MINNESOTA VIKINGS SHOW WEAKNESSES IN LOSS TO SAINTS

The Minnesota Vikings have had the New Orleans Saints number in the past few years, including the Minneapolis Miracle Game, and diehard Vikings fans were hoping for another victory with some Christmas magic.  Unfortunately, that Christmas magic was not there this time around.  When you look at the National Football League this season, it is pretty clear that the Kansas City Chiefs have set the bar as the standard of what it is going to take to win a Super Bowl.  Now, anything can happen in the NFL, and every week is a new week where there usually is a surprise or two each week.  

I am a Minnesota Vikings fan.  I have been all my life and I will continue to be for the rest of my life.  I am here to tell you that this team is not a playoff team.  I know that people held onto hope of sneaking in as a seven seeded wildcard team, but the reality is that the team did not have the pieces in place to make a playoff run.  The Vikings had been playing a game of risk when it came to the salary cap.  The front office always seemed to find a way to make salaries work if there was a player to sign to an extension or a player that they wanted to bring in.  However, when you are maxed out at the salary cap and your team suffers the extent of injuries that the Vikings are currently facing, all you can do is rely on your young players and second stringers.  This is not an effective game plan in the NFL. 

The Minnesota Vikings came into the season with major holes in their defensive secondary, mainly at the cornerback position.  They drafted Cameron Dantzler and Jeff Gladney to beef up that cornerback position behind Mike Hughes, but they didn't get the opportunity to have NFL game speed experience in the preseason.  I know that every NFL team faced the same scenario this season as nobody had any preseason games, but when you have no veterans at a critical position, like the cornerback position, you can't expect a player to come out of college, grow up quick, and make no mistakes when their first NFL game action is the first game of the regular season.  The cornerback position became even more thin, when Mike Hughes went down with a reoccurring neck injury that, to me, is looking like it could be a career ending injury.  The Vikings also suffered other critical defensive injuries to players Anthony Barr, Danielle Hunter, and Erik Kendricks.  The injuries just made a mess even messier.  COVID-19 was another hurdle where it caused some players to opt out of the season as well.  Despite all the hurdles and challenges of the 2020 season, the future does show some hope and promise.  

The first thing providing hope for next season is that your injured players and COVID-19 opt out players will return.  There have been some rumors out there saying that Danielle Hunter is not happy with his current salary.  He is making approximately 14 million dollars a season and he is wanting to be at the level that the other top players at his position are at, which is about 27 million dollars per season.  Danielle Hunter just signed his extension just over a year ago and got paid a lot of money for not playing this season.  I think he should be content with what he is making right now.  After all, he chose to sign the extension when he did, so that should be the end of the conversation.  If Hunter does not choose to hold out next season and Anthony Barr returns healthy, this is an instant upgrade for the defense.

The second thing providing hope for next season is that a lot of young players saw a lot of game time this season that should help them grow up sooner.  Ezra Cleveland provided an upgrade on the offensive line, when he wasn't even slated to be a starter at all this season.  When the Vikings made this pick in the draft, it was a curious move to draft a guy who you weren't planning on starting when the Vikings offensive line was a mess and in desperate need of instant help.  Ezra Cleveland secured the starting position and has done well enough for the Vikings to release Pat Elflein.  Riley Reiff decided to take a significant pay cut to avoid being released when the Vikings traded for defensive end Yannick Ngakoue, who only stayed on the team for about a month before being traded to the Baltimore Ravens.  Despite the pay cut and facing being released, Riley Reiff has had his best season as a Viking.  The Vikings need to continue to draft offensive line players in the upcoming draft to further add depth to the line.  

The third thing providing hope is the continuing improvement of wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who is a Pro Bowl Player in his rookie season.  As of today, Justin Jefferson needs only 47 yards in next week's season finale to break the team receiving yardage record held by Hall of Famer Randy Moss.  He also needs 207 yards in the season finale to break the NFL Receiving Yards record.  While Stefon Diggs has had another outstanding season with the Buffalo Bills, there has been no drop off in talent with Jefferson replacing Diggs.  The fact of the matter is that Stefon Diggs doesn't like playing on a team where there is so much focus on the running game, and that wasn't going to change for the Vikings when you have a player like Dalvin Cook on your team, who just signed a contract extension during the season.  

