decade so our border battle is pure like Columbian Cocaine right off the plane in Miami.  

Last night Nick Blackburn lost a game that wasn’t his fault.  He is looking like the Ace the Twins need for the future and yet the runs didn’t support him.  Jason Kubel hit his 13th homer which keeps his 3rd place behind Justin Morneau and Joe Mauer.  Watching Jason Kubel hit home runs is like watching Lumberjack days.  He just cuts down trees to blast balls covering the fans with his white rocket.  

Continue reading "Jason Kubel's White Rocket"

As the baseball world awaits the return of Manny Ramirez in a little over a week, many are wondering which Manny Ramirez will return after a 50 game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's steroid policy. This evening Ramirez begins a stint with the Albuquerque Isotopes, the AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Dodgers, to help rid himself of nearly 2 months of rust and prepare to return to the Dodgers next Friday. The question remains though, which Manny will we see when Ramirez takes the field in San Diego next week?

Most baseball fans are used to a brash, confident (even over confident), and constantly smiling Manny doing and saying what he wants. Manny being Manny as they say. Ramirez is no stranger to controversy and has no doubt heard his fair share of boos and jeers in stadiums around the country. Manny has long been accused of being perhaps the laziest, if not most over-rated, outfielder in MLB. Manny's redeeming quality was his ability with a bat in his hand. His home-runs and RBIs, and clutch hitting allowed the Boston Red Sox to look past several Manny being Manny behaviors like constant trade demands, taking time off in between (or worse in the midst of) innings in the outfield, and then of course pushing around a Red Sox employee who wouldn't allow him to abuse player ticket allowances by demanding more.

Continue reading "Which Manny Ramirez will return to Los Angeles?"

Deciding to sit among baseball fans, I wanted to be in the competitive environment of a major league stadium.  My fraternity brothers are eclectic and both sides of the boarder.  Wisconsinites mingle freely on Minnesota soil.  I sat down just in time to see nervous eyed Carlos Gomez bat lead off. 

Listening to my friends I sat in a room of Wisconsinites and Minnesotans. Bets flared, cases of beer and keg cups were bartered before anyone even got up off the couch.  College students don’t have much to offer for bets except alcohol and $5.  Miller High Life is the request of the Wisconsinites and Coors is for the Minnesotans.  Well anything that doesn’t support Wisconsin is a beer of choice.

The conversation shifted to who has a better ball park.  Target Field verse Miller Park (We all pretend the Metrodome isn’t real) The home run porch verse the chance to have balconies like the Chicago stadium.  Unresolved, we watch the bats of the first inning.  Little excitement until we see a strike 3 pitch in the dirt that advances a runner.  “Hooray, an All-Star catcher like Joe Mauer wouldn’t error like that!” Ruckas becomes the norm in a fraternity.  We live out loud.    

Continue reading "Twin’s Verse Brewers 1st Inning Minnesota Experience"

Disgraced former MLB slugger Jose Canseco apparently has one more trick left up his sleeve to help keep himself in the limelight, well beyond his 15 minutes of fame. Canseco wants to get together with fellow disgraced steroid users Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmeiro to file a lawsuit against Major League Baseball and the Players Association to seek compensation for loss of wages and defamation of character.

Canseco stated in a telephone interview that:

"Because I used steroids and I came out with a book, I was kicked out of the game, but I have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame. A lot of these players have not been inducted into the Hall of Fame: Mark McGwire and so forth. They're losing salaries, because obviously when you're inducted into the Hall of Fame, you get asked to do certain, you know, appearances and shows and so forth, which incorporates income. So there is a major income loss. Not even that, baseball blackballs you from their family, meaning you can't have a future proper reference from them, a job, no managerial jobs, no coaching jobs, nothing. They completely sever you."

Continue reading "Jose Canseco to bring full circus to court, plans to sue MLB and MLBPA"

Attn VIKING Faithful!!!  Up until now, Chilly has been talking in code when it comes to Favre.  But yesterday he said "  I have 1st hand knowledge Brett is throwing now with NO pain".  Fans, that means it's not a matter of IF, but WHEN Favre gets signed.  This FAN is not in favor of it, because any objective fan can already see it's dividing the locker room, however if Favre doesn't require a separate locker area it might be ok.  If this all blows up for Chilly and Spielman, bye bye gentlemen...Zigi won't stand for failure if this ends that way.....I think with Favre, the NFC Champsionshp game has to be an automatic expectation....Now the question is what media outlets are being honest and what one's are simply seeing what BS can stick with thrown to

Continue reading "The Arm is Healthy or Not So Much?"

