Favre is a Viking, get on board or get over it!

The circus, the inevitable circus, is officially in town. I got a chance to see first hand what the scene was like at Winter Park on my way home from work today. Living in Shakopee, I go right by there off 494 and what I saw was a media frenzy. Keep in mind that none of the National media was able to make it here yet as this entire thing got dropped on everyone just before lunch time. Fear not though, the National media circus will indeed be here and more than likely set camp between Bloomington and Eden Prairie. I guess Jay Glazer is getting a nice laugh today. I even blasted his "opinionated" article from yesterday while discussing the matter with some buddies of mine.

Now that I've had an evening to soak this all in, I'm starting to change my tune on some initial thoughts about this wacky marriage. While watching the press conference, I noticed a few things. Zigy Wilf looked like a rich guy that just bought a new sports car and can't wait to drive it. In a sense, that's exactly what happened here. Instead of thinking about this as a desperation move, I'm now looking at this as a "why the hell not" move. What do the Vikings truly have to lose? SI's Peter Kings claims that this is a huge mistake for both parties. Again, why?

The Vikings are a better team with Brett Favre. Nobody was too excited about Sage Rosenfels or Tarvaris Jackson leading this team. Excitement is what Favre has brought to the Twin Cities, a metropolitan area that deserves some limelight after watching the Twins collapse, Timberwolves rebuild, and Wild try to re-establish themselves. The PGA Championship at Hazeltine set the stage, but Favre to the Vikings, that's one for the ages and it's got the interest of this entire country. Within a few hours of WCCO's Mark Rosen breaking this story wide open this morning, more than 2,000 season ticket holders jumped back in the ship for the 2009 season and 6,000+ single season tickets were sold.

There's a lot of talk about what this will do to the persona's of Sage and TJack. They are grown men making a ton of money, they can and will, deal with it. Sage has been a career backup and there's a reason for it. TJack is erratic and has more stability issues than your typical reality tv marriage. If Favre is unable to get the job done for whatever reason, one of these two will need to step up and prove themselves. They must continue to practice hard, perfect their craft, and perhaps learn a bit watching a future Hall of Famer.

Like it or not, this team is now poised for a legit Super Bowl run with Favre at the helm. This is one of the most complete teams in the NFC and Favre is not coming in expecting to be the gunslinger of old and I truly believe he understands that after hearing him talk at the press conference today. Adrian Peterson's quest for 2,000 yards just became a serious possibility. Favre still has enough zip and QB savy to make teams pay should they continue to stack the box to stop the dynamic runner. Berrian and Rice are legitimate play making wideouts, Shaincoe has blossomed into the best pass catching tight end the Vikings have had since Steve Jordan, and Percy Harvin will keep defenisve coordinators up all night trying to figure out how to plan for him.

Say what you will about the team's credibility and Favre's for that matter. To me it's simple. There's nothing to lose, it's a once in a lifetime chance for both, why not give it a shot. As Favre said, he's not worried about tarnishing his leagacy, he knows what he's accomplished. When this thing plays out, good or bad, Brett Favre will still go down as one of the greatest Quarterbacks to play the game. A QB that terrorized the Vikings for years. If there's a chance he could help lead the Vikings to their first Super Bowl victory, I'm jumping on the ship and am going to enjoy the ride.

Skol Vikings!

Divisional Team Fantasy Rankings Part 2

Slacking on Vikings camp news I know, but I've been working on my four part piece with fantasysharks and entered the Star Tribune's Vikings blogger contest. I'll catch up what's been going on at camp tomorrow so for now, take a look at my latest article up on on fantasysharks.com: Divisional Team Fantasy Rankings Part 2.

SKOL Vikings!

Camp Day 3 Recap

No TJack as camp resumed today, but there was a light of positivity shining over Mankato as Percy Harvin signed a five year deal and showed up to camp for the second practice of the day. Let's move right on to the nuggets of the day.

