Football. Is. Back.

We are now less than two hours away from the Vikings and Saints kicking of the 2010 NFL season in the Superdome. Having spent the last 9 months attempting to have Leo DiCaprio and his crew remove the memory of the NFC Championship game from my brain Inception-style has proved unsuccessful, but there are a few things I remember from the game. Namely...Drew Brees and the vaunted Saints offense threw for 197 yards, and were outrushed by the Vikings 165-68. Funny reading the papers/blogs/websites over the last couple of months and seeing not one prognosticator give the Vikings even the NFC North. They return 22/22 starters (21 until Rice returns in week 8) from a team that took the Super Bowl Champs to overtime, and yet the Vikings are universally expected to take a giant step backwards. As a fan of the Vikings, I am all for this sentiment...nothing will prove to motivate the Purple more in 2010 than the "Chip on the Shoulder...FU" mindset they will collectively possess. Expect two teams to show up tonight...it's not going to just be a victory parade in New Orleans...they have a game to play. My gut says Adrian Peterson will never be more focused on tearing up a team and redeeming himself and his fumbles than he will tonight. This game will draw giant ratings, the entire country will be watching, and they just may all find out that the Vikings will in fact be a force to be reckoned with yet again...

Raising Arizona...

Five years ago, the Vikings needed only to beat the lowly Arizona Cardnials to claim a playoff birth. With no time left on the clock, Luke McNown threw up a prayer to Nathan Poole and Paul Allen screamed through the radio on his infamous "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" call.

Well today the Vikes return to Arizona hoping to return the favor, although this time names like McNown and Poole have been replaced by names like Warner, Fitzgerald, and Boldin. At the same time...a name lacking in the previous matchup, Peterson, will have his say today...

Every Rose Has Its Thorn...

The 2008 NBA Draft, also known as "Oh Shit!" to Timberwolves fans, begins at 6:30cst tonight on ESPN. This draft has taken on a weird flavor, because the best player, Michael Beasley, is suddenly being seriously questioned. He was the best player in college basketball last year. He was the consensus #1 pick all spring. He put up better college stats than Kevin Durant, yet suddenly he's being discussed as a complete headcase that is a poor-man's Derrick Coleman. I love the overthinking that is going on here. I tell you what...if NBA GM's are stupid enough to allow Beasley to slip to the Timberwolves, Kevin McHale better pull that trigger. Beasley is an instant 20-10 guy that will dramatically upgrade the athleticism of the Timberwolves. No, Beasley doesn't have that A+ character at this point, but the kid is only 19 years old.

This is a giant draft for the Timberwolves. They haven't selected this high in the draft since 1992, when they narrowly missed out on Alonzo Mourning and Shaquille O'Neal, instead ending up with Christian Laettner. The fan base is fading, the corporate dollars are fading, the ticket sales are fading...a major boost is needed. Let's quickly rank the players in order of who would bring the biggest hype to the team:

1. Michael Beasley
2. Derrick Rose
3. OJ Mayo
4. Kevin Love
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167. Brook Lopez

Rose is going #1, so we won't discuss him here. Because the Wolves pick third, they are guaranteed to have their choice of two of Love, Mayo, and Beasley, assuming they stay at #3. Any of those guys would make me a happy man, and most importantly, would keep the beating heart of the Wolves alive. As much as I would love Beasley, I seriously doubt that he is slipping past #2. I think Seattle, or the Clippers will slide up and take him at #2. Teams will come to their senses and realize Beasley can instantly help them. Brook Lopez, as nice of a kid as he is, and as good of a player as he may be one day, is NOT going to pump up the fan base. Trading down to #8 and selecting Jerryd Bayless or Russell Westbrook is NOT going to pump up this fanbase.

Let's quickly run down what I think is going to happen tonight:

1. Derrick Rose- Chicago Bulls
2. Michael Beasley- Seattle Supersonics
3. Ovinton J'Anthony Mayo- Minnesota Timberwolves
4. Jerryd Bayless- Miami Heat
5. Brooke Lopez- Memphis Grizzlies
6. Russell Westbrook- NY Knicks
7. Eric Gordon- LA Clippers
8. Joe Alexander- Milwaukee Bucks
9. Kevin Love- Minnesota Timberwolves (Who trade picks #31, #34, Rashad McCants, and Antoine Walker to acquire the 9th selection)

Hey...it never hurts to dream right?

