Rice-A-Roni a Minnesota Treat

Raise your hand if at the beginning of the season you thought Sidney Rice would lead the NFC in receiving yards through nine games.  Hmm.. that's what I thought me neither.  But he does at 786.  He's also coming off a 201 yard game, just ten yards short of the Vikings single game record.  His first two seasons in the league Rice was an afterthought.  Though that was with the likes of Tarvaris Jackson and Brooks Bollinger throwing him the ball. (If you said Brooks who? at that name you are not alone.)

Enter Brett Favre stage right.  Suddenly with a Hall of Fame bound quarterback at the helm Sidney looks more like Jerry Rice than the afterthought.  The Gunslinger has transformed more than just Sidney Rice though.  He transformed the whole team, possibly the whole state if not the nation.  Last year, or any year before that for that matter, the Vikings lose that game on Sunday, or at least need a last second field goal set up by a questionable (at best) pass interference call.  In years past that's a trap game for the Vikings.  The Lions, who will lay down and die for any other team, seem to have one goal in mind at the start of the season: beat the Vikings.  They play harder against us than anyone else.

Lets not forget the Vikings have also helped them out with sloppy play against the Lions.  On Sunday we couldn't stop shooting ourselves in the foot.  Fumbles on (sketchy) "trick" plays, typical Adrian Peterson fumble, and a massive amount of penalties.  I mean who else was sick of seeing the refs by oh about the second quarter?  There was a penalty every other play it seemed. 

On top of that the Vikings seemed to lack focus and we sort of sleepwalked through parts of the game.  Must have been that bye week hangover.

However, all of that said we still won the game by 17 points.  That's how good this year's Minnesota Vikings are.  We can play our worst game of the year, sleepwalk through the game and still dominate the scoreboard.  Do I recommend them trying that strategy ever again?  Absolutely not.  We were lucky to be playing the inept Lions or we might have payed for that performance.  Last year we would have payed.

This year with Favre we dominate.  Favre has transformed the culture of this team.  We just simply as a whole have elevated the level of our play.  The fans, often waiting for the other shoe to drop, have transformed as well.  From what I hear the stadium was electric on Sunday.  We were electric against the Lions!  Last year, the crowd would be ho hum, and then would have panicked after that bad first half.  Also, my family almost never watched football when I was growing up.  They would occasionally tune in but really they had no interest in the Vikes.  Enter Brett Favre, stage right.  Now my family tunes into every game.  Even my brother and his girlfriend who would never be confused with sports addicts sound knowledgeable about the game!  That Favre magic I always heard so much about rubs off on everybody.  It's amazing.

Also look at the nation.  In week eight four Minnesota Vikings lead the NFL in jersey sales: Brett Favre, Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen and Percy Harvin.  Every week our games have the largest viewing audience.  Even against the Lions over half the country got that game!  Suddenly the United States of America has jumped on the Vikings bandwagon.  I hope Favre never leaves!

Also, when did the NFL turn so soft?  Go rewatch that Ray Edwards "launching" play.  He was clearly just making a great play to jump over a defender trying to chop block him.  His helmet never even touches Stafford's yet the refs punk out and call that "roughing the passer."  What a joke!  This is football, not ballet!  I hate, no loathe how the quarterbacks are so overprotected.  I mean for crying out loud this has gotten out of control.  I am all for protecting vulnerable quarterbacks, but the play was still going on, Stafford still had the ball.  Pathetic is the first word that game to mind.

Now, onto my new weekly segment.  I must hand out my Gunslinger Award.  Just a reminder, the Gunslinger Award is the award I hand out weekly to the athlete (pro or otherwise) that I feel best captured the spirit of the Gunslinger Brett Favre.  It could be a myriad of reasons that any particular person got it. 

Now, without further delay, the second Travis Frey Gunslinger Award goes too....

Toby Gerhart, running back University of Stanford Cardinal.  You rushed for 178 yards and three touchdowns against the USC Trojans.  Not only did you run wild against USC you proceeded, in true Gunslinger fashion, to stick it to USC.  USC passed over you in recruiting because they wanted you to play fullback.

"I wanted to be the featured back, so I told them I wasn't interested," said Gerhart.  Nothing says Gunslinger like sticking it to the man...especially the man that didn't want you.

Well that's all for this week.  Tune in later in the week for my preview of the Vikings vs. Seahawks game.  Same Bat-time same Bat-channel.

Skol Vikings.