Mid-Week Open Thread: April 24, 2019

Merry Wednesday, everyone!

Man, I was off by a day yesterday. I’m not sure why my mind decided that the draft was starting on Friday, but it was locked in when I wrote yesterday’s blog. I didn’t get a chance to log on to the thread, but I can only assume that I caught a great deal of crap for it. If I didn’t, well, I would be disappointed in you. You’re much too versed in smart-a**ery to miss an easy target like that. Okay, so we are now just over ONE day away from the opening of the 2019 draft. I loaded up on charcoal last night, the smoker will be getting a workout this week and weekend.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Ted shared his final mock of the 2019 mock season.

Chris weighed in with TE as his choice for #3 in ‘Minnesota Vikings Top 5 Draft Needs’.

In the Daily Norseman FanPulse, fans decided which position they see as the Vikings’ greatest draft need.

Great news! Mike Hughes is running again at Vikings’ OTAs, per Chris.

The Vikings have announced that LONG time Viking, Scott Studwell, is retiring. Studwell was one of my favorite players back when I started watching football, he and Tommy Kramer. Studwell has been with the team since they drafted him in 1977; as a player until 1990, and continued with the team after retiring, holding various positions in and around the front office.

Have a listen to the SB Nation Writers Mock Draft Podcast, from Chris.

Ted brought us a bonus edition of Rickspeak, the 2019 Pre-Draft version.

Arif posted Norse Code Podcast Episode 274: Revenge is a Dish Best Served Funky as Hell.

Vikings and NFL news from other sources, other sports news, and random oddities:

ESPN shared some in-depth stories on some of the draft’s top prospects.

From NFL.com, the Seahawks traded Frank Clark to the Chiefs. In return for Clark, Chiefs sent Seattle a 2019 first round pick, a 2020 second round pick, and they swapped 2019 third-round picks. Then, the Chiefs immediately signed Clark to a monster deal; a five-year, $105.5 million deal, with $63.5 million guaranteed.

ESPN takes a look back at the crazy 1999 NFL draft.

CBS Sports ranks the 10 worst picks and draft busts from the past 30 years.

We come to today’s media selection:

Let’s keep the blues theme going this week. I love blues, and here is one of the greatest of all time, and a guy I had the opportunity to see live at the annual homecoming show he put on in Indianola, Mississippi. This is THE Mr. B.B. King. Enjoy!

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 and tie one on. Don’t forget to tip your waitress, and try the rabbit.