So, it has come to this. Vikings fandom is a deeply divided family at the moment. There are the How Could You Trade Moss? fans on one side of the fence and the Good Riddance! fans on the other side.

And no where is this deep division more evident than in the Vikings Survivor poll for Week Six. For Daunte Culpepper and Randy Moss are dead-locked in the voting to boot the next player off the ship.

Culpepper is still with the team. He is the man people point to when the question of leadership is asked.

Moss is now with another team. He was the man people pointed to when the question of dedication was asked.

So, why are fans hating Culpepper right now? A time when everyone should be lining up 110% behind the man who Moss once asked of, "lead us Daunte."

Could it be that the How Could You Trade Moss? fans are placing the blame for the loss of Moss directly onto the very large shoulders of #11? Remember that at the Pro Bowl, Culpepper said he thought it might be time for Moss to be moved to another team.

What Culpepper underestimated was the backlash of furor that statement would have. Next season during introduction when Daunte is getting his roll on, will he hear 50% boos and 50% cheers? Will five months be enough time to forgive and forget? That is until the half-time highlight reels shown at the Metrodome show a silver and black #18 scoring a touchdown on a deep throw? Then what?

The now telling underlying story behind the story will be an interesting one to watch both this off-season and during the 2005-06 NFL campaign. And one I'll return to often.

Which side of the fence are you on?

Bring Back Brad?

Back on February 10, I had let you know that quarterback Brad Johnson was even money to be let go by the Bucs.

Well, Monday Opie was visiting with the team regarding a possible return. I hope Johnson does sign. He'd be a good mentor to Daunte Culpepper and help keep Culpepper's feet grounded in his first season without Randy Moss to throw to.

From the Sidelines

I took some time off from the blog the past few days as The Wife® and I enjoyed celebrating her 40th birthday. The movie we ended up seeing on Monday was Bride and Prejudice, a Bollywood film from India.

Bollywood is the informal name given to the popular Mumbai-based film industry in India. Bollywood is also commonly referred to as Hindi cinema. Bollywood films are usually musicals. And this movie had several numbers that had us chuckling out loud. It's a good movie and I encourage you to see or rent it in the near future.

To read more about The Wife's® big weekend, you can always check out her blog.

Links and Tidbits

Vikings safety Darren Sharper will make $1 million less this year than he was scheduled to make in Green Bay, but his Minnesota contract is worth $3 million more than the Packers' best offer.

Vikings DT Chris Hovan visited the Giants on Monday.

QB Brad Johnson left Minnesota without a contract, and is on his way to Seattle for a visit; he won't make a decision between the Seahawks, Vikings, and Bears until Tuesday at the earliest.

The Texans have released LB Jay Foreman and S Eric Brown; the Vikings are interested in Foreman, whose dad was a key cog in the 1970s-era team that lost three Super Bowls.

Posted by maasx003 at March 15, 2005 07:42 AM | TrackBack