Alrighty, then, it's that time of the week again, so it's time to check out the players that are nursing the injuries that could potentially have an impact on this Sunday's game.  We'll start out with the Beloved Purple, since they're the road team in this weekend's clash.

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That's right. . .from the folks that brought you the SBNation MLB Post-Season Hub and the SBNation BCS Hub comes. . .get this. . .the SBNation NFL Hub!

Basically, this is going to be an evolving scoreboard for all the games during a given week. . .Thursday night, Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, Monday night, whenever.  It will be just like going to NFL.com, but you'll have all that sweet, sweet SBNation content right at your fingertips.

Go ahead and check it out!  Just another outstanding service that will contribute toward this site the best Vikings' site on the web.  Because it's a part of the best sports community on the planet.

Since someone at one of my former homes has, apparently, questioned my whereabouts. . .and since I'm guessing that none of the people "in charge" over there have the testicular fortitude to actually offer up a straight answer. . .allow me to clarify things for everybody.

The reason that there hasn't been a post at Purple Thoughts from me in a long time is because I was banned from the site by a douchenozzle named Viking Tom for having a link to this very site in my signature.  (At least, that's the story that he told me.)  Keep in mind that I had a link to this very site in my signature for 2 1/2 years prior to this and it had never been a problem. . .but, because I dared to have a disagreement with this guy, he decided to throw a hissy fit and ban me, and used that as his lame excuse.

That's the story.  Any other story that anybody else might tell you. . .including any of the other PT moderators, who have basically ignored any requests I've made for an actual explanation. . .is a lie.  As they say, with friends like that. . .

So, the result of this is that I no longer have the ability to go to an inferior forum running on inferior software and comment.  I'm truly broken up over this development.  Or, I should say, I was for about five seconds.  For you see, the bigger picture is that for the last 2 1/2 years, I've been running a site that's superior in virtually every single meaningful way to that place.  That may sound a touch on the arrogant side, but it's pretty much true.

This is the best Vikings' site on the Internet.  (In my own opinion, of course. . .but the consensus seems to be that it's towards the top of the list somewhere.)  It's also a great place for Vikings' discussion, as the FanPosts and FanShots have been rapidly evolving since version 2.0 of the site rolled out around draft time.  Hell, if you want great Vikings' message boards, there are a ton of them out there, too. . .here are some fine examples:

Kansas Viking (and Vikingsmessageboard.com)
Purple Pride
Sports-Boards.net Vikings Board
Talk Vikes
Viking Army
Vikings Forum

(Yes, I took those right from the link section of the site because. . .well, why not?)

They're all better organized and they're all better run, particularly the Sports-Boards.net forums.  I can't pimp sully's work enough, quite frankly.  Also, much like this site, none of the sites listed above have the gall to charge extra for "premium content."  (Quick hint. . .there's absolutely, positively nothing on the entire Scout Network worth paying for.  And there never has been.  Ever.)

Now, I understand that some of you folks are members over at Purple Thoughts, and that's totally fine.  Many people still feel attachments to some things, even when a superior alternative is clearly available.  Some people love their original XBox even though the XBox 360 is readily available.  Hell, some people still fiddle with Walkmans and portable CD players rather than invest in an MP3 player.  The superior product will always be available to you.  Unless, of course, you're a spammer or just can't quite get a handle on how the whole "Terms of Service" thing works.

So, for the decent and intelligent folks from PT who were wondering about my whereabouts, there you go.  I'll leave this post up for a couple of days, and then it will disappear.

You don't understand. I coulda had hands. I coulda been a receiver. I coulda been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am, let's face it.

Yes, in case you haven't already heard, Troy Williamson has said that he would like to fight Brad Childress in light of the way he departed Minnesota this off-season.  He says that the incident stems from the way he was treated when he left the team to attend his grandmother's funeral last off-season.

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In Big Cat Country, dreams stay with you. . .

But enough 80's music for now.  I'm Gonzo, the head blogger at The Daily Norseman, and the purpose of this FanPost is to allow you fine folks to ask any questions you might have about the Minnesota Vikings.  Our team is going through what can best be termed as a disappointing season thus far (much like your team is, it would appear), and we've got some interesting stuff going on, so I'm sure you guys will have some good questions for me.

Have a good day and a good week, folks!

That's the word from Access Vikings.  Allen has been fined $25,000 by the league for his "vicious" hit on Aaron Rodgers, but won't miss any playing time due to a suspension.

Upon hearing the news, Rodgers apparently asked for his binky, a glass of warm milk, and for Mike McCarthy to read him Goodnight, Moon.  Again.

Also, in a move that's about a year and a half too late in coming, Ryan Cook is finally being removed from the starting lineup.  Artis Hicks, who filled in ably for Bryant McKinnie during his four-game absence, will start this Sunday against Jacksonville.  Remember, Cook was selected with the pick that was gained by trading Daunte Culpepper to Miami back in 2006.  Man, that deal certainly worked out well for everybody, didn't it?