The fourth thing providing hope for next season is just the talent you have returning next season.  Kirk Cousins will be the quarterback for the Vikings next season.  His salary is going to have a 41 million dollar hit on the salary cap next season and the Vikings simply can not bench him or go with another option because of that massive number.  Kirk Cousins does seem to hold on to the ball a little too long in a lot of cases, but the lack of success this season has nothing to do with Kirk Cousins.  Give him a strong, healthy, and deep offensive line, and then make your judgements on Kirk Cousins.  The only way the Vikings have a different quarterback next season is if the Vikings are willing to trade Cousins and get rid of his salary cap hit.  It is doubtful that any team will be willing to take that risk for such a big cap hit.  So having Kirk Cousins return along with Danielle Hunter (hopefully), Anthony Barr, Harrsion Smith, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, Irv Smith Jr., and C.J. Ham really makes this team look strong.  Anthony Harris played on a franchise tag this season as the Vikings were not in a position to give Harris a multiyear extension due to their salary cap issues, and it looks like it may have been a blessing in disguise.  Harris has not had a good season and has significantly regressed compared to last season.  This regression will probably play a big factor in whether the Vikings will resign Harris or not.  It may even reduce the asking price that Harris is requesting in a new contract with any team.  Anthony Harris is a good player and I would love to have him back on this team for the right price.  I think Harris can return to the level of play that he showed in 2019, but you can't bet the farm on him after the season he has had this year.  There has to be some give and take.

Like I said earlier, the game against the Saints proved that the Vikings are not a playoff team this season.  When a team gives up 52 points to any team at any point in the season, that is a huge red flag, and it's a bigger red flag when in happens during the second to the last regular season game.  I don't think head coach Mike Zimmer will be fired after the season.  The Vikings just signed him to an extension prior to the season, and I don't think you can hold Mike Zimmer accountable for all that has gone wrong this season.  You cannot blame the coach when there is a pandemic, no preseason, a ton of season ending injuries, and having only young players at critical positions.  He simply coached with what he had to work with.  Bring those injured players back next season, have a preseason, and proper preparation, then hold the coach accountable by firing him and the general manager, Rick Spielman, if there still is no success.  The interesting thing is that Mike Zimmer and the Vikings have made the playoffs on all of the odd numbered years he has coached the Vikings and have never made the playoffs on the even numbered years that he coached the Vikings.  So, it is only fitting that he didn't make it again this dumpster fire season of 2020.  

The Minnesota Vikings will always be my team and I look for them to draft appropriately in the upcoming draft so we can be ready to roll in 2021!!

Be Kind To Everyone.

Minnesota Twins Decline Option On Relief Pitcher Sergio Romo

The Minnesota Twins have been known in the past to be proper when it comes to Major League Baseball. What I mean by that, is you hardly see fire when it comes to controversy with the Twins.  During the 2019 season, as the Twins were buyers instead of sellers at the July 31st trading deadline, and they went out and traded for Sergio Romo.  Romo was well respected, had effective talent, but he was a spitfire.

I am someone who doesn't mind a player to be fired up or be loud for sake of showing that pure excitement and energy, and I don't mind it because I think it can motivate a team.  When you look at the managers the Twins have had in the recent past, there were some that had more fire in them than others.  Now don't get me wrong, if a manager or a player didn't have an angry streak in him, or that fire as I call it, it doesn't mean that they weren't good at what they were doing.  Tom Kelly was the manager of the Minnesota Twins from 1986-2001.  Tom Kelly stayed calm all the time and almost to a point where fans were questioning why he wasn't getting more mad in certain situations.  After all, when players feel like the manager has their back, that can be quite powerful.  Despite it appearing Tom Kelly never lost his cool, Tom Kelly was ejected out of a game only five times over that 15 year span, and it included an eight year span from 1990-1998 of having no ejections.  Tom Kelly was one of the best managers in the game, and also collected two World Series trophies during those 15 years in 1987 and 1991.  Ron Gardenhire was the successor of Tom Kelly and managed the Minnesota Twins for 13 years.  He was also the Third Base Coach on Tom Kelly's coaching staff.  Gardenhire did get ejected many more times than Tom Kelly and he believed it was a way to motivate his teams when things needed to be shook up.  Gardenhire didn't win a World Series, but he did lead the Minnesota Twins to many division championships.

Getting back to Sergio Romo, he was a player full of fire.  He was passionate for the game, and he was a good pitcher as well.  He served as a setup man in the bullpen for the Twins as well as getting an opportunity to be the closer for some games as well.  The problem for Sergio Romo during the shortened 2020 season is that his effectiveness started to decline slightly and he was getting too over the top with his fire.  Towards the end of the 2020 season, there were multiple teams that he was trash talking on the field and it was almost leading to bench clearing brawls.  There were even a couple of series in a row this past offseason where he was arguing with the opposing team's bench so much, even that was almost leading to bench clearing incidents. 

