Well, this blog entry was to have been an exclusive VU interview with Troy Williamson but his cell phone kept dropping the call. Sorry, comedy is not my thing.

I have been reading a book suggested to me by Shane over at the Greet Machine. Winter, especially after the Vikes are done, is my prime reading time. The book is “Old Man’s War” by John Scalzi.

This is a sci-fi book in which humans have gone to the stars to colonize other solar systems. As with other sci-fi books, the humans are hard against it because they must go up against many other sentient species that want the same real estate we do. So it is the human race against all comers. Do we crank out clones or robots or some other techy way to address populating the military? No! Earth creates an army full of retired, old people with a lifetime of know-how and an eagerness to leave Earth behind.

If I had not bothered to see who wrote the book, I would have thought that someone had found a long-lost manuscript in Robert A. Heinlein’s attic, the deceased sci-fi master. I read and own Heinlein’s entire library of sci-fi work. Such was his hold on me that during my first date with my future wife she expressed how much she had enjoyed reading Heinlein’s masterpiece “Stranger in a Strange Land” which was the 1961 Hugo Award-winning science fiction novel.

When we married, the inscription “May you never thirst” was placed inside our wedding bands in remembrance of that line from the novel and of our first date. “Old Man’s War” is a tribute to the old master.

As I read through “Old Man’s War” I came across a line that gave me pause. The line was part of a passage from boot camp and went, without giving too much away, “….was a slow death by paper cuts…” and I immediately equated this to being a Vikings fan.

Paper cuts are nasty. They hurt like hell for a very brief moment. Then the pain is gone until you are reminded of the cut when you soap up in the shower, or get salt in the cut when making dinner, or Tabasco sauce drips into it as you eat some tacos. Think about it. The pain is the same for Vikes fans no matter your age.

The Drew Pearson push-off in 1975.

The fumble on the goal-line as the Vikes drove to score first in Super Bowl XI after blocking the punt from the Raider’s Ray Guy.

Darrin Nelson against the Redskins in 1987.

Gary Anderson gagging on a 38-yard attempt with just over two minutes left in the fourth quarter in the '98 NFC Championship game.

Paper cuts. They all hurt like hell when they happened. The pain went away, but the pain sometimes returns when you least expect it. And it still hurts.

Note: If any one can locate YouTube videos for the blocked Ray Guy punt from SB XI or the Gary Anderson missed FG from the '98 NFC Championship game please let me know.

Live Blog Test Goes Well

The VU had a very good initial test of its Live Blog application (courtesy CoverItLive) and will do it again this coming Saturday during the Packers-Seahawks game. Please join us then.

Posted by maasx003 at January 7, 2008 01:00 AM