- Percy Havin electrified the crowd in Mankato today emassing cheers for everything thown his way. His following so far is on a Adrian Peterson level. He looks pumped and ready to go and I'm sure he's loving the fanfare thus far.
- Brad Childress mentioned that Tarvaris Jackson may be ready to take the field tomorrow. I find that rather hard to believe since he was seen with a knee brace on today.
- Harvin was hardly sitting on his duff while waiting for his agent to get the deal sealed. He was working out with Tim Tebow the past few days and caught a very early am flight from Florida to Minnesota to ensure he made the 1pm meetings and 3pm practice.
- A Ben Leber and Benny Sapp collision today has Childress losing even more hair. It's camp, it's football, it's going to happen.
- Coach Frazier and the defensive players feel they've got what it takes to be a number one defense this year. I happen to agree with that. Getting EJ Henderson back alone makes this already very good defense even better. All four Pro Bowlers from last year have returned and should still be able to attain a Pro Bowl level of play.

That's it for tonight, it's late and I have to get up for work after having a week off. I plan on submitting for the Strib Vikings Blogger contest and hope to win it.

Camp Day 2 Recap

After a rather unseasonably chilly start this morning, camp resumed and the morning session appeared to take a turn for the worst, or so Bernard Berrian would have us believe. About that chilly start, I find it funny how the "journalists" covering the Vikings made such a big deal about it. I highly doubt the players complained one bit. Upper 50's to low 60's at 7am is perfect for football and sure as hell beats the usual 90+ degree days with max humidity we normally have around here during training camp. Those pansy little thumb pressing, pencil toting musers of the gridiron need to man up a little. Now on to Day two's quick hits.

- It appears that Tarvaris Jackson is more fragile than former Atlanta Falcons QB Chris Chandler (aka: Crystal Chandelier). Bernard Berrian had more fun with his Twitter account by posting that Jackson was out for the season. Much like his Percy Harvin sighting tweet, he posted again later that he was just kidding. I don't think I'll ever believe another thing I see through Berrian's Twitter page.
- Before Jackson went down, Sage was booed while running drills with the 1st team offense. Not only that, a large gathering of fans started chanting Jackson. Sage has a loooooong way to go learning this offense.
- Our local journalists just can't get enough of the Favre Man Love.....tsk tsk Souhan!
- Those of you in PPR Fantasy Leagues, listen up. A big focus for Adrian Peterson this camp is working on becoming a better receiver out of the backfield. He's working solo with running back coach Eric Bieniemy on this very issue.
- Here's a nice piece on Randall McDaniel, who will be inducted into the Football Hall of Fame next Saturday. A great football player, but an even better person. Plus, he still resides in beautiful Excelsior Minnesota.

That's it for tonight, not much going on the first couple days besides the fragility of TJack.

Camp Day 1 Recap

No, I'm not in Mankato, yet anyway. What I like to do is gather up all the information I've read, seen, and heard and do a quick little recap, sometimes with my take on it. So let's look at a list after day one.

- Percy Harvin a no show: While many will drive the Favre story into the ground, I happen to think one of the bigger stories is Harvin not in camp right now. It's not time to hit the panic button, but he needs a deal signed and soon. A couple of days is not that big of a deal, but if reaches a week or longer, Harvin will miss more than a rookie of his stature should.
- I think the media needs to drop the Favre questions with the other players and drop them now. The media whore has gotten more than enough air time and guys like Sage Rosenfels are sick of the talk and ready to focus on the season ahead.
- No worries about Adrian Peterson's quest to gain weight in the off season. He looks the same as last year and has by no means, lost a step.
- The Wilf's are in Mankato and made two things very clear. One, the Favre pursuit is over, even if he changed his mind, he won't be a Viking. Two, there's no plans to extend Childress' contract at this time - that's a good thing to me, he's got a ton to prove this year.
- Pat Williams: Always a Viking.
- Bobby Wade: Ready to move on after Urlacher comment, but still provided spice to an otherwise dull day.
- Here's a break down on how the Vikings QB situation is a 50-50 afair. Personally, I think Jackson has the upper hand because he knows the system. It can take a QB up to three years to learn an entirely new system, which is what Sage is going through, and so far it shows.
- Listening to KFAN this afternoon while Henry Lake was filling in for the common man and Lake was talking about how athletic Sidney Rice is. He stated that Larry Fitzgerald commented on how athletic he is. Fitz claimed that he played some ball with Rice over the offseason and that Rice was by far a lot more athletic than himself. I've always thought that if Rice could just stay healthy, he could make a huge impact in the NFL. Here's hoping that happens this year.

