Minnesota Vikings News and Links: July 9th, 2020

Merry Thorsday, everyone!

It’s great to be back! Did I miss anything? I didn’t think so. The much-needed break was wonderful, I always enjoy our time over in Montana, and this time was no different. Several days with no phone service, lots of fishing, beautiful mountain views, fishing, and....ummm.....fishing. Did I mention fishing?

The ride home was......adventurous. We drove through crazy thunderstorms for nearly all of the 600 mile drive. A tornado touched down about 3 miles south of us (we found this out later), we hit one storm east of Miles City that had 60 mph winds & lots of rain, then we hit another as we crossed into North Dakota, that one had 80 mph gusts. The rain was coming in sheets, it was raining so hard it sounded like a cow peeing on a flat rock, then the pickup started hydroplaning on me.....twice, so we finally decided to get a room & finish the final hour & a half of the trip yesterday morning.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

BJ Reidell and Drew Mahowald debate which Vikings players are the most negatively affected by Covid-19 on Unbelievable!-The Biggest Losers.

Other Vikings/NFL news, and random oddities and annoyances:

The NFL and NFLPA are discussing a plan which would allow players to opt out of the 2020 season, from Sports Illustrated.

From NBC Sports, if Steelers fans are allowed into Heinz Field this season, they’ll have to wear a mask.

Photo by Lawrence Lucier/Getty Images

We come to today’s media selection:

This song kept running through my head Tuesday evening. Enjoy!

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

-No discussion of politics or religion
-No feeding of the trolls
-Take the gender hatred elsewhere, it won’t be tolerated
-Keep the bad language to a minimum (using the spoiler tags, if you must)
-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 wash your hands, touch each other’s faces often, and try the finger food.

Topic of the Day: The NFL and NFLPA are differing on the number of preseason games to be scheduled this year, do you think having two preseason games really makes a difference on player evaluations or is what the players put on tape during practice enough for the coaching staff?