Kobe

It was time for Kobe to retire. Even he finally realized that. The rest of the season will be a retirement tour for him.  The NBA is a youth league, and father time has taken its toll.

Pats Lose

The recipe for beating the Patriots?

Have a good defense and bad weather.

I was impressed with my Broncos last night. When Manning went down with a foot injury a couple of weeks ago, last night's game went from "must see" to "might  miss." I mean, how good could Manning's back-up, Brock Oswieler, be, right?

It turns out that the guy, with only 14 college starts on his resume, is pretty good, beating the reigning "king of quarterbacks" Tom Brady, in only his second start ever.

I admit I missed the ending. I smelled an upset brewing but was too tired to finish the game. I missed Gronk getting hurt as well.


The road to the Super Bowl is definitely becoming more cloudy.

And Carolina is  the only undefeated team currently left standing. This season is certainly becoming more interesting than most.

Big Plays Rule the Day

If not for Anthony Barr's heads-up  pursuing defense which caused a fumble, a Terence Newsome INT in the end zone on a questionable Matt Ryan pass, and a 35-yard TD scamper, late, by Adrian Peterson, and a couple of other big plays (including a sack and goal line stand) as well, we might be talking differently today.

But as it is, the Vikings seemed to have turned into a Big Play Team. And even though Atlanta has lost four straight and 5 of their last six, the Vikings looked good yesterday. The only thing that kept the game close was those same stupid penalties that hurt us last week against Green Bay.

I'm not counting any chickens just yet as the Giants and Seahawks are going to be delivering some pretty impressive unhatched eggs in the next couple of weeks. As to the Vikings 8-3 record alone atop the division?

Oh, yeah!

But it just gets tougher from here.

Go Vikings!

Football

No major upsets yesterday in college, though Notre Dame losing late showed why they left the top 4 last week. Number ONE Clemson had a lot tougher time of it against a team with 9 losses, and Alabama has to be glad they only go against Auburn once a year. Good games, but only the Notre Dame game was great.

Like all Vikings fans, I'm anxious to see how they play against Atlanta today. Will they dominate? Will they self-destruct again? Or will it be a close game against a team having a bad season?

It was actually easier before everyone expected so much of them.

Go Vikings!

Golden State Now 17-0

Stephen Curry, last year's MVP is playing so well that there are now broadcasters suggesting he should get the MVP award this year again AND the most improved player award as well. Golden State had a franchise record  22 3-pointers in the process.

They are one of the few reasons to watch the NBA brand of basketball.

The T-Wolves returned to .500 last night with a win at Sacramento. They're not good yet, but those young players could mature into something worth your viewing time. Nate B Nimble certainly thinks so.

I'll give them a bit more time before they become "must-see TV". Winning 7 of their next 10 would  certainly point me in that direction. The Wolves have disappointed too many times in the past. They have to earn our trust at some point. Winning more than half of their games is at least a starting point.

There's a fine line between "promising" and "good".  They haven't crossed it yet.

My Vikings Alone In First Place

How sad is it that the ONLY team that the Packers have beaten in the last five games is the Vikings?

Even though the Vikings are temporarily back in first, you have to wonder if what Green Bay is currently experiencing will happen to the Vikings next. One of the reasons I hated talking about last week's loss is that the Vikings didn't just lose to the Packers, they self-destructed. All of those penalties, especially the stupid ones, like knocking Rodgers down on a third down situation near the goal line, giving the Packers 4 more plays inside the five, just should not happen to a team that's going places. THOSE types of plays and penalties determine a team's character and destination. And those kind of plays and penalties offer foreshadowing of awful things to come.

Atlanta is having a miserable season. The Vikings play them this week. It may be the last game the Vikings are favored in for the rest of the season, BUT after last Sunday's disaster, are there any smart Vikings' fans out there thinking, "we got this one?" A Viking (who shall remain nameless) after last week's game was quoted in the locker room that he didn't understand the hatred for the Vikings after last week's loss saying "it was only one game." The problem was NOT that the Vikings lost, or that Green Bay beat them, the problem was the WAY that they lost. They just didn't lose a well-played game to a superior opponent, they lost by playing horribly against a team that has lost 4 of their last 5 games.

The same kind of team that Atlanta currently is. I mentioned BEFORE the game last week that I wouldn't be  surprised if the Vikes finished 8-8 this season despite their great start. This Atlanta game is the best hope of that eighth win. And bad habits develop quickly and are hard to get rid of. Green Bay fans know what I'm talking about. They didn't see it coming either.

This week's game against the Falcons should tell us if the Green Bay game was just a blip on the radar or a sign of things to come.

The number of stupid penalties the Vikings have this week will tell us more than the score.

Two Straight

The T-Wolves did manage to pull out a win last night, their second straight at home. I tried watching it and kept asking myself, "Why?"

Rubio hurt his ankle again, so I didn't get to see much of his cool passing either, since he spent most of the game on the bench.

At least they won, which was better than the Wild.

"Football and Feasting" today. I love Thanksgiving.