That's all I've got for tonight, check back tomorrow night for my day two recap.

Training Camp 2009, now in Session

It's official, the 2009 Minnesota Vikings Training camp has started and I'm back for another full season of coverage. Now that the Favre kerfuffle is over, we can move forward and see who's going to win the QB battle for the Purple. Hopefully I never have to mention Favre again, he can move on, the Vikings and fans can move on, and the Packers and their fans can move on. I hope to make the trip down to Mankato in the next week or two and provide some true insight, but as always, I'll provide my own colorful take and what's going during camp and the preseason.

Check back soon, I'll banter about the first full day late tonight.

Five QB's with new homes and their Fantasy impact

Free agency plays a significant role in Fantasy Football. The simple change of a quarterback from one team to another can have a major impact on fantasy value. Here’s a list of five quarterbacks you should be aware of – good and bad – as I break down the QB carousel for 2009.

· Matt Cassel |Patriots to Chiefs | 2008 Stats: 3,639 yards 21 TD 11 INT

Cassel was a serviceable quarterback for many Fantasy owners in 2008. Let’s not look too far into this one though. When you have the electrifying Randy Moss that makes QB’s look good (See Daunte Culpepper during their Vikings years) and Wes Welker that catches everything thrown his way, it’s not too hard to be serviceable. The Kansas City Chiefs wide outs are far from household names and they still lack a threatening running back to open up the passing game. Compared to the success Cassel had in taking over Tom Brady’s team, I expect him to struggle mightily in his first year with the Chiefs. Namesake alone, Matt Cassel is going to draw some attention during your drafts, but you would be best to stay away especially in the early rounds.

· Jay Cutler | Broncos to Bears | 2008 Stats: 4,526 yards 25 TD 18 INT

This is an interesting one here and one that could make a big impact on the NFC North Division. Jay Cutler completely changes the dynamic of the QB position in Chicago, but unless Brandon Marshall gets his way in Denver (which would be a shame after letting Cutler get his way), there’s no way he puts up 4,500+ yards this year. Devin Hester is a dynamic speed threat, but in the NFL you need to be able to run good routes, something he currently lacks in his game. Marshall is a great route runner and there isn’t anyone near his pedigree on the Bears roster. What will potentially work are the makings of a good offensive line with the new addition of Orlando Pace. Toss in a couple of good TE’s in Clark and Olsen, add an above average back in Matt Forte and you have the makings of a well balanced offense. Cutler should still be a hot commodity when drafting QB’s.

· Kyle Orton | Bears to Broncos | 2008 Stats: 2,972 yards 18 TD 12 INT

Since we have a scenario where one QB got traded for the other, it’s natural to view the impact of both in their collective new homes. Kyle Orton is no Jay Cutler, which is why the Bears were willing to pay such a steep price for Cutler. Denver wanted to avoid any further drama and gave Cutler his wish – something they are surely regretting now that Marshall is taking the same approach. Aside from his horrendous beard and boozing life style that gets plastered on Facebook, Orton had very few moments that would intrigue most fantasy owners. He entered OTA’s and minicamps fighting for the starting spot with Chris Simms only to be dubbed the starter right away. The Broncos were first in pass protection last year and with weapons like Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal one would think that Orton would still be able to post some really good fantasy numbers. That will not be the case however. Things are getting ugly with Brandon Marshall and even if he’s still on the roster come training camp, you can count on him holding out. The running back position is also an area where Denver is suffering. Picking up Correll Buckhalter as their potential number one back speaks volumes. Due to this, defenses will be able to plan for a pass heavy offense, limiting an already limited QB.

· Jeff Garcia | Buccaneers to Raiders | 2008 Stats: 2,712 yards 12 TD 6 INT

Jeff Garcia!!?? You say. He’s with the Raiders now and they have like 10 QB’s on their roster now right? Exactly, this is why I am including him here. JaMarcus Russell didn’t exactly come in lighting the league on fire like the Raiders had hoped he would. Last year was his first full year at the helm and he was a bit under whelming to say the least. He should start this season and deserves to do just that, but expect a short leash and expect Garcia to jump right in and utilize a much improved offensive line and three running backs waiting to bust out on the scene and become “the guy”. Who am I kidding, just stay away from any QB on the Raiders roster, stay far away.

