Today's blog entry will be a rambling dissertation with no particular purpose than a stream of consciousness. I sometimes refer to these as a 'mind vomit'.

First up, some Vikes football. There are more and more mock drafts taking place these days. Everyone has an opinion and its quite literally a turkey shoot. I no longer participate in mock drafts as it is purely conjecture which can be upset as soon as teams start trading picks on draft day. I think one has a better shot at selecting which position the team will choose.

(If you want a good mock draft analysis, go to the Daily Norseman....great work there!)

Keeping in mind the free agents the Vikes have picked up already this off-season, and also hoping that they pick the best possible player irregardless of need, I see the Vikes possibly using their #17 overall selection on the following positions (ranked in order):

- DE
- WR
- OL
- QB

As you have seen, I have been providing some tongue-in-cheek video interviews on YouTube with some of the possible players the Vikes could draft. I'll see if I can put some more together. If nothing else, the videos introduce you to the player and provide some first impressions. Watch Joe Flacco handle himself with poise, the humor within Limas Sweed, the anxiousness of Derrick Harvey.

So, even though the Vikes track record at drafting a DE in the first round hasn't been good since they drafted Carl "Moose" Eller in the '64 draft, I still see them rolling the dice again at DE and hoping that the law of averages finally weighs in their favor. How bad has it been lately at selecting a DE? Consider:

Talance Sawyer (1999)
Dimitrius Underwood (1999)
Michael Boireau (2000)
Willie Howard (2001)
Kenechi Udeze (2004)
Darrion Scott (2004)
Erasmus James (2005)
Ray Edwards (2006)
Brian Robinson (2007)

Uff-da! That's some bad lutefisk.

I hope to create a VU video with Chris Long, even knowing the Vikes have no chance, as one immediately compares the young man to his famous father Howie. And Chris, well, he ain't no Howier when it comes to coming across as intelligent. Sorry, I know that is mean....but its the first thought I had.

Moving along, I apologize for the number of posts this week. It's the annual rush to get your kid signed up for all the summer camps to fill out the days. My wife and I both work so the young lad needs to be addressed. We feel guilty that he may never know the true joy of 3 months of no school and no place to go....but it's also reality that both his parents need to work. But I also didn't get a chance to spend a week learning or playing lacrosse. Nor was I able to spend a week in flag football camp. I think its a fair trade.

It is also time for me to step up the ol' training for any duathlons/triathlons I plan to do this summer. Especially since I didn't swim all winter. Now I have to make time to swim as well as bike (hopefully outside soon) and run. I'm not sure why, at age 47 (on April 26) I push myself this way. I think I go back to the days when I was 20-something and could effortlessly do it all, and in some weird way I hope tro stave off aging and return to the glory days.

I was just remembering this week about the time I raced against Lance Armstrong. I don't bother to tell anyone that he whooped my rear-end by 35-minutes in a triathlon.

On May 13, 1989 at Speegleville III Park outside Waco, Texas there was a certain buzz in the air as the athletes were all saying, "watch this kid, he's really something." This tri was a 0.6mi swim, 28mi bike, and 6.5mi run. Lance (then just 17-years old) finished in 1:54:05. His closest competitor finished over 6-minutes back. All I remember is Lance was finishing up the run as I was coming in off the bike. Here's a image of the race summary. Unfortunately, splits were not available.

That's some of the stuff that makes me feel old. As does watching the Oscars and fondly remembering an actor who appears in the Oscar tribute to people who passed away the previous year. People you thought would just go on living forever.

Or you watch legends age before your eyes in what seems to be a very short time span.

Wow, did that last 40-years just fly by or what?!?!? OK, enough on aging. But be forewarned: We baby boomers aren't going to go gently into the good night. I promise not to wear black socks with my Bermuda shorts in promise to not throw up when I take off my shirt to get into the pool. Now, get off my lawn you punks!

The Wife and I watched 3:10 to Yuma the other night. Nothing like a great Western, is there? Even if Russell Crowe is a pain-in-the-toushie, he is fun to watch on screen. He plays the ultimate baddie, Ben Wade, in this film...and you don't reference a baddie's mama....ever.

Ben Wade: I've always liked you Byron, but you never know when to shut up. Even bad men love their mommas.

But stealing the film in Yuma was Ben Foster who played Charlie Prince, Wade's right-hand and truly rotten human being.

Charlie Prince: Morning, Pinkerton. Name's Charlie Prince. I expect you heard of me.
[steps on Byron's hand]
Byron McElroy: Well, I heard of a balled-up whore named Charlie Princess. That you, missy?
[Charlie shoots Byron in the stomach]
Charlie Prince: I hate Pinkertons.

Not sure how Foster was bypassed for a Oscar nominee in the Actor Supporting Role category, but he was. But is was a very well done film. Not quite Tombstone (John Randle's fav film) but then what film can compare to classic lines like these (which Randle would scream at the QB):

Doc Holliday: I'm your huckleberry...

Wyatt Earp: Are you gonna do something, or just stand there and bleed?

New Music

Whilst listening to BBC Wales over the weekend, I was lucky enough to catch some songs from a Welsh group called Catatonia. Pretty damn good stuff. Anyone else aware of their music or am I just that much in the dark these days. Here's a clip:

Coming Saturday: It is back to 1998 and the press conference with Red McCombs on the next VU podcast.

Posted by briankeithmaas@msn.com at March 21, 2008 01:01 AM