WHERE IS THE @#$%ING PANIC BUTTON????

Yup, now I've lost faith in the Minnesota Vikings. A comment from one of my roomates reminded me of this. He basically said that all Packer fans have been sitting back and enjoying the ride. While Viking fans were flying high at 10-1 and ready to give Brett Favre the title of "God of all Minnesota Sports", the Packer fans knew. Brett Favre wasn't going to make it through the season.

To my admission, I didn't see Favre throwing 23 TD and 3 INT through 11 games. However, I knew this was coming as well. Brett Favre was going to tank at some point. The Packer fans are now having the time of their life as their team seems to be peaking (with the exception of the loss to Pittsburgh on Sunday), while the Vikings seem ready to fight each other rather than win games.

The last Viking loss, I tried to put a positive spin on it. Really, there were a couple positives in that Arizona loss, but all I can see from Sunday is negatives. Consider the following....

- Brett Favre was shut down again. I don't know if it's because Percy Harvin makes that much of a difference in the Viking offense or what (He played, but he wasn't very effective), but Favre couldn't find open receivers.

- Brad Childress not only refused to call a play that wasn't a three yard slant, he tried to pull the Vikings best option to win when they were up by a point. That's right, 7 to 6. Brad Childress got his Schmigel on as he wanted to put "The Precious" Tarvaris Jackson in and Favre told him to @#$% off. So Brett hasn't been throwing downhill huh? Well it doesn't help when you want him to throw three yard slants and nothing else.

- This entirely isn't on Favre, by the way. The offensive line was awful on Sunday. Bryant McKinnie didn't even show up to the game. I don't think that even if there was a pole nearby, that McKinnie would have been able to stop Julius Peppers. Favre didn't have time to look downfield even if Childress called something other than a 3 yard slant. They also didn't open any holes for the running game. Speaking of which...

- What the hell has happened to Adrian Peterson. I'm starting to wonder if he's overthinking when he gets the football. The coaching staff has told him to become more patient and wait for a hole to open up. He's also gotten a lot of attention for his fumbling problems. The same problems that plagued many great running backs at the beginning of their careers. In Peterson's rookie year, he just took the ball and ran. Now he's stutter stepping at the line of scrimmage waiting for a hole that the offensive line can't open up. I'm beginning to think that the coaching has ruined him.

- The defense doesn't escape this either. We can't tackle anything right now. Antoine Winfield is back, and that helps, but he also missed a routine tackle that sprung a big play in the fourth quarter. Jasper Brinkley is being exposed a little bit in the absence of E.J. Henderson, and injuries are starting to take a toll.

- The Vikings also looked like they didn't care if they won or lost. News flash! New Orleans LOST Saturday. If the Vikings would have won that game, they would be a game back of the Saints with a tiebreaker in hand. Now, the Vikings are going to have to pray they can hold off Philadelphia for the 2 seed in the playoffs.

This is all coming to a head in the playoffs. I am thoroughly convinced that the destiny for this team is a third matchup with the Packers, a team that is hitting their stride. If the Vikings can't pull together and finish strong, the Vikings may get another look at the greatest quarterback in the history of the universe Aaron Rodgers. As of right now, Aaron Rodgers is the sheriff in Green Bay, and the Vikings may about to be @$%^ed by the long @#$% of the law.

Royce White's Crossroads

A blog post on the Star Tribune website says that Minnesota Golden Gophers F Royce White is going to leave college basketball. White announced this on a YouTube video that was posted this morning. If you haven't seen the blog post by Myron Medcalf of the Star Trib, here you go.

If you haven't heard of White at all, here's what you need to know. White was Mr. Basketball for the state of Minnesota coming out of Hopkins High School. Prior to attending Hopkins, White attended De La Salle High School. White was kicked out of De La Salle for many transgressions. I had heard that White once was caught talking on his cell phone during a class. The teacher, doing her job, took White's cell phone away. White responded by stealing her purse, and taking money from the purse to buy a bag of chips from the vending machine. White then ate the chips, with the purse sitting on his desk, in class, in front of the teacher.

White was relatively clean at Hopkins, but then he was caught shoplifting at the Mall of America in October. In the security video, White is shown shoving a security guard down twice. A couple of weeks later, White was accused of stealing a laptop in a U of M dormitory. White has maintained his innocence during this investigation. In the YouTube video, White mentions that the authorites "don't want to be wrong" and that's why the case isn't dropped.

