Chad Greenway Signs contract

The Vikings have signed all thier draft picks just in time for camp to start.

Terms of the Deal according to St. Paul Pioneer:
10.75 million over 5 years
1.35 million roster bonus for 2006
5.11 million option bonus next spring
1 million for meeting the mininmun playing time over the next for years

It is really good that we were able to sign this guy before camp starts and give him an oppurtunity to be fully integrated into the NFL system. He will have the maximum amount of time to learn and impress coaches, and it signals to the rest of the team that he is one of them . . . selfless service to the great cause of the Vikings. This timely signing which seems a little small for a first round pick, signals that Chad Greenway may be the next hero for Minnesotans, South Dakotans, North Dakotans, Iowans, and Vikings fans around the world. So far Greenway has shown himself to be a real class act.

Skol,

Vikings Review

2006 Vikings Schedule Predictions

I am sitting here trying to think of the most irrelevant thing that I could possibly do right now. What I have come up with is a prediction on how the Vikings will do against thier opponents this year. It is mostly irrelevant because pre-season has not even started yet. . . and I am using a coin flip. Thus the pointless endevour will be undertaken to test my psychic abilities later in the season.

Using the "Nickel of Destiny" the Heads means win tails means loss.
Heads = Vikings . . . Tails = the Other guys

Pre-Season

Vikings vs. Raiders - Tails, Oakland wins
Vikings at Pittsburgh - Heads!!! - Vikings win
Vikings vs. Ravens - Heads!!! - Vikings win
Vikings at Cowboys - Tails, Cowboys win

Preseason Record 2-2

Regular Season

Vikings at Redskins - Heads, 1-0
Vikings vs Panthers - Tails, 1-1
Vikings vs Bears - Heads, 2-1
Vikings at Bills - Heads, 3-1
Vikings vs Lions - Heads, 4-1
Vikings at Seahawks - Heads, 5-1
Vikings vs Patriots - Heads, 6-1
Vikings at 49ers - Heads, 7-1
Vikings vs Packers - Heads, 8-1
Vikings at Dolphins - Tails, 8-2
Vikings vs Cardinals - Heads, 9-2
Vikings at Bears - Tails, 9-3
Vikings at Lions - Heads, 10-3
Vikings vs Jets - Heads, 11-3
Vikings at Packers - Heads, 12-3
Vikings vs Rams - Tails, 12-4

Final Record according to the "Nickel of Destiny!!!" 12-4 with a 5-1 Divisional Record.

The "Nickel of Destiny" never lies.

Rest of the League Standings

AFC EAST
------------------
Bills 10-6
Pats 8-8
Jets 8-8
Dolphins 6-10

AFC North
---------------------
Ravens 8-8
Bengals 8-8
Browns 8-8
Steelers 8-8

AFC South
------------------------
Texans 9-7
Jags 8-8
Titans 7-9
Colts 6-10

AFC West
-------------------------
Raiders 10-6
Broncos 9-7
Chiefs 8-8
Chargers 5-11

NFC East
------------------------
Cowboys 10-6
Giants 10-6
Eagles 9-7
Redskins 8-8

NFC North
---------------------------
Vikings 12-4
Lions 7-9
Packers 7-9
Bears 6-10

NFC South
----------------------------
Panthers 10-6
Saints 10-6
Falcons 7-9
Bucs 7-9

NFC West
----------------------------
Rams 10-6
Cardinals 9-7
49ers 7-9
Seahawks 1-15

----------------------------------------------------------------
Playoffs
----------------------------------------------------------------
AFC
Wild Card
--------------------
Raiders - bye
Bills - bye

Texans vs. Pats - Patriots
Broncos vs. Ravens - Ravens

Divisional
---------------------
Raiders vs Patriots - Patriots
Bills vs Ravens - Bills

AFC Championship
----------------------------------
Bills vs. Patriots - Patriots

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
NFC
Wild Card
--------------------------------
Vikings - Bye
Panthers - Bye

Saints vs Rams - Saints
Giants vs Cowboys - Cowboys

Divisional Playoffs
----------------------------------------
Panthers vs Cowboys - Cowboys
Vikings vs Saints - Vikings

NFC Championship Game
---------------------------------------
Vikings vs. Cowboys - Vikings


SUPER BOWL!!!!
-------------------------------------
Vikings vs Patriots - Vikings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

VIKINGS WIN THE SUPER BOWL!!!!

You heard it here first, the Vikings will win the Super Bowl. The "Nickel of Destiny" does not lie. What is really crazy is that this was done honestly. I actually flipped a coin for each and every game of every team including the playoffs, no cheating or favoring the Vikings with second flips. The "Nickel of Destiny" deems it so . . . Vikings win the Super Bowl.

