Yesterday, as mentioned on this very site, it was announced that the Beloved Purple would spend the first week of their 2008 season travelling to Green Bay to take on the Packers.  Some people like the idea of playing Green Bay early on. . .some others, like Pacifist Viking aren't quite so keen on it.

Personally, I think it IS a good thing for Minnesota that this is the game that begins their season.  Yes, like most of you, I hate waiting for Monday night games, but that one minor quibble aside, this works out pretty well for the Vikings all in all.

For starters, the game at Green Bay was one of the few games on the Vikings' schedule where bad weather could, potentially, have been a factor.  Ignoring the obvious fact that Minnesota plays all their home games indoors, here's what their road games look like:

New Orleans - Indoors
Jacksonville - Weather shouldn't be a concern here
Tennessee - Possible weather problems here, depending on how late in the season we're talking about
Tampa Bay - Maybe some rain, which would only help us anyway.
Arizona - I really don't see weather playing a role here.

That leaves our three divisional road games against Detroit, Chicago, and Green Bay.  Detroit plays indoors, so no issues there, and I'm thinking that the weather in Green Bay shouldn't pose any problems.  That leaves the game in Chicago, and I have a feeling that that one's going to end up being in December for just the reasons I've mentioned already.  The league wouldn't go all year without giving Minnesota one bad weather game. . .would they?

So, we get the advantage of playing in Green Bay before the "tundra" becomes "frozen," which is pretty nice.

In addition, the timing couldn't be better, quite frankly.  The Packers are going to have a guy making his first start. . .provided he can even make it through the pre-season healthy, which might be a stretch. . .that will be making his first ever NFL start in prime time against a major rival in the shadow of Brett Favre.  Aaron Rodgers is going to have a world of expectations on him, despite the fact that the starting QB on the opposite sideline will be the better quarterback.

Yes, as of this moment, 1 April 2008, I'd definitely take Tarvaris Jackson over Aaron Rodgers as my quarterback.  Here are a few people I'd also start at quarterback for the Vikings, if they were available, ahead of Aaron Rodgers:

-Tito Jackson
-Jermaine Jackson
-Reggie Jackson
-American Idol's Randy Jackson (Yo, dawg!)
-Mahalia Jackson
-Jackson Browne

Oh, and one of my co-workers has a son named Jackson.  I'll call that one a toss-up, on account of the fact that said son is only two years of age.  However, I will say that he's significantly more durable than Rodgers is.

But yes, all the focus and all the pressure and all the expectations will be on Green Bay, despite the fact that the only real thing that gave Green Bay any sort of advantage announced his retirement last month.  There are a lot of people that feel that the Packers won't skip a beat. . .believe me, I almost feel bad for those people.

Almost.

So yes, all things considered as they stand right now, I like our chances of starting off 1-0 and, quite possibly (depending on who Detroit plays), finishing the first week of the 2008 season in sole possession of first place in the NFC North. . .it would be a nice first step on the Vikings' path to the 2008 NFC North division championship.

What say you, ladies and gentlemen?  Feel free to discuss things right here!