· Brett Favre | Jets to Vikings | 2008 Stats: 3,472 yards 22 TD 22 INT

Ah, the final one and the one filled with more if’s and but’s than the candy and nuts we give away at Christmas. One if that should be taken off the board is if Favre plays for the Vikings. The writing is on the wall with this one and as of this writing, Favre was reported to have put down 80k on a Condo in Edina Minnesota. The other big if to watch now is if his arm holds up. After starting the first half of the season hotter than a TMZ camera guy on Lindsay Lohan, Favre fizzled down the stretch and cost the Jets a Playoff berth. If he joins the Vikings with regenerated strength in his throwing arm and could play to the level of his 2007 season (though that didn’t end on a high note), the NFC in general could get a bit more interesting. Since taking over as head coach of the Vikings, Childress has claimed to have a “kick ass” offense. This could be the first year we actually see that and bringing in Favre would be a career saving kind of move and the end of the Tarvaris Jackson experiment. Everyone knows the Vikings are a QB away from becoming a legit Super Bowl contender, the question is which Favre would they be getting? The one that put up MVP like numbers in the regular season of his last Packer expedition, or the aging loser tossing up pick after pick in the NFC Championship game of the same season? One thing’s for sure, we can pretend the year with the Jets never happened. Thanks to the Packers little poison pill, that was just a side-step on his way to playing in Purple.

So what can we make of all this in the end? Who on this list should we consider and who should we stay the hell away from? Jay Cutler should still be on your radar, Favre and Cassel are two that your could roll the dice on with Favre having more Fantasy – are your ready for this……upside. Garcia and Orton are two that you should never even consider this year unless you are in need of a backup filler.

Favre report confirmed, Jersey already ordered

WCCO's Mark Rosen has reported that the reports of Brett Favre's signing from the weekend are all but confirmed. He states that the Vikings equipment manager has already ordered #4 purple jersey's with his name on it. You can now order a Favre Vikings jersey on Ebay as well.

So I guess Favre has already had a little talk with John David Booty who had the #4 jersey originally. Then again, this is Favre so he may not have had the talk and it will just be assumed that he's getting his number. Something tells me Booty wouldn't have a choice in the matter. It's clear now that the Tarvaris Jackson experiement is finally coming to a close. After trading for Sage, there's no way the Vikings let him go and he will be a nice backup if something goes amiss with Favre. Booty is a nice young arm that can learn a lot in a year from watching Favre and Sage. These are just my thoughts on how this will pan out, but I think they are rather legit.

Commanding Position? A View from a Red Sox Fan

I don't normally cover the Boston Red Sox here, but a good friend of mine wrote this up so I thought I would share. He makes some good points with some concrete "numbers" evidence.

Commanding Position?

Are the Red Sox poised to spread their lead in the AL East? The numbers appear to support it. Much has been made about the Red Sox this year. Be it the lofty expectation set on them by the fan base, or the media, or the high priced talent they run out there on a nightly basis. There is an expected level of production which hangs over every pitch.

Much has been documented about the struggles of the first half of this season. David Ortiz has been clawing his way through a slump ravaged start to the season. Dice-K brought another title to his motherland, but has failed to bring much more than a Zito-like, or more recently Wang-esque, drop-off. Jed Lowrie has shown more in his absence, evidenced by the cavernous difference between he and his replacements, than we expected when he got hurt.

Yet through all of this the Red Sox have posted a .609 winning percentage.

So instead of treading the ground of the ‘oh so recent’ past, let’s look at the immediate future. Currently the Red Sox sit in first place with a .609 winning percentage. Followed by: NY .551, TOR .535, and TB 514 (I will leave Baltimore out as they are 10 games out of first place, while posting a .464 winning percentage.)

The funny thing when you look at the numbers is this: We are talking about teams who have four of the five top run differentials in baseball, four of the top twelve winning percentages, and teams who average 6.5 on any of the Power Rankings. The only real disparity is this, Strength of Schedule.

