Euro 2012

It's the biggest month of the year for futebol, so updates here will be spotty.  You've been forewarned.

Just wanted to comment on a couple things:

1. Ben Leber's retirement: 10 years is a good run, especially when you've only been with three teams (Rams, Chargers, Vikings), and I know I was sad when he had to leave the Vikings, all the more so because it didn't seem like he WANTED to leave the Vikings.  As one of the posters on First and Skol pointed out, he was incredibly versatile (took over at MLB when EJ Henderson got injured), and he was incredibly valuable as a player.  One of those dependable, solid, quiet players that every coach values more than gold, and sadly, most "fans" never even think about.
Thanks for everything you gave to us Ben!  This Viking, at least, appreciates your time in purple and gold!

2. We have a stadium-in-progress!  Yes, I know this is "old news" but considering the massive fight over it and the years of bitching, back-and-forth, and gnawing fear of my beloved Vikings moving to the capital of all that is fake...I want to celebrate this fact as much as possible!!

3. The team "glue": Following twitter - I'm @carlatheviking there too - as I do, I have noticed a LOT of team dinners, fishing trips, friendly banter between all the "established" Vikings and the rookies.  I'm pretty happy about this - I'm convinced that the more friendly they are in real life, the better they'll do together on the field.

4. Team dedication: although I just said the team is tweeting about a lot of fun stuff there are also two other VERY important things reflected in their tweets - they ARE working out (a lot - and competing against each other) and they are NOT tweeting about getting blitzed or eating seven cheeseburgers in one sitting.  After the JaMarcus Russell fiasco, I am very, very glad our boys know better than to live on junk.  Also, I see tweets like Geoff Schwartz's that read, "After a long night and early morning I made it into Winter Park for meetings. Worst nightmare is missing or late to meetings/practice." - those make me very happy!

5. 2012 Schedule: I don't know if I mentioned this before but I am PISSED that we have no night games.  Even vs the Cheeseheads?!  Really?!  There is no respect for rivalry anymore...and I'm sad our boys won't get primetime experience.  That kind of thing is big for rookies, to let them get first-time nerves out of their system.

6. Jasper Brinkley: read a report a couple days ago saying he's FINALLY completely healthy.  I am going to be watching him very closely to see if he shows that SEC grind-it-out defense he was "raised" in.  I'm psyched that he's finally better, and hopefully he can step into the shoes left for him by Henderson.

Okay that's enough for now,  this Ukraine-Sweden game is getting real interesting.  Skol!