MVN - Most Valuable Network

Vikings-Packers: The Opening Monday Night Game Of 2008

*ESPN is a channel that I love to hate, but as a fan of the Purple, I’ve gotta give The Worldwide Leader some props for selecting a Vikings-Packers game as their debut Monday Night Football broadcast of the 2008 season. The game will be played at Lambeau Field on September 8th, and will be the official beginning of the Aaron Rodgers era in Green Bay.

First of all, here’s hoping that ESPN can alter the MNF broadcasts this season to make viewers feel like they’re actually watching a football game. Last season, there was simply so much going on during the broadcasts that the game was often lost in the shuffle…from the constant in-game interviews with celebrities, to Tony Kornheiser’s ramblings, to the bizarre music videos (remember the craptacular “Block Hard” music video shown prior to the Vikes-Bears MNF game in December?), the football itself often became an afterthought on Monday nights.

Anyways, although ESPN’s presentation of Monday Night Football has been often criticized, you certainly can’t criticize them for picking the wrong game to begin their 2008 broadcast schedule. There is sure to be TONS of Brett Favre chatter throughout the week prior to the game, which could either bode well or horribly for the Vikings.

On one hand, Rodgers is sure to feel immense pressure to deliver in his debut game, and this pressure will only be intensified by the bright lights of Monday Night Football. On the other hand, he could just as likely have a breakout game against the Vikes.

Really, I see two possible outcomes for Rodgers in this game: He’ll either have a complete meltdown, or he’ll burn the Vikings for huge passing yardage and a couple touchdowns. I don’t see Rodgers merely having an average game…I think he’ll either be great or downright awful.

Of course, this game presents something for Vikings fans to be happy about: You can’t pick a better time to face the Packers at Lambeau than week one of the season. The Purple obviously won’t need to contend with the elements, so we definitely caught a break with the scheduling of the game.

What I love about this week one Vikes-Pack game is that it will probably set the tone for the rest of the season. If the Vikings can emerge from Lambeau with a victory, you’d have to consider them legit contenders in the NFC North — after all, in that event, their toughest divisional contest would go in the win column. On the other hand, a Packers win would be huge for a squad that’s looking to gain confidence after their longtime team leader walked away.

This might only be the season opener for these two teams, but this game still carries no shortage of significance. I, personally, couldn’t be more excited about it.

*Also in the article above, you’ll find ticket information for the upcoming draft party at Winter Park. I would have loved to attend the 2007 draft party when the Vikes were in the top-10 and selected AD, but with the Purple selecting in the lower teens this season, the draft doesn’t quite have the same zest that last year’s did. Don’t get me wrong — I’m still psyched about the draft and you’ll see plenty of draft speculation here in the next three or four weeks — but I think I’ll take a pass on the draft party. Rather, I’ll be taking a seat on my couch and live blogging the festivities (hopefully you’ll join me for that!)

*Rotoworld reports that the Vikings and Texans will likely resume trade talks involving backup quarterback Sage Rosenfels at the owners’ meetings this week…they’re speculating that the Vikings could land Rosenfels by adding either Marcus McCauley or a fifth-round pick to their initial offer of a third-rounder.

I have no idea why anyone would even suggest packaging McCauley and a third-rounder for Rosenfels, because that deal would be utterly ridiculous. McCauley was selected with the 72nd overall pick of last year’s draft, and although he struggled quite frequently during the latter half of last season, he also showed plenty of flashes (I’m pretty confident that he’ll eventually be a solid replacement for Antoine Winfield, when #26 bids us farewell).

Anyway, the point is that it’s ludicrous to package a third-rounder along with a talented young player for a backup quarterback. I’d be much more comfortable with the Vikes adding a fifth-round pick to the deal.

*Finally for today, I’d like to mention a PHENOMENAL new feature on Sports Illustrated’s website: It’s called the SI Vault, and contains 54 years of articles, photos, and covers from the archives of Sports Illustrated (it’s also completely free). If you spot any cool Vikings-related articles in the vault, do me a favor and post the link in the comments section…I’ve been trying to check out some old-school Vikings articles from SI, but haven’t even scratched the surface yet.

A couple articles worth checking out: SI’s story from January 22, 2001 on the 41-donut loss to the Giants in the 2001 NFC Championship, the report from October 24, 2005 on the Love Boat, and an article from May 30, 2005 about the beginning of the post-Randy Moss era in Minnesota.

This entry was posted on Monday, March 31st, 2008 at 7:39 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.