When you look at the S.O.S for the four teams there is a noticeable gap. BOS .513, NY .500, TOR .495, TB .496. The Red Sox have played by far the toughest schedule in the division. This bodes well for the Red Sox between now and the mid-way point of the season.

Let’s take a look at three key factors:

1. The Red Sox have a S.O.S over the next six series of .435. This is key when you look at the balance of S.O.S in the division. Over the next six series for the other three teams their S.O.S: NY .513, TOR .515, TB .514.
2. What other team on the planet can remove a starter like Daisuke Matsuzaka, 18-3 last year, and insert John ‘friggin’ Smoltz, no resume needed.
3. In the month of June David Ortiz has begun to look normal. While his HR production is still low, he has amassed a .308 average with 5 HR 10 R 12 RBI and an O.P.S of 1,054.

These factors combined with the return of Jed Lowrie, in a couple of weeks, should be enough to bolster the Red Sox, not only through the soft schedule of the next nineteen games, but into the beginning of the second half where the schedule out of the break gets a bit more intimidating, but with the cushion which could be gained in that time it should be clearly manageable.

By the way, over the next couple of weeks TOR plays two series against TB, and one against NY. Someone has to loose those games.

By: Chris Laffey - chris_laffey@comcast.net

LNR: The Fall of McHale, Favre throws at High School...again

Last night around midnight, anyone following Kevin Love on Twitter got the breaking news that Kevin McHale would not be returning as Head Coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves. A unique thing this Twitter is, something I use a lot. Many media outlets use it to blast out breaking news and now the everyday fan can get a break on a story directly from a player before the media hounds jump all over it.

So the story here is that after 16 years with the organization, the Ostrich is gone. Here in Minnesota, we like our local guys, but the release of McHale was over due. He was a great Golden Gopher and had a heralded NBA career with the Boston Celtics, but his front office bafoonarey was just too much. Dan Barriero of KFAN nailed when he said a few years back that McHale is the leader of the Country Club on 1st Ave, and until he's gone, this franchise is stuck in mediocrity.

A couple of years removed from the best player in franchise history being traded away, the Timberwolves now have a new General Manger and no coach. So who will they bring in? Who is capable of leading a team now full of talented young players? My vote goes to former Timberwolf Sam Mitchell. What say you? So say we all!

Sports Five
- Favre threw some passes today at Oak Grove High School, said he threw ok, but ok is not good enough for the NFL. And in case you've never seen Favre toss a football, ESPN even has video of today's exciting session.
- Shaincoe has a lot to say about Favre..... a lot.
- Former 1st round pick (loser) Ryan Leaf arrested at Canadian border.
- US Open starts tomorrow, here's the tee times.
- Steve Aschburner feels the Timberwolves are wrong in firing McHale.

Gaming Five
- Guitar Hero still reviews well, latest title sitting at 86% so far.
- Bioware announces Dragon Age system requirements. Nothing too fancy needed, good for the poor gamer.
- Developer Stardock recommends switching over to Windows 7 as soon as possible to enhance the coming PC titles. Since I'm writing this from my XPS 630 running Win 7, I'm good.
- With Father's Day coming up, IGN has put together a fun list: 10 worst gaming dads.
- Factor 5, the studio that recently filed for bankruptcy, is now getting sued by former employees.

LNR: Real Favre Dealine, Disgust over Stallworth Sentence

Since I didn't get to the Brett Favre HBO interview from last night, I'll hit on that real quick. So what did we learn other than the fact that Mr. Pompous Joe Buck does not deserve a show of his own? Nothing. Joe Buck asked all the questions any of us following this story would have asked, yet he left out the most important and possibly controversial question - Are you trying to join the Vikings in an attempt to stick it to the Packers?

Where were you on that one Joe? It would have been nice to see Favre try dodging that question, but you wussed out. So it's back to knowing what we knew before this piece even aired. Favre still wants to play and will do so if his arm fully recovers from the surgery he had two and a half weeks ago. The only new bit of information he gave was that he turned down Childress' offer to appear at the OTA's in Winter Park. Not because he didn't want to, but be cause he didn't want to start the media circus only to find out that he's not going to recover as he had hoped which would lead to another media circus following that announcement.

