Thorsday Open Thread: December 28, 2017

Merry Thirsty Thorsday, everyone!

Alright, we’re inching closer to the weekend, and Sunday’s final Vikings regular season game as the good guys take on the Bears at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. We also have New Year’s Eve on Sunday, which is similar to how the end of last year played out (except for the fact that we were already eliminated from the playoffs by this time last year), as the Vikings hosted the Bears on January 1, 2017 for their final game of 2016. I was at last year’s game, and I can attest to the fact that you can have a really good time around Minneapolis for New Year’s Eve. If you’re thinking of taking in one final game, & want a last chance at relatively cheap tickets (well, probably not cheap, but also not bat-feces crazy like the playoff game prices will be), this could be a fun one.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Ted & Di want you to Ask Roughing the Podcast.

Chris shared that the players voted the Vikings’ TD celebration dance as #1 of 2017, from ESPN.

Harrison Smith was named the NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

From Ted, Sam Bradford will return to practice next week.

News from around the internet & from around the league:

From Sid Hartman at the Strib, Chad Greenway misses the team, but doesn’t miss the game a whole lot. I’m not shocked to hear this, and I’m certain that Chad Greenway will be one of those players who does quite well in his “life after football”. He’s always been one of my favorite Vikings because of his on-field play and attitude, and also because of the things he’s done, and continues to do, off the field. Chad is one of the good guys.

From Vikings.com, the NFL Playbook crew has a preview of the Vikings vs. Bears, watch yesterday’s press conference by Coach Zimmer, where he addresses the importance of a first-round bye and Sam Bradford’s return, and there’s lots more to sift through in the media vault.

From ESPN, Coach Zimmer says he may turn over defensive play-calling duties to Coach Edwards in 2018. That has to be tough for the coach, he’s built this defense basically from the ground up.

It sounds like James Harrison’s departure from Pittsburgh was not a surprise, per NFL.com. Harrison asked for his release at least three different times.

Also from NFL.com, police are investigating an incident involving a vehicle belonging to Deshaun Jackson. Sounds like the vehicle left the road & hit a tree, then the driver left the scene. Police later discovered the abandoned vehicle, and also discovered marijuana and some bullets in the vehicle. Let’s hope that this doesn’t affect the playoff hopes for Jackson and the Buccaneers.....HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!, just kidding.

From STL Today, it looks like the lawsuit filed against the NFL and the Rams by the city of St. Louis will likely go to trial after a judge denied motions by the Rams and the NFL. It doesn’t look like it was an illegal motion, which would have only resulted in a 5 yard penalty.

From CBS Sports, the Patriots can not bring any more players off of IR this year. I don’t think those rules really matter, the Packers were allowed an “oops, sorry ‘bout that” for bringing A-a-ron back, then un-bringing him back, which is illegal......for some.

We come to today’s media selection.

It has been brought to my attention that some folks don’t get the reference to A-a-ron we often make regarding Rogers the bet welcher. Let’s help those folks out (I understand, because if it weren’t for the open thread, I wouldn’t know about this or any other pop-cultury reference).

Hey, let’s have another media selection. Many thanks to Tor66 for the heads-up on this one.

Again, we all know the rules, but in case someone is new:

-No discussion of politics or religion
-No feeding of the trolls
-This isn't a male version of The View, so leave the gender hatred at the door
-Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
-Speaking of which, if discussing a newer show or movie, please use spoiler tags
-No pictures that could get someone fired or in serious trouble with their employee
-If you can't disagree in a civil manner, feel free to go away
-While navigating the open thread, just assume it's sarcasm

With that, the beer light is on and the bar is open. Belly up & tie one on. Don't forget to tip your waitress, & try the head cheese