Monthly archive: May, 2012

Minneapolis Continues Support Of Stadium Bill

May 24, 2012, by 1 comment

On Thursday, the Minneapolis City Council held a vote on the Vikings stadium bill.

It wasn’t the vote that makes their commitment official, that will come tomorrow, but it still seems to hold a majority support by a count of seven to six.

The six opponents of the bill seemed to sense the inevitability of its passage, but that did not stop them from making some very strong statements about what amounts to, in their assessment, fiscal irresponsibility on the City’s part that subsidizes a billionaire’s ability to get richer.

“To me this is a very sad day for our city,” said Councilwoman Lisa Goodman.

“I don’t like making rich guys richer,” expressed Councilman Don Samuels. “But in this case, while the rich get richer, the poor will get richer too.”

“I just think this is a deal that generations to come will criticize us for,” Councilman Gary Schiff stated.

The City is on the hook for $150 million in construction costs and another $159 million in operating costs over the course of the stadium’s life.  Construction is expected to begin in the spring of next year.

Ponder Breaking NCAA Rules On Behalf of Agency?

May 24, 2012, by 7 comments

Well, as if we needed another completely dull and unfulfilling storyline to follow, it appears our young franchise quarterback may have just got himself wrapped up in a yet-to-come (but probably soon-to-come) investigation of the people currently representing him.

Yay?

I’ll just go ahead and defer to Riley Schmitt of Rant Sports for all the details:

Kohl Stewart was just your average high school recruit until Minnesota Vikings quarterback Christian Ponder texted him.  Stewart was so excited about the text that he uploaded it to Twitter.  Unfortunately for him, it might cause him a lot of trouble.

Ponder said he was texting Kohl Stewart on behalf of the CAA. The CAA is also known as the Creative Arts Agency, which is a grouping of sports agents. Now why would Ponder be texting a high schooler about an agency? The kid has not even stepped on a college football field, much less thought about an agency.

Then again, this could easily be someone posing as Ponder and texting Kohl Stewart. It’s unlikely, but possible. The area code is one that is found in the suburbs of the Twin Cities so I would guess it is Ponder.

In the world of social media, Kohl Stewart may have just exposed some dirty practices by the CAA. I am not sure why they had Ponder text him, but I would guess it would be to have Stewart consider being represented by the agency. Then again, the NCAA tends to frown upon agents contacting college players.

Kohl Stewart seemed excited that he was being texted by a pro quarterback but this is going to raise some serious questions about the CAA. It is getting a lot harder for agencies to contact players. Why not use pro players to convince kids to sign with you? It’d be a good theory if you thought you would never get exposed.

I have a feeling Kohl Stewart is going to find himself in the middle of a controversy. Once the NCAA and others find out about this, it probably will not be pretty.

On the plus side, we all now have the first seven digits of Ponder’s personal cell.

Links Of The Week: Slow Going

May 24, 2012, by No comments yet

This hasn’t been the most exciting week in the world of Vikings football, but I’ve always thought that in the least active portions of the offseason no news is good news.  Despite the lack of news, I have once again set out to scrounge up some reading material to occupy your work day.

Seven Draft Picks Now Under Contract

May 22, 2012, by 5 comments

The Vikings picked Tuesday to get a lot of work out of the way in signing their rookie class.

We already mentioned that the Vikings signed their two seventh rounders in a post earlier today.  Now, the number of rookies under contract has grown to seven.

Fourth round receivers out of Arkansas have both signed their deals along with fourth round tight end Rhett Ellison.  Safety Robert Blanton and kicker Blair Walsh have also signed.

First round picks Matt Kalil and Harrison Smith should be signing soon, along with third round cornerback Josh Robinson, thus completing the process of signing the entire draft class.

Long gone are the days of rookie holdouts, which is one of the most visible improvements from the last CBA to the current one.

Vikings Start Signing Rookies From The Bottom Up

May 22, 2012, by 7 comments

It bugs us.

It shouldn’t, but it does.

The Vikings seem to always be the last to re-sign their own free agents and also always seem to be behind the curve when it comes to getting their draft selections under contract.

With the new Collective Bargaining Agreement including a rookie wage scale that greatly simplifies the process of signing rookies, these negotiations are much less volatile and we should not be worried, as fans, about whether or not our entire rookie class will be present for training camp.

They will be.

Still, it is newsworthy that the Vikings have finally started signing their rookie class. 

The signings have started with two seventh round picks, defensive end Trevor Guyton and linebacker Audie Cole, and there are likely more that will follow soon.

All rookies drafted from rounds two through seven will sign four year deals under the new CBA.  First rounders have a fifth year option.

Where Adam Takes An Early Stab At The 53 Man Roster

May 22, 2012, by 21 comments

It is early.  I repeat:  It is early.  I know this, I understand this… I get it.

Still, we could continue to beat ourselves up over the gory stadium details and fret about rookie contracts that are not (and never will be) a problem, or we can have some fun around here.  Of course, we could probably do all of that, but I’m feeling kind of lazy tonight so I’ll just stick to the fun stuff.

After the jump, I’m going to take a look at the 89 guys on the roster and attempt to predict (again, I know, it is early) the 53 man roster on opening day.  Feel free to give me your feedback, whether it is nice or not, in the comments section.

Enjoy!

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Pre-Camp Buzz

May 19, 2012, by 23 comments

Between now and the season opener, the Minnesota media will follow a very specific formula to make sure their sports pages are still interesting despite the relatively boring period of time that is the middle of the offseason.

I am, of course, referring to the strategy creating a scattershot of “fluff” pieces that will profile a player, perhaps give us a snapshot of their personal history, and leave us all with a hopeful message:  This guy could be the answer at his respective position.

I’m not saying these articles don’t serve a worthwhile purpose, and aren’t interesting to those of us that love our Vikings football, but I just want to help you temper your expectations by reminding you that these articles come and go every year.  Sometimes the player turns out to be a nobody (i.e. Logan Payne) and sometimes the player actually does become a contributor (i.e. Marcus Sherels) despite the stacked odds.

I’m not trying to be the poster child of pessimism.  Rather, I am just trying to keep your expectations in check, as it is always a dangerous time when the hopes of Vikings fans begin to rise.

Okay, so with all of that said, I want to highlight some stories about the pre-camp Vikings and how they are doing.  After the jump.

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