Minnesota Vikings News And Links, 12/6

The week of NFL action got underway last night with the Jacksonville Jaguars winning their third straight game by defeating the Houston Texans. And here I thought the Jags were supposed to be ta. . .you know, never mind.

We're still a few days away from Minnesota Vikings football, as they'll be taking on the Baltimore Ravens in Charm City this Sunday. We'll have more coverage of that one leading up to this Sunday's action.

Since the last time we brought you an Open Thread. . .

-CCNorseman told you about the latest Secret Superstars for the Vikings, courtesy of Pro Football Focus.

-Mark has his weekly look at which college football players you should be watching on Conference Championship Saturday on the collegiate gridiron.

-Eric has brought you his picks and pans for Week 14 of the National Football League. (Spoilers: He's 0-1 already.)

From some other outposts around the internet. . .

-The picture for today's Open Thread comes from Dave Rappocio at The Draw Play (via his Twitter account, @DrawPlayDave). He's also got a FaceBook page. (And no, I have no idea what Stafford is doing there.)

-I answered a few questions for Matt Vensel of the Baltimore Sun about this Sunday's match-up. Matt also has a post where he speaks with former Viking Chuck Foreman.

-Sharrif Floyd left practice early on Thursday because of an illness.

-Josh Freeman doesn't know why Josh Freeman isn't playing. I don't know why, either. Probably because he's not that good or something.

The rules of the Open Thread are the same as they've always been, ladies and gentlemen. . .no politics, no religion, no feeding of the trolls, and keep the bad language to a minimum/use the spoiler tags if you feel that you absolutely must curse.

We conclude Meat Loaf week with. . .well, what do you think?

Seriously, in my younger days, this song and Fishin' in the Dark by the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were played at every single dance. . .homecoming, prom, and pretty much every dance you can imagine. If you grew up in the Midwest during the late 80s/early 90s, it was probably the same. Wanted to use a live version, too, but the Phil Rizzuto part in the middle really needs to be included.

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open for this Friday, ladies and gentlemen! Enjoy the rest of your day, and we'll have more for you going forward.