A few little tidbits from various sources around the Interweb:
-Brian Robison had a procedure done to repair a varicose vein in his leg. He's expected to be out for a few weeks. In this interview, he mentions that the vein had been a problem "since he was in high school." This leads me to the obvious question. . .why in the heck did he not get it seen to during the off-season? Otis Grigsby (and the Knights) took Robison's place as second-team RDE.
-In less than 48 hours, we'll be watching (or, in my case, listening to) the Vikings' first pre-season game of 2008. Is it wrong to be this geeked for pre-season football? Because if it is. . .well, I'm wrong, and I've got no desire to be right.
-CNN-SI has taken a break from talking about that other NFL story long enough to give us a camp postcard on the Beloved Purple. One of the more encouraging passages from the article:
Cornerback Cedric Griffin might be the most improved starter. The third-year pro struggled to finish pass plays last year in his first season as a fulltime starter. He would be in position or around the ball, but finished the year with only 14 pass breakups and no interceptions. In camp this season he looks a lot more comfortable and is making plays on the ball. That's a good thing, because with standout Antoine Winfield on the other side at cornerback, the former second-round pick is going to see a lot of footballs.
I love to hear this. Out of all of our defensive starters last year, our weakest links (in my opinion) were Dwight Smith, our defensive ends in general, and Cedric Griffin. Smith is, presumably, nailing hookers in stairwells in Detroit right now, we signed that Jared Allen fellow to shore up the DE spot, and now Griffin appears to be making strides. This defense might just be on the way to being something truly special, if everyone can stay relatively healthy.
-The Ragnarok has a nice little feature up using the Pro Football Prospectus (something that I'll hopefully have a review of on here this weekend) to answer questions about certain teams. His first version looks at the AFC South, where 4 of the Vikings' 2008 opponents hail from.
(The year 2008. . .not 2008 different opponents. That would be some kind of record.)
They've got one up for the AFC North, too, but the Vikings don't play any of those guys this year.
-Still no word yet on the random spots for the fantasy football league, or anything on how many other leagues will be opened up. Hopefully that info will come down before the weekend. . .I know I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Sorry for being a bit brief tonight. I'll attempt to make it up to everyone tomorrow. How? I don't know yet. . .but hopefully I can come up with something. Until then, have a good one, ladies and gentlemen!