Looking forward to a super (Bowl) year,

Skol
Vikings Review

Vikings College Graduates

Vikings Review is a little interested in the type of team the organization has been putting together here recently. As part of this inquiry, I have compiled a list of those Vikings who took the time in College to actually get a degree . . . as crazy as that sounds.

Matt Birk - Harvard, Economics
Jason Palermo - Wisconsin, Agriculral Journalism
R.J. Cobbs - UMass, Sociology
Dustin Fox - Ohio State, Communications
Spencer Johnson - Sociology, Auburn
Kevin Williams - Oklahoma State, General Studies
Anthony Herrera - Tennessee, Sociology
Chris Liewinski - Indiana, Outdoor Resource Management
Ryan Longwell - UC Berkely, English
Rod Davis - Southern Miss, Business Administation
Chad Greenway - Iowa, Communications
Napoleon Harris - Northwestern, Communications
EJ Henderson - Maryland, Criminal Justice / Criminlogy
Dontarrious Thomas - Auburn, Management Information Systems
JT O'Sullivan - UC Davis, English
Adimchinobe Echemandu - UC Berkely, Sociology
Joey Goodspeed - Notre Dame, Management
Mewelde Moore - Tulane, Finance / Accounting
Tony Richardson - Auburn, B.S.Ed Education - Webster University, MBA
Chester Taylor - Toledo, Sports management
Greg Blue - Georgia, Child and Family Development
Daren Sharper - William and Mary, Sociology
Tank Williams - Stanford, Political Science
Seab Bubin - Illinois, Liesure Studies / Sports Management
Adam Goldberg - Wyoming, Finance
Jermaine Wiggins - Georgia, Child and Family Services
Christopher Jones - Jackson State, Criminal Justice

Those are the guys who actually received a degree, just so you know.

Skol to everyone on the list above,
Vikings Review

Off Season SUCKS!!!

With the offseason wrapping up here in the next few weeks and the Vikings heading off to camp, the fans in the glacial region of the midwest finally have something to look forward to again. Gone will be the lazy days of watching the Twins and Brewers go through the motions in divisions unwinable. Gone will be the days of waking up to the headlines of "Royals Shutout again." The paper bags will be retired for another year and the glares of Reggie Sanders into the left field stands, aimed directly at 3 dedicated fans pronouncing thier disgust for the team, will cease. Football is around the corner!!!

Ask fellow Vikings fans about the future of the upcoming season and you will get mixed responses. Some feel that Brad Childress will require at least a year before we can make an evaluation on his head coaching talent. Some say that Wilf does not have enough experince yet in running a professional football team. Some are weary about the quarterback and running back situations. Some feel that there is no clear cut leader of the recieving corps. These are all very valid and very real concerns, which have only been magnified by the amount of transition and time for second guessing during the off-season.

The reality remains that no one really knows how next year will shape out. Brad Johnson will turn 84 this year, but he has been a consistent winner throughout his career as a starter. Our running back stable is chocked full of guys who are hungry to make a name for themselves but yet unproven. Our recievers are all above average, but no one is really a super-star. We have 3 #2 guys taking the field this year. Our defense has a history of being very shaky, but they really gelled last year to bring us back into the playoff hunt. Only time will tell, and now that the offseason is wrapping up and we get to actually see these guys in action in a few weeks, speculation is nearing an end.

But . . . offseason is not over yet, and there should be at least one more crackpot pronouncing his predictions for the year based on . . . well, basically nothing but intuition. Vikings Review will top off the offseason speculation with a petrified perfect pre-preseason prediction. (Say that 5 times fast, then send me an email telling me how pointless that endeveur was.)

Over the next few days I will try to give a bit of prediction upon the value of the:

Quarterbacks, Running Backs, O-Line, Recievers, D-Line, Linebackers, Secondary, Special Teams, and the Front Office.

Quarterback Situation?

Vikings Review has always had a soft spot for Brad Johnson. The only words I have uttered in anger over Brad Johnson have been to a little kid asking why Brad Johnson was not a secert player in the Super Nintendo version of NBA Jam . . . "Shut up about Brad Johnson!!!" I have always had faith in Brad since the days when he was a 3rd stringer rising up to take over for Warren Moon. Even during the amazing season of 1998, I was secretly hoping that Brad would come back fromhis injury to take over the team. He was subsequently traded in favor keeping Cunningham . . . then he went on to win a Super Bowl without us. But you always had to feel good about the guy, he was never a great quarterback in terms of ability, but his leadership skill was acheived by none.

Brad Johnson still sucks in terms of talent. Some might even say that he sucks even more now that he is older. But ther are things that he does do and does not do that allows him to put his team in position to win games.

1 - He does not turn the ball over. Vikings fans need not lose any more nights sleep over a quarterback with "hands too small" or poor decision making skills. We do not need to worry about the receivers carrying the quarterback inorder to win games. Daunte is gone and all the excuses we made to defend him can also be retired. Brad Johnson makes wise decisions on who to throw the ball to, when to throw it, and he will stay in the pocket and trust his line. I am under the firm belief that the defense was able to perform beautifully during the last half of last season due to the decrease in the number of turnovers. There is an old addage that says "What you don't do is often times just as important as what you do do." So we have that going for us . . .

