So, the exclusive, yet sorry “Never Won a Super Bowl Club” is now one member lighter. Congratulations to the New Orleans Saints, 2010 Super Bowl Champions.
Okay now the niceties are out of the way, we can get on with day one in the offseason wilderness. We have a few stories to keep an eye on and help pass the time, the main one being the classic will he/won’t he over the Silver Fox. There’s also going to be some stories around both Warren Sapp and Bryant McKinnie who appear to be in varying degrees of trouble. After all that blows over, it’s draft time, and between April 22nd and April 24th the Vikings will acquire (hopefully) the players we need to sustain another Super Bowl campaign. And then there’s going to be another empty patch before the teams come back for training camp and then a totally pointless but nourishing 4 pre-season games. It’s going to be a very long summer indeed.
Now that the Saints are Super Bowl Champions, there’s already talk that we will be their first opponent as the first prime time game of the season. Our 50th year as an NFL franchise, playing the team that edged us out of the NFC Championship in a thoroughly heartbreaking game and went on to win the Super Bowl makes for the perfect headline, and if Favre comes back it could be an even bigger draw. If this game is scheduled, it’s going to make the build up to next season even bigger, and more nerve racking. We want revenge, we all want revenge! we want to beat the living hell out of all of them, especially Brees who escaped our O-Line, while Favre endured a beating which could still trigger his retirement. We owe them, and a win would re-galvanize the team in the wake of that crushing defeat. Basically what I’m saying is, bring it on!
The Vikes Geek blog has run a story about the Saints win and how it could bolster the likelihood of Favre’s return. Running along the lines of, the Saints were better than the Colts, and we were better than the Saints (despite turnovers we ran them all over their pitch), Favre would be mad to pass up the chance to play with these guys again. We can therefore take some comfort in the Saints win… Now personally I’d have much rather the Colts won because I’m just plain bitter about losing to New Orleans, and they’re a dirty bunch of )(*&^%$$ £^*($&(£*£IO£( £&^%£”^ $!”£$”$ *****, but this is a positive way of looking at last night’s result. In time I hope I can come to share the same point of view. But until then, like many Vikings’ fans, I’m left to wonder what could have been had we managed to beat the Saints, rather than throwing it away, because let’s face it, we would have decimated the Colts.
There are more details emerging about Bryant McKinnie’s and his partying habits. Dan Le Batard of the Miami Herald has an extensive report detailing the time he met McKinnie, along with a report on all the other shenanigans that out OT has been embroiled in. It is not a very shining report, and it does make me wonder whether this guy should just be gotten rid of, because he seems to care more about partying and spending $20,000 a night, rather than repairing his image.
On the Twin Cities Pioneer Press, there is a report on the Vikings’ low revenue stream and how some NFL owners are trying to dissolve the current revenue sharing scheme which sees around $15-20 mil being transferred to the Vikings’ from other clubs every year. Of course it is concerning that we need the money in the first place, but something which could see this disappear is surely a wake up call to get a new, higher capacity stadium built, and improve the franchise so it can compete financially with the rest of the NFL.
Rick Alonso, also from the Twin Cities Pioneer Press reckons we are a strong team even without Favre. He cites the fact that we would still have a high number of Pro Bowlers even if Favre left, and possibly Pat Williams too. Despite these potential losses, and Chester Taylor too to free agency, our key offensive players are still developing so the future is a bright one… So there’s more to be cheery about!
And that’s about it for today. The only thing left is FAVRE WATCH
After announcing it on the site last week, here it finally is: Brett Favre as the 2020 MVP!
KFAN radio in the Twin Cities have also launched their own Billboard for Brett campaign. Check out TheVikingShip for a pic… I’m now wondering if I should stick one up here in London, just in case Brett decided to vacation here.
And finally, in case the blues have got you by the short and curlies, and you can’t make it through; here’s a little something which might cheer you up… it’s a Japanese dog who really loves his owner:
All glory to the smiling dog
Minnesota Vikings UK Blog 