This has been covered to death throughout the day, but this tidbit just came out tonight. The Vikings have officially given Favre a deadline - July 29th, which is when the team reports to training camp.

Enough on this for now, on to tonight's Sports Five.

Sports Five
- SI in town to do a story on Joe Mauer and he goes 4-4 tonight. Twins win 8-2 on a strong return performance from Glen Perkins.
- Disgusting story of the day: Donte Stallworth pleads guilty, only gets 30 days in jail. 30 days! Killed a man while driving intoxicated and going well over the speed limit. To put this into perspective, Timberwolves guard Malik Sealy was killed in 2000 by a drunk driver and the driver served four years. Athlete preferential treatment? The ability to buy your way out of a long prison term? You be the judge of that one.
- The Brandon Marshall story is gaining traction as he posts farewell to the Denver fans in his blog.
- Tiger could have a tough time in the US Open this year. Long courses usually give him an advantage, but he's not getting the length he had before the surgery.
- Minnesota Wild no longer coachless, land Minnesota native Todd Richards who promises a open, attacking style of play. Enough for Gaborik to stay? I sure as hell hope so.

The gaming front has slowed down a bit since E3, which is to be expected. I'm still looking for my review copy of Tiger 2010 for the Xbox 360. Anyone?

Gaming Five
- Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters reviews hit everywhere, looking better than average.
- Game Consoles dominate in Web-to-TV delivery.
- Pre-order Madden 2010 at Gamestop to get your exclusive demo.
- Microsoft mum on New Xbox rumors.
- Halo 3 murderer sentenced. May you drop your soap countless times to make up for the bad gaming press you created, asshole.

Favre on HBO's Joe Buck Live tonight

As the entire world has already heard, Favre will be on the debut show of Joe Buck Live tonight (how this selfish, biased tool gets his own show is beyond me). It airs on HBO at 8pm Central Time and I'll blog my thoughts on it in tonight's Late Night Recap. Here's hoping Joe Buck has the balls to ask the tough questions. Surely Favre is going to do all he can to make it sound as if he just wants to play for the love of the game, but we all know he wants to stick it to the Pack - Ted Thompson specifically. I'd be a bit more at ease with him joining the Vikings if he just admitted that.

Book Review: Stephen King's Cell

I remember when Stephen King announced that once his epic journey to the Dark Tower was complete, he would stop writing. This was around 2002 if I remember correctly, and I recall thinking to myself - yeah right, it's what you do man, there's no way you can stop.

I, amongst thousands of others, was correct. Cell was released in 2006 and was the first true signature novel of Stephen King's following The Dark Tower. A guy like him is triggered by the empowering "what if" and Cell is a direct example of that. Like myself, I'm sure Mr. King watches all the "phone crazies" around him - in their car, filling their buggies at the super market, in the elevator, on the plane, on the bus, and on and on. So surely Cell was a direct representation of his people watching.

Cell opens up by paying homage to the king of zombie flicks, George Romero. The pacing of this book in the first third is fast and feels much like a zombie film. As the story progresses however, you come to find that this is no zombie tale at all. I really enjoyed the first third of this book, the character development was fast - which is unusual for King, and his signature imagery was sprinkled throughout.

The story does slow down a bit about half way through as it becomes centered around the main character and his quest to find his son. King did his homework on the technical aspects of this novel and as a IT Professional, I can appreciate that.

This is a fine, enjoyable read for his first true novel following the rigors of The Dark Tower. For King, it's more of what I like to call a popcorn read. I can see this one as being written for the screen and believe it would make for a fine summer movie. I've been a fan of Stephen King since I was kid and he's a writer I look up to and sometimes find trying to emulate in my own fiction. If you're a fan of King's other horror novels, I recommend this one.

PPP Rating: 7.5 out of 10

LNR: StarCraft 2 Beta Update, Childress does more Favre dodging

So it's been a bit too long since the last LNR. My apologies on that, but things happen and unless something changes and I actually start getting paid for this, that's just the way it goes sometimes. But, as you can see, I'm still plugging away and will continue to do so (work and family permitting). I come to you from my hotel room in Chicago tonight where it took me almost five hours to get here thanks to delays at the lovely O'hare aiport. I'm catching up with the stories and here's what's caught my eye in a short time.