OK, let's analyze what's going on here. The video was posted at 4 am CST on You Tube. Think about yourself for a moment. When you are up at 4 in the morning not under the influence of alcohol or any other recreational drug or medication, you tend to think or say stupid stuff. Personally, I've done a lot of things right before bed where I've said, "Why did I do this?" You just don't think clearly.

Also, White tends to be having some frustration with the legal process. This is also understandable. If he didn't do it, he's going to be frustrated that the university is taking it's time with their decision. This is especially frustrating, knowing that he should be on the court. (According to the video, White was only supposed to be suspended for two exhibition games, and then make his debut in the season opener. However, then the laptop incident broke out.) Knowing the team aspect in sports, White probably feels like he's letting his team down. He's also quoted as saying that he would be "freeing [the team] of the burden."

There is no doubt that this is causing a distraction with the Gophers. They aren't showing it on the court, but the program is getting bad publicity in the media. This plus White's past is rubbing the public the wrong direction.

I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I personally know White, but take a step back and realize that this is a kid that is at a crossroads. He's 18-19 years old. People do stupid stuff when they're that young. Of course, his accusations have really tarnished his public perception, but still, he has time to turn it around.

In the video, he refers to Tubby Smith in a favorable light. This might keep the door open for him to return to the Gophers at some point. Smith isn't just a basketball coach, but he creates quality people. When I first heard about White's troubles, I thought Smith might be the best thing for him. Tubby may give White a call and try to convince him to stay patient. Which is probably the best thing for him right now.

Personally, I'd like to see White come back and play well for the Gophers. Not just because he's a good basketball player, but because he needs basketball right now as a distraction. If White leaves, it could become something that he could regret the rest of his life. That sounds grim, but remember that he has a whole life ahead of him to turn it around. I hope he does.

The Bowl Championship Series

Loyal readers of this blog might think that this thing would fall under the headline Things That I Hate: The Bowl Championship Series. Well, I went against that. Why? Cause I don't hate the Bowl Championship series, it just plain pisses me off.

The Bowl Championship Series was created in 1998 as a surrogate for a National Championship for College Football since it does not have a playoff to determine it's National Championship. What the BCS does is use several numbers including the coaches poll and a computer index that takes even more numbers such as strength of schedule, points per game, pounds of spaghetti ate at the team dinner the night before, etc. OK, maybe some of those things are fabricated, but it almost sounds like that's how the rankings are determined.

The fact of the matter is this, this system banked on there being two clear-cut teams at the end of the year to brawl it out for the national championship. The only problem is that this has only happened a couple of times in the system's history. In 1999, the Tulane Green Wave went 11-0 in Conference USA. Hey, when you're undefeated, you should get a shot at the title. Who cares that Tulane would have gotten throttled by Tennessee, give them a chance!

In 2001, there was only one undefeated team (Miami). The opponent had to be chosen from a slew of one loss teams. In the shuffle, Nebraska got chosen over Oregon to go to the Rose Bowl (The National Championship Game that season.) Problem is that Nebraska didn't even win their own conference while Oregon won the Pac-10. Nebraska got their ass kicked by Miami and the BCS was even referred to as "a cancer."

In 2003, the BCS had to choose from 3 one loss teams, Oklahoma, LSU, and USC. USC was the odd man out and got blown away by LSU in the National Championship Game. USC won the Rose Bowl and got the #1 ranking in the AP poll, which created a split national champion, something that the BCS was supposed to eliminate.

In 2004, five teams went undefeated (USC, Oklahoma, Auburn, Utah, and Boise State). USC and Oklahoma went to the national championship. Auburn should have went since they had a stronger strength of schedule than both USC and Oklahoma. At the end of the season USC, Utah, and Auburn all were undefeated.

In 2006, Boise State defeated Oklahoma. This was regarded as one of the greatest college football games of all time.

In 2008, more mid-majors crashed the top 15 of the BCS and that leads us to 2009 where we have five undefeated teams in Texas, Alabama, Boise State, Cincinnati, and TCU.

