Archive for August, 2010

If the five-day letter the Vikings sent to Percy Harvin was intended to get his attention…well, it seems to have worked, because the wide receiver has now reportedly returned to the team.  With a couple of days to spare. Harvin as you know had been absent from the Vikings since early in camp, first to attend the funeral of his grandmother, then to recover from migraine headaches presumably brought on by the stress of losing his beloved family member. Brad Childress expressed his support for Harvin’s actions all throughout the absence.  However, late last week the team took steps that [...]

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With most of the team’s offensive stars either not in St. Louis or watching from the sidelines, the Vikings and their fans needed somebody to step forward in the preseason opener and provide a little entertainment value. Luckily, Sage Rosenfels was up to the task. The Vikings’ #2 quarterback (at least until Brett Favre arrives) entered the game in the second series in place of starter Tarvaris Jackson, and after a shaky start, took control of the offense like a savvy veteran should.  Sage would spend the next almost three full quarters calmly picking apart the Rams‘ soft zone defense, [...]

The first game of preseason is no time to take chances with guys who might not be 100% healthy.  Hence the Vikings‘ decision to sit down many of their offensive and defensive regulars for tonight’s game vs. the Rams. Sidney Rice and Cedric Griffin were obvious scratches, given that both are on the PUP list.  Ditto Percy Harvin who has missed most of camp for various reasons. A less predictable addition to the list of inactive players was Visanthe Shiancoe, who didn’t even make the trip with the team.  Shiancoe did miss some practice time toward the end of camp, [...]

I don’t know about you, but I am ready for some football. Unfortunately, for real football, I will have to wait a few more weeks.  In the meantime, I will attempt to content myself with fake football, also known as preseason. Actually, this year more than in previous years, the Vikings’ preseason features some legitimate intrigue.  Most of it surrounds the quarterback position, which for the time-being will be held down by Tarvaris Jackson, Sage Rosenfels and Joe Webb – with Brett Favre still off in Mississippi deciding whether his ankle is good to go. Despite that big retirement scare [...]

The Viking Age would now like to take a break from worrying about Brett Favre, Percy Harvin and all the other stuff that’s got us so on-edge to talk about a fun event coming up next weekend in the Twin Cities. Get Captivated – that’s the name of the event – is a SCVNGR trek through the city of Minneapolis.  What happens is, you team up with a friend, then AT&T and Samsung give you one of their new Captivate phones, and you and your pal either put your sneakers on or get on bikes and run around the city [...]

So is Mr. AWOL Percy Harvin in trouble with the Vikings or isn’t he? Even if you could get hold of Brad Childress and ask him, it’s unlikely you would receive a totally straight answer.  So all we can do is speculate. Here are the facts:  Percy Harvin left training camp after just two days because of the death of his grandmother.  His time away was expected to be short, but here we are almost two weeks later, with camp over and the first preseason game just a day away, and still Harvin has not returned. Harvin’s extended absence has [...]

This is as clear-cut as any Brett Favre report gets: Earlier in the day, people who make a habit of checking those websites that give you flight information noted that a plane was scheduled to fly from Hattiesburg to Pensacola on Thursday, then back to Hattiesburg the same day. Hattiesburg, as we know, is the headquarters of Brett Favre.  And Pensacola, Florida?  That happens to be where Dr. James Andrews lives. Since everyone already knew Favre was scheduled to meet Andrews this week to discuss the state of his ankle…well, you didn’t need Simon and Simon to put this one [...]

Considering the sweltering temperatures in Mankato, the generally high testosterone level of professional football players and the fact that Thursday morning marked the final full practice session and everyone was really anxious to get on with the show…well, let’s just say, the stage was set for things to get chippy at Vikings camp. And, indeed, things did get chippy. Given the way events have unfolded so far this camp for Toby Gerhart, it’s no surprise that the rookie ended up at the center of the dust-up. It’s been, shall we say, an intense camp for Mr. Gerhart.  First he showed [...]

The Vikings have put out their depth chart for the first preseason game, which is coming up on Saturday (can’t you feel the electricity in the air?). The chart, for the most part, reflects the reports we’ve been hearing from camp.  Asher Allen is indeed the starting right corner ahead of Lito Sheppard.  And Toby Gerhart, who hasn’t been impressing people much, is indeed the #3 running back behind Adrian Peterson and Albert Young. Most everything else is as you would expect.  Except Jared Allen being listed as the back-up long-snapper. That one caught me off-guard.  Does this mean Jared [...]