Gaming Five
- Blizzard handing out StarCraft 2 beta keys tomorrow? This post says it's 100% confirmed, so where's my key, Blizzard!!??
- Remember Duke Nukem Forever? The game that was supposed to be released before Y2K? Yeah, well here's some new footage, even though I thought 3D Realms mailed it in recently.
- Hey iPhone users, want an addicting game to pull you away from Facebook? Peggle is now 80% off, only costs $1. One dollar! You can't even get a 20 oz. Dew for that price.
- Gears of War 2 PC rumors, according to IGN. Rumors, really? Why? The first one is available on the PC, with an additional act that never hit the 360.
- Overlord II demo has been released for the PC and PS3. It's so fun being evil, isn't it!!??

Sports Five
- Childress dodges more Favre questions..............blah blah blah.
- Crimson Tide Football put on probation, stripped of 21 wins. Ouch.
- Phil Mickleson is hitting 'em well, post wife cancer announcement.
- Red Sox continue domination over the Yankees, improve to 8-0 against them.
- Twins road woes continue, lose 3-0 lead late in the game against Oakland, lose 4-3.

That's it for tonight, here's hoping my trip back the Twin Cities tomorrow goes better than the trip here.

Childress denies Favre dealine, wants him if healthy

If there's a team in the NFL that can turn the sport into a tennis match during the off season, it's the Minnesota Vikings. Brad Childress finally jumped on KFAN this morning to publicly address the situation. You can get the podcast from this mornings Powertrip Morning show here: Childress on Favre

I'm glad to see that he's putting this on hold and giving Favre enough time to recover from last month's surgery. He addressed a question about how Sage and TJack are handling the situation stating, "I'm not worried about their reaction." A pretty bold statement, but he did follow up with this:

"I've talked with Sage and Tarvaris," Childress said. "They're competitors. Do they like any of the conversation? Absolutely not. But they know this: I'm charged with adding and subtracting players from this team to make us better. Every day when I walk into this office, there's not a day that I don't try to look and see if we can't get better at some position. If this is going to make us better down the road, and if this has got a chance to happen, I'm going to take care of the Minnesota Vikings."

It's nice to finally hear him admit that if healthy, he wants Favre. So now we are back to waiting, but at least we now know where the coach and team stand. It's all up to how Favre's recovery goes now.

Childress gives Favre a Deadline, really....why?

As we all know, ESPN reported last night that Brett Favre had surgery on his arm last month. An indication that he's a bit more serious about a return and more than likely to the Vikings than previously thought. Today the Vikings imposed a deadline on Favre, giving him till the end of the week to make a decision. Favre still needs to time to heal to see if this is even going to be possible, so why the deadline now? This is clearly a power move by the Vikings, trying to get Favre to cave in now and possibly sign a one year deal at a lower price. But really, isn't Favre still the one that has the Vikings by the balls? If he calls the Vikings in July and says "Hey guys, my arm feels better now than it has in years, you ready to sign me?" Do you actually think they will turn him down? If they did all Favre would have to say is "Really, who is your starting quarterback right now? You guys really think a TJack/Sage combo is going to get it done in this league?"

Seriously, this deadline is a joke. They are obviously serious about pursuing Favre so it's in their best interest to let him fully recover, bring him in for some throwing tests, and make a decision then. If they are attempting to ease the fragile minds of Sage and Jackson, they screwed the pooch on that one the second they entertained bringing Favre to Minnesota......for the second year in a row.

LNR: The E3 Madness has begun

E3 2009 has officially kicked off with the Microsoft, EA, and Ubisoft conferences all completed and the web a complete buzz over it. Tomorrow will be the Nintendo and Sony Press Conferences followed by the three day mayhem of non-stop game previews from the show room floors. Late Night Recap will be a bit more gaming centered all week due to E3 so the usual five stories will be a bit expounded on. Here's what caught my eye so far.

