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Vikings Discussion & Random Thoughts
I met with the neurosurgeon yesterday. He told me that I have bone spurs on a couple vertabrae and that it would be best to have surgery to remove them. I’m reluctant to do so unless it’s absolutely necessary, especially when they’re talking about fusing vertabrae. Luckly, I have a super-smart doctor friend who is helping me connect with another surgeon in order to get a second opinion. Every story I hear from people who have had surgery on their neck/back seems to be a horror story. I’m sure there are some successful cases out there, but they don’t seem to be common.
The surgeon did say I could ditch the neck brace (THANK GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!), so that’s a huge relief. All in all, I feel much better. Still some pain in my left arm, but much improved, and I have good range of motion in my neck with zero pain. I’m doing my best to slow down and not do too much, which isn’t easy for me.
Bolder Options Tailgate Event
You may recall the past couple years around this time of year when I attended an event in Rochester where I got to meet and chat with some former Vikings players and other former pro athletes. Some of the athletes at previous events include HOFer Randall McDaniel, Marcus Sherels, Ben Williams, Bryant McKinnie (that dude is HUGE), Darrell Thompson (he was a Packer, but he’s still a really nice guy, and is the President/CEO of Bolder Options), and many others.
The cool part is that you get a lot of time to actually talk with these guys, it isn’t just a quick handshake as you shuffle through a line. The first time I attended a couple years ago, I probably talked to Randall McDaniel for well over an hour. He’s seriously one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. My son got to race Marcus Sherels that year, and they raced again last year (Sherels is also a class-A human). It’s a fun time in a pretty relaxed atmosphere, much different than most events like this. They also have a silent auction which always has some really cool items to bid on.
That event was the Bolder Options Tailgate, their annual fundraiser. Bolder Options is a non-profit that provides wellness-based mentoring for middle school youth. They’re a cool organization and do a lot to help the youth in their community by steering them away from life’s pitfalls and towards a successful future. They’re having that same tailgate event again this year, and it’s this coming Saturday, July 12. If you want a chance to meet and talk with some Vikings greats, other former pro athletes and other celebrity types, come to Rochester and join in the fun! We make it a point to go every year (thanks to my buddy Ryan for hooking us up!), and we will be there on Saturday! It’s at the Rochester International Event Center, click here for more details.
Jul 12, 2025, 5:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Rochester, 7333 Airport View Dr SW, Rochester, MN 55902, USA
Here’s a list of the confirmed athletes who will be on hand:
Darrell Thompson – Former Gopher & NFL Running Back; Bolder Options President
Marcus Sherels – Former Minnesota Vikings Cornerback & Return Specialist
Randall McDaniel – NFL Hall of Famer & Former Minnesota Viking
Roo Yori – “K9 Ninja” from American Ninja Warrior, Dog Rescuer
Michael Restovich – Former MLB Outfielder (Twins, Cubs, Rockies)
Rickey Foggie – Former CFL Quarterback, Gopher Football Alum
Justin Gaard – KFAN Producer (Bumper to Bumper), Gopher Football Sideline Reporter
Tyler Cain – Professional Basketball Player, Gopher Alum
Matt Meyer – Former Gopher Athlete
Aaron Senne – Former Professional Baseball Player, Advocates for Athletes’ Rights
Event Schedule
5:00 PM – Doors open! Food, music, photo booth, activities, silent auction begin
5:15 PM – Athlete autograph signings
6:00 PM – Hear from Bolder Options speakers
6:15 PM – Interactive activity stations
7:00 PM – Silent auction closes
Vikings News
KSTP goes one-on-one with Vikings DT Harrison Phillips. I like Phillips, he’s been solid for the Vikings since coming to Minnesota.
At the Vikings.com Monday Morning Mailbag, they look at road destinations for Vikings games. I sure would love to go see an overseas game, but I don’t think that’ll happen this year.
Yahoo sports does a win/loss preview for the Vikings. They think the Vikings are crazy for moving on from Sam Darnold. I’ll venture a guess that they thought the same thing when they moved on from Cousins to go with Darnold last year.
NFL News
NFL.com builds their best team money can buy whilst staying under the salary cap.
Fox Sports says the Jets and Justin Fields are looking to avoid the circus and help Fields revive his career. Ehhhhhhh, not sure how the Jets can avoid the circus when the Jets ARE the circus.
Tim Tebow and his wife welcomed their first child, per the Sporting News.
Media Selection
Another interesting episode from A.J. and Hecklefish at the Why Files. Enjoy!
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When does a man know his girlfriend is getting too fat?
[spoiler title=”Ready?.”] [When she starts fitting into his wife’s clothes…]
Funny,
Looks like you need practice with the Spoiler Tag = Even Funnier.
Definitely need to figure out the spoiler tag thing. It’s not intuitive. At least it got onto the comment.
Falcons are fools for taking Penix over JJ.
I’m not complaining. They gave Kirk more money than he deserved so the Vikings didn’t and also let JJ fall to the Vikings. Quite frankly, we should all send them very nice thank you cards.
Truer words never typed on this blog.
He did not want to be in Minnesota.
He wanted MN to pay him what he wanted.
If MN paid him, he would stay in MN.
He wanted a three year deal, and the Vikings just wanted to string him along on one year deals. Plus the no trade clause wasn’t gonna work.
Reality
I think you’re right, Vikings wanted to do at most a one year deal and draft a rookie, Atlanta offered a 3 year deal and he rightfully took it, but then drafted a QB at 8, and now he’s the most expensive backup in history, Atlantas decision making makes no sense
If he really wanted to be in Minnesota, he would have signed in Minnesota.
He took the better deal.
It wasn’t about Minnesota. It was about money.
His heart wanted Minnesota, but money was the reason he left.