The country was captivated in the summer of 1998 by the home-run chase as Sammy Sosa of the Chicago Cubs and Mark McGwire of the St. Louis Cardinals simultaneously chased Roger Maris' single season home-run record. As the season neared a close the two managed to keep the pressure on each other night in and night out to go yard. America was hooked on baseball, tuning in each night to see these two sluggers battle it out to see who would be the new long ball champion.

Fast forward a decade and the fog of greatness is slowly disappearing around many of baseball's former greats as the steroid scandal that has gripped MLB over the past few years is showing no prejudice in who it tears down. In 2005 when interest in steroid use shot up, McGwire, Sosa, and Rafael Palmeiro went in front of Congress to declare their innocence and deny knowledge of other "juicing". All three players sat in front of Congress and swore under oath they had never used steroids, ever. By this time many had begun wondering if McGwire and Sosa's chase in 1998 was steroid propelled. After all, both men had rather large physiques and were big time hitters.

Continue reading "Another "hero" falls, Slammin' Sammy busted"

Ok, in my last blog post I said Brett Favre can't happen, so Sage or T-Jack has to.  Well, i stand corrected.  I saw u-tube video today of Favre throwing and saying it felt "OK".  He also said "ok" isn't good enough.  We all know give him the time between now and Training Camp, it's going to be a Brett Favre's level of "ok".  I guess this Viking fan needs to be on the "if you can't beat 'em join 'em" bandwagon.  I don't necessarily like it, but we all also know it's going to happen.  Brett is noticably drooling over the opportunity he is presented with with the Vikes.  He has a chance here to do what Jerome Bettis and Michael Strahan did.  If he can manage it more power to him, but this Vikings fan has also got a lot of Packer backer friends and he will never be accepted back the way he was if he does this.  Ted Thompson, hide that hunting knife you keep around, cuz attempts to split your back are coming from #4.  Obviously that is part of this scenario. 

Continue reading "Retraction from Previous Blog Post"

On Tuesday an agreement was reached in Donte Stallworth's drunk driving incident. Stallworth was arrested after he struck and killed a pedestrian with his car in Miami on March 14th. The accident occurred at 7:20am as Stallworth was heading home after a night of drinking at a trendy Miami Beach club. The victim was just finishing his shift at work and was crossing the street to catch his bus when Stallworth struck and killed him with his car. When police arrived Stallworth submitted to a roadside sobriety test and blew a .126, well above Florida's .08 legal limit.

Yesterday a plea agreement was reached in the case that will see Stallworth serve 24 days in jail followed by two years of house arrest, eight years of probation, 1,000 hours of community service, and have a lifetime suspension of his driving privileges. Stallworth also reached a financial settlement with the victims family, the details of which remain confidential. If Stallworth's case had gone to trial, a conviction could have resulted in a 15 year prison sentence for Stallworth. The victim's family however, in the interest of foregoing the pain and agony of a trial, got behind the plea agreement to get the issue settled.

Continue reading "Donte Stallworth sentenced, but was justice served?"

Plaxico Burress has avoided a decision in the justice system, for now, but will a decision on his playing future soon be reached? Burress and his agent Drew Rosenhaus have stated that he is in good shape and ready to play in the NFL this coming season after recovering from his self inflicted gun shot wound last fall. With jail time on the back burner for now, Burress seems free to rejoin an NFL team and resume his career, but does anyone want to sign him? More importantly, should anyone sign him?

Rumor has it that among a handful of teams, the New York Jets and Chicago Bears have expressed the most interest in Burress' services. Both teams could use Burress' experience and ability. The Bears have long been lacking a reliable, go to WR to help but some teeth in their offensive scheme. The Jets even more so could benefit from Burress as he would not only be able to stretch the field but would be a fantastic target for rookie Mark Sanchez if, or more accurately when, he becomes the Jets starter. The bigger question is, should either of these teams, or any other even consider giving Burress a contract.

Continue reading "Who wants Plaxico Burress?"

The U.S. Men's National Team began play today in the Confederations Cup in South Africa in forgettable fashion. The U.S., playing in what some are calling the "group of death", faced defending world champion Italy today. The Americans put in a performance similar to Jekyll and Hyde with a strong first half followed by a flop of a second half.

Working against the American squad was a red card issued to Ricardo Clark in the 33rd minute for a late tackle on Italy's Gennaro Gattuso. Up to that point the game had seen nothing more than toothless offensive forays from both teams, but after Clark's departure the U.S. seemed re-energized despite playing 10 v 11. The increased U.S. effort was rewarded in the 41st minute as Jozy Altidore raced into the Italian 18yd box only to be hauled down by Giorgio Chiellini. Landon Donovan converted the PK for his 40th international goal and sent the U.S. into halftime up 1-0.

Continue reading "U.S. flops in Confederations Cup opener"