(And props to Manimal for beating me to the Allen thing. . .stupid having to wait for a break at the day job to update the site.)

According to Pro Football Talk. . .and, again, feel free to take PFT for what you will. . .it appears that that might be the case.

Cornwell contends that Dr. John Lombardo, the administrator of the NFL’s policy regarding anabolic steroids and related substances, testified during the hearing that he learned in late 2006 of the presence of Bumetanide in StarCaps.  Lombardo, per Cornwell, did not share this information with NFL players, because Lombardo feared that other players testing positive for Bumetanide would claim that they were taking StarCaps, even if they weren’t.

Says Cornwell:  “Dr. Lombardo’s failure to disclose what he knew about StarCaps may have exposed NFL players to the significant health risks associated with the unintentional ingestion of diuretics.  If Dr. Lombardo had notified NFL players that StarCaps contained bumetanide, Will, Deuce and Charles would have never used the product to lose weight.”

If this is true, then there's absolutely, positively no freaking way that the league should be able to suspend anybody for the use of StarCaps.  None.  Because if this is true, the league a) knew that there were players that were using these StarCaps, b) knew that said StarCaps contained a substance that's on the NFL's banned substance list, and c) didn't bother disclosing this information league-wide.

The hearing for Deuce McAllister, Will Smith, and Charles Grant apparently lasted long past midnight last night, and one would have to assume that matters like this one are going to be central to the argument.  Cornwell is also representing the Williams brothers in their case, and you can bet that this will be brought up during their hearing as well.

If PFT's source is, indeed, true on this matter, then for the NFL to have not disclosed this information to the league and its players is nothing short of completely irresponsible.  As Cornwell mentions, it could have caused a potential health issue.  What if one of these players had died on the field like Korey Stringer did from taking these StarCaps and the NFL had sat on this information?  The league would have a whole lot more to worry about than a few guys trying to cut weight, that's for sure.

I really, really hope that this is true, and that Roger Goodell ends up looking like the fool and the hypocrite he is in this situation as a result.  Maybe then the league can start turning their attention to people who have really done something wrong.

So say the folks at Access Vikings:

Vikings left tackle Bryant McKinnie is scheduled to stand trial March 16 on four charges he faces from a fight outside a Miami nightclub last February. The trial date was set today by a Florida judge, according to a Miami-Dade County website.

McKinnie, who was not required to attend today’s hearing, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges, including a felony for battery. McKinnie already has been punished by the league for the incident, drawing a four-game suspension to open the season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy.

However, I'm sure that regardless of the outcome of the actual trial, the league will suspend McKinnie for another four games, due to the fact that a) McKinnie plays for the Minnesota Vikings, and b) Roger Goodell is a joke of a commissioner, and that seems like the kind of thing he'd pull.

According to the folks at Access Vikings, the Week 13 game between the Chicago Bears and the Beloved Purple will still be a prime-time game on NBC.

The NFL announced today that the Vikings-Bears game on Nov. 30 will be played at 7:15 p.m. as previously scheduled. That game had the potential to be bumped from the NBC Sunday night game to an afternoon slot that day because of the flexible schedule the league has put in after Week 10 of each season. But with the teams tied for first-place in the NFC North, along with the Green Bay Packers, the league and network saw no reason to make a move. Especially, when one considers the size of the Chicago market.

And, really, there was no reason for the league to change this game.  The Vikings and Bears are still part of a three-way race for the NFC North Division title, and this game will go a long way towards deciding that.  They also played a shootout earlier this year in Chicago, and while I wouldn't expect another 89 points to go on the board in the next game, it should still be a very close contest.

Yes, I know that the Williamses will more than likely not be there, as they'll probably be serving the legallized raping that they'll receive from Roger Goodell for taking a substance that the NFL had approved for use. . .maybe they should have just stuck to minor drugs like cocaine (which is, apparently, only a three-game suspension) and codeine (which, apparently, carries no penalty at all, even if you possess enough of it to put a brontosaurus to sleep for a month). . .but outside of that one game, the Bears haven't exactly been explosive on offense, and just got shellacked by the Packers by 34 points.

But, the network also obviously sees an opportunity to put the NFL's best player and potential league MVP on in prime-time, and they'd be crazy to refuse that chance.  As much as I hate waiting for later games, it's sort of nice knowing that NBC thinks enough of this matchup to have not replaced it with somebody else.

Well, folks, with 6 games left in the 2008 NFL season, there are three teams at the top of the division with identical 5-5 records.  It should make for an interesting rest of the regular season, but what are all three of these teams looking at during the rest of the year?  Let's take a closer look at the schedules for each of these three teams, as well as what they've done to this point in the year.

Here's how each of the three teams involved in the NFC North race have gotten to their current 5-5 record.

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