It's getting so ridiculous that the BCS put two of the mid-major teams (Boise State and TCU) in one of the bowls to eliminate an undefeated mid-major team. It's almost like having a NIT championship in football. We need a playoff as soon as possible.

Plus, some broadcasters are completely oblivious to this. Here's just some of the highlights of these arguments...

- "It just makes every game a playoff..."

Really? That's why we have 5 undefeated teams. If it was a true playoff, some team would have a loss and there would be one true champion instead of 2-4.

- "Think about how many kids will be able to go off the field as winners."

This is division 1 football. They're not playing pop warner ball! Oh and that's the way it works in other sports such as college basketball, college hockey, and every other division of football. Wait! They have playoffs too!!!

- "What about the money that all the teams get?"

Oh yeah, it's all about the money. My bad. Well, let's think about how much money a 16 team playoff would generate. More games, more TV revenues. Oh yeah, you'd lose some money there.

Some people say that there should be a 4 or 8 team playoff. I would like to see 16, that way nobody is getting screwed over. Have the top seed host up until the national championship game and if you still want the bowls, you can have them draft after each team is eliminated. With the way the standings are currently set up, we'd have a great first round matchup between Miami and Texas, not to mention LSU and Florida at The Swamp.

Speaking of Florida, if the 4 seed, the TCU Horned Frogs won their opening matchup vs. Penn State, we'd have a true "To be the man...WHOO!!! YOU GOTTA BEAT THE MAN" moment when Florida would have to travel to TCU. Could you imagine TCU scoring the upset and Tim Tebow crying on the sidelines AGAIN! It would be great!

Alas, this will never happen. The college officials are too blind to see that this system is flawed and I don't think we'll see such entertainment for a long time.

Well, That Got Ugly In A Hurry

The Vikings turned in their first "It looks like a big monkey came down, took a crap, and out popped the Minnesota Vikings." effort of the season Sunday night. The Arizona Cardinals took the liberty of simply beating the Vikings to a bloody pulp in front of a national television audience in this one. It was supposed to be "Look at how great Brett Favre and the Vikings are!" Instead, it was an absolute clunker.

It started out well. Tim Hightower fumbled the football on the Cards first drive and the Vikings recovered and scored a touchdown. From there, it went downhill incredibly fast. Phil Loadholt injured his shoulder (he returned to the game, but I'll bet that he'll be listed as questionable for Sunday's game vs. Cincy). Then, Bryant McKinnie rolled his ankle (He returned as well, but it's something to keep an eye on).

Yet, the big blow came in the 4th quarter, when E.J. Henderson Willis McGaheed his leg after colliding with a teammate. Obviously, he'll miss the rest of the season, and you have to question his effectiveness for the remainder of his career at age 29 and two major surgeries to his leg.

To add insult to injury, Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth proved why they aren't very good at their jobs. Collinsworth said, "Percy Harvin was a running back at Florida and was converted to a wide receiver once he got to the Vikings." Um, no. Percy was USED at running back at Florida, but he was a WIDE RECEIVER!!! Do your homework, idiot. I'm sure if Percy Harvin played for the Cowboys, they would have had his stats at Florida memorized.

Anyways, when I was watching this game, I was pretty ticked off. But when you think about it, this might be what the Vikings needed. This season was seeming way too easy coming into this game. Even the game the Vikings lost at Pittsburgh, they played well and probably should have won the game if it weren't for Chester Taylor dropping a screen pass. Consider what happened in this game...

- Brett Favre threw two interceptions in this game (He threw 3 coming in, and even though it was a lower scale, did this get the whole "Brett just sucked ass tonight" thing out of the way?)

- The Vikings running game was stifled (We'll talk about this later this week, but maybe the offense getting owned will open their eyes and get them refocused.)

- The Vikings looked overmatched and unprepared.

I may be stretching on some, but the Vikings finally had a bad game. It's the NFL, every team has this type of game and it builds character. With all do respect for the Saints, they're not going to win every game in which they play like crap. One of these times, the kicker will actually make a 20 yard field goal. They may throw a clutch interception. Like the '98 Vikings, they may jump a route and blow a coverage in the process. The Vikings are still a good football team, and this loss may build more character and make the team stronger.

