Minnesota Vikings News and Links, 8/4

It's game week, ladies and gentlemen! In just a few short days, we'll be getting ready to watch the Minnesota Vikings' first pre-season game against the Oakland Raiders. I know we're all looking forward to that.

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

-Ted took a look at whether or not quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has the "It Factor."

-We examined some of the better fantasy football options for our favorite football team.

-Eric was at camp over the past few days, and he has recaps from Friday morning, Friday afternoon (including an interview with Blair Walsh), and Saturday morning, along with Mike Zimmer's press conference from Saturday.

-Arif and Dusty put together another episode of Norse Code for your listening pleasure.

-Cris Carter has been selected as one of the captains for the 2015 Pro Bowl.

-The ratings for all of the Vikings' players on Madden NFL '15 have been released.

From some other sources across the interwebs. . .

-Linebacker Gerald Hodges looks much more comfortable in his second year in the league.

-Tight end Kyle Rudolph looks to be spending his newfound riches to do some good.

-Here's a little bit more on the Vikings using Google Glass.

The rules of the Open Thread are the same as they've ever been, ladies and gentlemen. . .no religion, no politics, no feeding of the trolls, keep the language relatively clean (using spoiler tags, if necessary), and keep the GIFs relatively work-safe.

No theme for this week's entertainment again. . .just some random stuff. And even though I think we've all seen this before. . .you know, why the heck not see it again, eh?

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open for this Monday, ladies and gentlemen. Enjoy the rest of your day, and we'll be back at camp later on!