Please bear with me as I tweak this very new blog. I’m busy dusting off my old HTML book and you can expect further tweaks in the future. I also decide to change the name from Viking Valhalla to Mr. Cheer Or Die’s Viking Underground. This takes me back to the 1997 season when I was involved in the legendary unofficial Vikings web-site.

This past weekend found the Maas family staying at the Wilderness water park in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. On Saturday evening we were exiting the wave pool when I spied a very familiar looking person resting on a chaise. I must have been staring a bit too long as he caught me. “Dave?”, I asked. “Yep”, was the reply and I soon found myself shaking the baseball mitt sized hand of Vikings offensive lineman David Dixon. I asked him what the hell was he doing in Wisconsin of all places. He simply said, “Vacation”. Long story short, when I got around to asking him about having Michael Bennett back, he sort of hemmed and hawed his way through a reply. It left me with a very odd feeling that all was not yet quite peaches and cream with the oft-injured running back. It was not until our return to the Twin Cities that I learned Bennett had reinjured his knee in Thursday’s practice and is expected to miss two to four more weeks. And then it was clear that Dixon had already known but could not tell.

Seems that Tice is finally listening to my advice. For a couple of weeks now I have been telling everyone I know that Chris “Pantyhose Head” Hovan needs to be benched and Steve Martin given his spot. Hovan has been disappointing at best. I see Martin playing in position and making the plays that Hovan is not. It looks like my wish will come true this coming Sunday against the Houston Texans. Let’s hope I am right about my assessment.