Now, I'm not ignoring the huge problem at linebacker now that Henderson is gone for the season. However, the Vikings are more prepared to deal with this than they were last year. The Vikings drafted Jasper Brinkley, who a lot of people think the Vikings got a steal getting him in the fifth round. Brinkley is better than David Herron and Napoleon Harris. Will the defense lose a beat with E.J. out? You bet. But it won't be as bad as last year.

The way the season stands, the Vikings have 4 games to go (vs. CIN, @ CAR, @ CHI, vs. NYG). The Saints have a magic number of 3 to clinch home-field advantage in the NFC. If they keep having miracle wins, it will come back and bite them in the ass. The Vikings have a huge test vs. the Bengals on Sunday. If they get a win, all will be resolved and the Vikings can feast on two bad teams before the Giants game. Also, if the Vikings have to play until the final whistle it could benefit them. Sitting out their starters sounds like a good idea, but of the last 3 Super Bowl Champions (Pitt, Giants, Indy), they all had something to play for in Week 17. Interesting. This is why you play the games.

Week 13 Breakdown

So a short story for you loyal readers before I get going. Last weekend, I spent the weekend at my house in Rochester, Minnesota. Yeah, it was great. Spent some time with the family and all of that stuff. The food was great, but then came the problem of Sunday morning. First of all, there was no NFL Network, so my pregame show was not on and had to watch the Fox pregame show with Terry "Yuk Yuk" Bradshaw and Michael "Gappy McGaptooth" Strahan. Then, there's the fact that there was NO SUNDAY TICKET! So in other words, I have been out of the football loop for an entire weekend, and I didn't even work! Hopefully, this will recalibrate my system.

As usual...here are your standings.

NFC

1. New Orleans 11-0 (NFC South Leader)

2. Minnesota 10-1 (NFC North Leader)

3. Dallas 8-3 (NFC East Leader)

4. Arizona 7-4 (NFC West Leader)

5. Philadelphia 7-4

6. Green Bay 7-4

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7. New York Giants 6-5

8. Atlanta 6-5

AFC

1. Indianapolis 11-0 (Clinched AFC South)

2. Cincinnati 8-3 (AFC North Leader)

3. San Diego 8-3 (AFC West Leader)

4. New England 7-4 (AFC East Leader)

5. Denver 7-4

6. Jacksonville 6-5

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7. Baltimore 6-5

8. Pittsburgh 6-5

And your games...

FIVE STAR GAMES

Minnesota (10-1) at Arizona (7-4) 7:30 Sunday NBC

Once again, there's only one really good game this week and this is it. The Vikings come into this game on fire. Brett Favre has been lifting the Vikings (and fantasy teams everywhere) into the upper tier of NFC teams and could give the Vikings a second straight NFC North Championship with a win Sunday and a Packers loss on Monday. Favre will also be looking to bolster his MVP stats as he finally has his second primetime game of the season. For the Cardinals, they're looking to rebound from giving up a 90+ yard drive to Vince Young, who supposedly can't pass. The Cardinals are going to also try and show the world that they can hang with the big boys, something they did last year en route to their first Super Bowl appearance. The wild card in this matchup will be the two injuries. The Vikings are hoping that Antoine Winfield can return from a foot injury and so far, it looks like he'll return after missing 5 games. For the Cardinals, they're hoping Kurt Warner can return from his concussion. I assume that Warner will play, as the Vikings are going to receive a lot of "Mangenius" like tactics from Ken Whisenhunt this week. Also remember that when Adrian Peterson was drafted, he vowed to make the 6 teams who didn't draft him pay. One of those six was Arizona (who took Levi Brown 5th overall).

PREDICTION: Vikings

FOUR STAR GAMES

Philadelphia (7-4) at Atlanta (6-5) 12:00 FOX

Another playoff-like game for the Falcons, and that's not good news. The Falcons lost Matt Ryan to a foot injury and it doesn't look like he'll play this week. They're also going to be without Michael Turner, who came back too soon from a high ankle sprain. While the Falcons are making this playoff push, (and the wheels seem to be coming off) the Falcons have never had back to back winning seasons or playoff appearances. For the Eagles, they'll be without Percy Harvin clone DeSean Jackson, as he received a concussion last Sunday vs. Washington. The final storyline is the return of Michael Vick to Atlanta. I'd go over that, but I'm sure you already know that he's going to be lucky to get out of the Georgia Dome alive if he takes the field.