I think the Minnesota Twins declined the option on Sergio Romo for a couple of reasons.  The first reason is money.  Payroll is always something I feel we talk about all the time with the Minnesota Twins.  I believe that Sergio Romo was making around five million dollars a season.  It's not that five million dollars is huge money in baseball these days, but I believe many, if not all, Major League Baseball teams are preparing themselves for lower payrolls as the revenues have been down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  I also think the Minnesota Twins got tired of Sergio Romo's antics.  It's one thing for a player to be so passionate that they lose their cool once in a while and an incident occurs.  With Sergio Romo, it just happened too frequently in combination with a dip in his effectiveness and Sergio is inching closer to 40 years old, which is getting old in baseball years.  

It was fun having Sergio on this team for the past two seasons.  He played a vital role in the success of the Twins winning the division title for the past two seasons.  Maybe the Twins can look at resigning him in a cheaper deal, but Sergio would have to want that as well.  It is also possible that the Twins are just ready to move on.  

Be Kind To Everyone.

The Effect That COVID-19 Will Have On Pro Sports Moving Forward

When you look at how professional sports has managed to navigate through 2020, the reality is that 2021 may be just as screwed up as 2020.  The other thing is that if the pro sports scene tends to tread towards a more normal pattern and schedule as 2021 goes on, there still will be ripple effects to remind us that we will not quite be through the woods yet.

Being a fan of Minnesota sports teams, there was always those "normal" worries about my teams as they are classified as small market teams in the world of professional sports.  Despite Minnesota being declared a small market, it still draws an interest from all major professional sport leagues, including Major League Soccer being the most recent to come join the market.  The Minnesota United FC, also known as the Loons, is the most recent major pro sport team to base their operations out of St. Paul.  Let's take a look at some of the other major pro sports franchises and see what the future holds, in my opinion.

The Minnesota Twins - Despite being a fan and supporter of all our Minnesota professional sports teams, baseball is my favorite.  I love watching baseball outdoors in the summer.  It is peaceful for me.  The other thing I like about baseball is that there are more games in their season, which doesn't place as high of stakes on each game, like NFL games do.  The Minnesota Twins have had the reputation for decades of putting teams together on the cheap.  As a Minnesota Twins fan, we always knew there were certain star players that the Twins wouldn't be able to afford.  Carl Pohlad was the owner for many years and was worth billions of dollars, but wouldn't ever really commit to opening the wallet.  Major League Baseball is unbalanced when it comes to salaries and payrolls.  Major League Baseball has a players association and has worked itself into a situation where there is no salary cap.  For the players, this is obviously great for them.  So with no salary cap, teams that are willing to spend, can spend what they want.  If their payroll goes over a certain amount, then the team has to pay a luxury tax.  Some teams are more than willing to pay that luxury tax without much thought because of their various revenues.  As Carl Pohlad became older, he handed over the ownership to the next generation in the family, and they have been more willing to spend a bit more to be competitive again.  Now, there seems to still be some players that are out of the Minnesota Twins league when it comes to paying the big contract, but they are getting closer.  The Minnesota Twins also are one of the best teams to develop their minor league farm system and develop their young talent into star players.  It just gets frustrating when oftentimes those players end up leaving for a bigger market that is willing to pay top dollar when the player is just hitting their prime.  As far as the 2020 season goes, the Twins had another successful season as they won the division.  The talent is there, but they still need to address their starting pitching rotation.  The challenge will be, however, that there is strong belief that the teams will be spending less on player salaries next season as revenues were down.  The 2020 season featured a 60 game regular season instead of the traditional 162 game season.  In the early summer, it was looking more and more like the players association and Major League Baseball were going to be unable to come to an agreement to even have a season, so we were lucky to get a 60 game season.  Less televised games and no fans in the stands for the entire season will also contribute to a different offseason and probably less free agents being signed to fat contracts.