- Assassin's Creed 2 Cinematic Trailer.
- Mass Effect 2 Impressions and Screenshots.
- Madden NFL 10 Online Franchise details.
- Left 4 Dead 2 announced and dated.
- Facebook and Twitter to invade Xbox 360, life will never be the same for some.
- Red Steel 2 looks more than promising and will be bundled with Wii MotionPlus.
- Metal Gear Solid: Rising announced for the Xbox 360. Conflicting reports state that it may also be coming to the PS3 and PC.
- Star Wars: The Old Republic Cinematic trailer........wow!
- Modern Warfare 2 Demo footage.
- Halo Reach announced, multiplayer beta to be included with the upcoming Halo 3: ODST.
- The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition announced. Second title to follow and here's hoping all the great point and click adventures from back in the day many of us came to love get a nice rework like this.
- Lego Harry Potter 1-4 announced and why not, everything else is getting Legoized these days.
- Guitar Hero 5 band list revealed. More Megadeth and Iron Maiden, ftw!

That's enough for tonight and there's plenty of other action to follow on all the gaming sites out there these days. I'll have more links tomorrow so check back and I'll try to include a Vikings update, but there just isn't much going on right now other than the Wildcat formation.

Review: Guitar Hero Metallica

Guitar Hero Metallica
Developer: Neversoft
Publisher: Activision Blizzard
Release Date: March 29, 2009
Platform Reviewed: Xbox 360






Sure this one has been out for a while now, but I'm not fortunate enough to receive free review copies like I once was. I'll do reviews like this from time-to-time and I'm sure many others out there do not have the ability to purchase every title under the sun on its release date.

If there was ever a perfect marriage for a band to Guitar Hero game it's Guitar Hero Metallica. The masters of Metal/Rock compliment the series rather well and unlike Prince, they made the right decision to take part in full with the experience. What Prince fails to see is that Guitar Hero has driven a interest for many to pick up and learn a real guitar. Guitar Hero is a game and not meant to emulate real guitar play. Instead it's an enjoyable rhythm based experience bringing Rock and Roll back into the lime light and drawing interest from our youth along the way.

GH Metallica brings the experience of a live Metallica show directly into your living room. I've been to several shows dating back to the Masters of Puppets tour and I can say that the only thing missing is Cliff Burton. The full motion capture of the band is a great touch and the stage layouts are perfect. Metallica has always been known as a power band and that's brought right to the screen at times. During Sad but True, hard-hitting explosive breaks have James Hefield coming right at the screen with a timely strum of his rhythm guitar. That's just one example of the care and feel put into this title.

Metallica has a huge library of songs and the set list chosen for this is top notch. For all my fellow old school metal heads out there, you'll find plenty tracks from Kill em All, Masters of Puppets, and Ride the Lightning. Songs like Whiplash and Hit the Lights prove be the most challenging especially while on the hard and expert settings. The 20 guest bands are a nice mix, but I personally found the song choices in this department overall to be rather weak. A few stand out like Slayer's War Ensemble and System of a Down's Toxicity, but many of the others will have you scratching your head. Since this is supposed to be bands that influenced Metallica and bands that they enjoy, where's the Misfits, Black Flag, or hell, a shout out to Dave Mustain by including a set from Megadeth?

Since this released after Guitar Hero Wold Tour you are able to piece together an entire band. A new level of difficulty has been added to the drums called Expert + which allows you to use the new double base add-on and have you playing drums damn near note-for-note with Lars Ulrich - no easy task, that's for sure. You also have the ability to record your own music like World Tour and can battle online in the Battle of the Bands mode (4 on 4). What's missing here though is DLC (download content). What you see is what you get, nothing more to add except for the Death Magnetic album. It would have been nice to have the ability to build the entire Metallica collection. This makes the $60 price point tough for many to swallow, but I was fortunate enough to pick this up at Target for $37 during one of their one week only sales.

If you are a die hard Metallica fan and a fan of Guitar Hero, this is a no brainer. I've been enjoying Metallica since Kill em All and I absolutely love this title. The only true down side to me is the lack of DLC. I like the direction Neversoft is taking with the game centered around one band, especially if they continue to have a production value as good as this one.

PPP Rating: 8.5 out of 10