2 - Brad Johnson is a proven leader and a proven winner with the attitudes to match. How else can you explain a guy with no real arm leading the Vikings into playoff contention last year. As soon as Brad took over the team last year, one could immediatly see the change in attitude the team undertook. With the "Love Boat" scandal hanging over our heads, and national media . . . and ESPN stopping thier T.O. coverage to denounce the Vikings, Brad lifted the team out of its ashes and made headlines by winning games. He was able to inspire the team at the critical moments, beating or achilles heel (Giants) with a 4th quarter drive into field goal range. Guys started to play inspired, as if they actually went out there to win games. This is also not an isolated incident either, when Brad took over for Moon, the same thing happend. He is a great leader of men despite his lack of skills. Would we rather have a superstar that has tremendous skills but cannot inspire the rest of his team, or one average guy that can bring out the best skills of the rest of his team despite his averageness? I would prefer the latter.

Tarvaris Jackson - The Backup?

We know nothing about this kid. He came out of a D-II school hidden away somewhere in the deep south. Many called him a steal in the draft, many said he was taken too early. Some say that he does not have the high level experince to make it in the NFL, others compare him to Mike Vick . . . only with quarterback skills. If Brad breaks his hip sometime this year, Jackson may be the guy that we are going to be seeing lining up behind the center.

What we do know is that in D-II he was mobile, he had a great arm, and he was accurate. Jerry Rice came out of a very small school outside the norm of "experince building" universities such as Miami. Adam Timmerman came out of a South Dakota school, and countless others have made solid names out of the smaller schools. This leads me to believe that it is not the school you come out of and the competition you face, but the level of heart which you play the game with. We know nothing about T.J. and thus it would be absolutly foolish to try and describe the amount of heart that he plays the game with, but with the skills he is supposed to have . . . any heart that he has is well backed by his skills.

Overall the quarterback situation is murky at best. Can Brad stay healthy, can T.J. learn quick enough to take over if Brad goes down? Is T.J. a leader? Are Brad's leadership skills good enough to cover his age? With quarterback being such an important position, these are questions, that when answered may shape our entire season.

Vikings Review fearless prediction on the Quarterback situation:

Brad Johnson will lead this team to a division title, although he will miss a few games due to a small injury. T.J. will win one and lose one, but gain valuable experince. Brad will then lead the team to the Super Bowl . . .

Feel free to post a comment . . . all are welcome.

Skol!!!!

Vikings Review

Vikings 1st Round Pick - Chad Greenway

Vikings take Mt. Vernon native Chad Greenway in the 1st round of the 2006 NFL Draft. Being from South Dakota, I can guarentee that he has already gone down in Dakota lore. South Dakotans have this uncanny ability to remember anyone who makes it big. Actually it is not so suprising . . . we only have to remember 5 to 6 names. (Dick Howser, Lyle Alzado, Kliensasser, Mary Hart, the original Daisy Duke, and Tom Brokaw)

Vikings Review is especially stoked about this selection, first it is a South Dakota boy, secondly he came out of Iowa, and lastly . . . he is quick with great instincts.

Greenway should fit very nicely with the new Vikings. First of all he appears to be a hard working TEAM player. Something that is very rare, and undervalued. The Vikings appear to be going in the direction of lesser names in terms of endorsement dollars, but rather going after players who have heart and are willing to play the game right. (Think Patriots structure). Secondly, he is a South Dakotan and should garner at least the same type of fan love that Kliensasser recieves. Dakotans know thier own and embrace thier own. Hell we loved Todd Bouman before he was traded. Third, he is quick. One of the main liablities for the Vikings defenses in the past two years has been the lack of good and quick linebackers. While Greenway may not make an instantly HUGE splash in his first year, he should be a solid player until he develops into a perrenail pro bowler.

Once again, pride of South Dakota . . . Pride of Iowa . . . New pride of the Vikings.

Skol, we are going ashore and buring the ships . . . Super Bowl or Bust Baby!!!!

Vikings Review

New Helmet

Here is the new horn on the Helmet. I can dig it!

New Vikings Uniform Photos

The pictures were seen on www.kfan.com . . . thus I cannot lay claim that I took them. But they are pretty cool and I thought they should be shown.

Evolution of the Vikings Jersey



Pictures of the New Jerseys . . . leave a comment as to what you think

NEW VIKINGS UNIFORMS (OFFICIAL PICS)

OFFICIAL JERSEYS (confirmed)

Pants LEAKED

PANTS LEAKED . . . look on the left of the photo of Birks pants . . . rumors are still circulating that there may be an alternate purple also.