Well a post from Jer or I was long overdue. Apologies to our mom's (does anyone else read this site?). My excuse for the lack of postings is I've been busy building a bomb shelter. First, the Red Sox win the World Series, then the Elkton Elks, a class B team here in South Dakota who hadn't been to the state tourney in 85 years, won the state title this past weekend. AND the Vikings are making prudent off-season moves (except for the Randy Moss trade which we've already covered and I refuse to revisit. He's gone and we should move on--despite the fact we shouldn't have traded him if this was all we were going to get for him). The Vikings are spending money on defense for the first time since I can remember. Freddy Smoot was a great move, getting a 25-year-old Pro Bowl caliber corner for no more than they paid Antoine Winfield, who's only two years older. Then our friends in Cheeseland drop Darren Sharper into our laps, and we end up with the all-pro leader in the secondary we've been sorely lacking since Joey Browner retired. And Sharper's just 29. Big Pat Williams will be a great run-stuffer, and more importantly he'll take pressure and attention off of All-Pro Kevin Williams (no relation). Youngsters like Udeze and whoever we have at the other end will also benefit from the larger Williams.
Then I see over the weekend we traded a 7th round pick to the Jets for linebacker Sam Cowart, who was going to lose his job to young stud Jonathan Vilma. This is no knock on Cowart, as Vilma is touted as one of the best young linebackers in football. Cowart, although not quite in the Pro Bowl form he was a few years ago, can still make plays. But his biggest plus is that he can be a mentor and good influence on our young guys like EJ Henderson, Dontarrious Thomas and Napoleon Harris. And after all of these moves we still have 2 1st round draft picks and gobs of cap room.
Secretly I'm down-right giddy about all of this, but it still seems too good to be true. I'm waiting for the Red McCombs press conference where he withdraws the sale to Reggie Fowler (which the NFL may do for him) and announces he's moving the team to LA or Vegas or Mexico City. I've been a fan of the VIkings since 1987, and this is the best defense we've had coming into the season since that time. And oh by the way, even without Randy Moss, we still have one of the top QB's in football, 3 starting-caliber running backs, a good o-line and a developing group of receivers. Every year since '87 we've been told as fans this team has a chance to play in the Super Bowl. As cynical as I've become of this team over the years, this might finally be the year when that chance becomes a reality. And if the Vikings could win a Super Bowl in the same span that the Red Sox win the World Series, well, I'm not saying the world's coming to an end, but does anyone know what kind of metal keeps out nuclear radiation? Just wondering.
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