The Minnesota Vikings - The NFL was probably the professional sports league that was in the best shape as far as timing goes when it comes to COVID-19.  The Super Bowl had just wrapped up in early February and it wasn't until March 11th when the world changed because of the deadly disease.  So, the NFL and the Minnesota Vikings had time to figure things out.  The held the NFL Draft a in May instead of April and they did it virtually.  Of course, one of the concerns with the NFL is that it is more of contact sport than baseball and those created some pretty big worries.  In fact, all NFL players had the option to "opt out" of the 2020 season if they felt playing football was too risky and a safety concern with the pandemic.  The Vikings had signed Offensive Lineman Michael Pierce to bulk up their offensive line, and he was a player that chose to opt out.  The NFL chose to eliminate the preseason for 2020 to reduce the player risk of contracting COVID and players weren't in favor of playing preseason games either as it was threatening their professional lives by possibly contracting the virus during non-regular season games.  After all, it is the statistics of the regular season games that dictates the amount offered in their future contracts.  The problem for the Minnesota Vikings is that they were cash strapped prior to COVID-19 because there is a salary cap in the NFL.  With Kirk Cousins being offered guaranteed money with his big contract, the Vikings are handcuffed if Kirk Cousins doesn't meet expectations, and right now Kirk Cousins is not meeting expectations with being tied for first in the league with the most interceptions thrown so far this season.  So now the problem for the Vikings keeps getting worse.  The Vikings lost a certain number of big names on defense due to affordability issues.  A significant number of guys they were able to afford and keep around, suffered injuries and missed time.  The Vikings depended on the NFL draft to fill the void at the cornerback position, and that is fine as they drafted some promising players.  The problem is, usually at that position it takes players a season or longer to understand the speed of the NFL game and opposing quarterbacks are able to usually see that pretty easily in game film.  Now, Danielle Hunter plays defensive end for the Vikings and suffered a season ending neck injury during training camp.  As the Vikings saw the promise in Danielle Hunter a few years ago, they chose to secure him in a long term contract early on.  Danielle Hunter is currently making 14.5 million dollars this season and he isn't playing a single snap of football this year.  This past week, he stated he was unhappy with his salary and is expecting the Minnesota Vikings to give him a new deal, or he will demand a trade.  The timing of this statement is interesting as he still has like three years left on his contract.  Kind of a gutsy choice if you ask me.  As the country is facing a 12 or 13 percent unemployment rate, I think I would be more than happy with over 14 million dollars per season.  He probably will still be able to buy the name brand canned goods at the grocery store.  Again, the NFL is looking at lowering the salary cap for the 2021 season as revenues have been down as most seats have sat empty so far this season.

The Minnesota Timberwolves - The Timberwolves fans are still hanging onto the memories of the 2004 season when Kevin Garnett, Sam, Cassell, and Latrell Sprewell led the team to the Western Conference Finals, which is the round before the NBA Finals for the NBA Championship.  It is 2020 and the Timberwolves are still trying to figure out the right combination to be truly competitive again and to once again, feel that magic of being a dominant team.  There is no reason that Minnesota Timberwolves fans should be hanging onto a 2004 non-championship run in the playoffs.  That is just simply unacceptable and it further supports that reputation that the Minnesota NBA market is fly over country and players don't want to play here.  It gets colder than hell in Minnesota in the winter, and that also sometimes plays a factor when a player is considering playing in Minnesota.  The Timberwolves finally were able to trade away the max NBA contract of Andrew Wiggins, which helps the Timberwolves with their salary cap.  Yes, the NBA has a salary cap as well.  They also recently won the NBA Draft Lottery and will get the first overall pick in the upcoming NBA Draft.  There is no concrete guaranteed number one draft pick player sitting there for the Timberwolves to select, and they have stated that they are interested in trading that number one pick for an impact player to support their "win now" mentality.  Glen Taylor has owned the Minnesota Timberwolves for the past couple of decades, and while it easy to make negative quick judgements about Glen Taylor because of the lack of success by the Timberwolves, Glen also is owner of the Minnesota Lynx WNBA team, and they have won multiple championships in the past decade.  There has not been any word as far as the salary cap being lowered for next season due to COVID-19, but the latest is that the NBA is looking at starting the 20-21 season the week before Christmas and have a 72 game regular season, which is 10 games less than the traditional 82 game season.  Again, there is a concern as basketball is more of a contact sport than compared to baseball.  The 2020 NBA Finals just wrapped up about two weeks ago.  So, some players haven't played in an NBA games since March 11th, and other teams played as recently as two weeks ago.  We just need to hope that one of these years will be the magic that the Timberwolves are looking for.  Glen Taylor has also decided to sell the Minnesota Timberwolves with a written agreement in the sale that the new ownership can't move the team from Minneapolis.  It would be fun to see the Timberwolves be great again in a time when it is needed.