PREDICTION: Eagles

Tennessee (5-6) at Indianapolis (11-0) 12:00 CBS

Well, it doesn't look that great on paper, but this matchup has evolved into a paper tiger. The Titans are the hottest team in the league right now, and Chris Johnson is looking like Miss Cleo after predicting that the Titans would make the playoffs in Week 4. The Titans are 5-0 under Vince Young, and it looks like Young has finally figured things out unlike his 2006 Quarterback Classmates (Jay Cutler, Matt Leinart, Tarvaris Jackson). Plus, Indy is very pourous against the run since the injury of Bob Sanders. The Colts are the Colts. They spotted Houston 17 points last week and then came back to kick their ass. This will be the game to watch for the early games Sunday, and it will be a shocker.

PREDICTION: Titans

Houston (5-6) at Jacksonville (6-5) 12:00 CBS

The other AFC South matchup isn't as juicy, but it features two teams clinging to their playoff lives. The Texans folded like a tent last Sunday. The Jaguars broke out Mr. Hyde vs. San Francisco. One of these teams have to win, and if the Texans aren't that team, Gary Kubiak will be sent packing.

PREDICTION: Texans

Baltimore (6-5) at Green Bay (7-4) 7:30 Monday ESPN

This game could be very similar to the Vikings/Ravens game in October. The Ravens are fighting for their playoff lives, and the Packers could use the win as well. Charles Woodson is making a strong case for Defensive POY and that could be the difference for a team going up against a struggling quarterback in Joe Flacco.

PREDICTION: Packers

THREE STAR GAMES

New York Jets (5-6) at Buffalo (4-7) 7:20 Thursday NFL Network

Matt Millen and Bob Papas! WHOOO!!! Well, other than that dynamic duo this game doesn't have much to talk about. Mark Sanchez has been doing a Jay Cutler impersonation since his first three games and the Bills have played much better since they fired Dick Jauron. Watch out for Thomas Jones who ran for over 200 yards and 2 TD last time these two teams met.

PREDICTION: Bills

New Orleans (11-0) at Washington (3-8) 12:00 FOX

This could be a trap game for New Orleans. Washington took Dallas and Philadelphia to the limit the past two weeks, and the Saints are coming off a short week. I still don't think it will matter, but this game could be closer than you think.

PREDICTION: Saints

Dallas (8-3) at New York Giants (6-5) 3:15 FOX

Joe Buck and Troy Aikman just peed themselves. The NFC East game of the week is upon us, and really, it's not that good. Eli Manning is dealing with a toe injury, and the Cowboys haven't had a winning December since 1996 (they won the Super Bowl that year).

PREDICTION: Cowboys

TWO STAR GAMES

New England (7-4) at Miami (5-6) 12:00 CBS

Yeah, not that great of a game. Miami got throttled by Buffalo, and the Patriots are a middle of the road team after not showing up to the Superdome on Monday. Hey, Tom Brady, why don't you throw the ball to this Randy Moss guy a couple of times? This Wes Welker guy is kinda overrated. FEEL THE POWER OF THE 3 YARD SLANT!!!

PREDICTION: Patriots

ONE STAR GAMES

Tampa Bay (1-10) at Carolina (4-7) 12:00 FOX

Battling for draft position. Jake Delhomme won't play for Carolina, Matt Moore will start.

PREDICTION: Panthers

St. Louis (1-10) at Chicago (4-7) 12:00 Fox

See above game. Jay Cutler should have a field day against the Rams, but expect 2-3 INTs to go with it.

PREDICTION: Bears

Denver (7-4) at Kansas City (3-8) 12:00 CBS

Beware of Arrowhead Stadium!

PREDICTION: Chiefs

Oakland (3-8) at Pittsburgh (6-5) 12:00 CBS

No immaculate reception will be needed here. Ben Roethlisberger will start by the way.

PREDICTION: Steelers

San Diego (8-3) at Cleveland (1-10) 3:15 CBS

A late game simply so the West Coast can watch this ass kicking.

PREDICTION: Chargers

San Francisco (5-6) at Seattle (3-7) 3:15 CBS

Quick note: The Seahawks GM is planning on resigning. Looks like Mike Holmgren won't have to go far for that front office job.

PREDICTION: 49ers