Friday Open Thread: May 7, 2021

Merry Friday, everyone!

Rob needed a relief pitcher, so you’re stuck with me today, but hey, at least it’s Friday. Anyone have anything fun planned for the weekend or planning anything for the smoker? I plan to spend as much time out on the water as the weather will allow. For some reason, the Bismarck traffic seems to have doubled from its usual amount since yesterday, and I assume that will continue over the weekend, so I am going to avoid doing anything around town this weekend. Now that I think about it, avoiding doing things in town is what I do normally, so I guess it’ll be just an average weekend for me. I hope the walleye are biting.

Around the DN since our last open thread:

Rob busted open the latest Daily Norseman Mailbag.

Sports Illustrated revealed the identity of their prospect X, and that player was one the Vikings signed as an undrafted free agent, Chris has the details.

wludford has a thorough analysis of DE Patrick Jones II.

Other Vikings/NFL news and random oddities and annoyances:

The Pro Football Hall of Fame has formed the Hall of Fame Behavioral Health Program to help current and former players and their families, per NFL.com.

The NFLPA fired back at the NFL in response to an email sent by the NFL earlier this week regarding voluntary activities. The NFLPA called the NFL ‘gutless’ in the statement (rightly so, in my opinion), story courtesy of ESPN. Give it a read, it’s worth it.

The Vikings, Browns, and 49ers climbed the power rankings after the draft, these rankings from the Sporting News. I put zero stock in power rankings, especially this time of year, but this one mentioned the good guys, so I thought I’d link it.

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 forget to tip the cows, and quiet down, the latest episode of “The Real Stepchildren of Green Bay” is about to start, I can’t wait to see what A-a-ron is gonna get his knickers in a twist over today.