The Minnesota Wild -  I remember back on July 4th, 2012 when the Minnesota Wild made a splash in the sports world by signing both Zach Parise and Ryan Suter.  They were the two most desirable free agents in that offseason, and they both agreed to take less money and have the same contracts to go to the same team and win.  After those free agent signings, many sports writers were predicting the Wild to go to the NHL Finals that season.  It didn't work out.  So, the Wild were also becoming cash strapped, as they also have a salary cap, and their revenues were usually less than those other sports leagues.  Hockey is a great sport, and I love playoff hockey especially, but it is more of a regional sport than a nationwide love of the sport.  The Wild have already traded a couple of players in this offeseason, and more moves look likely as the Wild appear to be heading towards a rebuilding mode.  A mode that fans hate to see because it can last a long time.  The fact of the matter is that the salary cap will probably be reduced because of COVID-19, just like the rest of the sports leagues.  The Wild need to find a way to unload those big Zach Parise and Ryan Suter contracts.  Being hancuffed to those contracts is what is causing the Wild Fans to feel some hopelessness.  They are drafted and molding so really good young talent, but a locker room still needs veteran players.  

That is my take on our pro sports teams.  

Be Kind To Everyone

Minnesota Vikings In Crisis Mode With No Money Left To Fix Things

Trying to stop the bleeding is a good description of the current status of the Minnesota Vikings these days.  Nobody saw this coming.  Of course, nobody was even able to predict if there was to be a season to be played as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to tighten its grip on the United States.  For the Vikings, one of their top free agent signings, Michael Pierce, decided to opt out of the season out of safety concerns.  Danielle Hunter, then suffered a neck injury in training camp, which kept him from seeing the field for the entire 2020 season.  On top of that, you had the departures of key players such as Everson Griffin, Trae Wayans, and Stefon Diggs.  

The Vikings attempted to help the defensive line by trading away a second round draft pick and a conditional fifth round draft pick to the Jacksonville Jaguars for Yannick Ngakoue.  Ngakoue was supposed to bolster a defensive line along Danielle Hunter to make an unstoppable force on both ends of the line.  With the Vikings starting the season with a record of 1-5, the Vikings then traded Ngakoue to the Baltimore Ravens for a third round draft pick and a conditional fifth round draft pick.  

To make this more complicated, when Ngakoue was brought in, he also brought with him a high salary.  The high salary was something that the Vikings didn't need as their salary cap was already maxed out.  Riley Reiff, Offensive Lineman, had to take a significant pay cut to make room for Ngakoue's big contract, and I am sure that Reiff is now completely pissed off for renegotiating and taking millions less.  If Reiff would not have renegotiated, then he would've been cut, which is the other way the Vikings would've made room for Ngakoue.  

Kirk Cousins, the starting Quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, is another chapter that is far from a pleasant read.  Kirk Cousins was given a contract extension prior to the 2020 season, and that includes a 41 million dollar salary cap hit for next season.  Kirk Cousins, who has led the Vikings to a 1-5 record, also has a league leading 10 interceptions in six games this season, including 3 interceptions in the first half of last week's game against the Atlanta Falcons.  Kirk Cousins should've been benched last week because that is how poor his performance was.  The problem is that the Vikings really can't afford to bench Kirk Cousins.  For one thing, Kirk Cousins can't just sit and collect that massive paycheck next season.  For this season, there is no solid backup Quarterback that can replace Kirk Cousins long term.  If a guy is going to be paid 41 million dollars, you have to play him.  If the Vikings were to just cut Kirk Cousins, they still would be on the hook for 41 million dollars against the salary cap due to his guaranteed contract status.  

There are reports coming out today saying that Danielle Hunter is going to demand his salary be doubled in a new contract, or he will be requesting a trade.  This is crazy.  How is a guy with a long term neck injury needing surgery, missing an entire season, able to command this type of money?  I believe Danielle Hunter has multiple years left on his contract.  Which really angers about professional athletes is that when a contract is signed, it isn't honored until the end in most cases.  If a team decides to hold their ground then the athlete makes it miserable enough until the only option is to trade.

On a positive note, Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson, appears to be the real deal.  Last week, Justin Jefferson set a Vikings Rookie Record for receiving yards.  Justin Jefferson has caught over 600 receiving yards in just his six first games as a Viking.  If you have not yet seen Justin Jefferson play, he appears to be special and that he could be dominant in this league for a while.  

I am also a Minnesota Vikings fan, they are my team.  This season is a disaster and there is no way to sugarcoat it.  They just need to hang on and try to find the bright spots.  Again, they are my team and they always will be.  I just wish they would just have one amazing season and win a Super Bowl.  

Be Kind To Everyone!

Minnesota Vikings Draft Needs Over Best Players Available

The 2020 NFL Draft took place on April 23rd through April 25th, 2020.  This was a sporting event that has been popular in the past, but this year's draft was in a spotlight on its own.  As professional sporting events have been eliminated for over a month now, many sports fans got into the NFL Draft because it was something new, something that focused on a future of a professional sport, which meant that it was planning to come back with live action sooner or later.  It gave us sports fans hope.