An additional note: I have men's league golf tonight that wont be finished until 7:30 or so. I am tivo'ing the draft. My phone will be off, my sirius radio will be turned to Alt Nation Channel 21, and I am warning members of my golf league to not give me any info about the draft. That being said, these things never work, so I'm sure I'll catch wind of the bonehead move McHale makes tonight. C'mon Kevin...surprise me this one time! Please. Anyways, if you want to get a hold of me my phone will be off until after I catch up to the live broadcast on tivo.

Go Wolves.

Much Ado About Everything...

What a week we have going here in the world of sports: The old-school Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals, and the U.S. Open at Torrey Pines. Both of these events are a major distraction from my normal month of June, where I play bad golf and lose brain cells watching the Twins.

- I'm not feeling Tiger this week. I know that he's the best player in the world. I know that he tears up Torrey Pines. Taking all that time off and recovering from knee surgery will rear it's ugly head at some point this week...in fact he was already limping slightly this morning.

- The movement of putting all major sporting events on the internet is simply awesome. Now we are not only able to watch every NCAA Men's basketball tournament game, we can also follow golfers during all four of golf's majors. You know those people that like to talk about the good old days? Well they can go read their boxscore in the next day's newspaper. I'm going to kick my feet up at my desk and watch Tiger and Phil all morning long on the computer. The link for the US Open video is here.


Rivalries never die:


- Seeing the Lakers and Celtics on HD, I honestly can't think of two better looking NBA jerseys. For all of you owners out there: go with simple and classic. If the marketing person that drives the prius and wears the funky glasses starts talking to you about "rebranding" tell him or her to lay off the latte and stick to your guns. Simple is good...I think it's worked pretty well for the New York Yankees marketing department...wouldn't you say?

- I am pulling for KG. That being said, I am glad that the rest of the sports world can now see the frustrating thing about Kevin: He isn't a top gun. He's the best second-banana of all time, but he is NEVER going to carry a team to a title on his own. Shooting fadeaway 18 footers when you are the most athletic seven-footer in the NBA today isn't going to get it done. He should be demolishing Pau Gasol...

- When Boston made all of the moves to acquire KG and Ray Allen, I gave them a two year window to get it done. After watching them this spring, I think their young guys have some big upside, and that they could be even better next year. A major factor in their continued success is that someone needs to convince KG that he doesn't have to play like a raving lunatic for 82 regular season games. It's ok to take the foot off the gas a touch when you are beating Atlanta by 34 in October. Rondo, Powe, and Perkins give Boston a nice nucleus of young guys to keep the Boston Three Party competitive for the forseeable future...

N..N..NOONAN!

The fellas and I are heading up to Breezy Point tomorrow morning for a weekend of golf, relaxation and hundreds of drinks. I stumbled across their all-inclusive package, that is sure to be taken fully advantage of with my crew. Unlimited golf, food, drinks, and lodging for 2 nights for under $400. How can you beat that? That Steak and Lobster is going to taste pretty damn good after a few toddy's on the course. I am not sure if anybody has ever housed a liter of vodka in 18 holes since the Nixon admistration, but Nick Boland surely will give it the All-American try. My goal for the weekend is to just have the ability to come back next year. That's it.

Don't Call It A Comeback...

The Twins yet again took down the Royals in extra-innings last night, extending Kansas City's losing streak to 10 games. Craig Monroe capped off a five run 9th inning for Minnesota with a three-run donger that tied the game up at 8 runs. The dagger in the heart of the white and blue was a 10th inning bomb from Morneau, which put the twins up 4-3 and set the stage for Nathan to seek redemption for his blown save on Tuesday evening. Delmon Young once again tried to derail things almost as if he was in Tim Donaghy's pockets...

Shh...SHH...Shut your mouth...

I don't want to hear any complaints about how this isn't sports-related. If you watch you clearly see Will Ferrel practicing Karate on a pumpkin...