Hook, Line, &...

Of course, sinker is the appropriate word to complete the title. And how fitting it was for NFL fans in these parts that the State of Hockey's annual fishing opener coincided with the news of the Vikings possibly getting an embattled league veteran quarterback. And the purple fans ate it up as if it were their last shore lunch. To me, a fair-weathered football fan, I ate it up as well...not the news itself, but the circus that followed. Yes, I love the hype just as much as I hate it. And football has it's year-round hype so I go up and down often. I love it because I can sit back and enjoy watching the purple faithful grovel over what usually amounts to nothing because as the leaves turn, their team is usually a non-factor. I hate it because it's too much, too old, and always the same. Every year (and I encourage you to dig up some old news clippings to prove me wrong) it is the same story. All you have to do is change the dates and names used but it always comes down to something like, 'we are one player away' or 'if we had a different coach'. There are a host of other regurgitated lines but surely I cannot be the only one to notice this...there must be some intelligent purple fans out there, right?

I don't know what it is about all of you, but Vikings fans are a fanatical bunch that are so far removed from reality that they think a media rewind from seasons past is actually breaking news. Back in the real world, the rest of us can see the pattern. It's the Common Man Show disguised as news. The bit is done over and over and over and over...get it? The screaming 'look at me' syndrome is definitely coming through loud and clear because otherwise they would let it rest a while before digging it back up. It starts with the pre-draft debate followed by the draft. Then you must indulge yourself in the post-draft analysis and before long there are the mini mini camps. That leads up to the training camp that is followed by the pre-season, then finally the NFL season. After that you have the post season festivities leading full circle to the pre-draft. And don't forget that along this whole ride there are always several 'thug' stories that make us wonder why these guys get paid. And finally, in between all of this non-news, you get spoon-fed more, like this latest non-story.

Yea, all is pretty quiet on the Minnesota Wild front these days...plus I really despise the hype that surrounds football and the Vikings when there is actually nothing to talk about.