The 2020 NFL Draft was a big one for the Minnesota Vikings.  Minnesota Vikings fans were nervous going into this event because it had to be done right.  The fact is that Vikings were cash strapped due to many high profile and expensive players on the team, and that limited their movement in the free agency market.  The questions for the Minnesota Vikings going into the draft were questions like, what were they going to do with the extra drafts picks from the Stephon Diggs trade?  Would the Vikings address helping the offensive line? This, in my opinion, was their top priority.  How would the Vikings address their defensive needs?  The cornerback position was extremely thin after losing Cornerbacks Trae Waynes and Xavier Rhodes.  Xavier Rhodes was underperforming on his lucrative contract, and with the Vikings over the salary cap, they had to cut Xavier Rhodes.

So, the Minnesota Vikings focused on needs instead of selecting the best player available in this draft.  I mean, they had to anyway.  The Vikings acquired an additional first round draft pick when they traded Wide Receiver Stefon Diggs to the Buffalo Bills. The Vikings also acquired two other picks in this draft and a 2021 draft pick from the Diggs trade.  The first round pick was number 22 overall, and the Vikings selected Wide Receiver Justin Jefferson from LSU.  This was viewed as a quality pick for the Vikings as some mock draft boards had Justin Jefferson going higher than pick 22.  The original first round draft pick the Vikings had was pick number 25 and they traded back to the 31st  pick and they acquired an additional later draft pick.  So, at the 31st pick, the Vikings drafted Cornerback Jeff Gladney from TCU.  This again, was a pick of needs.  The Vikings needed a plan to address their lack of cornerbacks, and they started to do that with this pick.

The Minnesota Vikings had one second round draft pick and that was pick number 58.  At pick number 58, they drafted Offensive Tackle Ezra Cleveland.  This pick also made Vikings fans happy for the most part as they drafted an offensive lineman.  There were rumors in the week leading up to the NFL Draft that the Vikings were maybe going trade later round draft picks to acquire Offensive Lineman Trent Williams from the Washington Redskins.  As the draft carried on, the Trent Williams deal was stalling and the Vikings could not wait any longer and they drafted Cleveland.  It sounds like Cleveland could be NFL ready for this season, but the plan is to not have him start.  Some critics are saying that he needs to get reps as a back up before being promoted to starter.  I don't know how I feel about this as the Vikings need offensive line help now.  In Round 3, the Vikings had two picks.  They picked a player with the 89th pick by selecting Cornerback Cameron Dantzler from Mississippi State.  Again, we talked about how the Vikings lost two veteran cornerbacks in the offseason, well actually three if you count losing Marcus Sherels as well.  So again, this was the Vikings drafting a need, which is good.  The Vikings traded their second third round pick for some later draft picks and some draft picks for the 2021 NFL Draft.

The Vikings had 11 picks in rounds four through seven.  In the fourth round, they drafted Defensive End D.J. Wonnum of South Carolina with pick 117.  They also drafted Defensive Tackle James Lynch of Baylor and Linebacker Troy Dye of Oregon with picks 130 and 132 in the fourth round.  In the fifth round, the Vikings had two picks and they selected Cornerback Harrison Hand from Temple and Wide Receiver K.J. Osborn from Miami.  A couple of interesting tidbits about these picks is that first, some critics believe that the Vikings got a good value at pick 169 by selecting Harrison Hand.  Some experts believe that Harrison Hand is already NFL ready for this upcoming season.  Another note on the Vikings selecting a Wide Receiver in the fifth round, they did this back in 2015 by selecting Stefon Diggs.  I would say that fifth round wide receiver worked out pretty well.  In the sixth round, the Vikings again looked at needs.  They drafted Offensive Tackle Blake Brandel from Oregon State with pick number 203, Safety Josh Metellus from Michigan at pick number 205, and Defensive End Kenny Willekes from Michigan State at pick number 225.  In the seventh and final round, the Vikings again had three draft picks and they selected Quarterback Nate Staley from Iowa at pick number 244, Safety Brian Cole II from Mississippi State at pick number 249, and Offensive Lineman Kyle Hinton from Division II School Washburn at pick number 253.

So, the draft was completed after seven rounds.  After all the picks by all the NFL teams, many of the sportswriting experts picked the Minnesota Vikings as having the best draft of all 32 NFL teams.  There were formulas put in place to determine these results.  This doesn't necessarily mean a Super Bowl is coming to the Vikings. They still have to continue to improve. Several teams have dramatically upgraded this offseason.  The Buffalo Bills are stacking up their team to make a run at a division title now that the New England Patriots have lost Quarterback Tom Brady to free agency and traded Tight End Rob Gronkowski.  Both players went to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Speaking of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, not only did they add Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, but they also drafted a pair of Minnesota Golden Gophers in Safety Antoine Winfield Jr. and Wide Receiver Tyler Johnson.

