Monday Open Thread: January 8, 2018

A very merry Monday to all of you!

I hope you all enjoyed your weekend & were able to get out & enjoy the outdoors a little before our next blast of winter hits. I sure did, it was in the 30s here, which is bordering on t-shirt weather in ND. I helped kiddo build his first snowman (we didn’t stop at just one, so I guess he built his first snowmen).

Well, it shouldn’t be very hard to work up some dislike for the Vikes’ next opponent, 2009 is still very fresh in many of our minds, and I’m really hoping for a revenge game (seriously, they’d better not even THINK of putting Morelli on this one). I know it will likely be close, as the Saints are a good team (I gagged when I typed that), but I would love nothing more than to see the purple & gold lay a brutal beat down on that team. Likely? No. Fun to imagine? Oh yes.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

The Vikings will face the Saints on Sunday, per Chris.

From Chris, Jerick McKinnon has been nominated for the Vizio Top Value Player Award. I think McKinnon’s contributions are under-appreciated, it’s good to see him get noticed.

Coach Zimmer is featured in an NFL Character Playbook commercial.

Marcus Mariota pulled a Brad Johnson of sorts on Saturday, as Mariota threw a TD pass to.......Mariota.

Chris shared the story that the NFL has closed the investigation into Tramaine Brock and will not take further action. It’s nice to see the NFL move so quickly on this, the incident occurred back in April. If the NFL ran our criminal justice system, they’d JUST ABOUT be ready to announce a decision on whether or not to charge that Lee Harvey Oswald fella.

From Chris, the “Mother of All Stats” is suggesting good things for the purple & gold in the postseason.

The Vikings refused the Packers permission to interview George Paton. No word on whether the Pack will seek an interview with Omar Bradley.

Xavier Rhodes and Harrison Smith have been named First-Team NFL All-Pros, from Chris.

Saxyprince posted Climbing the Pocket: Episode 61 [BYE WEEK BLUES].

Eric gives us a little reminder that it’s better to be lucky AND good.

Vikings news from other sources:

Over at Vikings.com, see Baldinger at NFLN make the case for Harrison Smith as defensive player of the year (I won’t argue that), Shaun O’Hara tells PA that nobody wants to play the Vikings defense, and there are some more vids to sift through in the media vault.

News from around the rest of the NFL:

Catch up on wildcard weekend scores and highlights, from ESPN.

The Saints Cameron Jordan, when asked about some verbal back-and-forth with the Carolina O line, said he was talking more to “the other Kalil brother” (referring to our old pal, Matt). Jordan hit Cam Newton on 3 of the last 4 plays, and he was matched up against Kalil. Vikings fans won’t be overly shocked at this.

“I was actually talking more to the other Kalil brother,” Jordan told reporters, per The Times-Picayune. “I don’t know his first name, Speedbump. Let’s call him Speedbump McGee. That guy.”

From the Sporting News, the Raiders have officially announced Jon Gruden as the team’s new head coach, and Peyton Manning is a favorite to replace Gruden on ‘Monday Night Football’.

We come to today’s media selection.

Hey, I was trying to think of a good Vikings video, and I realized it’s been far too long since we’ve played this. It’s former HC Jerry Burns, letting out some frustration.......after a win, and giving THE best press conference in NFL history. WARNING: IT’S JERRY BURNS, SO THERE’S LOTS OF NSFW LANGUAGE.

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 employer
-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