Tag: sports

The PFT Poet sums up a sterling end to the 2015 NFL Regular Season, with the Vikings back in their rightful position atop the NFC North and AD in possession of his third NFL rushing title.

The Historic Minnesota Vikings Dynasty officially began on this day.

Oh glorious, historic Minnesota Vikings.

We have the best team in NFL History….

The Decade of Dominance is officially here, you heard it hear first.

We will cruise throughout the playoffs for a historic Super Bowl victory, in the most glorious fashion.

We just took the Green Bay Packers title away…for good.

By the time Mike Zimmer retires and wins over 7 Super Bowl Trophies, the Lombardi trophy will be renamed “The Zimmer Trophy.”

Let the purple and gold confetti fall.

Recognize Greatness.
Recognize History.

Recognize your historic Minnesota Vikings.

Preach, preacher!

NFC North showdown. I have to say, I like our chances in the rematch. I’d like them better if Joseph were playing, but considering how banged up their offensive line is, I doubt Rodgers will finish this game either.

It’s championship week in a lot of leagues. Good luck, if you made it. Meanwhile, back in the real world, the Vikes need to make a two-game run to take the NFC North back.

It wouldn’t be surprising to hear that Peyton Manning resorted to desperate measures in order to get back on the field after losing his entire 2011 season. But the fact that his arm strength never returned would appear to be evidence against the accusation that he was using a banned substance as part of his recovery:

As part of the investigation, Collins connected with Charlie Sly, a pharmacist based in Austin, Texas, who worked at the Guyer Institute, the Indiana-based anti-aging clinic, in 2011.

Manning missed the 2011 season, when he was a member of the Indianapolis Colts, after undergoing neck surgery. In the documentary, Sly tells Collins, who is taking secret video of his interactions, that he was “part of a medical team that helped [Manning] recover” from the surgery. Sly alleges that the clinic mailed growth hormone and other drugs to Manning’s wife, Ashley Manning, so that the quarterback’s name was never attached to them.

“All the time we would be sending Ashley Manning drugs,” Sly says in the video. “Like growth hormone, all the time, everywhere, Florida. And it would never be under Peyton’s name, it would always be under her name.”

Manning and his wife also came to the clinic after its normal business hours for intravenous treatments, Sly tells Collins on the undercover video.

Manning left the Colts after the 2011 season to sign with Denver. The NFL banned human growth hormone as part of its 2011 collective bargaining agreement with players, but did not begin testing for it until 2014. No player has ever tested positive.

Full disclosure. I am now on a program of ingesting strange nutritional supplements myself. After spending an evening with Mike and Shauna in Spain, Spacebunny now has me drinking weirdly colored liquids that reportedly contain unfamiliar substances such as “beets” and “spinach” on a daily basis. I don’t know if they’re actually illegal or not, but they probably should be.

Well, that’s the end of my fantasy season. I made it to the wild card round, but Mark Ingram went on IR and I erroneously preferred to start the SF RB1 against the Cleveland defense rather than the CLE RB1 against the San Francisco defense.

That was the difference.

This is your NFL Open Thread. All eyes are on Carolina.

Well, I’m in the playoffs by point difference, but with Mark Ingram out and on IR, and my opponent having had a good Thursday night, it could be tight. This is the weekly NFL open thread.

Since the Vikings are unlikely to be handed a W by the officials, they’ll just have to go out and earn their one-game advantage in the NFC North. Fortunately, this game against Seattle looks considerably more winnable than it did at the beginning of the year.

Crazy week. How do the Packers beat the Vikings on the road, then lose at home? Ah, that’s right, the officials were giving them do-overs on every play that didn’t go their way in Minneapolis.

Anyhow, assuming the referees actually let them play, this should be the week when we find out if the Vikings are for real or not. They have to be able to beat a 6-4 Falcons team if they’re a legitimate playoff team. If they can’t, then they’re just not ready yet. And by “they”, I mean Teddy Bridgewater.

Better get your fantasy teams adjusted….

Vikings (7-2) vs Packers (6-3). Who expected THAT at the beginning of the year, or even after Week 1? This game could settle the NFC North, although the Vikes have a harder schedule going forward. I am dubious that an injured Rodgers behind a weak offensive line can keep the ferocious Vikings pass rush in check for long. Either way, it is the must-see game this week.

Also, perhaps the Packers fans can help me on this one. For years, even decades, I have heard the national media talk about the big Packers rivalry with the Bears. Recent case in point:

While the Packers’ long historic feud with the Chicago Bears commands as much or more attention in Wisconsin’s population centers (Milwaukee, Madison and Green Bay) as the team’s rivalry with the Vikings, there’s no team in Minnesota as reviled as the green and gold.

Now, I lived in Minnesota and so it’s natural that the many Packers fans I met there – including my Packers-owning mother-in-law- consider the Vikings to be their primary rival. But the thing is, I have not met a single Packers fan who considers the Bears to be their primary rival anywhere in my entire life. I’ve met Packer Backers from Florida to Florence, Italy, and the moment they hear you have any connection to Minnesota, it’s on.

And on the online sites like ProFootballTalk, the Packer Backers are always going after the Vikings and the Vikings fans. They never have much to say about the Bears, not even in the comments on an article about an upcoming Packers-Bears game.

So, what is the deal? Is this simply the national media assuming that the two old NFL franchises must be rivals while not paying any attention to the real deal? Are there really many Packers fans who wouldn’t mind losing to the Vikings twice this season so long as they beat the Bears again?