Now that the 2020 NFL Draft is over, there was only one thing left to do before the focus turned onto  the upcoming season and beginning workouts.  That was the players that went undrafted.  They are called undrafted free agents and the Minnesota Vikings signed 12 of them after the draft.  They are Offensive Tackle Brady Aiello from Oregon, Tight End Jake Bargas from North Carolina, Wide Receiver Dan Chisena from Penn State, Cornerback Nevelle Clarke from Central Florida, Wide Receiver Quartney Davis from Texas A&M, Safety Myles Dorn from North Carolina, Linebacker Jordan Fehr from Appalachian State, Tight End Nakia Griffin-Stewart from Pittsburgh, Guard Tyler Higby from Michigan State, Center Jake Lacina from Augustana, Linebacker Blake Lynch from Baylor, and Defensive Tackle David Moa from Boise State.  Many of these players will not end up on the team, or some of them may land on the practice squad.  There are some undrafted free agents that do end up making teams and have a successful career in the NFL, just like Pro Bowl Wide Receiver Adam Thielen.

Like I said, this was real sports that was new and that drew the attention of many fans, just like the WNBA Draft did a couple of weeks ago.  People are thirsty for sports, and if sports drafts are all we can have right now, then we will take it.  I am glad the Minnesota Vikings picked smart in this draft.  I am still concerned about their offensive line as that has been our weakness for the past three seasons.  We have a lot of players on this team to win now, but winning teams have quality offensive lines.  Other Vikings questions to still watch and be answered, as the season approaches, is if the team will keep and extend a contract for Safety Anthony Harris? Will the Vikings be able to bring back current free agent Everson Griffin? And how is Aaron Rodgers going to react with the neighboring Green Bay Packers drafting a quarterback in the first round of this draft?  Time will tell.

I hope you enjoyed this draft report for the Minnesota Vikings.  The team got better because of who they drafted.

Be Kind To Everyone

Kyle Larson Keeps NASCAR in Sports Headlines

As we continue to starve for sports leagues to return, the way NASCAR is going, there may be no one to return the way the drivers are behaving.  My last sports blog post was about NASCAR driver Bubba Wallace and him losing a major sponsor because of getting mad during an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series race and quitting the race after he was spun out by fellow NASCAR driver Clint Bowyer.  This week's talker from the iRacing NASCAR Series is because of the choices made by NASCAR driver Kyle Larson.

Kyle Larson has been one of NASCAR's most popular drivers in the Monster Energy NASCAR Series for a handful of years and was continuing to improve as the years went on.  Kyle Larson came on to NASCAR's main stage for a handful of races in the 2013 season and ended up being named the 2014 Sprint Cup Series Rookie of the Year.  This is Kyle Larson's eighth season in NASCAR's top series and has raced a total of 223 races.  Out of those 223 races, Larson has won six races, has 101 top ten finishes, and has won the pole position for a race eight times.  Kyle Larson was one of NASCAR's rising stars and was also set to be the top free agent after the 2020 season.  That is, until the choice he made.

On Sunday, April 12th, Kyle Larson made the choice to drop the n-word during the simulated race that he was participating in.  Apparently, Larson claimed he thought that he was only being heard by his team of fellow drivers, but everyone heard it.  That is when the chips began to fall and fall fast.  After the incident, three of Kyle Larson's major sponsors decided to end their sponsorship deals with his team.  Those sponsors were Capital One Bank, McDonald's and Clover.  Target was once a major sponsor of Chip Ganassi Racing and Kyle Larson,  but ended that relationship as Target decided to reallocate sponsor dollars to the sport of soccer.  One day after those three current major sponsors ended their relationship with Kyle Larson, so did Chip Ganassi Racing.  Kyle Larson took to Twitter on Tuesday to apologize for his choices, and I am one that watched that apology.  While Kyle Larson said the right things in his apology, to me, it felt very scripted.  It had a feel of his agent saying that he needed to get out there and do some damage control.  I also feel like the apology was made because he was caught for the choice he made instead of actually feeling like he was in the wrong.  That is just my opinion, others may see it differently.