Reality.
Live in la la land all you want DE. Minnesota wasn’t interested in giving Cousins a 3 year deal, and especially a no trade clause. You know this is the case, the reality. You just hate Cousins. We get it.
Our HR department just issued a COVID alert for our employees.
WTF?????
The latest variant is called Captain Trips AKA tube neck.
Think latest variant is a bad sore throat. Just avoid people, easy as hell to do in this world.
Is that what GF had?
94% fatality rate.
Sounds way worse than 2020.
Actually (in the novel) it had a 99.4% communicability rate and was 100% fatal if acquired. IIRC a couple of babies were born during the plot of the novel and at least one acquired the disease and died. It was not explicitly stated in the novel but I would assume the human race would become extinct within a few years given 99% of babies would die. Even 50% mortality would make it almost impossible for the human race to survive.
King didn’t get into what the vector for infection was after the mass near extinction…supposed to be a super flu so once the 99.4% died one would think the flu virus would then die (it also killed horses and dogs at the same rate). Maybe there was some sylvatic reservoir like cows.
Make damn sure they dont even think about pulling the restrictions and rules they tried 5 years ago. Dont even give em an inch.
Yeah, I don’t know what will be done.
The main HR rep is so scared of getting sick in general.
I don’t think me or the CEO would agree with anything she would want to do.
Afternoon Skoleholes. Looks like flyover country today.
Speaking of which I “won” an hourlong flight over scenic Dawson County at a fundraiser event…went up yesterday evening, had a good time in the little 172 we had a fairly constant chatter going and he (the pilot) is a lib hater like me. Sorry, that might be a little too harsh for my Minnesota brothers.
We gave tampon to cackles. It secured a Trump victory. You owe us.
You got him back, what you going to do with him?
Probably re-elect him and build a rainbow colored statue of him.
Too many lib dumb fucks in this state. The gap is closing however. No term limits on governor in minny. Shocking. He’ll prob find more free shit to give away at taxpayer expense.
Don’t feel bad – “Too many dumb fucks in the…….whole country”. But as you say, the gap is closing
Think that’s the problem. Too many vile, contemptible, stupid people on the streets who have voting rights. No bill will fix that.
Let’s hope after four years of Trump the stupid are going to get a little smarter.
Top 10 OL?
That has been something we have been asking for and it’s like a prayer come true.
#nojinx
If they finish the season and the OL is still ranked in the top 10, that is a huge upgrade over the last 15 years….
And, the team will for sure be in the playoffs.
I generally agree.
Unless JJ sucks.
Haven’t even played a game yet for the 2025 season.
I just finished my second liter of water at work.
Soon, the world will know the full power of my trained bladder…
I have no doubt it will be like a ‘Fire Hose’.
Makes sense to me.
Agreed.
Hillary the Grim Reaper.
Generally I don’t think much of men who cheat on their wife, but in this case I might just give Bill a break.
Billy the Serial Sexual Predator and Hillary the Shrew, they deserve each other.
AI is a good tool for jokes.
Honestly sad that there is suddenly no client list.
I was hoping for better from this administration.
Yeah.
Dude was in Jail for crimes he didn’t commit, apparently.
The planner is in Jail for crimes she didn’t commit, apparently.
There must be some huge intelligence leaks threatened by the CIA if this is just being swept under the rug.
And Maxwell is apparently in jail for trafficking children to nobody.
Yeah, disappointing.
Seems that they figure it is better to just bury the whole thing.
I don’t know who they are protecting, maybe bunches of folks.
If it was Trump they would have weoponized that long ago.
Happy Tuesday.
Welp, sorry little buddy, but the franchise no longer considered your personal feelings in how it was going to be ran and operated. You got your bag, that was always priority number 1. Sleep in the bed you made.
So chasing money isn’t everything eh Kirko?????
Glad he feels like he got shafted.
He’s been doing it to everybody else for 8-10 years.
Yep. I’m bitter.
All I can say there is, thank god Atlanta
That’s just heart breaking for us as fans, we came that close to a legacy quarterback and multiple SB’s….
More like we came so close to missing out on one. What if they would have decided against drafting JJ? I don’t even want to imagine it.
i hate tuesdays.
i hate tuesdays even more when i had like 5 days off work, a holiday/long weekend, monday off and then go back to work on tuesdays. oh i hate it haha.
but….i hope you all had a good 4th of july. it was a great day for me and my family. hot but spent the day in the water at one of the lake houses.
I used to call Tuesdays after a long weekend ‘Monday Squared’.
Feel better GF.
Happy Tuesday!
FTP!
SKOL!
Great to hear that you’re doing better, GF. I hope your second opinion gives some good guidance. Keep playing it smart and cautious with neck/spine stuff. Gather as much info as you can.
Glad you are on the mend GF.
I have heard the same thing about neck surgeries: don’t bother unless absolutely necessary. It is good you are getting a second opinion.
Sherels is a fun player. Guy carved a career out of being a cockroach basically. Just couldn’t get rid of him.
GF, I found out I have a bone spur in my neck 2 years ago. My Orthopedic surgeon told me I was too young for surgery and I have been getting a steroid injection, that calms the nerve, about every 6-9 months. It has worked great, the only issue I have had is when the pain clinic is backed up and I have to wait an extra month or so.
I figured since we are about the same age and mine is on the C5 which is causing pain in my left arm as well, this may be an option for you. I go to Avera in Sioux Falls for treatment, but I know there are other Orthopedic Surgeons that do the same thing.
Seems like just about anything would be better than surgery.
My mom waited to get her hip replaced, finally the hip was bad enough that it risked damaging her knee.
1st
FTP
Skol
Good morning, SKOL!
FTP!
FTP Auto Rec.