In the end, as time heals things, Kyle Larson may be fine and may end up back in the sport again.  Usually in these cases, a team that is desperate enough, will roll the dice and take a chance.  Unfortunately, an athlete recovering from a disaster will bring a team more press coverage than they would otherwise get and that is too bad.  I do think that Kyle being a free agent now will cost him millions of dollars instead of doing the right thing and becoming a free agent at the end of the 2020 season.  However, I don't feel bad for the guy.  Before this choice was made, I liked what Kyle Larson was bringing to the race track.  I felt like he was the real deal and he did continue to get better year after year.  It was refreshing to see a guy like Kyle Larson start winning races instead of the typical four or five guys that were always in the winners circle.  It was good for the sport and now that has changed to a scar for the sport.  I am glad to see his sponsors and his team owner hold him accountable for his choices.  I am a big believer in accountability.  I think accountability is healthy.  He has made one public apology for an inexcusable choice.  The n-word is an inexcusable choice and something that shouldn't be tolerated period.  Now he has said the right thing, once, after his choice, now it is time for him to show it through actions to have a chance to even consider the possibility of forgiveness not only from Kyle Larson racing fans, but also just racing and sports fans in general.  I don't wish ill will on the guy, but I don't think he deserves a second chance in the future for his inexcusable choice.

Be Kind To Everyone.

Bubba Wallace Loses Even While NASCAR Season Is Suspended

NASCAR is a sport in the United States that is clearly more popular in some parts of the country than others.  NASCAR hit a peak in popularity after Dale Earnhardt's unfortunate death after the 2001 Daytona 500.  The stock car racing series continued to be popular due to the likes of drivers like Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, and Kevin Harvick.  As those drivers are now heading into retirement, with the exception of Kevin Harvick, NASCAR is struggling to get fans in the stands and get new fans into the sport.  The upper midwest is an area where NASCAR may be the toughest area to draw new fans as the closest Monster Energy NASCAR Series tracks are located in Chicago and Indianapolis.  However, the fact of the matter still remains that NASCAR is still one of the major pro sports leagues in the country.

With COVID-19, also known as Coronavirus, taking control of the world and cancelling all sports leagues currently, there was a way that NASCAR fans were still getting a taste of new competition.  While the NASCAR season was postponed, they decided to have an eNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series that had actual NASCAR drivers in competition on NASCAR simulators.  Last weekend's race, which was actually aired on a national television sports channel, took place at a virtual Bristol Motor Speedway.  Bubba Wallace was involved in an on track incident with fellow racer Clint Bowyer.  Bowyer pushed Wallace into the wall sending his car to the pits.  Immediately after the incident, Bubba Wallace quit the race and told viewers to "have a good one" and this is why he "doesn't take this shit seriously".

Then the situation moved over to social media on Twitter.  It is also where the situation got out of hand.  Bubba Wallace posted on Twitter... "Bahaha I'm dying at my mentions right now... I ruined so many peoples day by quitting... a video game.  Damn quarantine life is rough".  He followed that quote up with three laughing with tears emojis.  One of Bubba Wallace's major sponsors Blu-Emu replied to Bubba Wallace's tweet and said, "GTK (Good To Know) where you stand.  Bye bye Bubba.  We're interested in drivers, not quitters." Bubba Wallace apparently didn't take the response seriously because he posted again on Twitter showing his original post and added, "I mean #RAGEQUIT".  Wallace again followed this quote up with two more laughing with tears emojis and again Blu-Emu replied.  This time Blu-Emu replied with a gif of Donald Trump saying You're Fired.  The joke was apparently over.

This was legit.  Blu-Emu pulled their sponsorship from Bubba Wallace and his race team.  I think it is an appropriate decision as Bubba Wallace was not being a good role model.  What made this a big deal is that the simulator views were on national television, the driver view inside the car showed a Blu-Emu sponsor banner on the screen.  Now, I am surprised that a sponsor pulled their support because of a video simulated race, because there have been many real NASCAR incidents that have had poor choices made by drivers, and their sponsorships may have been in danger,  but not pulled.  Those situations were also more severe than this incident with Bubba Wallace.  However, it is the company's decision what to do their money, and really it was nice to see Blu-Emu have standards and stick to them.

I tried to do quick research on how much Blu Emu's sponsorship was worth and that information was not public.  What I do know is that Blu-Emu was on the hood of Bubba Wallace's race car for several races, and that means the sponsorship was potentially worth millions of dollars.  Blu-Emu was also a major sponsor for the spring Martinsville race.  So, this spur of the moment decision by Bubba Wallace, a decision fueled by rage and anger and poor sportsmanship, could cost him a racing career when the NASCAR season resumes if his other sponsors aren't able to fill the gap financially, or if his other sponsors joins Blu-Emu with their decision.  Time will tell.  Be kind to everyone.